[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-immortal-path-among-the-stars":3,"chapter-the-immortal-path-among-the-stars-the-immortal-path-among-the-stars-chapter-126":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","The Immortal Path Among the Stars",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2320058,4537,"Chapter 126: Cloud Gathering","the-immortal-path-among-the-stars-chapter-126",126,"\u003Cp>Seven days later, in the Tai Sui Mountains, seven hundred li northeast of Jingzhou City, a continuous stream of flying vessels of various sizes flew into the mountains.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the center of the Tai Sui Mountains, in a basin surrounded by three great peaks, a massive training ground had recently been constructed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The ground of the arena was paved with gray-white stone, covering several mu in area; around it stood thirty to forty banners, and farther out, thirty to forty elevated platforms had been built.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some stone platforms were already crowded with cultivators, while others held only a handful of people.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On one platform with only a dozen or so cultivators, the attendees clearly split into two groups, standing on opposite sides with tense atmospheres between them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Leading one group was an elderly man with white hair and a ruddy complexion, draped in a feathered robe, his hands clasped behind his back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Leading the other group was a middle-aged man with a sickly pallor, clutching a black wine flask, his entire body reeking of alcohol.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Friend Xin,” the white-haired elder sighed, “I hear your Xin family went to great expense to hire an inner sect disciple of the Thousand Bamboo Sect as a guest master. Isn’t that going a bit too far?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What else can we do? Master Bi, you know our Xin family survives by brewing spirit wine—without a spiritual vein, how can we grow the spirit fruits and grains needed? Besides, your Bi family also brought in the famed Qing Ge Recluse from the marketplace.” The drunken man replied indifferently, then lifted the flask and took another swallow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Heh, without a spiritual vein, your Xin family might merely delay planting spirit fruits. But if our Bi family’s spirit fish fry don’t get nourished by spiritual waters soon, they’ll die out entirely—we absolutely must secure one of these slots.” The elder’s face darkened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Heh, talking to me won’t help. From what I know, the Mi and Fang families have also hired formidable allies—the head of the Fang family even put forward his famously beautiful daughter to recruit support.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Besides, every minor family has relatives training within the sect—there are surely more than a handful of inner sect disciples, let alone those who’ve lingered in the outer sect for years, aged but long since reaching Qi Condensation late stage or even fullness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though these outer sect disciples are older, their spiritual energy is thick and their battle experience vast; in actual combat, even inner sect disciples aren’t guaranteed to defeat them.” The drunken man chuckled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Qi Condensation fullness? You mean there will be disciples at Qi Condensation fullness joining this contest?” The white-haired elder was startled and pressed further.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Probably… oh, maybe I’ve had too much to drink and am just babbling.” The drunken man burped, smirking faintly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing this, the white-haired elder frowned, as if about to speak, when suddenly a burly man in leather armor, carrying a bronze halberd on his back, spoke coldly from behind him:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Who fears a Qi Condensation fullness cultivator too cowardly to attempt Foundation Establishment? Such a waste of breath—Master Bi, leave him to me.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The drunken man glanced at the giant with bleary eyes, then suddenly bowed with a grin:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So you’re the legendary Qing Ge Recluse! I’ve heard your name for years but never met you in person—my apologies for the oversight.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Qing Ge Recluse regarded the head of the Xin family with a cool gaze and replied:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’ve heard the Thousand Bamboo Sect excels at tailoring instruction, and its disciples master many esoteric arts. I hope the person your Xin family hired won’t disappoint me.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hehe, such bold words. Once we’re on the platform, I’ll let you Qing Ge Daoist see firsthand the true power of our sect’s esoteric arts.” Before the drunken man could reply, a slender female voice echoed above the platform, shifting left and right, impossible to pinpoint.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This startled the white-haired elder and the Bi family members, who instinctively turned to gaze at the Xin group.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But all the Xin family members were sturdy men, their faces utterly expressionless, revealing no sign of anomaly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hmph, playing tricks,” Qing Ge Recluse snorted, sneering. “When the contest begins, I’ll show you how useless such tricks are against true strength.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing Qing Ge Recluse so confident, the white-haired elder and the Bi family members felt slightly reassured.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The drunken man, however, ignored it all, simply taking another few swigs of wine.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that moment, a black iron vessel flew overhead and landed beside a stone platform where only three men stood; four figures descended—two ahead, a woman and a man, two elders behind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The three men on the platform immediately stepped forward to greet them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Master Yu,” Yin Linglong said, surprised upon recognizing the middle-aged man in black robes, “does your Yu family also intend to compete for the spiritual vein?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Circumstances have changed. If the Yu family were still a mid-tier clan, no contest would be needed—but now…” Master Yu bowed to Yin Linglong, smiling bitterly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So the rumor is true—your ancestral elder truly perished during the retreat?” Yin Linglong’s face darkened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“We Yu family were simply unlucky. Just as we neared Jingzhou territory, we encountered the True Disciple Demoness of the Joyful Palace. Our elder sacrificed himself to hold her off and let our clan escape.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Even so, many of our people were caught in the battle—over half couldn’t flee.” Master Yu’s face turned pale, as if reliving the horror.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing this, Yin Linglong fell silent, secretly relieved.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Originally, the Yu family had sent word inviting the Yin family to travel together—thankfully Wang Yu had rejected it, or else they might have met the same fate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Master Yu, please accept my condolences,” Yin Linglong could only say.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that moment, Wang Yu’s gaze settled on a calm, resolute young man behind Master Yu—the very same Yu Xiaoming who had once fought him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After both entered the sect together, Yu Xiaoming had remained in the outer sect; over the years, they had never met again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But when Wang Yu scanned the youth with his spiritual sense, he saw the man was still at Qi Condensation sixth layer—never advanced to late stage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Back then, when Wang Yu was still Qi Condensation early stage, Yu Xiaoming had already been Qi Condensation middle stage; now, only a few years later, Wang Yu had caught up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yu Xiaoming’s gaze swept over Wang Yu and his expression subtly changed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Clearly, he had sensed Wang Yu’s spiritual energy was now nearly equal to his own.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that moment, Wang Yu’s eyes fell upon another man behind Master Yu.\u003C\u002Fp>",1104,"2026-06-20T15:44:30.991Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","60679cf616ab0975c482628239676f58d8b41059b3c80fd5931d5913798e3d4d","the-immortal-path-among-the-stars-chapter-127","the-immortal-path-among-the-stars-chapter-125",530,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-immortal-path-among-the-stars-cover.jpg"]