[{"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-197":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},2320129,4537,"Chapter 197","the-immortal-path-among-the-stars-chapter-197",197,"\u003Cp>“These people have all been bewitched by you, mindless enough to attack me willingly—should I not kill them, and wait for them to kill me instead? But these few demonic sect disciples are similarly controlled; perhaps you are the one who needs to explain yourself to their sect.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Explain what? Any man I ensnare deserves to die—I know exactly what they’re thinking the moment they lay eyes on me. I only regret I cannot kill every man alive.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With her peerless beauty, any man who saw her would surely harbor some thought.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a long silence, the woman in yellow court robes pointed to a faint golden staff emblem on the stone door and changed the subject.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This mark on the door resembles one of the artifacts used by the ancient Master Jialan. This chamber is almost certainly where he once lived—perhaps the fifth Jialan Secret Key is inside?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I was thinking the same, sister. But the wards surrounding this chamber are no easy thing to break—if they were, I would have entered long ago, not lingered outside so long.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Why don’t we first join forces to break the outer wards, see what lies within, and then settle our rivalry?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The woman in yellow court robes glanced at the dark golden toad perched on her shoulder, pondered for a long while, then said, “Agreed.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing this, Bi Xinxiu smiled sweetly—her smile dimmed even the stars above.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In a vast cave sealed off by a hazy barrier, the ground was littered with the corpses of giant bats, each the size of a foot, along with over a dozen corpses of disciples from the Four Sects.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the center of these corpses, two figures clad in the robes of the Sunset Sect were locked in fierce combat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One held a crimson great cauldron from which writhing fire snakes spewed and coiled; the other had a black fire wheel spinning above his head, spewing forth streams of crimson fire columns.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With every movement, flames surged violently; fire-based spells rained upon each other, causing the cave’s temperature to skyrocket—residual energy from their artifacts even reduced the corpses on the ground to ash.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Gu Lian, do you truly intend to fight me to the death here? Don’t forget—you’re no longer a true disciple of our sect, your realm has even regressed, and we both cultivate the same scripture. If we truly fight, you cannot possibly win.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The opposing figure, around forty, wore a purple robe and his face was filled with murderous intent—it was Gu Lian, former true disciple of the Sunset Sect.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was channeling spells into the black wheel above, gritting his teeth as he replied:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Enough talk. Since the day I joined the sect, I treated you like a brother. Yet you sabotaged my Foundation Establishment artifact, blocking my path. Today, only one of us walks out alive.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With that, Gu Lian altered his hand seals, murmured incantations, and a crimson light shield erupted over his body—the Fire Shield technique.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Heh, we joined the sect around the same time, had similar talent, and both became disciples of the same Foundation Establishment elder. Our master’s lifespan is dwindling—only one disciple can inherit his true legacy.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You rushed to establish your foundation first—how could I let you succeed so easily? Good. I’d already planned to eliminate you in this secret realm. Now that you’ve struck first, I don’t even need an excuse.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The man holding the cauldron was a man in his mid-thirties, his face seemingly simple, but now twisted into a cruel sneer as he slammed a fist into the cauldron.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The crimson giant tripod suddenly blazed with red light, and faintly a phantom red sun emerged from within, bathing the entire cave in a deep red glow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The crimson cauldron blazed with radiant red light, and faintly, a phantom red sun emerged from within, bathing the entire cave in crimson glow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Illusory Sun Great Art”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing this, Gu Lian’s pupils shrank. He flipped his palm within his sleeve, and a crystal-clear pearl appeared in his hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Deep within a sea of rolling gray mist, a blood-red full moon hung high in the sky.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Deep within a sea of rolling gray mist, a blood-red moon hung high in the sky.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Beneath the blood moon lay a vast ruin of ancient temples. In a dim side chamber of the ruins, a dark figure knelt, gnawing on something, emitting a chilling crunching sound.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Suddenly, the figure raised one hand and hurled the object it had been chewing out of the chamber. Under the crimson moonlight, it was clearly half-eaten, blood-soaked arm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Most of the flesh had been torn away; strips of red cloth clung to its surface, and between the fingers wound a silver chain, its end hanging a crimson token.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The token’s surface was etched with faint red patterns: one side bore a red sun, the other a golden character—“True.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the same moment, beyond the ruins, five figures advanced slowly through the gray mist.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Leading them was a young man in green robes, twenty-seven or twenty-eight, carrying twin purple swords—Luo Hao, the chief true disciple of the Thousand Bamboo Sect, peerless in weapon control among his peers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Behind him followed two men and two women. The two women, both in their twenties, bore strikingly similar faces—one clad in red armor, the other in blue.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One of the men was around forty, refined and scholarly—it was Huang Shixiong, who had previously teamed up with Wang Yu.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The other man, thirty-five or thirty-six, broad-shouldered and muscular, wore silver gauntlets on both hands, radiating sharp, piercing energy—it was Kang Wuhen, the number-one inner disciple of the Four Symbols Sect.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the front, Luo Hao carried a five-colored palace lantern carved with dragons and phoenixes, emitting a pale green glow that caused the gray mist to part before him, clearing a path.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet from the depths of the mist on either side, eerie wails occasionally rose, and strange shadowy forms flickered past—no one knew what demons or monsters lurked there.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Aside from Luo Hao, who led with calm expression, the other four watched the mist that seemed alive, their faces tense with caution.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Fortunately we brought this ‘Green Glow Lantern’—a relic to break barriers. Otherwise, even if we found this place, we’d only be left staring helplessly outside.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“We truly owe you a great debt, Brother Luo. Had you not arrived in time, the four of us might have been trapped outside for much longer. Who knew this barrier wasn’t a mere illusion array, but a true tiered formation?” said the young woman in blue armor, gazing at Luo Hao’s back with a hint of admiration.\u003C\u002Fp>",1110,"2026-06-20T15:44:30.991Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","329d012edf1ed1e505661bceeec48f294722a9a35912f0ec79acff97227e464a","the-immortal-path-among-the-stars-chapter-198","the-immortal-path-among-the-stars-chapter-196",530,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-immortal-path-among-the-stars-cover.jpg"]