[{"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-237":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},2320169,4537,"Chapter 237","the-immortal-path-among-the-stars-chapter-237",237,"\u003Cp>“Don’t bother trying to use spells—I’ve already tried. This array seems to contain legendary prohibitions; unless your cultivation level and spiritual power far exceed that of the array’s creator, no spell can be cast, not even those embedded in magical artifacts.” From the other side came Ximen Mei’s cold voice, and moments later, she pulled a short-bladed artifact from her bosom and began slicing at the vines on the stone wall.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So that’s how it is.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Yu suddenly understood. After a moment’s thought, he didn’t bother retrieving any artifact—instead, he moved his arms, his hands like iron hooks, tearing the vines from the wall.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Soon, he cleared all the vines from the two nearby walls, revealing the hidden carvings—four in total.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Yu stepped back a few paces, examining each one in turn, his expression turning thoughtful.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The first carving depicted a giant spider at the bottom of a dry well, inhaling and exhaling wisps of mist toward a full moon above the well’s mouth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The second carving showed the same giant spider, now on the ground, claws outstretched, spewing silk nets toward a middle-aged monk standing high above on a staff.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The monk’s face was refined, his features lifelike, his aura extraordinary—as if he were alive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The third carving showed a middle-aged Confucian scholar floating through the air, a small spider crawling on his shoulder—but the scholar’s face and features were unmistakably those of the earlier monk.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The fourth carving depicted the middle-aged Confucian scholar and the giant spider together in midair—one activating the staff, the other spewing silk nets—jointly attacking a beast below, part tiger, part ox.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a few moments of contemplation, Wang Yu roughly understood the meaning of the four carvings: they told the story of a spider beast being subdued, then allied to fight other enemies.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Could the middle-aged monk and scholar be the legendary Jialan Shiren? Were these carvings left by Jialan Shiren himself?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But why did the first carving begin with a spider beast?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Yu felt something was off. He turned his head to the other side and saw Ximen Mei had also cleared the remaining two walls with her short blade, revealing four more carvings.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She was intently studying them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Without hesitation, Wang Yu walked over and stood beside Ximen Mei, examining the carvings on this wall.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ximen Mei sensed his approach but remained perfectly still, showing no sign of moving away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Yu scanned the carvings in order, taking in every detail clearly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As he expected, these four carvings clearly continued directly from the ones on the opposite walls.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The fifth carving showed an elderly man, his body withered, seated before a pool of water, while the giant spider stood on the opposite side of the pool.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The old man sat in meditation, above his head a cloud of mist, within which faintly appeared a plump, white baby—but both the old man’s and the baby’s faces bore traces of the earlier monk and scholar.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The giant spider spat out a massive pearl, several times larger than the one in the first carving, as if refining something.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the sixth carving, the old man and the giant spider remained, but the old man now looked far older, while the spider had grown even more monstrous, its body covered in sharp spines.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet the scene showed the old man transformed into a giant covered in Sanskrit script, one hand pressing down on the spider’s head, the other punching violently—as if beating the beast.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The seventh carving showed the old man seated before a temple hall, on the ground a faintly visible large spiritual pattern, while a baby floated upward into the sky, where a giant eye-shaped shadow loomed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The giant spider lay quietly at the temple hall’s entrance, docile and still.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The eighth carving showed the same temple hall—but now the giant spider leapt into the air toward the floating baby, spewing a net of silk to engulf it, while the seated old man had once again transformed into the giant covered in Sanskrit script, grabbing one of the spider’s hind legs and pulling downward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The carvings on all surrounding walls ended here—no further images followed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After viewing them all, Wang Yu’s heart churned like a storm-tossed sea.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ximen Mei had also walked to the opposite wall and finished studying the first four carvings; her eyebrows were tightly furrowed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Sister Ximen, have you understood the meaning of these carvings?” Wang Yu cleared his throat and asked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I think I’ve grasped it—they depict Jialan Shiren and the spider beast he subdued,” Ximen Mei replied slowly, her tone heavy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Sister, are you certain the man in the carvings is Jialan Shiren?” Wang Yu asked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Almost certainly. My ancestor once said Jialan Shiren began as a monk of the Fomen, and in the past few thousand years, only a handful of cultivators in the entire Wu Kingdom have ever cultivated a Nascent Soul,” Ximen Mei answered without hesitation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So the baby is indeed the legendary Nascent Soul!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If that’s true, then the information in these carvings is deeply strange. Who do you think left them?” Wang Yu asked, his eyes flickering.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Could they not have been left by Jialan Shiren himself?” Ximen Mei asked, puzzled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Don’t you feel the true protagonist of these carvings isn’t Jialan Shiren?” Wang Yu countered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You mean… these carvings were left by the spider beast? The final scene shows the beast devouring Jialan Shiren’s Nascent Soul!” Ximen Mei gasped.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’m not sure… but it feels more like…” Wang Yu’s thoughts raced, and he hesitated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“At this point, what are you still holding back?” Ximen Mei said, displeased.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Very well. Since you insist, I’ll speak plainly: in my opinion, these carvings were left by neither Jialan Shiren nor the spider beast—they seem more like the work of a third party,” Wang Yu said slowly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“A third party? That’s impossible!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The events depicted clearly involve only Jialan Shiren and the spider beast. There was no third party present,” Ximen Mei said, shaking her head.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That’s exactly why I find it strange,” Wang Yu said, studying the last four carvings again, his eyes narrowing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I think now isn’t the time to analyze this. Don’t you feel our situation is dangerous? According to the final carving, the spider beast may not be dead. Beast lifespans far exceed those of humans—it may still be alive in this secret realm. This could even be one of its dens,” Ximen Mei said, analyzing aloud while scanning the surroundings, her expression tense.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>According to the last relief carving, that spider demon beast may not be dead at all—demon beasts live far longer than our race, so it’s very likely still alive somewhere in this secret realm, and this place might even be one of its dens.” Xi Men Mei spoke as she scanned the surroundings, her expression clearly tense.\u003C\u002Fp>",1142,"2026-06-20T15:44:32.161Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","58b2d6f670058c04133f75371b0b146073ac2e9c05c6e60e7df4adc779f07992","the-immortal-path-among-the-stars-chapter-238","the-immortal-path-among-the-stars-chapter-236",530,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-immortal-path-among-the-stars-cover.jpg"]