[{"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-258":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},2320190,4537,"Chapter 258: Dialogue","the-immortal-path-among-the-stars-chapter-258",258,"\u003Cp>“Oh, the treasure vault’s entrance still has sealing arrays? I have no memory of this.” Kang Wuhen frowned as he spoke.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Your return to the primordial timeline was recent; perhaps you haven’t recovered those memories yet.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But so many years have passed—even if the original incantation to open the seals still exists, it may have weakened or failed. To be safe, prepare some cultivator’s blood; you might need a blood sacrifice to forcibly break the seals.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Good. More preparations never hurt. I’ve progressed smoothly with that secret technique—give me one more night, and I’ll master it.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What about those outside invaders—the demonic cultivators? Are they still lingering outside?” Kang Wuhen nodded, then asked suddenly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Rest assured, my lord. The ‘Seven Stars Embracing the Moon Array’ you personally set up is a mother-child array. Though they broke the outer illusionary array, the inner child array is now a defensive seal—unless a Golden Core cultivator strikes, it cannot be shattered for days. But this child array can only hold for three days.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Three days? More than enough!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’ll subdue the Fan Shen Fa Ti tomorrow and retrieve the treasure within. By then, even if those demonic scoundrels try to flee, I won’t let them escape.” Kang Wuhen’s face hardened with cold menace.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Then I congratulate my lord on tomorrow’s success. I shall take my leave and prepare for tomorrow.” The old monk’s face brightened slightly. He picked up Yuan Tong and withdrew.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After the old monk left the chamber, Kang Wuhen took out the final Soul-Returning Pill from the box, swallowed it, and closed his eyes to continue practicing the new secret technique.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whether he can truly subdue the Fan Shen Fa Ti tomorrow depends entirely on this technique.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Outside the chamber, the old monk carried Yuan Tong back into a larger stone hall, threw the body onto the floor again, and stared down at the unconscious young monk.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yuan Tong now lay on his back, arms and legs stretched out, his youthful features fully exposed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The old monk gazed silently at Yuan Tong’s face, his expression shifting—sometimes distant, sometimes agitated. Suddenly, he turned and slapped the wall.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A metallic click rang out, and the wall split open.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The old monk reached in, pulled out a faded yellow scroll, and returned to stand before the young monk, slowly unrolling it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the ancient silk painting was clearly depicted a young Confucian scholar.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The scholar appeared no older than twenty-seven or twenty-eight—his features identical to Yuan Tong’s, as if he were the monk, aged a few years.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The old monk stared at the scholar’s portrait, lost in some distant memory, standing motionless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that moment, a stuttering voice emerged from the empty air beside him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Y-you’re thinking… thinking… about the past… again…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the words ended, a ripple appeared in the air, and a hazy black shadow materialized.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though its face was indistinct, half its body and one thigh had vanished—what remained of the thigh ended abruptly below the knee.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“When one grows old, one remembers youth—especially now.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What happened?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You were defeated by a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator? How did you end up like this?” The old monk replied coolly, tucking away the scroll—but when he saw the shadow’s condition, a flicker of sorrow crossed his face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As if the shadow’s mutilation pained him more than it pained the shadow itself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Not… ordinary Foundation Establishment… had… a third-rank artifact… no matter… eat blood… recover…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The hazy black shadow paid no mind to its own state and stammered again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“A third-rank artifact? So a Golden Core cultivator infiltrated, sealing his own cultivation? No wonder you’re this broken.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But it doesn’t matter. Once you reclaim your life-core, restoring your former strength is possible. Then a Golden Core cultivator? A single bite will do.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“As for blood, there are still several captured outsiders in the pill chamber—those used to make Soul-Returning Pills. Go eat them yourself.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Show some care for this body—it was mine once. I merely lent it to you.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Also, tonight, focus on regaining your limbs. Tomorrow, I’ll take the boy to subdue the Fan Shen Fa Ti. You’ll follow unseen—you may need to lend your strength.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Once we open Jialan’s treasure vault, we’ll both get what we want.” The old monk mused.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I want… the two… female blood meals…” the hazy black shadow said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No. Those two girls carry bloodline power—they might be useful in tomorrow’s blood sacrifice. For limb restoration, ordinary blood meals suffice.” The old monk refused flatly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The hazy black shadow fell silent. Then, in the next instant, its body trembled—a swirl of black light shot from its ruined form and plunged into the unconscious Yuan Tong’s body.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Simultaneously, its remaining single leg gave way, and its broken body collapsed to the ground. Black mist dispersed, revealing its true form.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was an old man, sixty or seventy, his face bearing resemblance to Yuan Tong and the scholar in the painting—but his hair was gray-white, his face deeply wrinkled, aged many times over.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The old monk watched without lifting a finger, his eyes filled with faint mockery.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Next moment—“Bang!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Several large golden spiritual runes flashed across Yuan Tong’s body, and the black light was violently ejected, spinning in the air before dissolving into a fist-sized, headless spider phantom.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It let out a frustrated growl, then circled once more and flew back into the old man’s broken body.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Huff!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Black mist swirled around the old man’s ruined form as he slowly rose again, his eyes now glowing crimson.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Still unwilling? Want a younger body?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Think for a moment—when I first entered this secret realm, didn’t you try this already?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If I hadn’t cooperated and willingly surrendered my body, you’d still be a wandering ghost. After all, you’re merely a fragment of Jialan’s pet spirit.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Rest easy. Once I retrieve the treasure from the vault tomorrow, and you reclaim the life-core, I’ll find a way to fulfill your wish.” The old monk spoke calmly.\u003C\u002Fp>",993,"2026-06-20T15:44:32.161Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","4885c407a0c1f0e0ef5907af38cbcca51ee4087d278c1723bc70eb8145b8758b","the-immortal-path-among-the-stars-chapter-259","the-immortal-path-among-the-stars-chapter-257",530,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-immortal-path-among-the-stars-cover.jpg"]