[{"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-403":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},2320335,4537,"Chapter 403","the-immortal-path-among-the-stars-chapter-403",403,"\u003Cp>No abnormal change occurred; the ring remained motionless between the two bony palms.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the other side, Wang Yu held a bone banner, pale and ghastly, held horizontally before him, his gaze flickering toward the skeletal demon’s hands.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After waiting a moment, the ring showed no change whatsoever.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Yu’s eyebrows twitched slightly; a silver light swept across his brow, and the bone banner vanished in a flash.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The skeletal demon walked over mechanically and extended the ring, still pinched between its fingers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Yu stared at the black crystal on the ring; after a whirl of thoughts, he slowly extended one finger toward the crystal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Puff.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A wisp of flame shot from his fingertip, curling straight toward the ring gripped by the two white bones.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Sss slip\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The same scene occurred: the moment the flame touched the ring, it was directly sucked into the black crystal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Prepared for this, Wang Yu’s expression didn’t change; instead, he chanted a spell, and what flew from his fingertip was no longer a flame, but a massive fireball the size of a watermelon, engulfing the ring entirely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the next instant, the fireball blurred and vanished into thin air.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“A spell-disrupting artifact? No—it’s a spell-absorbing artifact!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Yu exhaled slowly, his mind making a startling guess.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Spell-disrupting” and “spell-absorbing” differ by only one character, yet their meanings are worlds apart.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Spell-disrupting means nullifying a spell entirely, while spell-absorbing means sealing, isolating, or even converting the opponent’s spell into one’s own.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the cultivation world, spell-disrupting artifacts, though rare, were not unheard of; core disciples of sects sometimes carried them, especially low-grade spell-breaking talismans, the most common type.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But spell-absorbing artifacts were truly rare—he had never seen one, nor heard of anyone possessing such a device, only learning of their existence from obscure sect texts, which claimed they could perform unimaginable feats under special circumstances.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Having formed a judgment, Wang Yu still harbored doubt; he changed his incantation, flicked his finger, and a palm-sized transparent wind blade appeared, flashing once before slicing toward the ring.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a blur, the wind blade vanished just as suddenly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After infusing his eyes with yin energy, Wang Yu clearly saw the wind blade, the instant it touched the ring, being sucked into the black crystal like crumpled paper.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Next, he tried several other minor spells, discovering that any energy-based spell was almost invariably absorbed by the black crystal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He then deliberately directed a yin spirit toward the ring—same result: it vanished without a trace, swallowed by the black crystal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This further stirred Wang Yu’s curiosity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This thing was not an ordinary spell-absorbing artifact; at least, no texts recorded such artifacts capable of absorbing ghostly entities.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He sent a thought, instructing the skeletal demon to keep holding the ring; another sweep of silver light across his brow, and in his hand appeared a sharp bone blade.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was one of the low-grade artifacts held by the skeletal demons.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These low-grade bone artifacts had no other power, but were typically inscribed with special runes of durability and sharpness; in sharpness alone, they far surpassed ordinary knives from Blue Planet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Zi.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The sharp bone blade scraped the surface of the black crystal—no mark remained; indeed, it was incredibly hard, beyond the reach of any low-grade artifact to damage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the next instant, a familiar surge of spiritual energy burst from the blade, unexpectedly piercing into his palm, then rapidly spreading through all his meridians.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What is this?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Yu was startled, and could not believe it—he scraped the black crystal again with the bone blade.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The next instant, another surge of spiritual energy flowed from the blade, entering his body once more.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Yu stared at the silver ring held by the skeletal demon, his expression shifting repeatedly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was no mistake!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The spiritual energy that had surged into his body was unmistakably his own—converted from yin energy—and even the faint chill within it was identical.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The black crystal was returning the absorbed spells as spiritual energy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Yu still found it hard to believe; after thinking, he directly pressed the bone blade against the black crystal and held it there, unmoving.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The next instant, a torrent of spiritual energy surged from the blade—but within a few breaths, it weakened and vanished entirely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That’s all?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Yu mentally estimated: the spiritual energy returned by the black crystal matched almost exactly the amount he had expended in the earlier spells.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The bone blade vanished in a swirl of silver light; he reached out again and took the ring directly from the skeletal demon’s grasp.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This time, he did not cast a spell; instead, he gripped the silver band and channeled streams of yin energy from his palm, steadily pouring them into the black crystal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a full minute, he stopped the yin energy flow, drew a light breath, and carefully touched the black crystal with one fingertip.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Indeed, without the bone blade as intermediary, the spiritual energy surging from the crystal was more direct and violent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Within moments, the spiritual energy flowing from the ring ceased precisely when it matched the amount of yin energy he had poured in.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No, there was still a slight difference.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The spiritual energy returned by the crystal was slightly less than the yin energy he had input—about one-tenth less.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After carefully analyzing this, Wang Yu stared at the ring in his hand, pondered for a long while, then once again channeled yin energy into the black crystal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This time, he poured in yin energy for roughly five minutes before stopping, then returned to the room, found a small wooden box, carefully placed the ring inside, and kept it on his person.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Until he understood the nature of this object, for caution’s sake, he did not intend to directly store it in his spiritual sea’s talisman.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He planned to check in a few days whether the spiritual energy within the crystal remained, and whether any leakage occurred.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If this black crystal could truly preserve spiritual energy long-term, its value would far exceed imagination—he might truly need to contact that “White Wolf” and find out what this thing truly was.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Several days later.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In a residential district in the East District of Pengjie City, home to many middle-class households.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In a second-floor bedroom of a three-story building.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A white youth with hair dyed red and yellow stood by the window, holding a cup of black tea, silently watching several women below chat about household matters.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The white youth’s face bore deep blue tattoos, nearly obscuring all his features; even upon close inspection, only vague outlines could be discerned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The white youth downed the tea in a few gulps, then turned to Li Xiaodao with a smile:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This house is well-located; though not in the bustling center, it’s still a prosperous area—great concealment lies within the city. Unless the Britons get precise intel, they won’t suspect this place.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The tattooed white youth was, of course, Wang Yu in another disguise.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Mr. Sai, I’ll impersonate you and stay at the villa; I won’t come see you unless necessary. This phone was custom-made by someone special—guaranteed no backdoors. If anything urgent arises, use it to contact me or Cindy—our numbers are already saved; we’ll arrive at top speed the moment you call.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“And from now on, you are Dai Sen. Just visit the slaughterhouse every two or three days; otherwise, stay home—you don’t need to go out.” Li Xiaodao handed him a small black phone, speaking cautiously.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I know. I’ve memorized the slaughterhouse’s location and worker records—no problems.” Wang Yu waved his hand, his expression calm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Understood. I’ll slip out quietly from the back.” Li Xiaodao bowed respectfully and left.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Dai Sen.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Yu turned again toward the window, murmuring the name, but his gaze unconsciously fell upon a multi-story building nearby, its design futuristic.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On its rooftop, a massive sign flashed two glowing characters: “Star River.”\u003C\u002Fp>",1316,"2026-06-20T15:44:32.565Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","56037a2faf63cf7fbadc73005d97ada66d5d39f10b39a377775a502dba15c55f","the-immortal-path-among-the-stars-chapter-404","the-immortal-path-among-the-stars-chapter-402",530,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-immortal-path-among-the-stars-cover.jpg"]