The sect flourished under the blessings of the Celestial Beasts, growing stronger each day.
Yet in the deepest chamber of the sect's library — sealed behind layers of formations — an ancient relic awaited its destined bearer.
The Forbidden Star Compass.
Carved from stardust gathered by immortal sages, the compass wasn't meant to guide oceans or deserts — it pointed toward the lost Immortal Vaults — secret realms where the ancestors of ancient cultivation clans hid their most precious arts, treasures, and techniques after the Great Collapse.
Only by unlocking the compass could one map the true structure of the world: the hidden spirit rivers, the broken sky bridges, and the scattered Immortal Vaults floating beyond mortal sight.
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The Awakening of the Compass
Upon touching the Star Compass, the Main Character unleashed a dormant will:
an ancient voice whispered from beyond the stars.
> "Only those who master all paths — alchemy, forging, formation, talisman, weaponry — may tread the road to the Immortal Thrones."
Thanks to his Improvement Art and complete mastery of the five paths, the Main Character was accepted.
The Star Compass bloomed into countless rivers of starlight, each forming maps invisible to mortal eyes.
A new destiny revealed itself:
The Map of Thousand Vaults.
Scattered across the world were secret Immortal Vaults containing:
Lost Divine Beasts' eggs.
Pills capable of elevating mortals to gods.
Weapons forged from starfire and chaos iron.
Formations that could guard entire continents.
Talismans carrying the breath of creation itself.
Each Vault would only open to those who solved their trials—trials designed by the gods themselves.
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Preparing the Sect for the Grand Expedition
The Main Character knew: if word spread, ancient sects and imperial dynasties would stop at nothing to seize the Vaults.
Thus, he began secret preparations:
Selected his strongest core disciples based on their elemental affinities and spirit beast bonds.
Created new formations that merged celestial energy and beast Qi for protection.
Forged star-imbued weapons that could resist time and space distortions within the Vaults.
Trained his students in team formations, allowing multiple cultivators to combine powers in living arrays.
Moreover, he taught his students new arts found in the forgotten parts of the sect's ancient library:
Nine Heaven Step Movement (to move through unstable spirit realms)
Void-Sundering Spear Arts (to battle chaotic spirits)
Starlight Scripture of Purification (to cleanse curses left behind by fallen immortals)
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A Glimpse of the Immortal Vault
One night, standing atop the sect's highest peak, the Main Character activated the Star Compass.
A distant ripple in space appeared, revealing a faint shadow of a Vault floating beyond the clouds—shaped like an inverted mountain, carved with golden runes pulsing in rhythm with the heavens.
This was only the first Vault—named The Vault of Origin, where the oldest cultivation arts of the Primordial Era were said to sleep.
But already, storm clouds gathered in the distant skies.
Mysterious forces stirred.
Old enemies who once ruled the world had felt the awakening of the Star Compass.
The race to the Immortal Vaults had begun.
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End of Chapter
Next: Chapter Twenty-Eight – The Vault of Origin: Trials of the Ancient Immortals and the First True Battle of the Sect
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