Kindle the Stars

A bloody incident on the streets of London sends the gangster Qiu Han reborn to a senior-year high school classroom in 2005. When the "Homeland Guardian System" activates in his mind, he discovers that every act of bullying and every fall into depravity in his past has added to his "hatred points." Only by protecting others and making amends can he unlock his true power. From the "Essence-Nourishing Art" to the "Starfire Sky-Burning Technique," from protecting a lame old man selling roasted sweet potatoes to battling cultivators against the corruption of spiritual veins, he must find a balance between the countdown to the college entrance exams and the tribulations of cultivation.

On the System interface, "merit points" and "hatred points" rise and fall like opposite poles of yin and yang. Qiu Han gradually discovers that his bloodline is closely tied to the "Starfire Guards," who repelled foreign invaders a century ago. A family portrait his mother hid deep inside the sewing machine, the unusual glimmer in homeroom teacher Wang Jianguo's eyes as he grades homework, and even the smoke rising from the oven at the end of the alley all hint at the truth behind the cultivation world: spiritual veins are being corrupted by foreign forces, and ordinary people's beliefs are about to become fuel for war.

The butterfly-shaped birthmark of his childhood friend Lin Xiaoyu, the sudden awakening of the "Crimson Scale Bloodline" in gang leader Zhao Hu, and the hidden "Starfire Furnace" option deep within the System interface make Qiu Han's path to growth full of twists and turns. He is no longer an invincible protagonist. A factory manager's bodyguard breaks his ribs while he's protecting his mother. The sins of his past life trigger inner demons as he cultivates. And he repeatedly struggles to choose between "protecting his homeland" and "personal grudges."

As the college entrance exam bell and the cultivation world's alarm sound at the same time, Qiu Han stands before the spiritual vein nexus, gripping a bloodstained fire axe, and finally understands the System's true meaning: