Chapter 650: Seven-Rank Star Palace Lotus Platform (First update, requesting all support)

"Senior, then I shall not decline!"

Li Zhangsheng did not refuse; he greeted Zuo Qiulin and rode with Ning Bizhen on the Three-Legged Fire Crow, flying toward the Yuanling Academy.

In the sky, a layer of Star Light Membrane wrapped around Li Zhangsheng and Ning Bizhen, shielding them from the biting cold wind.

Li Zhangsheng opened the box and saw three items inside: a token, a Jade Bottle, and a piece of Star Essence.

The Star Essence went without saying; it could likely save Li Zhangsheng half a month of effort and, furthermore, had a powerful auxiliary effect for opening Star Apertures.

"So it is a Guest Elder token of the Tiantai Sect!"

Li Zhangsheng toyed with the token. In the Tiantai Sect, the rank of Guest Elder was equivalent to an Outer Sect Elder. Although it carried no real power, it was quite useful to Li Zhangsheng; for instance, he could use the Tiantai Sect and its affiliated forces to inquire about information, or post bounty missions for Tiantai Sect disciples, and so on.

Furthermore, the Tiantai Sect's Guest Elder system was quite peculiar; the sect could not forcibly conscript Guest Elders.

In other words, Guest Elders did not need to bear any responsibilities; even if the Tiantai Sect faced a crisis, they could still refuse a summons.

Zuo Qiulin doing this was nothing more than wanting to increase his connection with Li Zhangsheng.

If Li Zhangsheng refused to serve as a Tiantai Sect Guest Elder, he simply didn't have to refine this Guest Elder token; it was entirely up to him.

In the end, Li Zhangsheng refined the Guest Elder token. After all, there was no need to bear any responsibilities, and it could allow the Tiantai Sect to help him collect materials and gather information—why not?

At this moment, Li Zhangsheng picked up the Jade Bottle. Inside were ten fingernail-sized Alchemical Pills, and a note was stuck to the bottle, detailing the effects of the pills.

This was the Tiantai Pill, unique to the Tiantai Sect. Due to material limitations, the production of Tiantai Pills was extremely limited, so the Tiantai Sect almost exclusively used them for internal consumption and never sold them externally.

The Tiantai Pill could slightly improve a Demon Pet's physique, but each Demon Pet could only take one pill.

Although the improvement for a single Demon Pet was not large, the advantage was that it could improve every Demon Pet, which added up to a considerable number.

Li Zhangsheng possessed ten main Demon Pets, so these ten Tiantai Pills could be said to be just right.

By the time the two returned to the Yuanling Academy, it was already dusk.

Number One Courtyard!

Li Zhangsheng couldn't wait to upgrade the rank of his Sixth-rank Star Palace Lotus Platform. Since the materials were already gathered, why not upgrade its rank?

As long as he promoted it to a Seven-Rank Star Palace Lotus Platform, Li Zhangsheng's cultivation speed would likely be able to rise by another level.

To reach a Seven-Rank Lotus Platform, it required six drops of Three Lights Divine Water, three drops of Heavenly One True Water, Kui Water Essence, and a large amount of same-attribute energy to provide for the lotus platform's upgrade.

Li Zhangsheng had to take out a large quantity of items containing Star Power. These were all things he had collected over the recent period; their quality wasn't great, but the quantity was quite considerable, which was enough for the upgrade.

The next moment, Li Zhangsheng performed a Seal Technique and then pointed a finger at the Sixth-rank Star Palace Lotus Platform.

An invisible ripple landed on the Sixth-rank Star Palace Lotus Platform. In an instant, the lotus platform shimmered with rich starlight, and the previously tightly closed flower bud slowly bloomed.

This time, three drops of Heavenly One True Water would serve to compensate for the origin consumed by the Sixth-rank Star Palace Lotus Platform, while the six drops of Three Lights Divine Water and the Kui Water Essence would serve as the key to the upgrade.

The moment the flower bud bloomed, Li Zhangsheng stuffed this batch of precious materials in at the fastest speed, then performed the Seal Technique again, causing the flower bud to close back into a flower head.

According to the Secret Technique in the "Secret Recipe for Upgrading Lotus-type Treasures," Li Zhangsheng performed dozens of Seal Techniques again. Thirty Star Apertures faintly appeared all over his body, among which the Seven Killings and Army Breaker Star Apertures were even brighter.

In an instant, beams of starlight shot out from his fingertips like laser guns, landing in an instant on every petal of the Sixth-rank Star Palace Lotus Platform.

Under the stimulation of the starlight, the Sixth-rank Star Palace Lotus Platform spun rapidly, quickly digesting that batch of precious materials.

In just a few breaths' time, a rich azure radiance emerged on the Sixth-rank Star Palace Lotus Platform, and a layer of water vapor appeared on its surface.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

It was also at this time that Li Zhangsheng shattered hundreds of materials containing Star Power, returning them to their origin and extracting a large amount of starlight, which transformed into a thick pillar of starlight that instantly enveloped the Sixth-rank Star Palace Lotus Platform.

The higher the grade of the lotus platform, the more Star Power it required, increasing almost geometrically.

Although most of this batch of materials containing Star Power were relatively cheap, due to the large quantity, it had indeed cost Li Zhangsheng quite a few resources.

However, it was all worth it.

The spinning Sixth-rank Star Palace Lotus Platform absorbed it rapidly, and the Star Power dimmed at a speed visible to the naked eye.

During this process, the Sixth-rank Star Palace Lotus Platform began to sprout silver petals, making the lotus platform become increasingly dense and beginning to give birth to the seventh rank of the lotus flower.

Li Zhangsheng watched silently, occasionally shattering some materials to extract Star Power.

Judging from the current consumption, the energy consumed for the upgrade from sixth to seventh rank seemed to be less than the loss during the upgrade from fifth to sixth rank.

Li Zhangsheng was also very clear in his heart that the upgrade from fifth to sixth rank was because the lotus platform evolved from a Heaven and Earth Rare Treasure into a World Wonder, which was why it required a massive amount of energy.

As for the upgrade from sixth to seventh rank, according to Li Zhangsheng's estimation, even if it evolved into a Seven-Rank Star Palace Lotus Platform, it would most likely still be in the category of a Low-level World Wonder.

According to the description in the "Secret Recipe for Upgrading Lotus-type Treasures," an Eight-Grade Lotus Platform could reach the level of an Intermediate World Wonder, a Ten-Grade Lotus Platform would be a High-level World Wonder, and only a Twelve-Grade Lotus Platform could become a Top-level World Wonder.

Even so, the more precious the materials required for each rank increase.

The upgrade from sixth to seventh rank already used Kui Water Essence, a Heaven and Earth Rare Treasure-grade Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure; there was no need to mention what would come later.

Soon, ten minutes passed.

The lotus platform no longer absorbed Star Power, the petals no longer increased, and its volume had grown a size larger. It had successfully promoted to a Seven-Rank Star Palace Lotus Platform, emitting an increasingly powerful and strange fluctuation, appearing to have an ever-deeper connection with this world.

At the same time, the patterns on every petal of the Seven-Rank Star Palace Lotus Platform emerged, forming a small patch of starry sky above the lotus platform, and the previously blurry Miniature Palaces became clearer than before.

Soon, the Seven-Rank Star Palace Lotus Platform withdrew its phenomena, transformed back into a miniature lotus platform, and returned to Li Zhangsheng's Consciousness Sea.

Li Zhangsheng closed his eyes slightly, 'watching' the Seven-Rank Star Palace Lotus Platform rush into his Consciousness Sea.

Compared to before, the Seven-Rank Star Palace Lotus Platform had gone a bit deeper, but it was still a distance away from the Taiyin Token and the Imitation Demon Refining Pot.

Just as recorded in the "Secret Recipe for Upgrading Lotus-type Treasures," the Seven-Rank Star Palace Lotus Platform still belonged to the category of Low-level World Wonder, but its functions had received a not-insignificant improvement.

At this time, Li Zhangsheng began to check the requirements for the upgrade from seventh to eighth rank.

"Ten drops of Three Lights Divine Water, Wutu Essence, Cangxuan Earth-Fixing Pearl!"

Seeing the content above, Li Zhangsheng subconsciously scratched his scalp a few times. To tell the truth, he did not feel surprised; instead, he felt slightly relieved because the required materials were still within his tolerance.

After upgrading to the Seven-Rank Star Palace Lotus Platform, Li Zhangsheng still had eight drops of Three Lights Divine Water left in his hand, which was not far from ten drops; perhaps he wouldn't even need to fuse Three Lights Divine Water and could purchase them from the market.

As for the other two Heaven and Earth Rare Treasure-grade Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, Li Zhangsheng had one portion of Wutu Essence in his hand, which he had originally prepared for Adai to promote to the Demon King level.

Now, well, he would keep it for now!

Adai possessed Half-Step Epic Quality and could promote to the Demon King level with 100% certainty, so there was no need to coddle it like the Crowned Flame Bird or the Ancestral Leopard-Qilin Beast.

Li Zhangsheng was instead more keen on improving the rank of the Star Palace Lotus Platform, so that his cultivation speed could increase faster, avoiding as much as possible the signs of dragging his Demon Pets down.

As for the Wutu Essence, it is not impossible to obtain it in the future, and he can just let Adai use it then.

As for the Cangxuan Earth-Fixing Pearl, to tell the truth, Li Zhangsheng also has one, but it has already been refined into the Imitation Demon Refining Pot, provided that Li Zhangsheng digs the Cangxuan Earth-Fixing Pearl out of the Imitation Demon Refining Pot.

But if he were to do that, the world within the body of the Imitation Demon Refining Pot would inevitably collapse, and the consequences would be too severe; naturally, this method is not advisable.

"I wonder which faction possesses the Cangxuan Earth-Fixing Pearl?"

Li Zhangsheng could only contact his several acquisition channels to keep an eye out, while simultaneously preparing to offer a heavy bounty for the Cangxuan Earth-Fixing Pearl or news of it at the Hunter Guild.

When night fell, Li Zhangsheng opened the glass panel on the roof of his bedroom, sat cross-legged on the Seven-Rank Star Palace Lotus Platform, and began to test the amplification effect of the Seven-Rank Star Palace Lotus Platform on his cultivation.

In the night sky, the Four Symbols Constellations and the three major constellations of the Kill-Army-Wolf flickered, merging into a pillar of Starlight Power as thick as a water vat, which fell straight onto Li Zhangsheng, shrouding him in starlight.

Because the Four Symbols Star Monster Taming Art and the Kill-Break-Wolf Monster Taming Art belong to the same incomplete version of the Heavenly Star Monster Taming Art, the two can be cultivated together.

Because the Greedy Wolf Star Aperture has not yet been condensed, the Starlight Power condensed by the Greedy Wolf is much dimmer compared to the Seven Killings and the Army Breaker.

Because there are only three stars, the difficulty of opening the star apertures of the Kill-Army-Wolf is significantly greater than that of the Four Symbols Constellations.

However, Li Zhangsheng has already been condensing the Greedy Wolf Star Aperture for some time; even if it is not yet nearing perfection, the difference is not very large.

Due to the Seven-Rank Star Palace Lotus Platform, compared to last night, the Starlight Power cast down this time has received another significant boost, causing Li Zhangsheng's cultivation speed to increase once again.

In addition, the violent factors in these Starlight Power have been completely eliminated, and they have become very easy to absorb.

Li Zhangsheng had no distracting thoughts, rapidly absorbing this starlight and continuously tempering his Mental Power.

Time passed slowly, and an hour went by without him noticing; even with the help of the Seven-Rank Star Palace Lotus Platform, there was still no sign of the Greedy Wolf Star Aperture being condensed.

Under these circumstances, Li Zhangsheng finally stopped his cultivation for the time being and instead took out the Star Essence that Zuo Qiulin had given him.

(End of this chapter)