Chapter 126: Fire-Splendor Star Domain (Please subscribe)

Inside the Star-Plucking Tower, as Xu Jin waited, a point of starlight suddenly flew before his eyes.

【Xu Jin, the Second-Tier Star Domain, Fire-Splendor Star Domain, is about to open. After entering, please pay attention to your safety. If you encounter life-threatening danger, please immediately crush the Return Jade Tablet.】

The next instant, the star gate before Xu Jin suddenly began to rotate, and the Return Jade Tablet in his hand also began to flicker.

Taking one step forward, Xu Jin saw starlight blooming and permeating before his eyes; countless rays of starlight drifted between heaven and earth. Xu Jin felt as if he were strolling through a galaxy. The next instant, Xu Jin's figure rapidly sank into a crimson star.

The chaotic starlight before his eyes suddenly became clear.

This was a plain, a crimson plain.

The temperature was quite high; the air he breathed carried a slight sense of scorching heat. However, with the circulation of his Star Power, Xu Jin quickly eliminated the discomfort.

The next instant, Xu Jin felt the dense Star Power.

The omnipresent Star Power seemed to be pressing in, surging toward Xu Jin's body. In just a single breath, it restored the bit of Star Power Xu Jin had consumed.

Three times!

The concentration of Star Power within this Second-Tier Fire-Splendor Star Domain was indeed three times that of the current world.

According to what Ning Yuchan said, the Star Power concentration in a First-Tier Star Domain is twice the average concentration of the current world, while a Second-Tier Star Domain is three times.

That is why it is a good place for Star Forging.

Of course, this does not mean the Star Power concentration in the current world is insufficient.

According to Ning Yuchan, there are many places in the current world where the Star Power concentration is extremely high, but most are occupied lands, and it is difficult for most people to enter them casually.

Therefore, when forging stars, a Star Domain is the best choice.

As for where Star Domains come from, Ning Yuchan also gave Xu Jin a rough explanation.

They are small star worlds conquered and subdued on the Star River battlefield, then refined and controlled by Chen Guo, collectively referred to as Star Domains.

However, refining and controlling such small star worlds is extremely difficult.

As far as Ning Yuchan knows, the number of Star Domains refined and controlled by Chen Guo is not large, and they are primarily First-Tier; Second-Tier Star Domains are very rare.

As for Third-Tier Star Domains, among publicly available information, Chen Guo has not yet conquered or controlled any.

The difficulty in conquering and controlling Star Domains is related to the passage restrictions of the star gates, as well as the level of star gate construction in the current world.

First-Tier Star Domains are the most numerous conquered, controlled, and refined not only by Chen Guo but also by various countries and Star Temples, which has a lot to do with the difficulty of constructing star gates for First-Tier Star Domains.

Currently, they can accommodate the entry and exit of Second-Tier cultivators.

The higher the tier of the Star Domain, the greater the difficulty of constructing the star gate.

Between maintaining star gate stability and the star gate's load-bearing strength, one can only choose one!

And the star gates of Second-Tier Star Domains can only accommodate the entry and exit of First and Second-Tier cultivators.

It is the same for entering as it is for exiting.

It is an offensive measure, but also a restrictive protection.

"They're here!"

In the distance, ten figures wearing crimson armor were sprinting rapidly toward Xu Jin's direction, shouting and yelling as they ran.

These figures each had crimson skin, and their cheeks were covered with crimson scales.

This was the Red Scale clan among the Five Spirit clans.

"It really is an otherworldly demon, kill!"

The moment the ten Red Scale warriors saw Xu Jin, they surrounded him.

The captain leading them was at the Meal of Mist, Sixth Layer, while the other nine members all had cultivation bases below the Meal of Mist, Fifth Layer.

Xu Jin did not rush to attack, but quietly waited for these Red Scale warriors to approach.

Being a newcomer, he had to personally measure the true combat power of these Red Scale warriors to facilitate later battles and Star Forging.

Approaching within three meters, the Meal of Mist, Sixth Layer captain punched out, and a fireball blasted toward Xu Jin.

Xu Jin still did not move, directly supporting a star shield, letting the fireball blast against it.

The star shield trembled violently, but did not shatter.

The next instant, Xu Jin stood in place, flicking his ten fingers in succession; nine star arrows flew out, instantly killing the other nine Red Scale warriors.

The only remaining Red Scale warrior was stunned, and the next instant, he let out a sorrowful roar, "Demon, I'll fight you to the death!"

Flames ignited on his long blade as he slashed crazily at Xu Jin.

Xu Jin did not dodge, supporting his star shield, connecting with several fire blade strikes, before flicking out a single star arrow to blast him to death.

He already had a preliminary understanding.

The lethality of these Red Scale warriors' star arts and star weapons was slightly stronger than cultivators of the same tier in the current world, but the strength was very limited; this was likely due to their fire attribute.

Xu Jin could handle them easily.

The next instant, Xu Jin spotted a high mountain in the distance and swept toward it rapidly.

Along the way, Xu Jin encountered Red Scale warrior squads one after another, and the combat power of the squads he encountered was slowly increasing.

The captains gradually changed from Meal of Mist, Sixth Layer to Meal of Mist, Seventh Layer, and Meal of Mist, Seventh Layer peak.

But no Red Scale warriors at the Forge Star Realm had appeared yet.

According to what Ning Yuchan said, once one or two Red Scale warriors at the Forge Star Realm appeared, after killing them, he could choose a place to forge his star.

This was also the reason why only genius elites could be selected to enter First or Second-Tier Star Domains for Star Forging.

In First and Second-Tier Star Domains, even if they were conquered and refined by Chen Guo, Chen Guo could only guarantee that the strongest Domain Lord of that Star Domain would not take action.

However, even the strongest Domain Lord was very limited in strength.

Because the Star Domain rank naturally limits the strength of the native species within the Star Domain.

For example, in a First-Tier Star Domain, the mainstream strength of warriors within the Star Domain is below Meal of Mist, Fifth Layer, and the top experts are at the Second-Tier Forge Star Realm.

But the Second-Tier Forge Star Realm is the upper limit for the species within a First-Tier Star Domain.

No matter how long they cultivate or how long they live, they cannot break through to the peak of Forge Star!

This is limited by the world in which they survive.

Just like ants; no matter how strong an ant is, it cannot escape the limitations of its species.

The mainstream strength of warriors in a Second-Tier Star Domain is the Meal of Mist Realm and a not-too-large number of Forge Star Realm, but the top experts within a Second-Tier Star Domain can break through to the Refine Star Realm.

The strongest Domain Lord can reach the peak of Refine Star, Ninth Layer.

But even within a Second-Tier Star Domain, native species at the Refine Star Realm are very rare.

Like a Third-Tier Star Domain, the native species can reach a maximum cultivation base of the Fourth-Tier Condense Star, Ninth Layer peak.

According to Ning Yuchan, this is also the fundamental reason why Chen Guo cannot conquer, refine, and control Third-Tier Star Domains.

Because those who can enter a Third-Tier Star Domain can only have a maximum cultivation base of Refine Star, Ninth Layer peak.

Even for Chen Guo's top geniuses at the Refine Star, Ninth Layer peak, killing an expert at the Fourth-Tier Condense Star early-to-mid stage by surpassing a level is the absolute limit.

As for experts at the Fourth-Tier Condense Star late stage or even peak, they simply have no way to deal with them, so naturally, they cannot conquer them.

But it is said that within the several major Star Temples, there are conquered Third-Tier Star Domains.

After a Star Domain is conquered, refined, and controlled, the danger is greatly reduced, but the massive number of native warrior species existing within the Star Domain still pose a huge threat to ordinary cultivators.

This is also the reason why only elite geniuses can be selected to enter First and Second-Tier Star Domains for Star Forging; those entering Second-Tier Star Domains for Star Forging can only be top geniuses.

Because if their strength is insufficient, sending them into a First-Tier Star Domain for Star Forging is just sending them as food for the native species of that Star Domain.

Xu Jin flew and swept along, and half an hour later, when he arrived at the foot of the small mountain that was his target, a ten-person Red Scale combat squad had already chased him from the left.

The captain leading them was at the Forge Star Realm.

Early Forge Star!

The other nine team members were mostly at the Meal of Mist, Sixth or Seventh Layer.

Such a lineup could really only be handled by Chen Guo's top geniuses.

People like Meng Qingqiu and Yan Chen could handle it, but it would also take some time.

But for Xu Jin, it was still very easy.

Such a lineup, even three days ago, Xu Jin could have handled easily.

Let alone now, after Xu Jin had taken the Three-Essence Spirit-Settling Golden Pill and undergone the marrow-cleansing nine times, his strength had surged once again.

Early Forge Star Realm, also instantly killed by two star arrows.

After killing them, Xu Jin stepped forward, and a First-Tier star weapon accurately picked at the chest of this Red Scale warrior; subsequently, a blood-stained star core was picked out.

When he first dug it out, Xu Jin felt slightly unbearable.

But recalling the history Ning Yuchan told, his heart instantly became as firm as iron. Whether it was a First or Second-Tier Star Domain, every Star Domain had caused indelible damage to Chen Guo before being conquered, refined, and controlled by Chen Guo.

At the very least, millions of civilians were killed or injured, and at most, tens of millions died in battle.

The positions of both sides were blood-stained.

These were alien races even more brutal than the barbarians of the current world.

Even Star Domains already conquered and controlled by Chen Guo were not absolutely submissive.

Chen Guo sends top genius disciples in every year for Star Forging, which is not to say it isn't another form of culling the best.

Just as Ning Yuchan said, this Second-Tier Fire-Splendor Star Domain was only conquered and controlled by Chen Guo sixty-three years ago, but before it was conquered and controlled, Red Scale warriors had invaded several times, abducting over three million civilians.

And in order to conquer the Second-Tier Fire-Splendor Star Domain, in the thirty years before it was conquered, the number of elite Forge Star Realm disciples who died in battle exceeded ten thousand!

Xu Jin put the Red Scale warrior captain's star core into his leather pouch; he did not touch the other star weapons or anything else.

The star weapons in this Fire-Splendor Star Domain that could be attached with fire were unique to this Fire-Splendor Star Domain; once taken out, they became scrap metal.

Only some rare heavenly materials and earthly treasures could be useful once taken out.

After killing this squad of Red Scale warriors, Xu Jin did not rush to go up the mountain to forge his star, but searched rapidly in the surrounding area.

According to Ning Yuchan's previous instructions, when outsiders enter a Star Domain, the native species will have a very strong sense of it, and experts in the surrounding area will flock to hunt them.

In the eyes of those native species, these intruding outsiders are no different from moving treasure vaults.

However, in a Second-Tier Star Domain, experts at the Forge Star Realm are limited, experts at the Refine Star Realm are even rarer, and the territory is very vast.

Usually, within a radius of three to five hundred miles, having two or three Forge Star Realm experts is the absolute limit.

Therefore, Ning Yuchan's advice to Xu Jin was that after entering the Fire-Splendor Star Domain, for the first hour, he should patrol and hunt the alien races, and then he should be able to gain some relatively long safe time to forge his star with peace of mind.

The real danger only appears half a day after entering the Fire-Splendor Star Domain.

Experts of the Fire-Splendor Star Domain will search for intruders in groups and then hunt them.

The aura and location of intruders are as obvious as stars in the night sky to the native species.

Therefore, such hunting will come in waves, each wave stronger than the last.

Eventually, there will even be experts at the Refine Star mid-to-late stage coming to hunt.

There are even some unlucky ones who, having entered for only half a day, encounter experts at the Third-Tier Refine Star Realm.

The importance of the Return Jade Tablet is highlighted here.

And only Star Domains that have been conquered and controlled can produce the Return Jade Tablet for that Star Domain.

An hour later, Xu Jin's leather pouch had four more Second-Tier star cores, the strongest of which was at the Forge Star mid-stage.

Half an hour later, Xu Jin climbed to the highest point of this region.

It was a small crimson mountain about a thousand meters high.

The reason for finding a high place to cultivate is that in any world, the higher the place, the denser the Star Power.

And in this Fire-Splendor Star Domain, on this high mountain, the Star Power is about ten percent denser than on the flat ground.

Sitting cross-legged, in less than a dozen breaths, Xu Jin's Star Power returned to its peak state.

This is the effect of the Innate Leakless Star Body, but today in battle, Xu Jin discovered another wonder of the Innate Leakless Star Body.

The Innate Leakless Star Body has an important characteristic: the physical body is as smooth as if it were innate; with every breath, it can inhale Star Power to replenish itself, which can be said to be automatically recovering Star Power every instant.

But the amount of this automatic recovery is relatively limited.

However, in this Second-Tier Fire-Splendor Star Domain with extremely dense Star Power, Xu Jin discovered that as long as it was not continuous high-intensity combat, the Star Power passively absorbed and replenished by his Innate Leakless Star Body could actually basically compensate for his combat consumption.

In this hour, killing over sixty Red Scale warriors, Xu Jin's Star Power was basically undamaged.

The next instant, Xu Jin soared into the sky; with a burst of Flying Star Steps, he rose nearly forty meters from the ground instantly. While the starlight beneath his feet exploded continuously to increase his airtime, Xu Jin took the opportunity to rapidly observe all directions.

Within his field of vision, he did not discover any traces of the Red Scale clan.

With Xu Jin's current height and field of vision, if he did not discover any enemy traces, then at least the next hour would be safe.

He could forge his star!

The next instant, Xu Jin calmed his mind and spirit, first taking out two First-Essence Ordinary Star-Forging Pills, holding them in both hands.

These Star-Forging Pills are said to be refined from star cores; they do not need to be swallowed, just held in both hands to absorb.

Sinking his mind into the Great Gathering Star Pattern in his Middle Shang Xinggong, Xu Jin's Spirit Power began to forcibly urge the Great Gathering Star Pattern to rotate.

According to what Ning Yuchan said, this first step of using Spirit Power to urge the Great Gathering Star Pattern to start rotating is the most difficult; ordinary disciples need half an hour, even genius disciples need about two quarters of an hour, while those disciples who have climbed more than 180 steps of the Heaven-Ascending Stone Steps can start rotating in about a quarter of an hour.

Only then can they absorb the Star Power within the Star-Forging Pill to open up the Shang Xinggong, and then absorb the dense Star Power between heaven and earth to strengthen the star core.

Xu Jin also had thoughts about this point before.

Other geniuses take about a quarter of an hour to start the first step, so with his Spirit Power at the Refine Star, Sixth Layer, shortening the time by half should be no problem, right?

This first step, half a quarter of an hour should be about right.

But what surprised Xu Jin was: three seconds.

Under the full urging of his Spirit Power, in the third second, Xu Jin's Middle Shang Xinggong felt a sharp pain, and the Great Gathering Star Pattern, which had been motionless, suddenly began to rotate.

In the span of a second, it went from extremely slow to extremely fast, hurting Xu Jin so much that his expression twisted.

The next instant, the two First-Essence Star-Forging Pills held in his hands were like encountering a water pump; the massive amount of Star Power contained within them instantly surged through his arms into Xu Jin's Middle Shang Xinggong in his chest.

Under internal vision, Xu Jin saw a massive amount of Star Power surrounding the rotating Great Gathering Star Pattern, like a vortex blade wheel, rotating at high speed.

The Star Edge used for opening up was condensed.

Every rotation would open up a circle in Xu Jin's Middle Shang Xinggong, which was like stagnant water.

And every opening up would consume a large amount of Star Power surrounding the Great Gathering Star Pattern, but this consumed Star Power was quickly replenished by the First-Essence Star-Forging Pill held in his hand.

Xu Jin continued to accelerate the rotation of the Great Gathering Star Pattern with his Spirit Power.

Until this Great Gathering Star Pattern, carrying the Star Edge on the outside, had rotated into a light mass of blade shadows.

Because Ning Yuchan had instructed that the faster the Great Gathering Star Pattern rotates, the easier and faster it is to open up the Shang Xinggong.

This is also the fundamental reason why the stronger the Spirit Power, the easier it is to forge a star, and the easier it is to forge a high-grade star core.

It is also the fundamental reason why the ranking of the fourth stage of the Heaven-Ascending Steps is used as the ranking for entry during the annual Autumn Examination of Chen Guo's National Dao Academy.

The stronger the soul, the greater the probability of successful Star Forging, and the higher the quality of the forged star core.

And in the process of the Great Gathering Star Pattern spinning at high speed, the massive Star Power of this Second-Tier Fire-Splendor Star Domain rapidly seeped in through Xu Jin's billions of pores, then gathered into the Great Gathering Star Pattern; in an instant, it condensed into a light spot the size of a needle tip.

The star core was initially formed, the size of a needle tip.

This newly forged star core was rapidly growing.

Massive amounts of Star Power surged in like a tide.

In just half a quarter of an hour, it filled the Great Gathering Star Pattern that had been inscribed before, and filled the space of the Middle Shang Xinggong opened up within this half a quarter of an hour.

At this time, the star core was formed, Star Forging one inch, which is a low-grade star core.

If he stopped at this moment, what Xu Jin forged would be the lowest-grade low-grade star core.

But that was obviously impossible.

The medicinal power of the Star-Forging Pill that Xu Jin had nurtured to the first essence was exceptionally fierce, and it was still continuously outputting Star Power.

After another hundred breaths, the two First-Essence Star-Forging Pills held in his hands disintegrated into ash, and Xu Jin immediately took two more First-Essence Ordinary Star-Forging Pills, pinching them into his hands, absorbing Star Power, and continuing to open up and forge the star.

After a quarter and a half of an hour, after consuming a total of four First-Essence Star-Forging Pills, Xu Jin forged the star to one and a half inches, which is a mid-grade star core.

Until this time, Xu Jin forging a mid-grade star core was still incomparably easy.

Continue!

After consuming three more First-Essence Star-Forging Pills, the star core in Xu Jin's chest forged to two inches, and Xu Jin successfully forged a high-grade star core.

According to what Ning Yuchan said, with the Star-Forging Pills in Xu Jin's hand, forging a high-grade star core was not a problem; the difficulty was forging two high-grade star cores at the same time, and the difficulty was continuing to open up after forging a high-grade star core.

After forging a high-grade star core, the difficulty of opening up the Shang Xinggong increases exponentially; every bit the star core grows is an improvement of future foundations.

Therefore, when forging a star, one must forge to one's limit.

And at the same moment, Xu Jin, who continued to forge the star, also truly felt the difficulty.

After forging two inches, the Star Power provided by the ordinary First-Essence Star-Forging Pill and the power to open up the Middle Shang Xinggong became insufficient.

It became very, very weak!

The next instant, Xu Jin took out two First-Essence High-Grade Star-Forging Pills and pinched them in his hands.

In an instant, the Star Power rotating blade outside the star core, which previously took several breaths to open up a space the thickness of a hair, suddenly seemed to have been injected with chicken blood, and began to violently cut and open up the Middle Shang Xinggong.

For a time, the two-inch high-grade star core forged by Xu Jin began to grow again!

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 127 =====