Chapter 13: The Most Diligent

Xu Jin's consciousness sank into the Star Lamp to study it for a good while, but he couldn't figure out what this "Can be solidified" was all about.

Helpless, his consciousness returned to the Arena Platform.

On the Arena Platform, a wisp of starlight floated; this was the wisp of starlight obtained from today's star-worship at the Arena. On the Arena Platform, there remained only one Star Lamp and one jade tablet.

So, where is this "Can be solidified" supposed to be solidified?

Xu Jin once again sank his consciousness into the jade tablet. When Xu Jin's consciousness focused on the line 【Star Art: Basic Star Shield, Can be solidified】, the Star Lamp suddenly appeared before his eyes, and the "Basic Star Shield" within the Star Art suddenly transformed into a point of starlight, flying into the Star Lamp.

After a burst of brilliance flashed across the Star Lamp, a layer of scale-like star patterns suddenly appeared inside and outside the lamp, swaying and shining under the lamp's brilliant radiance.

Was this solidified?

While Xu Jin was puzzled, he looked at the jade tablet again.

【First-Tier Arena Platform】

【Arena Master: Xu Jin】

【Received Star Favor; worship once daily to obtain a wisp of starlight】

【Star Lamp: Solidified Star Art Basic Star Shield; can be changed in eight days.】

【Nourishable Items: Zero】

【Star Art: Basic Star Shield, already solidified】

【Can ascend tier】

The changes in the information on the jade tablet made Xu Jin understand what had happened in an instant: the solidification was a success.

So, what was the use of solidifying this Star Art?

Xu Jin immediately sank his consciousness into the Star Lamp to experiment.

In less than a minute, a look of surprise appeared on Xu Jin's face; he had already understood the effect of the solidification, at least the effect of practicing martial arts within the Star Lamp.

The effect was similar to the effect of the Five-Battle Killing Fist at perfection.

Previously, when Xu Jin performed the "Harmony of Yin and Yang" move within the Star Lamp, he was already able to manifest a Star Shield every time.

But currently, Xu Jin's "Harmony of Yin and Yang" move was only at the initial success stage; he had to finish one move consisting of three forms before he could seal a Star Shield with star power.

However, after solidifying the Basic Star Shield, he could seal a Star Shield with every gesture.

Just like what the bearded Cui had demonstrated earlier.

So, now Xu Jin could manifest a Star Shield at will within the Star Lamp, but what about in reality?

At this thought, Xu Jin's little heart began to thump wildly and uncontrollably.

Because if this were true, its value... would be immeasurable.

According to the bearded Cui, he had practiced bitterly for five or six years to bring the Five-Battle Killing Fist to its current realm, only then being able to use these few basic Star Arts with ease and trigger them at will.

But if Xu Jin could do it just by solidifying it, then...

At this thought, Xu Jin said a word to Qian Xiaohu, who was still pondering, and left early. He couldn't wait to try it; he wanted to know if he could manifest it at will in reality after solidifying the Star Art within the Star Lamp.

The Dao Academy was quite large, and there was a small grove behind the dormitories. If it were his previous life, it would definitely be a holy land, but now it was a leftover land, empty of people, which was convenient for Xu Jin.

First, Xu Jin performed one "Harmony of Yin and Yang" move in the grove.

With one move consisting of three forms, as the star power within his body surged forward continuously, in the third form, Xu Jin successfully sealed a Star Light Shield on his chest. Looking at this Star Light Shield, Xu Jin was overjoyed.

In this world, he had finally manifested his first basic Star Art, which could be considered having a bit of capital for self-preservation.

This Star Light Shield barely protected most of his chest and abdomen; it could only be because he hadn't broken through to the first layer of Meal of Mist yet that he couldn't make it appear on any part of his body or guide its movement like Instructor Cui could.

The star power consumption was also not small.

Just when he sealed the Star Shield, Xu Jin discovered that the star power within his star patterns had directly decreased by a quarter. Now, maintaining it continued to consume star power, but the consumption while maintaining it was very low.

With Xu Jin's current star power limit, he could perform the Five-Battle Killing Fist twice and a bit more. Based on this calculation, Xu Jin could currently manifest a Star Art like the Basic Star Shield at most four times before his star power would hit rock bottom.

Based on this inference, the wisp of starlight Xu Jin introduced into his body from the Arena Platform could support Xu Jin in practicing the Five-Battle Killing Fist ten times, so one wisp of starlight could support Xu Jin in manifesting the Basic Star Shield twenty times.

With a slight movement of his mind, the Star Shield manifested by the Killing Fist dissipated. Xu Jin's consciousness slightly guided the Star Lamp, and the star patterns on the surface of the Star Lamp flashed slightly, immediately triggering the star power within Xu Jin's body. In an instant, a Star Shield condensed in front of Xu Jin's chest.

This super-fast speed made two words appear in Xu Jin's mind in an instant.

Instant cast!

Xu Jin estimated that with the Five-Battle Killing Fist at the initial success stage, wanting to manifest a Star Shield in one move of three forms, even if he finished these three forms at the fastest speed, it would still take two or three seconds. If the Five-Battle Killing Fist reached great success, he could manifest a Star Shield with any form, but it would still take time.

About half a second to one second.

Only after the Five-Battle Killing Fist reached perfection could instant casting be achieved; it appeared as soon as the mind moved, which was instant casting.

Of course, it still required time, but this time might be less than 0.1 seconds.

According to the bearded Cui, even those with outstanding talent needed two or three years of bitter practice to achieve instant casting.

Those with average talent might not even be able to achieve instant casting in five or six years.

And Xu Jin, after solidifying the Star Art within the Star Lamp, could do it.

And it could be changed in eight days?

Was it that he could only change to another Star Art to solidify after eight days?

Xu Jin carefully observed and studied this Basic Star Shield manifested from the Star Art solidified within the Star Lamp, making a summary. The star power consumed by the two Star Shields before and after was the same.

The size also looked the same.

But he didn't know if it was an illusion, but Xu Jin felt that the solidified Star Shield seemed even thicker and heavier. He didn't know if its defensive power would be stronger when facing an enemy?

He wanted to test it, but he dismissed the thought immediately after.

For one, it wasn't convenient to find someone to test it, and for another, Xu Jin's main goal now was to charge toward the first layer of Meal of Mist; star power was extremely important and could not be wasted.

After all, two Star Shields would consume the star power of one round of Xu Jin's Five-Battle Killing Fist.

Now was a critical moment, and he couldn't waste star power casually.

After all, a five-tael silver Refreshing Pill could only allow Xu Jin to practice the Five-Battle Killing Fist two more times.

The evening class was the same as yesterday. After taking one Blood-Replenishing Pill and one Root-Solidifying Pill, Xu Jin introduced the wisp of starlight obtained from the Arena into his body and practiced the Five-Battle Killing Fist twelve and a half times in one breath; the body-tempering effect was still astonishing.

There was a small interlude in the middle where Xu Jin spent half an hour practicing martial arts within the Star Lamp before the evening class to solve the problem of the "Harmony of Yin and Yang" move manifesting a Star Shield.

Manifesting a Star Shield once would consume a quarter of Xu Jin's star power, which affected body-tempering too much.

If he wanted to solve this problem by himself under normal circumstances, it would be very difficult, but with the Star Lamp, it was relatively easy to solve.

By slightly changing the speed of the fist momentum, he could avoid manifesting a Star Shield without affecting the body-tempering effect.

There were still four days left until the end of the Star-Pointing Season, and the group of youths also became very diligent.

Whether they were youths who hadn't successfully pointed stars or those who had already successfully pointed stars, they were all very diligent.

The youths who hadn't successfully pointed stars were all anxious; there were four days left, and they had to find a way to successfully point stars.

If they failed to point stars, then for the rest of their lives, they could only live a different kind of life.

Many youths began to voluntarily add practice after the evening class ended, but they were persuaded back by Ning Yuchan.

Haste makes waste.

At the final moment, the more anxious they were, the less likely they were to successfully point stars.

On the contrary, if they stabilized their mindset, with the accumulation of the previous two months, it was still possible to successfully point stars.

Many people understood the principles Ning Yuchan spoke of, but very few actually listened and did it.

The youths who had successfully pointed stars were also very diligent.

There were many people taking pills to practice.

After all, as long as they successfully pointed stars, their future in many people's eyes would be different, and their value would also be different; they could still borrow silver or even attract investment.

Xu Jin was not the only one who could think of this point.

It was just that Xu Jin was more proactive.

The reason why the group of youths who had successfully pointed stars were so diligent was mainly because after the Star-Pointing Season ended, if they wanted to stay in the Dao Academy, there were three places to go.

Inner Academy, Middle Academy, Outer Academy.

The difference in treatment in each academy was huge; it could even be said that after the Star-Pointing Season ended, entering which academy was equivalent to entering which social class.

The Outer Academy went without saying; anyone who successfully pointed stars could enter.

The Inner Academy went without saying; it had the top-tier treatment. It was said that the cultivation resources and treatment for entering the Inner Academy were more than ten times that of the Middle Academy.

But the conditions for entering the Inner Academy were hard enough, framed strictly; an A-plus evaluation could enter directly.

Successfully pointing stars within three days was an A-plus evaluation.

An A-middle evaluation, which was pointing stars within ten days, if they could break through to the fifth layer of Meal of Mist by the end of the Star-Pointing Season, they could also enter the Inner Academy directly.

An A-minus evaluation, which was pointing stars within thirty days, if they could break through to the fifth layer of Meal of Mist by the end of the Star-Pointing Season, then there was a possibility of entering the Inner Academy.

Therefore, Ren Xiaoxiang, Lu Xianbing, and Zhou Du, who pointed stars in twenty-one days, were exceptionally desperate.

If they could enter the Inner Academy, their future world would be vastly different.

Others, including Xu Jin, were fighting to enter the Middle Academy.

All the youths who pointed stars understood that after the Star-Pointing Season ended, the Middle Academy and the Outer Academy would be another world.

But a piece of news instantly made entering the Middle Academy the most competitive and the most "rolled" (intensely competitive) thing.

It also made the difficulty of Xu Jin joining the Middle Academy increase exponentially.

(End of Chapter)