Chapter 149: Minglun Hall Meeting (First update)

Before learning the mid-tier fire source star pattern, Xu Jin had not felt the effect of the Red Scale Heart.

But when he was livering the mid-tier fire source star pattern with all his might in the star lamp, the effect of the Red Scale Heart was presented to Xu Jin almost explosively.

Xu Jin engraved this mid-tier fire source star pattern with extreme smoothness.

After only a hundred times, he succeeded once.

Like the Whale Swallowing and Rain Curtain star patterns, as well as the Wenmeng star pattern, when Xu Jin livered them in the star lamp, it took at least two hundred times before he could succeed once.

Like the fifth-tier Whale Swallowing star pattern, Xu Jin livered it at least three hundred times in the star lamp before succeeding once; one hundred percent success took over a thousand times.

For fourth-tier star patterns, one hundred percent success generally took over six or seven hundred times.

But for this fourth-tier upper-grade mid-tier fire source star pattern, Xu Jin had only livered it less than three hundred times in the star lamp, and he had already achieved one hundred percent success.

It was the star pattern Xu Jin had engraved the fastest in his history.

It was even faster than the engraving speed of third-tier star patterns.

And when engraving, Xu Jin clearly felt that the two Red Scale Hearts below the Spirit Star were flashing, seeming to echo Xu Jin.

At this speed, the mid-tier fire source star pattern that Xu Jin originally estimated would take a day to liver successfully was livered successfully in less than half a day.

That same evening, he began to engrave the mid-tier fire source star pattern directly on the first layer of the star halo of the Star Gathering Star Core in his Middle Shang Xinggong.

And at this time, the anomaly of the Red Scale Heart was thoroughly displayed.

The moment Xu Jin began to actually engrave the mid-tier fire source star pattern on the star core, the two Red Scale Hearts in his Upper Shang Xinggong released red light simultaneously, shining incessantly.

Xu Jin felt something in his heart, and his mind moved slightly.

The next instant, the two Red Scale Hearts appeared in Xu Jin's Middle Shang Xinggong. Under the shroud of red light, the engraving process was extremely smooth and extremely fast.

It was done in one go.

A fourth-tier upper-grade star pattern was engraved in less than a hundred breaths.

Almost the moment the mid-tier fire source star pattern engraving was completed, the Star Gathering Star Core in Xu Jin's Middle Shang Xinggong turned red, igniting layers of fire light, which was awe-inspiring!

Looking at this scene, Xu Jin suddenly laughed.

After working hard for so long, he finally turned from a "whiteboard mage" into a fire-element mage.

Not bad.

The increase in lethality brought by the mid-tier fire source star pattern was definitely far stronger than the primary fire source obtained from the Fire Spirit Protection before.

However, Xu Jin also thought of a possible combination to increase power.

Now that his mid-tier fire source star pattern had been successfully engraved, if he offered a Fire Spirit Star Core and then chose primary fire source protection, would it have a bonus to the power of his star arts?

How big could this bonus be?

If he offered two Fire Spirit Star Cores and both chose primary fire source protection, would the effects overlap?

After overlapping, how big would the increase in power be?

This point needed to be tested well.

After thinking about it, the third-tier practice secret realm was not easy to test, because this test required the test subject to cooperate actively.

Fairy Zuiyue was a good candidate.

She was definitely in the third-tier practice secret realm at the moment; as long as Xu Jin sent a star light transmission to her, she would definitely help.

But this was also considered a secret, and Xu Jin didn't want outsiders to know.

After thinking it over, the Killing God Battlefield was the most suitable for testing.

There were many enemies, and currently, at the forty-ninth level, he was encountering enemies at the fifth layer of Star Refinement, as well as supreme-grade star forging mini-bosses; the test was sufficient.

However, Xu Jin did not rush to enter the Killing God Battlefield.

Instead, he began his evening lesson.

The daily morning and evening lessons absolutely could not be stopped.

After consuming two First-Nourished Star Refinement Elixirs and one First-Nourished Top-Grade Star Refinement Elixir, the star halo around the Mingji Star Core in Xu Jin's Lower Shang Xinggong flowed, representing that his cultivation base had also reached the peak of the first layer of Star Refinement, and he could also engrave star patterns.

After tomorrow's morning lesson, he could break through to the second layer of Star Refinement.

But Xu Jin was thinking about two things.

One was how to engrave the star patterns of the Lower Shang Xinggong.

Currently, Xu Jin had a very rich collection of star patterns, with four star patterns to choose from for engraving on the Lower Shang Xinggong: the fourth-tier upper-grade Rain Curtain, the fifth-tier mid-grade Whale Swallowing, the fourth-tier upper-grade Willow Catkin, and the fourth-tier upper-grade Meteor.

Among them, the first two star patterns were already livered and could be engraved at any time.

The latter two star patterns were not yet livered, but it was only a matter of a day or two.

But how to engrave them was a big problem.

The second was that the benefits of the Killing God Battlefield still needed to be maximized.

As teacher Liu Zhou Qingzhu said, the rewards of the Killing God Battlefield could be used as a supplement to cultivation resources.

But in Xu Jin's view, if the rewards of the Killing God Battlefield could truly be maximized, then it would not be a supplement to cultivation resources, but a large amount of cultivation resources.

This afternoon, Xu Jin only challenged to the forty-ninth level in the Killing God Battlefield, not because he had reached his limit.

He was still far from Xu Jin's limit.

It was just that Xu Jin felt it was a bit strenuous, and his strength at the peak of the first layer of Star Refinement still had a large room for improvement, which was why he withdrew.

According to the rules he personally experienced before, if Xu Jin were to challenge the fifty-first level now, the base reward should be six Dao merits.

But if Xu Jin were to break through to the second layer of Star Refinement before breaking through, then the base reward should decrease by one point, becoming five points.

After one round, he would lose fifty-five Dao merits.

If he challenged another twenty or thirty levels, then what he would lose would be hundreds of Dao merit rewards.

So Xu Jin planned to challenge the Killing God Battlefield once more after engraving the star patterns on the Lower Shang Xinggong and before breaking through to the second layer of Star Refinement tomorrow, and then challenge to his limit.

In this way, he could maximize his Dao merit gains.

However, what star pattern should be engraved on the Lower Shang Xinggong?

As a student, asking questions without shame is a good habit.

This time, Xu Jin chose to consult Old Qi.

He sent a very long starlight message directly to Old Qi, who was unknown tens of thousands of miles away, via starlight. Besides greetings, he explained the difficult choices he was facing and asked about all four star patterns he possessed, as well as his future star pattern planning, all within this long starlight message.

Saving money!

It's not shameful!

It's not like he's a scion of a noble family!

Besides, billionaires aren't necessarily all extravagant and wasteful.

Old Qi's reply did not come immediately.

So Xu Jin chose to continue asking.

Although he now called Ning Yuchan "Sister Yuchan," asking a cultivation question was still very normal.

"Xu Jin, actually, the engraving of star patterns in the Star Refinement Realm doesn't need to be too tangled, and you can't pursue perfection.

If you pursue perfection, your improvement in strength will be greatly limited.

Because theoretically, engraving fire-element star patterns on the same star core provides the greatest and most convenient increase in power.

Many high-level star arts require engraving several star patterns on one star core to be cultivated.

But in the Star Refinement Realm, what's important is improving your combat power and life-saving strength to obtain more cultivation resources and prospects.

Once you condense stars, the Middle Shang Xinggong can condense up to nine star cores; for the other eight, you can slowly pursue perfection."

Speaking of this, Ning Yuchan paused, "If I were you, for my Lower Shang Xinggong star core, my first choice would be speed star patterns. Speed-type star patterns have very strong effects in both life-saving and attacking."

"Then for the second star pattern in your Middle Shang Xinggong, you can choose Rain Curtain! The Rain Curtain star pattern has strong defense and is also very useful for assisting attacks, which can improve the power of your star arts to a certain extent."

Xu Jin chatted with Ning Yuchan for about half an hour, talking in great detail and benefiting a lot.

The basic direction for engraving star patterns in the future was now clear.

When Xu Jin returned to his quiet practice room, Old Qi's star light transmission arrived.

It was also an extremely long star light transmission, not knowing if it was to save starlight or to answer Xu Jin's questions in one breath.

Old Qi first stated his current state. His injuries had basically recovered, and he was very safe, but he would be unable to return to Xu Jin's side in the short term.

The main reason was the damage to his strength.

Old Qi did not mention the broken arm to Xu Jin, only saying that last time, to escape Hu Xuechuan's attack, his sixth-tier star artifact, the Star-Shattering Awl, was completely destroyed, which damaged his strength.

Confronting Hu Xuechuan head-on would be at a disadvantage.

So he wouldn't return for the time being.

However, Xu Jin could contact him at any time through star light transmission.

Regarding the matter of engraving star patterns, the first half was similar to what Ning Yuchan said.

In the Star Refinement period, with at most two star cores and twenty star patterns, one absolutely must not pursue perfection.

Pursuing perfection will only greatly reduce the speed of combat power improvement.

One should improve combat power and life-saving ability as much as possible without burying hidden dangers.

Historically, geniuses from several major Star Palaces, including several geniuses from the Lingji Shang Xinggong, were those who excessively pursued perfect star pattern combinations; their cultivation bases were already in the late Star Refinement stage, but their star pattern slots remained empty, leading to low strength and premature death.

Geniuses who grow up are the true geniuses.

And usually, geniuses might face more risks than ordinary disciples.

Regarding Xu Jin's existing star pattern combinations, Qi Shanye also gave Xu Jin suggestions.

Xu Jin's Middle Shang Xinggong is based on the Great Gathering Star Pattern, with vigorous star power. Now that he has engraved the mid-tier fire source star pattern, it is the main combat star pattern. Later, if there are different fire-element star patterns, he can continue to engrave them. At the second layer of Star Refinement, it is suggested that Xu Jin engrave the Rain Curtain star pattern. At the third layer of Star Refinement, if there is no suitable star pattern, he can engrave the Whale Swallowing star pattern.

The Whale Swallowing star pattern is a very strange and wonderful star pattern; if the timing is grasped well, it has the ability to turn the tables at critical moments.

After the fifth or sixth layer of Star Refinement, if there are two or more vacancies in the star pattern slots of the Middle Shang Xinggong, one can consider adding another mid-tier fire source star pattern.

Although overlapping a mid-tier fire source star pattern in the same star core can only increase the power of Xu Jin's fire-element star arts by at most twenty percent, in actual combat, the gap of these two layers of power is also very large.

For the Lower Shang Xinggong, Old Qi's suggestion is to engrave as many different types of speed star patterns as possible, which can become Xu Jin's speed star core in the future.

The Mingji star pattern and speed-type star patterns are also a perfect match; whoever uses them knows.

The Meteor star pattern and Willow Catkin star pattern are a must.

But Old Qi strongly suggested that Xu Jin should engrave an additional Whale Swallowing star pattern on the speed star core of the Lower Shang Xinggong.

The auxiliary effect of the Whale Swallowing star pattern is very strong, especially suitable for Xu Jin's previous "kite-flying" combat tactics.

Old Qi knew and highly praised Xu Jin's previous kite-flying combat tactics.

Old Qi said that Xu Jin's previous kite-flying combat tactics had to rely on enemies and star ropes to be executed.

But if the Whale Swallowing star pattern is engraved on the speed star core, as long as Xu Jin is willing, he can execute the kite-flying combat tactics anytime, anywhere, and his movement technique will be even more strange.

As for what comes after, it depends on what kind of star patterns Xu Jin can obtain.

Old Qi's suggestions were slightly different from Ning Yuchan's.

Xu Jin followed the advice.

After thinking about it, he must break through to the second layer of Star Refinement tomorrow.

The prerequisite for maximizing the Dao merit gains of the Killing God Battlefield is that the cultivation progress must absolutely not be delayed.

He cannot stop practicing just to gain a few more Dao merits.

For the two speed star patterns, it will take at least another day to successfully engrave one.

So Xu Jin chose to engrave the Whale Swallowing star pattern on the Lower Shang Xinggong first.

Before coming to the National Dao Academy, Xu Jin had already livered the Whale Swallowing star pattern over a thousand times in the star lamp and had already successfully engraved it one hundred percent.

This time, the actual engraving on the Mingji Star Core of the Lower Shang Xinggong was naturally very smooth and done in one go.

But it was clearly not as smooth and fluid as the previous engraving of the fourth-tier upper-grade mid-tier fire source star pattern.

Especially the time; it took a full two quarter-hours to complete the engraving.

The moment the Whale Swallowing star pattern was completed, an indescribable strange feeling spread throughout his body.

Under the operation of the Whale Swallowing star pattern, Xu Jin felt as if his whole body was covered with vortex funnels, and many movements that could not be completed before were now easily completed.

For example, standing upside down under the eaves.

Before, he could at most hang upside down from the eaves.

Now, Xu Jin was truly stepping on the eaves with both feet, truly standing upside down.

Without any attachments, he only needed to slightly urge his star power, and the suction generated by the soles of his feet could allow him to stand upside down under the eaves.

Not only that.

Xu Jin soon developed a new special skill based on this Whale Swallowing star pattern.

Long-term suspension or standing upside down in the void.

Previously, Xu Jin could also stay in the air for a short time.

But that was just by relying on continuous bursts of star power to stay in the air for two or three seconds.

But now, Xu Jin slightly urged the Whale Swallowing star pattern with force, and any part of his body could generate a star power vortex with quite a large suction, and then hang Xu Jin there.

Suddenly, Xu Jin understood why Old Qi said this Whale Swallowing star pattern was a perfect match for his kite-flying combat tactics.

Before, he had to wrap around the enemy with star ropes to execute the kite-flying tactics, which had very large restrictions.

Now, as long as Xu Jin wanted to execute the kite-flying tactics, he could execute them immediately; the suction of the Whale Swallowing star pattern would generate an invisible, unseen rotating arm that hung Xu Jin.

And Xu Jin discovered that as the amount of star power he invested changed, this invisible rotating arm would become long or short.

That manifested in the kite-flying tactics, allowing Xu Jin, who was rotating at high speed, to be high or low, far or near, slow or fast.

The kite-flying combat tactics were stranger and more practical in actual combat.

Xu Jin estimated that many people would find it extremely troublesome when encountering it.

The improvement in strength made Xu Jin quite excited, and he couldn't wait to go to the Killing God Battlefield to challenge and then fight to his limit.

But Xu Jin had practiced hard for a day today, and his spirit power was less than one-third left.

Since it was the limit, he had to fight to the limit in the best state.

The next instant, Xu Jin's Wenmeng star pattern reached out, and little Jiang Er and Ning Yuchan, who were still chatting, fell into a deep sleep within two seconds.

Xu Jin entered little Jiang Er's dream again, acting as the hero brother who saved his sister.

Making the expression of the sleeping little Jiang Er completely relaxed.

The effect was still very strong.

Little Jiang Er had more and more laughter and smiles these days.

The downside was that she was becoming more and more clingy to Xu Jin.

But the feeling of being clung to was also quite good.

On the morning of August 28th, in the Minglun Hall of the Great Chen National Dao Academy, University Rectifier Master Kou Jing, who was on duty at the Minglun Hall this year, sat high in the main seat, while the other three University Rectifiers and twelve Vice University Rectifiers sat on the left and right of the long table in the Minglun Hall.

At the other end of the long table sat the newly appointed Vice Supervisor Dong Zhao.

And behind the long table, there were several rows of chairs, where nearly a hundred instructors and teachers of the National Dao Academy sat.

According to the rules of the Great Chen National Dao Academy, the Minglun Hall held a teaching meeting every half month, where the University Rectifiers commented on the teaching and cultivation work of each academy hall.

Those who were excellent were encouraged, and those who were insufficient were criticized.

Every meeting's content would invite a Vice Supervisor to come and record it.

It was considered a relatively important internal meeting.

At this very moment, University Rectifier Master Kou Jing, who was on duty at the Minglun Hall, spoke, "Everyone is here, so let's begin! The top priority this month is naturally the cultivation progress of the newly promoted direct and core disciples. You report first."

As soon as these words were spoken, the expression of Vice University Rectifier Liu Zhou Qingzhu became unnatural.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 150 =====