Chapter 154

Before his cultivation base broke through to the second layer of Refine Star, Xu Jin decided to enter the Star-Plucking Secret Realm one more time.

Entering the Star-Plucking Secret Realm a few days ago and being killed in seconds by his own inner demon was a too miserable experience.

But this instead aroused Xu Jin's competitive spirit.

Isn't it said that defeating oneself is the ultimate victory?

Xu Jin wanted to defeat himself now.

Regarding the battle where he was killed in seconds by his own inner demon, Xu Jin had already reviewed it several times.

In fact, it had a lot to do with Xu Jin's own psychology.

The opponents Xu Jin had encountered before, or rather in the Star-Plucking Tower's practice combat, were not too strong, so he had always reserved some strength and had never erupted with full force.

But as soon as the inner demon started, it was a one-hundred-percent output of firepower.

It was equivalent to Xu Jin himself attacking with full force without any reservations.

And then he was killed in seconds.

Xu Jin had already calculated the relevant response tactics several times.

【Star-Plucking Challenge: Can challenge the gatekeeper, or can challenge one's own inner demon】

【Challenger: Xu Jin, first layer of Refine Star】

This time, Xu Jin first chose to challenge the gatekeeper.

The next instant, Xu Jin was brought into a space with changing light and shadows; on the opposite side of the light curtain was a cyan-clothed swordsman holding a long sword upside down, whose face could not be seen clearly.

The moment the light curtain disappeared, Xu Jin erupted with full force in an instant.

His Divine Soul Star turned, he broke the evil, and at the same time, a fire arrow infused with forty percent of his star power blasted out in an instant.

At this moment, Xu Jin erupted with full force without any reservations.

The evil-breaking star pattern was silent, fast, and swift.

The cyan-clothed swordsman, who had just turned into cyan light, had his figure stall violently, fell from the cyan light, and was then blasted into starlight by Xu Jin's fire arrow.

【Victory】

【Challenger, congratulations, you have obtained one copper star】

Xu Jin was stunned.

He felt that winning against this gatekeeper was a bit too easy.

In the perception of the Mingji Star Pattern just now, this gatekeeper was definitely a high-grade Star Forger, but he was taken away by Xu Jin's wave of eruption.

But thinking about it, it was considered normal.

It was just a gatekeeper at the first layer of Refine Star with high-grade Star Forging; Xu Jin himself was a super-grade Star Forger and a flawless innate star body that had been cleansed nine times.

【Star-Plucking Challenge: Can challenge the silver star gatekeeper, or can challenge one's own inner demon】

Seeing this prompt, Xu Jin understood a bit.

This Star-Plucking Challenge was actually conducted along two lines.

The gatekeeper and the inner demon, one line each.

The next instant, Xu Jin took a deep breath, flashed the established tactics in his mind, as well as several testing methods he had thought of before, and then chose to challenge the inner demon.

Starlight flickered.

The man with a tall and straight figure appeared on the opposite side again.

Last time, Xu Jin didn't even realize this was himself.

This figure was indeed as tall and straight as a pine.

The light and shadow disappeared, and Xu Jin and the inner demon moved at the same time.

The moment the inner demon rushed over, Xu Jin directly used the Kite Ring tactic, dodging the extremely fierce lightning snake bombardment unleashed by the inner demon in an instant.

The Star Ring swung out, his ten fingers collapsed repeatedly, and in his Divine Soul Star, the Town-Intent Bell formed by the Town-Intent Star Pattern was driven to the extreme by Xu Jin.

Almost at the same instant, the evil-breaking bombardment occurred, and the light on the Divine Soul Star flourished.

But at the same time, the attack of Xu Jin, who was outputting at full force, also succeeded.

Under Xu Jin's full-force output, the inner demon was directly blasted into starlight.

【Challenger, congratulations, you have obtained one copper star】

The challenge was successful, and Xu Jin breathed a sigh of relief.

The psychological shadow of being killed in seconds by the inner demon before was completely dissipated.

Ten breaths later, the light and shadow in front of Xu Jin changed, and he was pulled into the battlefield again.

This time, Xu Jin challenged the silver star-level gatekeeper.

According to the explanation, it was a gatekeeper whose cultivation base was three layers higher than his own.

It was still that cyan-clothed swordsman, but the aura emitted was that of the peak of the fourth layer of Refine Star.

Very fierce.

As soon as the battle started, Xu Jin still used his previous tactics.

Breaking the evil and a star arrow infused with thirty percent of his star power.

But this time, the evil-breaking bombardment only caused the cyan-clothed swordsman's figure to stall slightly; his divine soul did not suffer heavy damage, his sword light trembled, and his cyan sword shield twisted repeatedly, constantly shredding Xu Jin's star arrows.

Then, he actually took this strike.

But the moment he was about to pounce over, the lightning snake poured down from above his head.

Surprisingly, a cyan vortex appeared and actually swallowed Xu Jin's lightning snake directly.

But the next instant, Xu Jin had already appeared in front of this cyan-clothed swordsman, blasted out a punch, and the fire light erupted repeatedly.

He was blasted into points of starlight in an instant.

【Challenger, congratulations, you have successfully challenged the silver star-level gatekeeper and obtained one silver star】

Xu Jin was also teleported away.

This silver star was obtained in just five seconds.

But Xu Jin knew clearly that most of his means had already been revealed.

But there was no other way.

Xu Jin was currently only at the first layer of Refine Star, and counting fully, he only had four star pattern positions.

Just when Xu Jin obtained the silver star, on the leaderboard of the Star-Plucking Challenge...

The total number of silver stars increased by one.

And the total number of silver stars in Great Chen's Star-Plucking Tower also increased by one, from forty-three to forty-four.

Ten breaths later, Xu Jin started the challenge again.

This time, he chose to challenge the silver star-level inner demon.

For this challenge, Xu Jin specially changed to a star core he had offered, and at the same time, he wanted to make a bold attempt.

As long as it wasn't a consecutive loss, it didn't matter.

The moment the light curtain disappeared, the inner demon launched an attack in an instant, and Xu Jin also erupted with his Flying Star Steps the moment the battle started, retreating far away in an instant.

But the moment he retreated far away, Xu Jin's Clear Soul, Hidden Storage, and Conceal Image star patterns operated simultaneously to drive the star mist, and the next instant, Xu Jin disappeared on the spot.

Subsequently, Xu Jin saw that the inner demon seemed stunned.

It couldn't find the target.

At the place where Xu Jin disappeared, it blasted a wave with fire-type star arts and then started searching like a headless fly.

This performance made Xu Jin think of a possibility in an instant.

Could it be that the inner demon evolved by the Star-Plucking Secret Realm can only evolve star power, and cannot evolve or simulate the situation of the Divine Soul Star?

As for why the inner demon knows the evil-breaking star art, the reason is very simple: the evil-breaking star art is just a conventional divine soul star pattern.

But like the unconventional divine soul star art of invisibility, the inner demon wouldn't know it.

But currently, this is just a guess of Xu Jin's; to confirm it, he would need multiple tests in subsequent challenges.

Two seconds later, the inner demon turned around violently.

But Xu Jin, who had sneaked to the side, erupted violently, and the star light had already blasted onto the back of the inner demon.

At the same time, the Kite Ring tactic was used, he erupted with full force, and the evil-breaking bombardment was blasted repeatedly.

One second later, the silver star-level inner demon dissipated.

The challenge was successful, and Xu Jin obtained another silver star.

As far as Xu Jin felt, with his strength, as long as he erupted with full force, obtaining a silver star was not difficult.

Then what about a gold star?

Ten breaths later, the light and shadow in front of Xu Jin changed, and he was pulled into the battlefield again.

This time, Xu Jin challenged the gold star-level gatekeeper.

This time, the cyan-clothed swordsman had turned into a white-clothed blade-wielder.

The terrifying aura of the peak of the first layer of Condense Star brought endless pressure to Xu Jin from far away.

The moment the light curtain disappeared, Xu Jin erupted with his Flying Star Steps and took the initiative to retreat, taking the opportunity to test invisibility.

But while he was still in mid-air, this white-clothed blade-wielder appeared beside Xu Jin.

With just one blade, he slashed Xu Jin into points of starlight.

Defeated!

A miserable defeat at that!

Subsequently, Xu Jin looked at his harvest in the Star-Plucking Secret Realm: two copper stars and two silver stars, and then he left the main building of Great Chen's Star-Plucking Tower without trying to challenge the gold star-level inner demon again.

After these consecutive challenges, Xu Jin also figured out a pattern.

As far as Xu Jin's own challenge is concerned, the inner demon is stronger than the gatekeeper. This is related to Xu Jin's own strength.

But the evolution of divine soul power is very likely arranged by the Star-Plucking Tower directly according to the cultivation tier, not simulated from the self.

Once he learns special divine soul star patterns in the future, he will know after one try.

The gatekeeper is also very fierce.

Xu Jin's current cultivation foundation can be considered extremely high, the kind that is one in a million.

Defeating a silver star-level gatekeeper who is three tiers higher is normal.

However, a gold star-level gatekeeper whose cultivation base is directly one major realm higher is not something Xu Jin can defeat now.

There is not only the crushing of cultivation base itself, but also the crushing of star arts and star patterns.

However, it doesn't mean it's impossible to defeat.

Xu Jin feels that once his star patterns and star arts form a small system, perhaps there will be a possibility of defeating a gold star-level gatekeeper and obtaining a gold star.

But that would be at the earliest when he reaches the fifth or sixth, or even seventh or eighth layer of Refine Star.

In the early stage of Refine Star, it is impossible.

Besides this, Xu Jin has another doubt — did the inner demon of the Star-Plucking Tower evolve and simulate the Heart of the Red Scale?

Danxia Academy.

In front of the small building where Grand Master Cheng Yuexiao lived, footsteps suddenly sounded, and Peng Zongguan, with a white beard and hair, appeared in front of the small building.

"Come in, Old Peng."

A few breaths later, Peng Zongguan, with a white beard and hair, appeared in front of Cheng Yuexiao, who was dressed in white, with long hair draped over his shoulders, and was currently contemplating.

"What is it?"

"Palace Master, in the Star-Plucking Secret Realm, our Great Chen's silver stars have increased by two." Old Peng said.

"Silver stars increased? And two of them?"

Cheng Yuexiao raised his head, his face already full of joy. "How long ago did this happen?"

"Palace Master, according to the report of the official on duty, it should have increased within an hour."

"An hour? Two silver stars; this means it was a consecutive challenge of the gatekeeper and the inner demon. Who could it be?" Cheng Yuexiao asked curiously.

"This is unclear; the information in the Star-Plucking Secret Realm is too little. Anyway, with my Star-Plucking Token authority, I can't see it." Peng Zongguan said.

"If even you can't see it, I can't see it even more! Thank you for your hard work, Old Peng. When you are strolling around at night, you can also pay attention to whether there are any geniuses in the Dao Academy who haven't been discovered yet."

"I will."

After bowing, the moment Peng Zongguan, with a white beard and hair, stepped out of the small building, he disappeared.

In Grand Master Cheng Yuexiao's mind, however, Xu Jin's face suddenly appeared.

"Could it be this little guy? After all, his performance in the God-Slaying Battlefield is still very astonishing."

While speaking, Grand Master Cheng Yuexiao himself took out his Star-Plucking Token and entered the Star-Plucking Secret Realm, looking at the situation displayed in his Star-Plucking Secret Realm, somewhat lost in thought.

Six silver stars, one gold star.

After a long time, he sighed secretly.

Gold stars are too hard to pluck.

Even as strong as he is, in this life, he has only plucked three gold stars.

And the entire Great Chen has not plucked a gold star for a full twenty years.

This also made the gold star in his hand particularly precious.

One high-tier Dao-Derivation opportunity.

He wanted to use it, but he didn't dare to!

If he used it, the Great Chen National Dao Academy would really have no reserves in this regard!

Dachen Wan Yi, Fang Mansion!

University Rectifier Fang Shinan's mansion is located in the Azure Dragon Ward in the south of the city, which has the best orientation in Dachen Wan Yi, and covers a huge area.

The Fang family is a famous aristocratic family in Dachen Wan Yi; there is one person who was conferred a Duke, one person who was conferred a Marquis in the Star River Battlefield, and three people who were conferred Marquises in Great Chen; it is a truly top-tier aristocratic family.

In recent years, because of the appearance of University Rectifier Fang Shinan, it has appeared even more noble.

As the sky was about to darken, Song Ziye, one of the twelve Vice University Rectifiers, brought his long-term attendant to visit with a gift.

The gift was not valuable, but visiting without empty hands was the rule.

Half a quarter-hour later, Song Ziye was led into University Rectifier Fang Shinan's study.

University Rectifier Fang Shinan naturally knew the purpose of Song Ziye's visit.

After the two sat down as host and guest, and tea and snacks were served, Song Ziye bowed and said, "Regarding the gambling, I ask the University Rectifier to give the student some pointers."

Hearing this, University Rectifier Fang sighed long, "This Xu Jin has extremely strong actual combat ability. I have already asked Meng Qingqiu before; if her cultivation base can be improved to the fifth layer of Refine Star, can she break through the eightieth level? Meng Qingqiu said she has this confidence.

If she invests without regard for the cost, half a month later, Meng Qingqiu's cultivation base could reach the fifth layer of Refine Star in the middle star palace and the fourth layer of Refine Star in the lower star palace; if the star pattern engraving goes smoothly, she should be able to reach about the eighty-eighth level.

She has no confidence in the ninetieth level of the God-Slaying Battlefield."

"About the same; if my student Ji Hongli invests with all her might without regard for the cost, her cultivation base should be slightly worse than Meng Qingqiu's, but reaching about the eighty-fifth level of the God-Slaying Battlefield is not a problem." Song Ziye said.

"But Ziye, you should be clear that this is not the key to the problem.

The key to the problem is, half a month later, what level can this Xu Jin reach?" University Rectifier Fang asked.

"Based on the cultivation speed Xu Jin has shown so far, within half a month, if his cultivation base stops at the third layer of Refine Star, he probably won't be able to break through the ninetieth level." Song Ziye said.

"Ziye, under normal circumstances, Xu Jin's cultivation base will reach at most the third layer of Refine Star in the middle star palace in half a month.

But now, Xu Jin does not lack cultivation resources. The latest news is that Xu Jin was conferred a Third-Class Baron title due to his war merits in the Huoxuan Star Domain, and was rewarded with 10,000 Dao Merits and a thousand strands of starlight!

Just this point alone means Xu Jin will not lack cultivation resources within three months, let alone the fact that Liu Qingzhu will also increase her investment!" Fang Shinan said.

Song Ziye was stunned, and his expression suddenly became incomparably bitter.

"University Rectifier, so to speak, there is no way? Is there no chance even if we fight?"

"Fight, as long as you are willing to part with it, there is a chance, but this winning rate will not exceed ten percent, at most five percent."

Hearing this, Song Ziye's expression became even more bitter.

Charity begins at home is fine, but the premise is not to let him go bankrupt.

One portion was enough to make him suffer a great loss of vitality.

If there were two portions of such cultivation resources, it would almost make him go bankrupt, with several years of work in vain!

A five percent probability...

"Alright!"

University Rectifier Fang Shinan glanced at Song Ziye, wanting to say something but stopping, but in the end, he didn't say anything, just silently sent a message on his Star-Plucking Token.

In the side hall, University Rectifier Fang Shinan's steward, Fang Zhong, was chatting with Song Feng, the long-term attendant brought by Song Ziye.

Don't look at them as stewards and attendants; it depends on who they follow.

When they go outside, their status is still quite high.

At this moment, tea and snacks were not lacking.

A seventh-rank official in front of the prime minister's gate; it is nothing more than this.

Suddenly, Fang Zhong glanced at his Star-Plucking Token and suddenly laughed, "Hey, Vice University Rectifier Song was also pitted by that Liu person, and was dug a big hole."

"Who says it isn't!

A sure thing was ruined by a freak." Song Feng said helplessly.

"I even specially inquired about it today; I think with Xu Jin's cultivation speed, half a month later, he will probably still be in the top three of the God-Slaying Battlefield!" Fang Zhong said.

"Hey!"

Song Feng sighed long; who says it isn't? He was also anxious.

"If you ask me, if you really want to win, there is probably only one way."

"What way?" Hearing that he could win, Song Feng became anxious and hurriedly asked for advice.

But Fang Zhong just wouldn't say. In his anxiety, Song Feng promised two rounds of flower wine, which finally made Fang Zhong open his mouth.

"Currently, if you really want to win, there is only one way — off-board tricks!"

"Off-board tricks?" Song Feng was thoughtful!

Very quickly, Vice University Rectifier Song Ziye left the Fang Mansion. Looking at his master's distressed look, Song Feng suddenly said softly, "Young Master, why don't we use some off-board tricks?

Using some off-board tricks should be a sure win, right?"

Slap!

As soon as Song Feng's voice fell, a slap was fiercely slapped on Song Feng's cheek, directly swelling it up.

Song Ziye's melancholy expression suddenly became sinister, "If you dare to come up with such an idea again, get out!"

One sentence scared Song Feng into kneeling on the ground and admitting his mistake repeatedly, hurriedly promising that he wouldn't dare again.

"Within the lower limits of the rules, how to compete and fight is all fine!

This is allowed by the Grand Master!

But things outside the rules, once used and discovered, are things that will destroy the family and exterminate the sect!

My Song family has stood in Great Chen for hundreds of years without falling, relying on the four words 'treading on thin ice'!

Besides, it's just a dispute of spirit within the National Dao Academy!

If I used off-board tricks and it spread out, how would I still be able to face people!"

After scolding, Song Ziye coldly glared at Song Feng and said, "Was this idea your own, or did someone teach you?"

"Young Master, please see clearly; it was Fang Mansion's steward Fang Zhong who just gave me a hint!"

"Fang Mansion's steward!"

As Song Ziye looked back, his eyes were full of coldness.

(End of chapter)