Chapter 194: Conditions

Inside Xu Jin's Lower Star Palace, the Mingji Star Pattern flared wildly in an instant.

Vast star force and soul power poured like molten mercury, instantly filling Xu Jin's courtyard—this star force he recognized slightly.

It was the Grand National Master's aura.

I have to say, the Grand Master's speed is truly incredible.

In barely a breath, he appeared above Xu Jin's courtyard.

The Grand National Master arrived and, seeing the massive crater and lingering ripples in Xu Jin's courtyard, was equally bewildered.

Just one second later, Peng Lao, the white-haired chief steward, also arrived.

But after a single glance, Peng Lao swiftly vanished into the void.

He realized something was amiss.

Xu Jin was not in danger.

This was a sensitive moment; the Grand National Master's immediate appearance was normal, but if he arrived first, it would suggest excessive attention toward Xu Jin.

After all, he rarely showed his face within the Danxia Academy.

Even other Senior Academicians or Deputy Academicians seldom saw him.

If this reached the eyes of those with ulterior motives, it might draw unwanted attention to Xu Jin.

Less than half a breath after Peng Lao vanished, Kou Jing, the Senior Academician on duty at the National Dao Academy, arrived. Seeing the Grand National Master there, he felt a slight relief and turned his gaze downward.

In the next instant, six or seven more streaks of starlight arrived—it was the other two Senior Academicians and five Deputy Academicians of the National Dao Academy, including Xu Jin's teacher, Liu Qingzhu.

Due to the recent dangerous developments, the National Dao Academy's high-level officials had been stationed permanently.

Xu Jin was being watched.

"No issue—just a disciple practicing a newly learned star technique," the Grand National Master announced, his voice echoing across the academy. The starlight surging from all directions then receded and dispersed.

Inside the courtyard, Xu Jin looked embarrassed.

Jiang Er and Qing Fan, who had rushed out startled moments earlier, stared blankly at the massive crater—especially Qing Fan, who trembled before the senior figures of the National Dao Academy hovering above the courtyard.

"Disciple… just had a new idea for the Flame Explosion technique, so I tried it out…"

Amid the onlookers, Xu Jin awkwardly explained.

"Why not practice in the Star-Picking Tower?" asked Senior Academician Kou Jing.

"Disciple didn't think much—just wanted to test it."

After hearing the answer, Senior Academician Kou Jing glanced at Grand National Master Cheng Yuexiao, who gave a slight nod. Kou Jing then said, "Diligent study and hard practice are indeed the right path!"

"But recent circumstances are tense; the Dao Academy is on high alert."

"If you wish to practice star techniques in combat, either go to the Star-Picking Tower, or practice during daylight hours."

"Disciple understands."

Then, Grand National Master Cheng Yuexiao left without a word. Kou Jing and the other academicians quickly departed as well—this had been a false alarm. Only Xu Jin's teacher, Liu Qingzhu, remained.

Liu Qingzhu landed, touched the ground, and sent out star force, detecting unusual star force ripples—suddenly, he frowned.

"Kid, are you researching a new combined star technique?"

Xu Jin, startled, nodded. "I suddenly had a flash of inspiration and wanted to try it."

Hearing this, Liu Qingzhu nodded. "This is good. Everyone experiences such impulses while cultivating star techniques. But I must tell you: you may test like this, but never casually inscribe them—especially not after Star Condensation."

"New star techniques aren't merely about combining and ordering patterns—they involve whether they can be sustained and improved later, whether other passive star patterns can continue to advance, and the rank of the star patterns themselves."

"After you condense your star core, you'll typically have one or two powerful star techniques per core."

"If inscribed poorly, and if there's no potential for further advancement, you've wasted it."

"The cost of discarding and retraining a wasted star core is far greater than you imagine."

"Disciple understands," Xu Jin said, nodding vigorously.

"If you ever wish to research new star techniques, remember to thoroughly study the elder academicians' handwritten records in the academy's library. Pay special attention to failed or incorrect cases—memorize them well."

"Those cases won't offer you much direct reference, but they'll help you avoid repeating the same mistakes."

"Those are errors the elders paid for with blood—and sometimes, a lifetime of failure!" Liu Qingzhu said sternly again.

"Disciple understands."

A few breaths later, Liu Qingzhu finally left, and Xu Jin exhaled in relief.

"Qing Fan, tomorrow, notify the External Affairs Hall to send a laborer to fill in this crater."

"Jiang Er, have you finished your evening practice?"

Qing Fan nodded. Jiang Er stuck out her tongue and hurried off to complete her evening practice.

Xu Jin returned to his quiet chamber, his heart filled with delight.

It wasn't the alarm raised by the National Dao Academy's senior officials that thrilled him—it was Liu Qingzhu's warning, which made Xu Jin realize the immense value of the Can Dou Platform's evolution function after its upgrade!

Others couldn't afford to make mistakes—but Xu Jin could.

Star technique simulation, star pattern arrangement and combination—he could experiment freely to find the optimal solution.

If others made a mistake, they had to discard their star core and restart—or even halt their entire path.

But Xu Jin simply waited five days and re-simulated.

Truly a divine artifact!

And his gains weren't limited to that.

The Flame Explosion technique also benefited, especially regarding timing of activation and the precise moment star force was introduced.

As for the power of the newly evolved star technique, Xu Jin was pleasantly surprised.

Purely in terms of destructive power, it was no weaker than Flame Explosion—possibly even weaker.

The key was, it could be stacked.

Flame Explosion could only be used once.

But with a single punch, if Xu Jin was willing to expend star force, he could summon three or four, even five or six flame blossoms.

Then detonate them simultaneously.

Worse still, after the flame blossoms exploded, there was a follow-up soul attack.

Even if the initial attack was blocked, the target would still suffer this final soul shock, giving Xu Jin a superior combat opportunity.

Moreover, this soul attack differed slightly from his previous Break-Spirit technique—it was an explosion.

Like a shockwave.

Easier to land. As for its power, further testing was needed.

The only problem was the enormous cost.

Each flame blossom consumed one-tenth of Xu Jin's star force and half a tenth of his soul power.

But the power was sufficient.

Especially now, fully solidified onto the Fourth Star Lamp—instantaneous!

Truly instantaneous!

If Xu Jin cast it himself, he couldn't achieve true instant activation.

Four star patterns, linked one after another, drawing power from different star cores—this always took time.

The difference was obvious.

Xu Jin compared it—he found it even faster than his Flame Explosion.

His Flame Explosion was a combination of Star Explosion and Flame Star Pattern, which could also be activated instantly—but even that required a brief moment.

But once inscribed and solidified onto a Star Lamp, it became truly instantaneous.

Roughly, this new technique could be activated three times before Xu Jin could launch his Flame Explosion twice.

Usually, this made little difference—but in a battle between experts, that tiny time gap meant the difference between life and death.

It needed a name.

What name should he choose?

After pulling out several strands of his hair, Xu Jin finally thought of a suitable name—Soul-Shaking Golden Lotus.

The moment Xu Jin formed this thought, the Star Lamp immediately changed.

【Star Lamp Four: Solidified Technique—Soul-Shaking Golden Lotus】

Xu Jin felt that with Soul-Shaking Golden Lotus as a foundation, his chances of obtaining a Can Star had increased further. He continued studying the other changes of the Can Dou Platform.

Stepping on the Can Dou Platform and performing the Seven Stars Ritual immediately granted him four strands of fourth-rank starlight.

This was expected.

Drawing one strand of fourth-rank starlight into his body instantly replenished the three-tenths of star force he had expended.

The star force capacity of fourth-rank starlight was double that of third-rank starlight.

A few breaths later, Xu Jin placed elixirs and star seals within the Fourth Star Lamp for nurturing.

After upgrading to the fourth-rank Can Dou Platform, each Star Lamp could now simultaneously nurture four elixirs or four star seals, greatly increasing nurturing efficiency.

After thinking it over, Xu Jin placed another star core on the Can Dou Platform's altar.

Another fourth-rank star core—Lei Ling.

For his protective star pattern, he chose Purple Thunder Crash.

Purple Thunder Crash was the signature star technique of the royal family of the Purple Wing clan from the Third-Rank Purple Wind Star Domain—powerful, swift, and fierce.

Xu Jin was offering it now to prepare for future Star-Picking and even Can Star attempts.

Of course, he wouldn't use it unless absolutely necessary during the Star-Picking process.

He must conserve his strength.

At the same time, another thought surfaced in Xu Jin's mind—could the heart demon within the Star-Picking Realm learn Soul-Shaking Golden Lotus after he used it inside the Star-Picking Tower?

This is an issue!

Next time he challenges, Xu Jin must pay special attention to this point.

This upgrade of the Can Dou Platform has yielded tremendous gains.

Aside from not gaining the star-feeding ability Xu Jin had imagined, everything else exceeded his expectations.

What changes will occur when the Can Dou Platform is upgraded to fifth rank next time?

Thinking of this, Xu Jin sank his mind into the Can Dou Platform's jade tablet, to see what was required to upgrade from fourth to fifth rank.

After just one glance, Xu Jin felt he couldn't bear to look further.

The cost of each upgrade rises higher than the last.

The cost to upgrade the Can Dou Platform to fifth rank was like a heavenly price compared to the cost of upgrading to fourth rank.

Xu Jin felt his wealth was again insufficient.

He still had to work hard.

【Upgrade available: Requires ten thousand strands of starlight, eighty-one fifth-rank star jade tablets, ten thousand jin of iron essence, one thousand jin of copper essence, ten thousand jin of silver, one thousand liang of gold, ten jin of starfall iron, ten pieces of thousand-year turtle shell, three feathers of the red sparrow】

Essentially, it was more than ten times the cost of upgrading from third to fourth rank.

A new requirement was added: the red sparrow feather.

But what startled Xu Jin most was the ten thousand strands of starlight.

This must require fourth-rank starlight.

Under normal circumstances, one would need to worship the stars daily for seven or eight years, collecting four strands per day without consuming a single one, to accumulate ten thousand strands.

It seems he must still use fourth-rank star jade tablets to make up the difference.

Nearly ten thousand fourth-rank star jade tablets—this was an absolutely colossal fortune.

In the short term, Xu Jin had no hope of upgrading the Can Dou Platform to fifth rank.

But Xu Jin still looked forward to it—he must strive to upgrade the Can Dou Platform.

So far, every upgrade of the Can Dou Platform had brought Xu Jin tremendous gains.

Fifteen minutes later, Xu Jin calmed his emotions and began cultivation, continuing his rigorous practice of the Middle Star Palace.

After completing cultivation, Xu Jin entered the third-rank Dueling Realm of the Star-Picking Tower, continuing to challenge his ranking in the third-rank Dueling Realm.

Competition in the third-rank Dueling Realm was extremely fierce; if one didn't enter for a single day, one's ranking could drop tens of thousands—or even hundreds of thousands—of places.

Xu Jin estimated that in another three or four days, he could break into the top three thousand of the Star-Picking Tower's third-rank Dueling Realm.

Only then would the real battles begin!

September 23: Xu Jin continued rigorous cultivation, spending longer hours studying in the National Academy's library, determined to complete the Grand Master's task in the shortest possible time and begin ordinary Dao derivation.

In the afternoon, Xu Jin exhausted all five of his opportunities to refine his spirit through the Ascending Stairway.

Xu Jin's spirit cultivation reached the late stage of Star Refining Eighth Layer.

At the current pace, two more Ascending Stairway opportunities would allow his spirit cultivation to break through to Star Refining Ninth Layer.

However, purchasing a single Ascending Stairway opportunity cost ten thousand Dao merits.

Too expensive—Xu Jin couldn't afford it.

Xu Jin directly chose to take pills.

The other Spirit-Stabilizing Golden Core he had obtained had already been triple-impregnated.

It was time to consume it.

He had already taken one Spirit-Stabilizing Golden Core; based on the test results from Ning Yuchan, the second pill—even if triple-impregnated—would have its efficacy reduced by at least forty percent.

But even with a forty percent reduction, it was still enough for Xu Jin to break through to Star Refining Ninth Layer.

Once his spirit cultivation reached Star Refining Ninth Layer, he could consume the Spirit-Refining Golden Core he had obtained over a month ago.

In the next instant, the round, pale golden Spirit-Stabilizing Golden Core was swallowed by Xu Jin; instantly, a cool energy surged to his skull, and the spirit star in his Upper Star Palace began spinning rapidly, swiftly absorbing the pill's potency.

Xu Jin's spirit star's cultivation level rose swiftly, strand by strand.

Soon, it reached the peak of Star Refining Eighth Layer; a few breaths later, the first ring of the ninth-layer star aura appeared, marking Xu Jin's spirit cultivation's official breakthrough into Star Refining Ninth Layer.

But the potency of this Spirit-Stabilizing Golden Core was still active.

Xu Jin urged his spirit star to continuously absorb the remaining energy.

Half a quarter-hour later, the cool energy rising from his abdomen vanished completely, signaling the complete exhaustion of the pill's potency.

Upon inner observation, the ninth-layer star aura of Xu Jin's Upper Star Palace spirit star had advanced past the halfway point.

Slightly beyond Star Refining Ninth Layer mid-stage.

Indeed, the tests performed on Ning Yuchan were correct.

After triple-impregnation, when taking a second pill, the potency is reduced by forty percent, leaving sixty percent remaining.

But even sixty percent was more than sufficient.

The potency of a triple-impregnated Spirit-Stabilizing Golden Core was six times that of an ordinary one.

At sixty percent efficiency, it was equivalent to consuming three and a half ordinary pills.

A tremendous boost.

Xu Jin had decided: he would also have Jiang Er take two Spirit-Stabilizing Golden Cores and two Spirit-Refining Golden Cores.

Of course, Jiang Er would not take them consecutively.

He would gradually administer them to Jiang Er over time.

So as not to accelerate her advancement too quickly.

"Should I attempt spirit star formation all at once?"

With his spirit cultivation now elevated, Xu Jin pondered.

After careful consideration, he made his decision.

His spirit cultivation had already reached mid-stage of Star Refining Ninth Layer; with the potency of a triple-impregnated Spirit-Refining Golden Core, the probability of achieving spirit star formation in one go was extremely high.

Even if he failed, he still had a second triple-impregnated Spirit-Refining Golden Core as backup.

Since the conditions were right, he should achieve spirit star formation sooner rather than later.

After spirit star formation, Xu Jin's cultivation speed and combat power would rise another notch!

Xu Jin retrieved the triple-impregnated Spirit-Refining Golden Core, which had been nurtured for over half a month.

Starlight and golden light intertwined, exquisitely magnificent!

In the next instant, Xu Jin swallowed it directly.

(End of Chapter)