Chapter 195: Dongfang Bubai

As the Shenjin Dan entered his abdomen and its medicinal power unraveled, Xu Jin suddenly shuddered.

The medicinal power was too potent.

When the cool soul-force dispersed, it felt like ice, causing Xu Jin to shiver violently.

In that same instant, the soul-star in Xu Jin's Shang Xinggong also sensed the surging, overwhelming soul-force and instantly began spinning at high speed.

Like a ravenous beast, it devoured the soul-force generated by the Shenjin Dan.

Each layer of stellar halo glowed brightly.

The ninth layer of halo was rapidly solidifying, becoming perfectly complete, and Xu Jin's cultivation base was rising swiftly.

Two hundred breaths later, the ninth layer of Xu Jin's soul-star reached its peak—Soul Ninth Layer, Apex.

Xu Jin knew the moment had come for his soul-star to break through to Condensation.

With a thought, the soul-star rotated, directing the absorbed soul-force to a corner of his Shang Xinggong, while Xu Jin guided that force with his mind to inscribe the stellar pattern.

The pattern inscribed was naturally the Chengpo Stellar Pattern.

After being personally guided by Lao Qi to inscribe the Chengpo Stellar Pattern once, Xu Jin could now do it himself—and with great speed.

Lao Qi had previously told Xu Jin that the Chengpo Stellar Pattern was the foundation of all soul-stars; even the second, third, fourth, or fifth soul-stars after Condensation must be built upon the Chengpo Stellar Pattern.

On the surface, the Chengpo Stellar Pattern seemed to have little effect, but soul-stars built upon it were stronger than ordinary ones, and could gradually strengthen the soul, stabilize it, accelerate its recovery, and heal soul injuries with remarkable efficacy.

Most crucially, the more Chengpo Stellar Patterns, the stronger the effect.

Especially in the gradual growth of soul-force, one Chengpo Stellar Pattern was barely noticeable, almost imperceptible, but with two or even three, the effect became increasingly strong and obvious.

Some in the Lingji Star Hall deliberately inscribed multiple Chengpo Stellar Patterns to rapidly strengthen their soul-force.

The reason was simple: the power of soul arts depended entirely on soul-force.

The stronger the soul-force, the greater the power of the soul arts.

As the saying goes: one powerful technique can conquer all.

It's better to learn fewer soul arts, cultivate overwhelming soul-force, and defeat enemies with a single decisive move than to learn ten or eight weak, ineffective ones.

Previously, Qi Shanye had advised Xu Jin that if his soul cultivation reached Soul Seventh Layer or higher, he should inscribe an additional Chengpo Stellar Pattern on his first soul-star to accelerate soul-force growth.

Xu Jin remembered the advice but had never acted on it.

The main reason was that soul cultivation advanced extremely slowly.

Many sixth- and even seventh-rank experts had soul cultivation only at Condensation Early or Mid-stage.

Condensation Late-stage was rare.

Compared to star-force, soul-force rose far more slowly, and the relevant heavenly treasures and elixirs were even scarcer.

Under these conditions, the number of available stellar pattern slots was limited.

So Xu Jin had not rushed to inscribe a second Chengpo Stellar Pattern.

But now, at Condensation, he must inscribe a second Chengpo Stellar Pattern.

Xu Jin planned to wait until the second Chengpo Stellar Pattern was successfully inscribed, test its effect, and then decide whether to inscribe a third or even a fourth.

Xu Jin's longstanding belief was: trust your master, remember his advice, but never blindly follow—what suits you best is always the best.

Thirty breaths later, Xu Jin completed the second Chengpo Stellar Pattern with a single mental stroke; the moment the pattern formed, spiritual light flared and immediately began absorbing medicinal power to strengthen itself.

At the same time, Xu Jin used the power of his first soul-star to activate the rotation of the second Chengpo Stellar Pattern.

As the Chengpo Stellar Pattern spun, its rate of absorbing soul-force increased, its rotation accelerated, just as when Xu Jin first forged his soul-star.

Less than half an hour later, a glowing sphere centered on the Chengpo Stellar Pattern took shape—but this was not the end; Xu Jin pushed his mind to continuously expand and compress this stellar core.

The stellar core continued to swell and grow.

After one hour, the soul-stellar core reached the maximum limit the Chengpo Stellar Pattern could contain; the entire Chengpo Stellar Pattern had solidified into the core's internal skeleton and support.

Smooth, round, seamless as one.

In that same instant, the first soul-star, spinning at high speed, generated a field that swiftly drew the second soul-star into alignment; after brief adjustment, the two soul-stars—strong and weak—began rotating in unison.

The soul-light merged completely, shining brilliantly.

Condensation achieved.

But the medicinal power within his abdomen still surged upward.

This filled Xu Jin with joy.

A three-vein Shenjin Dan had helped him achieve Condensation—and still had residue left. How far could it push his second soul-star?

Continue absorbing.

The next instant, the halo of the second soul-star began forming rapidly and growing stronger.

After one hour, the second soul-star reached Soul First Layer, then broke through to Soul Second Layer.

Half an hour later, after the second soul-star surpassed Soul Second Layer Mid-stage, the medicinal power from this Shenjin Dan was completely consumed.

One three-vein Shenjin Dan elevated Xu Jin's soul cultivation from Soul Ninth Layer to Condensation—specifically, Condensation First Layer, Early-stage.

If Xu Jin could forge a third soul-star, he would reach Condensation Second Layer.

But once cultivation reached Condensation, whether soul or star-force, even within Condensation First Layer, strength varied greatly.

This disparity depended on the rank of the second soul-star.

If the second soul-star reached Soul Fourth Layer, then it was Condensation First Layer Mid-stage.

Cultivation-wise, Condensation First Layer Mid-stage was stronger than Early-stage.

But combat power? That was uncertain.

Combat power depended primarily on the strength of one's star arts and stellar patterns, and whether they formed a coherent system.

It was no accident that wandering cultivators with higher cultivation were weaker in combat within their own realm.

Lacking stellar patterns, they were easily overwhelmed one by one, never forming a system—and thus their combat power remained weak.

In inner vision, Xu Jin's Shang Xinggong held two soul-stars, one strong, one weak, rotating in tandem; with a thought, he could draw soul-force from both stellar cores simultaneously.

Compared to before the breakthrough, Xu Jin's soul-force had increased by roughly thirty to forty percent.

Xu Jin tested the Break-Soul Arrow—and was unexpectedly delighted to find its power had surged by half.

In inner vision, he discovered the source.

Previously, when activating the Break-Soul Arrow, only the first soul-star supplied soul-force.

But after Condensation, the second soul-star now also contributed energy.

Within the same activation time, two soul-stars supplying energy meant the Break-Soul Arrow's power would rise dramatically.

This discovery left Xu Jin thoughtful.

This was likely why many experts cultivated only one or two star-force systems.

The more systems one cultivated, the weaker their combat power became at higher levels.

Based on this trait, Xu Jin needed to readjust his cultivation plan.

With this thought, Xu Jin decisively retrieved the Shenjin Dan he had obtained in the Zifeng Star Region.

This Shenjin Dan had been seized from the third-rank Zifeng Star Region expert Zi Yang, originally purchased by Tian Lie of the Tianyang Star Hall, and eventually came into Xu Jin's hands. Upon acquiring it, he had stored it in the Candou Platform to nurture.

Now it had reached three veins.

Since he had started, he might as well consume it now.

Previously, Xu Jin had wondered whether the Candou Platform, now upgraded to fourth-rank, might elevate the elixir to four veins.

This possibility existed, but required testing.

Previously, it took thirteen days to elevate a dan pill to three veins, and nine days to go from two to three veins; following this pattern, elevating to four veins might take about a month.

Too long.

The present is better than the future.

Especially after the assassination attempt, Xu Jin felt that even the greatest theoretical strength meant nothing unless it was real, tangible power—only then could it save you in a crisis.

It was three veins—use it now to boost his strength.

If he later confirmed the elixir could reach four veins, he could easily obtain another Shenjin Dan with his current resources, nurture it to four veins, and consume it later—its effect would still be excellent.

The next instant, another three-vein Shenjin Dan entered his mouth; instantly, a cool sensation surged into his mind, and his soul-stars rapidly strengthened again.

After one hour, the second soul-star in Xu Jin's Shang Xinggong reached Soul Third Layer Apex.

Another hour later, it reached Soul Fourth Layer Apex.

But the medicinal power of this second Shenjin Dan pushed the second soul-star beyond Soul Fourth Layer to Soul Fifth Layer, reaching Soul Fifth Layer Mid-stage before the power was fully consumed.

Soul-force increased by three layers.

And Xu Jin's soul cultivation successfully reached Condensation First Layer Mid-stage.

He tested the Break-Soul Arrow again—its power rose another eighty percent beyond its previous level.

This filled Xu Jin with confidence.

His chances of seizing Can Cui Star rose once more.

At this point, Xu Jin had exhausted his most precious elixirs for boosting soul-force.

He still had nineteen Longgui Duanpo Pills left, which he planned to nurture to three veins before consuming—perhaps they could push his soul cultivation to Condensation Second Layer?

Of course, he would still reserve a few for Ning Yuchan.

At this point, the vacant stellar pattern slots on Xu Jin's soul-stellar cores totaled eight.

His first soul-star core had ten slots total; he had inscribed Chengpo, Guicang, Nixiang, Wenmeng, Zhenyi, and Posha—six patterns, leaving four empty. His second soul-star core had five slots total; only one Chengpo pattern was inscribed, leaving four empty.

The stellar pattern slots on the second soul-star core must be filled with a coherent, matched set—so he must proceed with extreme caution.

But the four vacant slots on the first soul-star could be inscribed now.

With the second soul-star as his primary combat foundation, the first soul-star's patterns should prioritize practicality.

After some thought, Xu Jin retrieved from the Candou Platform the jade slip containing the Lingji Star Hall's soul inheritance left to him by Lao Qi.

Star power and soul-force input flowed in; light shimmered and instantly shattered the seal left by Old Qi, and three star runes appeared before Xu Jin.

These three soul-force star runes were Illusion, Object Control, and Dread.

The Illusion star rune, fourth-rank upper, could draw a target into an illusion through soul attack, and when combined with star mist, could also generate illusions—it was one of the component star runes of the Doppelganger Technique.

Dread, fifth-rank lower, was a soul-attack star rune capable of both area and single-target effects; it could instill fear in the target, awakening and amplifying their deepest terrors until they were utterly disrupted, creating openings for combat.

These two star runes were fairly standard—exactly as Xu Jin had expected.

From the descriptions, it was clear that neither rune had strong single-target power, but when combined with other star runes, their effects changed entirely.

Xu Jin immediately thought of pairing Break Evil with Dread—this would surely enhance the power of the Break Evil Arrow.

Once this rune was successfully engraved, next time he used the Can Dou Platform for simulation, Xu Jin might try evolving a soul-force star technique.

But what surprised Xu Jin most was the Object Control star rune—especially the description provided by the Lingji Star Temple.

Object Control: fifth-rank upper star rune, extremely potent; it had once been the most vital foundational star rune of the Lingji Star Temple's Object Control Sect, and also one of the core component runes for spatial teleportation.

From this description alone, it was clearly important.

But the Lingji Star Temple's mention of an "Object Control Sect" struck Xu Jin as deeply intriguing.

Object Control Sect?

Sword Control?

Could the Lingji Star Temple have sword-controlling star adepts?

The moment Xu Jin entertained the thought, the possibility grew more plausible.

Star artifacts.

Star artifacts—good ones—could change size at will.

Like the fourth-rank star artifact boots Xu Jin now wore, they could adjust size automatically to fit any foot, whether large or small.

What if he obtained a sword-shaped star artifact?

Could it fulfill his dream of flying by sword?

Entirely possible!

As for the related star technique combinations, others dared not attempt them.

But Xu Jin dared.

Not out of recklessness—he had the Star Lamp's evolution ability.

If he based it on Object Control and evolved it with other star runes, he might actually succeed.

Worst case, even the Golden Star could trace the Dao.

If all else failed, controlling a needle for embroidery would still be terrifyingly potent.

Appearing and vanishing without trace, slaying enemies unseen.

What would that be?

An alternate-realm version of Dongfang Bubai?

But the advantage? No need to castrate himself.

If he could truly make it, that would be excellent.

In an instant, Xu Jin was brimming with interest.

Decided—he would spend the next few days focusing entirely on evolving these three star runes within the Star Lamp.

First, evolve these three soul-force star runes and engrave them onto his first soul-force star.

The star rune positions on his second soul-force star must not be disturbed lightly.

Having made his decision, Xu Jin slowly rose and stretched comfortably.

A highly rewarding night.

Suddenly, Xu Jin noticed the small leather pouch he had picked up and retrieved during the assassination attempt.

Inside was a jade gui.

He had never opened it, fearing tracking, and had stored it directly inside the Can Dou Platform.

Now, with his soul-force cultivation having advanced greatly, he should be able to examine it.

In the next instant, Xu Jin retrieved the captured jade gui, activated the Tranquil Will star rune, and poured his intent into it!

(End of Chapter)