Chapter 200: Yang Miao, taking elixir

Star River Secret Realm.

Xu Jin, having just finished a great battle, let out a long sigh and checked his points; he had just broken through 1,000 points.

Currently, he had not yet reached the territory of the Fourth Tier alien races; only by reaching their territory would his points soar rapidly.

Having fought in the Star River Secret Realm for nearly two hours, Xu Jin had gradually come to understand what the All-Hall Competition was truly testing.

The All-Hall Competition tested not just combat power, but even more so, the combat awareness and practical thinking of the many disciples!

Combat awareness and practical thinking were not as simple as just killing more and more alien races.

It involved more consideration of how to preserve oneself and how to allocate Qi.

Because every disciple's Qi was limited, and supplies were also limited.

Even if you reached the Star River battlefield and carried a large amount of supplies, the efficacy of elixirs would significantly diminish if taken consecutively.

Therefore, how to allocate Qi on the battlefield was a profound subject.

Such courses had been taught before, but few disciples understood or valued them.

But once in the actual combat of the Star River Secret Realm, most disciples would realize this and begin to perfect their practical combat thinking.

Take Xu Jin, for example; in two hours, he had reaped over a thousand points, but his Qi consumption in his upper and lower Star Palaces had already exceeded half.

At this rate, Xu Jin's points for today would likely stop at around 3,000.

This was determined by his total Qi capacity.

Now, Xu Jin finally understood thoroughly why many senior brothers and teachers at the National Dao Academy preferred using Star Weapons.

Because the Qi consumption of using Star Weapons to kill enemies was only one-fifth that of Star Arts.

Combat endurance was extremely strong, allowing one to kill more enemies, retain more Qi, and gain more survival time.

Even though Xu Jin had a Super-Grade Star Forge and had undergone the marrow-cleansing process nine times, forging a Flawless Innate Star Body, his Qi was far more vigorous than other genius disciples.

But at most, he only had sixty or seventy percent more Qi than other geniuses.

In places where the Arena could be used, Xu Jin had no worries about Qi, but in places where it could not, Qi became his greatest limitation.

This reminded Xu Jin of the previous Object-Control Star Pattern; he had to find a way to get a sword-shaped or needle-shaped Star Weapon to make up for this shortcoming.

However, at this moment, this was not a difficult task for Xu Jin.

He sat cross-legged on the ground, immediately activating his Star Core to begin drawing Qi into his body.

Aside from the restrictions on elixirs and Star Weapons, everything else in the Star River Secret Realm was exactly the same as actual combat; disciples could recover Qi.

However, for most people, this was not a good method.

Because the speed of recovering Qi was still relatively slow.

If Qi was completely exhausted, it would take two or three hours to fully recover.

Even if half of the Qi was consumed, it would still take one or two hours to recover.

This was where Xu Jin's advantage lay.

His Flawless Innate Star Body allowed his Qi absorption speed to be more than double that of others, and his divine soul power, already strengthened to the Fourth Tier, First Layer, also made Xu Jin's Qi recovery speed super fast.

This advantage was, in fact, overwhelming.

Other genius disciples had weaker divine souls that hadn't even forged a star yet, or stronger ones that had just barely forged one; for instance, the Great Dean's top disciple, Fang Ying, the champion of last year's autumn exam, had a divine soul cultivation of only Refine Star, Third Layer.

Under these circumstances, Xu Jin's Qi recovery was several times faster than theirs.

In just two quarter-hours, Xu Jin's Qi, which had been consumed down to fifty percent, returned to its peak state.

The next instant, Xu Jin once again headed toward areas with denser Qi fluctuations.

Half an hour later, Xu Jin encountered a Fourth Tier ordinary alien.

Without any suspense, he killed it.

This left Xu Jin somewhat disappointed.

To prevent exposure, the Grand Master no longer allowed Xu Jin to charge into the God-Slaying Battlefield.

So Xu Jin had high expectations for this Star River Secret Realm.

If only he could encounter an opponent.

But after encountering the Fourth Tier alien in the Star River Secret Realm this time, Xu Jin found it was the same as the aliens on the God-Slaying Battlefield.

Under these circumstances, there wasn't much challenge for Xu Jin.

When he was at Refine Star, Fifth Layer, the Fourth Tier Condense Star, early-stage aliens already posed no challenge.

Now that Xu Jin was at the peak of Refine Star, Sixth Layer, his actual combat power had improved significantly.

It was likely that Fourth Tier Condense Star, mid-stage aliens posed little challenge to Xu Jin either.

However, if he encountered Fourth Tier Condense Star, late-stage aliens, it would still be quite challenging for him.

He just didn't know how many there were.

While pondering, Xu Jin used one Explosive Thunder Step and one Flame Burst to instantly kill a Fourth Tier Condense Star, Third Layer elite alien.

And Xu Jin's points were soaring.

In the All-Hall Competition Secret Realm.

The atmosphere was slightly awkward.

The teaching exchange meeting held by the Great Dean, due to his selfishness, had ended in a fizzle and was hastily concluded.

Many Deans and Vice Deans were bored and began sitting cross-legged to study Star Arts themselves.

In the Star-Plucking Tower's secret realm, although one could not cultivate, one could study Star Arts and deduce Star Patterns.

But from time to time, they would still glance at the All-Hall Competition disciple point leaderboard.

Currently, only the top hundred were displayed.

Without a doubt, the top four had already dominated the list.

They were Fang Ying, Ye Anshi, Huang Zhen, and Li Jingyang.

These four were the top disciples of the four Great Deans: Fang Shinan, Kou Jing, Pan Hong, and Gao Xuan.

The fifth was Zhang Gongdu, the top disciple of Vice Dean Song Ziye, and the sixth was Qu Changqing, the top disciple of Vice Dean Tang Hui.

Basically, the top four were in one tier, all having exceeded 1,500 points, while those behind had just over 1,000 points.

Disciples after the fiftieth place only had five hundred-plus points, and the hundredth place disciple had around four hundred points.

This showed the importance of the top disciples of each school.

Liu Zhou Qingzhu, who had previously confronted the Great Dean and won, was now radiant and glowing, glancing at the leaderboard from time to time.

She had been keeping a close eye on the ranking of the Liu Feiyan School's disciples, and it was not optimistic.

The top disciple, Yang Miaozhen, was ranked twenty-first with over seven hundred points, and the second disciple, Tang Chuo, had fallen to seventy-third.

But what surprised her most was Xu Jin's ranking; initially low, in just over two hours, he had actually surged to tenth place, with his points just over a thousand.

This greatly surprised Liu Zhou Qingzhu.

If Xu Jin could stay in the top ten, then in this year's All-Hall Competition, the Liu Feiyan School would basically not be ranked last; at worst, contending for second-to-last would be no problem.

This brought great relief to Liu Zhou Qingzhu.

Her disciple Xu Jin had not been pampered in vain.

He was also very reliable at critical moments.

Thinking that she wouldn't have to be ranked last and thus wouldn't have to lead the autumn star-pointing season disciples again, Liu Zhou Qingzhu felt immensely relaxed!

In the last All-Hall Competition, she had been ranked last and had to lead the spring star-pointing season disciples, which eventually led to her own nephew, Yan Chen, looking down on her.

The impact of this on Liu Zhou Qingzhu could be imagined.

Her current relaxation was as great as it could possibly be.

She felt as if everything had become light.

"Eh?"

Suddenly, Vice Dean Shen Wei, beside Liu Zhou Qingzhu, let out a soft sound, drawing her attention. Following Shen Wei's gaze, she subconsciously looked at the All-Hall Competition point leaderboard.

Just one glance, and her gaze froze.

Liu Zhou Qingzhu saw Xu Jin's points rising rapidly.

It jumped almost every second, increasing by several dozen points at a time.

In the span of four or five seconds, Xu Jin's points surged from just over a thousand to over 1,300.

His ranking soared directly from tenth to fifth.

Vice Dean Tang Hui, whose disciple was ranked sixth, didn't mind much, but Song Ziye, the head of the twelve Vice Deans, had his eyes flashing repeatedly; he, who had been lost in thought, instantly focused his attention on the leaderboard.

This was not a good sign.

But fortunately, the points of the other disciples of the Liu Feiyan School were relatively poor.

Even if one Xu Jin surged into the top five, he could not threaten Song Ziye's status as the First Vice Dean.

But he still had to be careful.

On the leaderboard, the points of Song Ziye's top disciple, Zhang Gongdu, were rising steadily and slowly; half an hour later, they reached 1,300 points.

But Xu Jin's points made Song Ziye's face darken.

Xu Jin's points had now reached 1,800, and his ranking remained fifth.

But he was only fifty points away from Li Jingyang.

This made Song Ziye raise an eyebrow.

Was he going to surpass the points of the top disciples of the four Great Deans?

This was a bit monstrous, wasn't it?

The lowest cultivation among the four Great Deans' disciples was Fourth Tier Condense Star, Sixth Layer.

After participating in this All-Hall Competition, these four top disciples should all break through to Fourth Tier Condense Star, Seventh Layer, and then be assigned to positions.

But what was Xu Jin's cultivation?

Just Refine Star, Sixth Layer peak.

This was a bit too monstrous!

A quarter-hour later, Great Dean Gao Xuan woke up from his trance and frowned at the leaderboard. His top disciple, Li Jingyang, had already fallen to fifth place on the leaderboard, while the fourth place was Xu Jin, and his points had already surpassed Li Jingyang's by more than sixty.

"This?"

A quarter-hour later, Great Dean Pan Hong also became spirited and looked at the leaderboard again.

Nothing else; his top disciple, Huang Zhen, had also been surpassed by Xu Jin.

Surpassed by Xu Jin, a Refine Star, Sixth Layer.

This kid...

Suddenly, Great Dean Pan Hong felt some regret; he hadn't completely swallowed his pride back then.

If he had completely swallowed his pride, personally visited Xu Jin's small courtyard, and condescended to recruit Xu Jin, then Xu Jin would definitely have become his disciple.

With Xu Jin's performance today, he would definitely be the champion of the next two or three All-Hall Competitions.

If he was this strong at Refine Star, Sixth Layer, how powerful would his combat strength be at Refine Star, Ninth Layer, or even after breaking through to the Condense Star Realm!

Great Dean Kou Jing also returned to his senses at some point; seeing his top disciple, Ye Anshi, surpassed by Xu Jin by fifty points, he was somewhat silent!

He also felt some regret.

Every autumn exam champion was never bad, no matter what.

Although he knew Xu Jin was the champion back then, he knew Xu Jin came from a farming family in the county and the family could not provide any help, so he lost interest in recruiting Xu Jin as a disciple.

He had just sent a letter to make a gesture.

The four elements of cultivation: Dharma, Companions, Wealth, and Land.

The Academy could solve the Dharma aspect, but the Companions and Wealth aspects often relied on family support.

Especially Wealth, which was even more important.

That was why Kou Jing hadn't been keen on recruiting Xu Jin back then.

But now, with Xu Jin's momentum, Kou Jing felt some regret!

At the head seat, Great Dean Fang Shinan, who had long been lost in thought, also returned to his senses and was staring at the leaderboard.

Although he was expressionless, most people could still see a hint of gloom.

His top disciple, Fang Ying, the champion of last year's autumn exam, had his points surpassed by Xu Jin.

And surpassed by more than a hundred points!

This made the Great Dean feel immense pressure.

He felt that this kid, Xu Jin, could not be suppressed!

With this strength, how could he be so strong?

The points of a Third Tier Refine Star, Sixth Layer autumn exam champion had surpassed the points of last year's Fourth Tier Condense Star, Sixth Layer autumn exam champion.

This was too strong!

If luck was excluded, then Xu Jin's strength...

Suddenly, the Great Dean's heart skipped a beat.

He thought of two words!

Gold Star!

If this was Xu Jin's true combat strength, then could those four Gold Stars have been plucked by Xu Jin?

There really was such a possibility!

Thinking of this, the Great Dean's heart pounded fiercely.

If that were really possible, four Gold Stars!

In the twenty years before the National Dao Academy, there were only three Gold Stars, and that was all due to great fortune!

And now...

【It is enough】

In the All-Hall Competition Secret Realm, Xu Jin's Star-Plucking Token suddenly vibrated, and he received a starlight message from Grand Master Cheng Yuexiao.

Under normal circumstances, the Star-Plucking Token was disabled in the All-Hall Competition Secret Realm.

However, this disabling was achieved through the authority of the Star-Plucking Tower held by Grand Master Cheng Yuexiao.

That is to say, whether it could be used or not was entirely up to Grand Master Cheng Yuexiao's will.

Others could not use it, but the Grand Master could.

It was normal for Xu Jin's Star-Plucking Token to receive a starlight message.

Xu Jin, who was just getting into the swing of killing, curled his lips helplessly; he had just reached the Fourth Tier Condense Star aliens and had only killed a few Fourth Tier Condense Star, Fourth Layer aliens, and now he couldn't continue.

It was truly a bit... disappointing!

But it had to be this way!

The next instant, Xu Jin's Star-Plucking Token vibrated, and the Grand Master sent Xu Jin a map directly, with a light spot marked on it; this should be the location of his senior sister, Yang Miaozhen.

Xu Jin didn't rush over; he found a place and began to recover his Qi again.

In just three quarter-hours, Xu Jin's Qi, which had been consumed down to only thirty percent, was fully recovered.

Subsequently, Xu Jin set off in the direction of his senior sister Yang Miaozhen on the map.

The distance was quite far, and it took a full hour before Xu Jin found Yang Miaozhen.

Being able to encounter Xu Jin by chance, senior sister Yang Miaozhen's surprise was simply indescribable!

This luck was heaven-defying, wasn't it!

During the All-Hall Competition, the National Dao Academy did not forbid disciples from teaming up to fight; it just depended on your luck.

In such a vast Star River Secret Realm, with over three thousand people thrown in, the probability of disciples from the same school meeting was like finding a needle in a haystack, and meeting one whose combat strength was similar enough to fight together was even harder!

Yang Miaozhen's surprise could be imagined.

Xu Jin's combat strength was not weak; if she and Xu Jin teamed up, they could definitely gain more points.

In this way, the Liu Feiyan School's ranking in this year's All-Hall Competition would not be too bad.

At the very least, it wouldn't be last!

If it wasn't last, then the goal was achieved!

"Junior Brother Xu, how about we team up?" Yang Miaozhen took the initiative to extend an invitation.

Xu Jin had originally come with the intention of teaming up, so when Yang Miaozhen invited him, he was even more eager and agreed on the spot.

Yang Miaozhen was still mixing in the area where Third Tier Refine Star, Ninth Layer and Fourth Tier, First Layer aliens appeared.

After teaming up, Xu Jin, based on his previous experience, directly led Yang Miaozhen to kill toward the more core area.

"Junior Brother, we have already killed into the area of Fourth Tier, Second Layer aliens, and Fourth Tier, Third Layer aliens have already appeared. If we advance further, we might encounter Fourth Tier, Fourth Layer or even Fifth Layer aliens. Isn't this too reckless?" Yang Miaozhen was very cautious.

"Senior Sister, let's test our limits. Anyway, with the two of us working together, retreating safely is no problem; at worst, we can just retreat."

"Okay!"

After agreeing, in less than a quarter-hour, Yang Miaozhen felt great.

It felt like she was directly taking off.

Working with Xu Jin was too great.

Xu Jin was slightly faster; he would take a step forward to restrict the enemy with a Zhou Xinghuo Rope or Zhou Xinghuo Ring, and sometimes he would use Thunder Arrows to slow the enemy down. At this time, Yang Miaozhen would step forward, her long spear like a dragon, one shot per enemy!

Points began to take off.

In the All-Hall Competition Secret Realm.

As Xu Jin's point growth began to become extremely slow and his ranking gradually fell, the Deans and Vice Deans also breathed a sigh of relief.

Luck!

It seemed that Xu Jin had coincidentally found a small alien tribe in the Star River Secret Realm and had slaughtered them to gain a large number of points, rapidly improving his ranking.

Now, his Qi should be almost exhausted, his luck had run out, his points were no longer increasing, and his ranking was beginning to fall.

This was a common occurrence!

In previous All-Hall Competitions, such things were very common.

Seeing Xu Jin's ranking gradually fall from first to fourth, sixth, and eighth, Great Dean Fang Shinan was also somewhat disappointed.

A certain thought that had just ignited in his heart was also extinguished.

He shook his head with a bitter smile; it seemed he had overthought it.

This Xu Jin was just lucky for a moment!

And it should be luck gained from recklessness.

Many disciples participating in the All-Hall Competition for the first time often encountered this situation; they didn't know how to allocate Qi, and when they encountered a large group of aliens, they would go crazy with output, and after a burst of points, they would have no follow-up power.

Those with bad luck would even be killed by aliens due to lack of Qi and withdraw from the competition!

Clearly, Xu Jin was in this situation, just with better luck, not being killed by alien powerhouses.

At this moment, he should be recovering Qi in some corner.

Waiting for Qi to recover would take two or three hours, and wanting to surpass the points again would be very difficult!

Vice Dean Liu Zhou Qingzhu was also slightly disappointed, but still quite happy.

Her disciple Xu Jin had worked very hard for her.

Liu Zhou Qingzhu knew about Yang Miaozhen looking for Xu Jin.

However, even if he maintained his current points, Xu Jin had already made a great contribution to the Liu Feiyan School.

One-third of the time for the All-Hall Competition had already passed.

At the same time, one-third of the disciples had already died in the secret realm and withdrawn from the All-Hall Competition.

Next, they could only watch the performance and ranking of other disciples.

In these four hours, her top disciple Yang Miaozhen's ranking had fallen by one place, to twenty-second.

This made Liu Zhou Qingzhu feel somewhat sorry.

Yang Miaozhen had good talent and was hardworking enough, but without family support, her cultivation resources were very limited.

No way, this was reality!

While sighing, Liu Zhou Qingzhu's gaze suddenly moved.

Liu Zhou Qingzhu suddenly saw Yang Miaozhen's ranking jump up by one.

It jumped to twentieth place.

Liu Zhou Qingzhu didn't pay much attention; a fluctuation in ranking was normal.

But the next instant, Yang Miaozhen's points surged by over a hundred, and her ranking jumped from twentieth to eighteenth.

This change made Liu Zhou Qingzhu happy, and she subconsciously looked again.

She was shocked again!

In just this second, Yang Miaozhen's ranking had changed again!

Sixteenth!

This made Liu Zhou Qingzhu extremely surprised.

Her top disciple's performance was somewhat eye-catching, but still at the level of a normal tail-ender.

Beside her, Vice Dean Shen Wei started chatting with Liu Zhou Qingzhu again; out of politeness, Liu Zhou Qingzhu accompanied him for a few sentences, and when she looked back, she sat up straight abruptly.

Yang Miaozhen's ranking had jumped to eleventh!

This made Liu Zhou Qingzhu mutter, "This girl, so fierce, could it be she took aphrodisiacs?"

Beside her, Shen Wei's eyes also widened abruptly!

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 201 =====