Chapter 206: Authority

Inside the Star-Picking Realm.

The moment the starlight before his eyes vanished, thunderous lightning exploded.

This time, the lightning erupting beneath his feet came not only from Xu Jin, but also from his inner demon.

Both launched direct attacks.

In that instant of sidestepping, intense soul vibrations surged simultaneously from both combatants.

Both employed soul attacks—both were Soul-Shattering.

Within Xu Jin's Upper Star Palace, the Zhenyi Star Pattern instantly transformed into a colossal stele, shielding his Upper Star Palace.

The inner demon's soul attack slammed into it, yet Xu Jin's Zhenyi Stele remained utterly unmoved.

Yet Xu Jin was still deeply startled.

Because the soul cultivation aura of the inner demon at the Fifth Star Level was merely Fifth Star Level, but at the Sixth Star Level, its soul cultivation aura had surged to Seventh Star Level.

Fortunately, Xu Jin's soul cultivation had greatly increased during this period; had it remained at its previous level, the Soul-Shattering attack would have had far less effect on the inner demon.

But now, the Soul-Shattering Arrow fired with his Fourth-Level Condensing Star, First Stage soul cultivation clearly wounded the inner demon's soul.

The starlight around it shattered, and its form plummeted uncontrollably.

Xu Jin followed like a shadow, launching both Thunder Rope and Flame Burst simultaneously.

Within an extremely brief span, as the Star Rope bound the falling inner demon, Flame Burst struck repeatedly.

At the moment the second Flame Burst erupted, the inner demon had already recovered from the soul attack's effects—but it spent a fleeting instant breaking free of Xu Jin's Thunder Rope.

That instant allowed Xu Jin to unleash another devastating Flame Burst.

Only three ultra-powerful Flame Bursts, each infused with sixth-stage spiral star patterns, succeeded in eradicating this Golden Star-level inner demon.

Notably, under Xu Jin's deliberate control, among the high-grade Fire Source Star Patterns, only the sixth-stage pattern glowed; all higher-tier branches remained dormant.

He did this for one purpose alone—Càn Star!

【Congratulations, you have won the challenge. Awarded one Golden Star.】

The moment he received the starlight message, Xu Jin merely reviewed his pre-planned battle strategy against a Golden Star-level guardian in his mind, then selected the challenge.

The next instant, the light before him shifted, and Xu Jin re-entered the realm battlefield—the guardian remained the same green-robed swordsman, but his aura had noticeably strengthened.

He had always assumed that challenging a Golden Star-level guardian was easier than challenging a Golden Star-level inner demon.

The guardian's strength was fixed.

This gave Xu Jin's many star arts ample room to operate, especially his speed.

With Thunder Step fully unleashed, he matched the speed of a Fourth-Level Condensing Star, Sixth Stage guardian.

This advantage was immense.

In contrast, challenging a Golden Star-level inner demon was extremely difficult.

Because under the circumstance of the inner demon possessing one major realm higher cultivation, the inner demon could use every star art Xu Jin knew.

Any star art Xu Jin could perform, when wielded by the Golden Star-level inner demon, would far surpass Xu Jin's own power.

Thunder Step was no exception.

The same Thunder Step, when used by the Golden Star-level inner demon, was vastly faster than Xu Jin's.

Merely in speed, it crushed Xu Jin.

Thus, challenging the Golden Star-level inner demon was extraordinarily difficult; if Xu Jin couldn't end it swiftly, he would be worn down and killed.

In merely five breaths, Xu Jin defeated the Golden Star-level guardian, adding another Golden Star to his collection.

"Outside, the world must be in chaos again!"

But Xu Jin's goal this time was Càn Star.

Golden Stars already threw the world into turmoil for days—what if he plucked a Càn Star?

As the saying goes: Let the storm come even fiercer.

Xu Jin spent twenty breaths mentally reviewing the three pre-planned strategies for challenging Càn Star before beginning.

【Challenge Càn Star?】

【Challenge】

The next instant, starlight before Xu Jin shifted, pulling him into the familiar realm battlefield.

The Golden Star-level guardian and the Golden Star-level inner demon appeared, one in front, one behind, forming an encirclement.

Starlight ignited one by one across Xu Jin's body; for the first time, the Fish Star Pattern in his Lower Star Palace glowed.

Three breaths later, the light barrier vanished—battle began!

In the first instant, thunder flashed beneath Xu Jin's feet—he activated Thunder Step and instantly retreated.

The next instant, both inner demon and guardian chased after him—the inner demon moved with terrifying speed.

But the inner demon did not pursue alone; it slightly slowed, advancing alongside the guardian toward Xu Jin.

Xu Jin sighed inwardly—just as expected.

This was the true difficulty of the Càn Star challenge.

There was no possibility of defeating them one by one.

Facing simultaneous assaults from two super-tier opponents—difficulty rated hellish.

This was also why, in previous attempts, Xu Jin could barely hold out for a minute and a half.

Fortunately, he had prepared extensively this time; otherwise, challenging for the Càn Star would still have been impossible.

One breath later, inner demon and guardian struck simultaneously, once again surrounding Xu Jin for annihilation.

The next instant, Xu Jin punched forward.

A speck of flame-light exploded like lightning, blooming into successive flower buds that entangled the approaching Golden Star-level inner demon.

Soul-Shaking Golden Lotus.

Explode!

At the same instant, the attacks of inner demon and guardian slammed into him!

Xu Jin pushed the Fish Star Pattern to its absolute limit.

Simultaneously, the high-grade Fire Source Star Pattern in his Middle Star Palace blazed fully—Flame Burst!

Directly aimed at the incoming attack from the Golden Star-level inner demon.

At the moment he fully activated the high-grade Fire Source Star Pattern, the flame from Xu Jin's Flame Burst and the radiant light from the exploding Soul-Shaking Golden Lotus suddenly became blindingly intense.

In the void, five stars flickered faintly, as if in response.

Xu Jin felt his flames had gained sentience—his flame-light had become terrifyingly potent.

The Flame Burst before him directly incinerated the Golden Star-level inner demon's attack into nothingness!

As for the guardian's full-force assault, Xu Jin absorbed it outright.

The Fish Star Pattern dissipated at least thirty percent of its power, but to Xu Jin's surprise, the two layers of Rain Curtain Fire Shields shattered only one before stopping the Golden Star-level guardian's full strike.

This filled Xu Jin with immense joy.

Under the activation of the seventh-stage high-grade Fire Source Star Pattern, even the defensive power of the Fire Shields had surged dramatically.

Meanwhile, the exploding Soul-Shaking Golden Lotus instantly scattered the inner demon's starlight, rupturing its Thunder Shield and protective Thunder Aura simultaneously.

Flames erupted across its body, rapidly burning it to ash.

Strike while the iron is hot!

Xu Jin instantly launched a Soul-Shattering Arrow.

But as he fired, a sudden idea struck him.

He should test the combination of Warm Dream and Soul-Shattering Arrow, as the Grand Master had suggested.

He activated both star patterns simultaneously, infusing Warm Dream energy into the Soul-Shattering Arrow and fired it instantly.

At close range, the hit was inevitable—the guardian's starlight instantly scattered.

Opening!

Xu Jin floated like a willow fluff, closing the distance to the Golden Star-level inner demon and unleashed another Flame Burst.

This Flame Burst was Xu Jin's full-power explosion since obtaining the seventh-stage high-grade Fire Source Star Pattern.

In an instant, flame-light flooded the sky.

Just as the Golden Star-level inner demon began to recover, the Flame Burst struck again.

Within the inferno, the Golden Star-level inner demon turned directly to ash.

Previously, Xu Jin had needed three Flame Bursts plus one Thunder Rope to eliminate the Golden Star-level inner demon, when his Fire Source Star Pattern was still at sixth stage.

But now, with the seventh-stage high-grade Fire Source Star Pattern fully activated, he eliminated the Golden Star-level inner demon with just one Soul-Shaking Golden Lotus and one Flame Burst.

The power of seventh-stage star patterns was evident.

Moreover, Xu Jin felt this final Flame Burst still had residual power.

After eliminating the Golden Star-level inner demon, Xu Jin didn't turn back—he immediately erected two Rain Curtain Fire Shields behind him and pushed the Fish Star Pattern to its limit.

This was to prepare for the impending attack from the Golden Star-level guardian.

His Soul-Shattering Arrow could only disrupt the guardian for a fleeting instant at most.

The attack should come now.

But to Xu Jin's surprise, the Golden Star-level guardian's attack did not arrive as expected.

When Xu Jin turned to observe, he was astonished—the guardian stood frozen, dazed, as if waking from a dream, still not attacking.

Xu Jin was first stunned, then elated!

He immediately understood—this must be the special effect of the Soul-Shattering and Warm Dream star pattern combination, as the Grand Master had described.

Is this useful?

This is truly of great use.

How long did this directly immobilize the Gold-Star guardian?

Even if not a full second, it's close enough.

One second is more than enough for Xu Jin to do many things now.

In the next instant, the Soul-Shaking Golden Lotus struck again.

The moment the flower bud burst open, a Flame Explosion obliterated the Gold-Star guardian outright.

Success!

【Challenge Successful】

The moment this message appeared, Xu Jin felt as if he were dreaming.

He had successfully challenged the Brilliant Star.

And he hadn't even used his Thunderclap technique yet.

But strangely, no notification appeared saying Xu Jin had obtained the Brilliant Star.

In the next instant, the stars before him shifted, and that familiar sensation of weightlessness from his earlier Great Expansion cultivation resurfaced.

In a flash, Xu Jin found himself inside a pavilion, the ceiling above shimmering with billions of starlights, white clouds drifting past the window.

This scene felt familiar.

Suddenly, Xu Jin remembered—wasn't this the top floor of the actual, manifest form of the Grand Chen Star-Picking Tower that the Grand Master had brought him to?

Why had he come here?

Had the Grand Master come and transported him here directly?

As Xu Jin pondered, a stream of starlight messages began appearing before him.

【Congratulations, Xu Jin. Challenge successful. You have obtained one Brilliant Star.】

【Congratulations, Xu Jin. According to the Star-Picking Tower's rules, one who obtains a Brilliant Star may claim the Tower's governing authority. Do you accept the Tower's governing authority?】

Xu Jin was stunned.

The Tower's governing authority?

What is that?

But clearly, it was a good thing.

This good thing must be accepted.

【Accept】

【Congratulations, Xu Jin. From this moment, you have become a Bronze-Level Governing Authority of the Star-Picking Tower. You will gain the following powers:】

【One: You may freely awaken the Star-Picking Tower's Star Spirit and receive its assistance on certain matters.】

【Two: You may freely manage your own information.】

【Three: You receive a five percent reduction on all internal Star-Picking Tower transactions, including taxes.】

【Four: As a Bronze-Level Governing Authority, you may enter your assigned Star-Picking Tower Star-Dome Sanctuary once per month to cultivate, with no aura lock, for one hour.】

【Five: As a Bronze-Level Governing Authority, you may receive the Star-Picking Tower's protection once per year—meaning, even under aura lock, you may forcibly enter the Star-Dome Sanctuary, provided your Star-Picking Token detects a Star-Picking Tower within its range.】

【Six: As a Bronze-Level Governing Authority, you may receive certain information support under specific conditions, but at a corresponding cost.】

Seven starlight messages flashed before Xu Jin simultaneously; each item filled him with overwhelming delight.

Xu Jin had never expected this.

He had thought obtaining the Brilliant Star would bring such a reward.

He had assumed that succeeding in the challenge and gaining the Brilliant Star would grant him a higher-level Great Expansion opportunity.

But he hadn't expected to gain the Tower's governing authority outright.

It was somewhat like the Grand Master's position.

But clearly, the Grand Master's governing authority must be higher. Xu Jin's Bronze-Level authority allowed only one entry per month into the Star-Dome Sanctuary, while the Grand Master seemed able to enter at will?

Then what authority had the Grand Master obtained?

Suddenly, Xu Jin's gaze fell on the second point: freely managing one's own information?

What did that mean?

"Star Spirit?"

Xu Jin cautiously called out—wasn't he supposed to be able to awaken the Star Spirit for assistance?

No response?

"Star Spirit?"

Xu Jin waited several breaths—still no response.

"Star Spirit, Star Spirit!"

Xu Jin shouted loudly—still no reply.

This left Xu Jin utterly bewildered.

Was his awakening method wrong?

"Star—"

"Enough! You're driving me crazy! Are you calling ghosts?"

Within the Star-Picking Tower, I hear everything you say!

Spit it out already, or shut up!"

Xu Jin: "..."

Xu Jin gritted his teeth, wanting to hit someone but unable to.

This Star Spirit had a terrible temper!

"What's with the grinding teeth? Want to hit me or curse me? Just say it outright—no need to hide it. If I were afraid of you, I'd be your grandson!" The Star Spirit's scolding echoed again.

"Are you going through menopause?"

Xu Jin suddenly asked.

The voice in the Star-Dome Sanctuary paused. "What's menopause? I've never heard that term."

Xu Jin explained the meaning of menopause, slightly rephrasing it: all beings, all living things, go through menopause.

The Star Spirit paused. "Huh. Maybe so."

"I've been stuck here for who knows how many years, watching you brats come and go, over and over, the same tricks, the same nonsense—nothing new, nothing meaningful. I'm sick of it."

Xu Jin had said just one sentence, and the Star Spirit had ranted at least twenty times.

A thick, suffocating aura of bitter loneliness and resentment washed over him.

"Are you bored?"

"Bored to death. There used to be a kid who'd chat with me, but he stopped coming.

Some Governing Authorities came often at first, then vanished for years—even decades. I'm suffocating!" the Star Spirit continued complaining.

"There are many Governing Authorities?" Xu Jin asked.

"Of course."

This definite answer surprised Xu Jin—and left him slightly disappointed.

He had thought he was one of the few who held the Star-Picking Tower's authority.

After all, the Star-Dome records showed zero entries!

Wait—

Suddenly, Xu Jin realized another issue.

"Can the Governing Authority be obtained only by acquiring a Brilliant Star?" Xu Jin asked.

The moment Xu Jin asked, the Star Spirit stopped ranting and answered.

"No."

"How many ways are there?"

"Several."

"Specifically?"

"Your authority level is insufficient to reveal that."

"How many have obtained the Tower's authority by acquiring a Brilliant Star?"

"Many."

"Exactly how many?"

"Your authority level is insufficient."

"Damn it!"

"What does 'damn it' mean?"

Xu Jin hesitantly explained; the Star Spirit immediately slipped back into rant mode.

After a while, Xu Jin noticed the Star Spirit's pattern.

Due to its binding rules, it would answer direct questions—but after answering, it would launch into endless rambling.

A chatterbox!

During this exchange, Xu Jin also learned much.

Why was the Brilliant Star record in the Star-Dome zero?

Because once someone obtained the Brilliant Star, they gained Bronze-Level Governing Authority—and the second power, "freely manage your own information," meant one could choose to hide their public Star-Picking Tower records.

For instance, this record of obtaining the Brilliant Star, Xu Jin could choose to conceal.

Thus, the record of successfully challenging Canxing in the Zhaixing Secret Realm has been reset to zero!

Damn it, no wonder the Canxing challenge record has been zero all these years.

Turns out they're all old bastards!

They hid their own information after succeeding.

Now Xu Jin has joined the ranks of the old bastards!

As for how many, it's really hard to say.

The Star Spirit won't say.

Xu Jin guessed there weren't many, but certainly not few.

At least not single digits.

The number of Canxing stars claimed by the Zhaixing Tower is likely in the double digits.

After all, the Zhaixing Tower has existed for thousands, even tens of thousands of years.

In addition, the number of Jinxing stars Xu Jin has successfully challenged can also be hidden.

But only those achieved after the fact.

The number of Jinxing stars already successfully challenged and listed cannot be hidden.

Besides that, many other pieces of information can be hidden.

For example, the God-Slaying Battlefield.

Xu Jin could challenge to the absolute limit and then choose to hide his ranking.

But the God-Slaying Battlefield operates under another set of rules belonging to the Chen Guo Dao Yuan; if he hides his ranking, Xu Jin cannot receive Dao Xun rewards.

Seen this way, the number of Canxing and Jinxing stars claimed by various factions throughout history must far exceed the numbers displayed in the Zhaixing Secret Realm.

Thinking of this, Xu Jin suddenly had a thought: Has the Grand Preceptor hidden anything in this regard?

"Star Spirit, if there is a Bronze-Star-level authority, then there must be a Silver-Star-level authority—how does one obtain Silver-Star-level authority?" Xu Jin asked.

"I don't know."

The Star Spirit replied irritably.

"Why such a tone?"

"Non-basic questions? Star Ye doesn't have to answer if I don't feel like it—it's all up to my mood," the Star Spirit said arrogantly.

Xu Jin wanted to punch someone again.

He couldn't even control a Star Spirit from the Zhaixing Tower?

Is this guy bored?

If he could get some of those Earth-world drama series or that certain fighting show, he'd probably be ecstatic.

That stuff, binge-watched for a day straight, would make you addicted!

Too bad he can't bring it here!

Suddenly, Xu Jin had an idea: video won't work, but text might!

In the next instant, Xu Jin summoned a blank jade tablet and directly recorded the first few chapters of Journey to the West from his memory onto it.

Xu Jin didn't have perfect recall, but he remembered the plot of Journey to the West.

He slightly embellished it and tossed it out.

The Divine Recording speed was extremely fast—tens of thousands of characters, done in dozens of breaths.

"Can you read?"

"Of course I can! Star Ye knows eight thousand years of history—you know, I know; you don't know, I still know."

One sentence, shot right back.

This guy is literally a troll Star Spirit.

"Here's a novel—take a look, kill some time."

"No thanks. I've already seen every storybook ever collected by authority holders. Every storybook in this world, I've read. What could some kid like you possibly have?" the Star Spirit retorted.

"Fine, don't read it!"

Xu Jin cursed, but he saw the jade tablet shoot straight up into the starry sky and vanish—the faint divine thread attached to it severed completely from him.

This Star Spirit talks tough, but his actions are honest.

Xu Jin didn't care—if he read it, that proved another thing.

If he didn't read it, that proved another idea in Xu Jin's mind.

Xu Jin activated his mind, pulling up the Canxing information within the Zhaixing Secret Realm; the moment he focused, the detailed description appeared.

【Canxing: A star nurtured by the Zhaixing Tower, containing the cosmic Dao of the heavens. Consuming it allows one to contemplate the Dao for two hours. If the star pattern is below Seventh Rank, it will be fully upgraded to Seventh Rank; if above Seventh Rank, it will rise one full sub-rank.】

After reading this summary of Canxing, Xu Jin understood its use.

Certainty!

The use of Canxing is certainty!

Star patterns above Seventh Rank will inevitably rise one sub-rank.

Just this one feature is priceless.

If you have a star pattern above Seventh Rank, using Canxing guarantees it will be upgraded to Eighth Rank Lower, regardless of your contemplation results.

If it's above Eighth Rank, it will inevitably rise to Ninth Rank Lower.

Ninth Rank star patterns!

Xu Jin had never even heard of them.

But Canxing could create them.

Thus, theoretically, the higher the star pattern's rank, the better the effect of Canxing—and the greater its value.

The optimal use would be to push a star pattern to its absolute limit, then use Canxing—maximum value!

But the difficulty lies in pushing a star pattern to its limit—that's already extremely hard.

So the question arises: if you want to use Canxing this way, then before you've pushed any star pattern to its limit, Canxing has no value whatsoever.

A useless piece of junk!

Holding a treasure you can't use.

Xu Jin realized he still needed to carefully consider how to use Canxing, when to use it.

As for maximizing value, he didn't care.

What's in your mouth is valuable!

Otherwise, it's still just junk!

Of course, how to use it depends on whether he can obtain more Canxing in the future.

But Xu Jin's gains today were already substantial: two Silver Stars, two Gold Stars, one Canxing, plus the Bronze-Star-level authority of the Zhaixing Tower!

In the next instant, Xu Jin activated his mind and left the Zhaixing Tower.

The moment he opened his eyes, the Mingji star pattern flickered rapidly—Grand Preceptor Cheng Yuexiao had appeared outside the window.

Seeing Xu Jin awake, as the star veil sealed off the interior, Grand Preceptor Cheng Yuexiao eagerly asked, "Xu Jin, were those two newly added Gold Stars yours?"

Grand Preceptor's expression was as desperate as a child begging for candy!

The next instant, after Xu Jin nodded in confirmation, Grand Preceptor Cheng Yuexiao cheered like a child and swung his fist triumphantly.

"Train hard these next two days. Don't leave the Dao Yuan. Contact me anytime if you have questions."

With that, the star veil faded, and Grand Preceptor vanished into thin air.

At the same moment, Xu Jin's Zhaixing Token vibrated three times violently.

He received an urgent military order from the Chen Guo Dao Yuan, issued to all Dao Yuan disciples.

【Effective immediately, the Chen Guo Dao Yuan enters a state of war readiness. All disciples outside must return immediately. All Dao Yuan disciples are forbidden to leave the Dao Yuan until the state of war readiness is lifted!】

In that instant, countless people awoke from sleep!

And the same scene began unfolding across all Star Palaces and all nations!

(End of Chapter)