Chapter 216

After the Grand Master left, Xu Jin, feeling somewhat ashamed, had already made up his mind.

Or rather, he had to pluck at least one more Brilliant Star.

Currently, he had fourteen Copper Stars, four Silver Stars remaining, seven Golden Stars, and two Brilliant Stars in his hands.

Xu Jin had hidden one Brilliant Star from the Grand Master; this Brilliant Star was reserved for his Divine Soul star pattern.

He would pluck one more Brilliant Star to repay the Grand Master's mentorship.

Subsequently, Xu Jin carefully observed the Nine-Leaf Golden Lotus Seed the Grand Master had given him.

The Nine-Leaf Golden Lotus Seed was pale gold, the size of a red date, with countless starlight-like patterns on it, varying in color depth. As his thoughts sank in, he instantly felt a sense of being like a fish in water, which was very comfortable.

According to the Grand Master, the effect of this Nine-Leaf Golden Lotus Seed in improving Divine Soul power was three times that of the Refine Spirit Jin Dan.

And the medicinal effect of Xu Jin's three-essence Refine Spirit Jin Dan was six times that of an ordinary Refine Spirit Jin Dan.

In other words, the medicinal effect of this Nine-Leaf Golden Lotus Seed was only half that of the three-essence Refine Spirit Jin Dan.

But even with only half the effect, for anyone, it was a supreme treasure for improving Divine Soul power.

Now the question was, could this thing be nourished?

If it could be nourished, then the effect...

Thinking of this, Xu Jin's heart pounded.

A few breaths later, Xu Jin directly placed this Nine-Leaf Golden Lotus Seed into the Star Lamp to begin nourishing it.

Regardless of whether it was effective, he would try it first.

If it was ineffective, he could still take it; if it was effective, that would be even better.

At least Xu Jin hadn't seen the Star Lamp destroy any elixirs so far.

He would just leave it there.

At the same time, Xu Jin took out all the elixirs that had been nourished in the Star Lamp for a long time.

The one nourished for the longest time was a top-grade Refine Bu Bu Xing Dan, which had already been nourished for over forty-two days.

However, there were still no signs of a fourth essence.

It still only had three essences of starlight.

As his thoughts sank into it, the feeling was exactly the same as other three-essence top-grade Refine Star Elixirs.

In other words, up to now, the upper limit for nourishing elixirs on the fourth-tier Arena was still three essences.

It hadn't increased the nourishing limit due to the tier upgrade.

Even if it had, exceeding the forty-two-day nourishing period didn't have much practical value.

As for whether there would be changes after future tier upgrades, he didn't know yet.

But now, Xu Jin was no longer attempting it.

For all elixirs, three essences was the limit.

After organizing the Star Lamp, Xu Jin discovered that the nineteen Long Gui Longgui Duanpo Dan he had obtained previously were all three-essence; among them, five had to be reserved for Ning Yuchan.

But today, Xu Jin had harvested six more.

With a thought, he took out the nourished Long Gui Longgui Duanpo Dan and placed the six newly obtained ones in to be nourished.

The Ding Shen Jin Dan and Refine Spirit Jin Dan he had prepared for his sister had also all been nourished.

After organizing like this, Xu Jin discovered that the Star Lamp on the Arena was suddenly somewhat empty.

The Star Lamp on the fourth-tier Arena could nourish four elixirs simultaneously; now there were sixteen empty slots.

The Nine-Leaf Golden Lotus Seed and the six Long Gui Longgui Duanpo Dan occupied seven slots; the daily consumption of Refine Star Elixirs was six, which had to be nourished every day, occupying another six slots, but there were still three empty slots.

These three empty slots could not be wasted.

He had to plan ahead.

What kind of elixirs were good to nourish?

Nourish a few two-essence or three-essence top-grade Refine Star Elixirs to improve cultivation progress?

After thinking about it, Xu Jin rejected this idea.

One reason was to be a bit more low-key; the other was that Xu Jin's current cultivation improvement progress was actually already considered fast; it was estimated that in about half a month, Xu Jin's cultivation would be able to reach the ninth-layer peak of Refine Star.

So three-essence top-grade Refine Star Elixirs were useless.

Suddenly, Xu Jin thought of the fourth tier!

Since he could reach the ninth-layer peak of Refine Star in another half a month, he had to prepare elixirs for fourth-tier Condense Star Realm cultivation early.

Once he broke through to the fourth-tier Condense Star Realm, Xu Jin wouldn't be so eye-catching.

And upon reaching the fourth tier, many powerhouses would focus on cultivating the mid-star palace; even for top geniuses of the Shang Xinggong, cultivation of the lower star palace would be shelved.

This was what Old Qi had told Xu Jin.

By then, Xu Jin could advance both major star palaces simultaneously.

He would have to make a trip to the Foreign Affairs Hall later to buy some elixirs for the fourth-tier Condense Star Realm in advance.

Since the Long Gui Longgui Duanpo Dan were all nourished, Xu Jin, whose morning lesson had just ended, prepared to take one or two first to try.

See how the effect of the three-essence Long Gui Longgui Duanpo Dan was.

Previously, according to his teacher Liu Qingzhu, the effect of taking Long Gui Longgui Duanpo Dan was about the same for different people.

For those with Divine Soul cultivation at the third-tier Refine Star Realm, four Long Gui Longgui Duanpo Dan could increase Divine Soul cultivation by one tier.

The effect was much stronger than the Heaven-Ascending Staircase for tempering the Divine Soul.

Most Divine Soul Refine Star cultivators, depending on their perseverance, could increase their cultivation by one layer after eight to twelve times on the Heaven-Ascending Staircase.

And the opportunity for the Heaven-Ascending Staircase cost ten thousand Dao Credits per time.

Therefore, the market price of Long Gui Longgui Duanpo Dan was as high as fifteen thousand Dao Credits each, but no one sold them; they usually went to auctions.

It was very normal for a single pill to be auctioned for a high price of twenty thousand Dao Credits.

It could be said that these six Long Gui Longgui Duanpo Dan sent by the Grand Master were also a massive, heavy gift.

The next moment, Xu Jin swallowed a three-essence Long Gui Longgui Duanpo Dan; he urgently wanted to know how much Divine Soul cultivation a three-essence Long Gui Longgui Duanpo Dan could increase.

Especially since Xu Jin's Divine Soul cultivation had already broken through to the fourth tier.

The moment it entered his mouth, clear Qi in the shape of a dragon-turtle rushed straight to his upper star palace; as the two Divine Soul stars in Xu Jin's upper star palace began to spin rapidly, the clear Qi was quickly devoured, and Xu Jin's Divine Soul stars began to grow rapidly.

A quarter of an hour later, the medicinal effect of the elixir was fully absorbed; Xu Jin felt it, and his Divine Soul power had increased a lot, but the progress of his Divine Soul cultivation improvement was not large.

It was still at the mid-stage of the fourth-tier first-layer Condense Star.

But Xu Jin felt that with one more, his Divine Soul cultivation could break through from the mid-stage of the fourth-tier first-layer Condense Star to the late-stage of the fourth-tier first-layer Condense Star.

At this rate, with three to four more, his Divine Soul cultivation could break through the fourth-tier second-layer Condense Star.

Once his Divine Soul cultivation broke through to the fourth-tier second-layer Condense Star, Xu Jin's Divine Soul cultivation would make another great advance, and the Divine Soul stars in his upper star palace would increase to three.

Xu Jin estimated that this three-essence Long Gui Longgui Duanpo Dan would take at least seven, at most eight, to increase his fourth-tier Divine Soul cultivation by one layer.

If he used ordinary Long Gui Longgui Duanpo Dan, wanting to increase his fourth-tier Condense Star Divine Soul cultivation by one layer would require at least forty-two or more Long Gui Longgui Duanpo Dan, and at most fifty or more.

If calculated at twenty thousand Dao Credits per Long Gui Longgui Duanpo Dan, that would be one million Dao Credits.

This was truly burning money!

While clicking his tongue, Xu Jin put away the remaining three-essence Long Gui Longgui Duanpo Dan; the price of this Long Gui Longgui Duanpo Dan was so high, and the quantity was small, so not a single bit of medicinal effect could be wasted.

One in the morning and one in the evening was the best effect.

Xu Jin estimated that if nothing went wrong, by the time he finished taking this batch of three-essence Long Gui Longgui Duanpo Dan, his Divine Soul cultivation would be able to successfully break through to the fourth-tier third-layer Condense Star or even break through to the fourth layer.

With his Divine Soul cultivation improving like this, it shouldn't be a big problem to pluck a few more Golden Stars in the future.

Brilliant Stars, however, were hard to say.

For most of the day, Xu Jin still went to the Dao Academy's library, focusing on researching and dismantling star patterns.

After the Shen hour in the afternoon, Xu Jin came to the Foreign Affairs Hall again, as he had important matters to attend to.

To avoid queuing and for convenience, Xu Jin had notified Ling Mao, the Deputy Hall Master of the Foreign Affairs Hall, early on.

This Deputy Hall Master valued Xu Jin more and more; before Xu Jin arrived, he had already been waiting there early.

After being welcomed into the inner hall and exchanging pleasantries, Xu Jin got straight to the point.

"Hall Master Ling, I came here this time because I want to buy some high-tier elixirs for restoring Divine Soul cultivation, the Three-Yin Clear Spirit Elixir; I hope you can make it convenient for me." Xu Jin smiled.

Xu Jin had been in the Dao Academy for so long that he was already familiar with many rules.

Normally, if your cultivation is not high enough, the Dao Academy will not sell you elixirs that exceed your cultivation.

For one thing, the elixirs sold by the Dao Academy to disciples are at internal prices, and the quality is more guaranteed; as long as you take them outside and resell them, you can make a profit of about twenty percent, so the Dao Academy only allows the use of Dao Credits to buy cultivation elixirs.

Because Dao Credits can be exchanged for silver, but silver cannot be exchanged for Dao Credits.

"This... Lord Xu, this is not in accordance with the Dao Academy's rules; your cultivation hasn't reached that level yet, so it's really hard to handle." Ling Mao said.

"I mainly use them as gifts for friends; courtesy demands reciprocity, so I hope Hall Master Ling can make it convenient." Xu Jin had already thought of the excuse.

"That's fine, but the quantity cannot be large."

"One bottle of top-grade Three-Yin Clear Spirit Elixir, one bottle of ordinary Three-Yin Clear Spirit Elixir."

Ling Mao, as Deputy Hall Master, could still decide on this amount.

It was just that when it came time to pay, Xu Jin felt a bit of heartache.

The Three-Yin Clear Spirit Elixir was much more expensive than Xu Jin had imagined.

One ordinary Three-Yin Clear Spirit Elixir cost 150 Dao Credits. The price of one top-grade Three-Yin Clear Spirit Elixir was as high as 500 Dao Credits, which was also more than three times the price.

When paying, Xu Jin paid out 6,500 Dao Credits.

And this was only the amount Xu Jin would need for five days of cultivation after breaking through to the fourth tier in the future.

【Dao Credits: 21,634】

"Hall Master Ling, there is one more thing I need your help with." After finishing, Xu Jin said again.

"Lord Xu, please speak." Ling Mao was very happy; now, he wasn't afraid of Xu Jin troubling him, but afraid of Xu Jin not troubling him.

The more Xu Jin sought him out, the more he might gain in the future.

"It's like this, I have newly learned the Object-Control Star Pattern and want to use object control as an ordinary attack method; I personally prefer swords. Is there any sword-shaped star weapon that can be refined and whose size can be changed at will?" Xu Jin asked.

Upon hearing this, Ling Mao was suddenly somewhat lost in thought; after a brief few breaths, he suddenly sighed, "Actually, twenty years ago, there were many of these; there were many cultivators who controlled swords, especially disciples of the Lingji Shang Xinggong, who controlled swords even more. There were also more people doing business with them.

But after the Lingji Shang Xinggong was destroyed, fewer people used them, and those master weapon-casters cast fewer, because they couldn't sell for a good price, right? However, it shouldn't be hard to find, especially at the auctions for spoils of war obtained from the Star River Battlefield, which appear every few months.

I will keep an eye out for you. However, if you participate in the bidding, I hope Lord Xu will prepare the starlight of the Star-Plucking Tower early.

At auctions, they generally only accept starlight, rarely accepting cash or Dao Credits."

"In that case, I will thank Hall Master Ling in advance; I wonder how much starlight needs to be prepared?" Xu Jin asked.

"Generally, fourth-tier star weapons start at two thousand strands of starlight, and the transaction prices are all around three thousand strands of starlight; there are also hot ones that go for four or five thousand, and there are quite a few top-grade ones that exceed six thousand.

As for fifth-tier star weapons, the bidding prices all start at ten thousand starlight, and the transaction prices are hard to say. If you want to prepare, the more the better." Ling Mao said.

Xu Jin's heart stirred, and he glanced at his own number of Star-Plucking Tower starlight strands, his eyes stalling.

【Starlight: 395 strands】

This quantity was not worth looking at.

Even the lowest transaction price of 3,000 strands was far away.

If Xu Jin exchanged all the Dao Credits in his hand for starlight and scraped together some more, he could barely make up three thousand strands of starlight.

However, Xu Jin was also a person with modern thinking; he had to raise funds.

Develop rapidly after raising funds, then obtain more income, then quickly repay the debt.

But to be honest, Xu Jin had to think of a longer-term way to earn starlight.

If this continued, relying on the few Dao Credits issued by the Dao Academy, after his cultivation broke through to the fourth tier, he probably wouldn't be able to support his own rapid cultivation!

"Deputy Hall Master Ling, I will leave this matter to you; besides this, I also want to purchase fifty second-tier Star Jade Tablets and fifty third-tier Star Jade Tablets."

During this period, Xu Jin had already practiced the Star-Pivot Star Pattern and Connecting Star Pattern required for engraving emblems in the Star Lamp until he was incomparably proficient.

So he decided to make emblems to practice his skills.

Practice slowly, and in the future, it could also be a way for him to make money.

It could also be a means of saving his life.

After all, after Xu Jin nourished a third-tier emblem, it could erupt with fourth-tier power.

After nourishing a fourth-tier emblem, it could erupt with fifth-tier power.

If he had a hundred fourth-tier emblems, he could smash a fifth-tier peak powerhouse to death.

A sixth-tier powerhouse might also be able to be blocked for a while.

Making money and saving his life, both achieved!

"Is Lord Xu planning to take the path of engraving emblems?" Ling Mao smiled.

"Indeed, it can be considered a way to make money to support future cultivation." Xu Jin said.

"This is the right path, but why doesn't Lord Xu go listen to the lectures of Senior Dean Kou? At Senior Dean Kou's place, as long as you learn the basics of engraving emblems, you can be provided with second-tier Star Jade Tablets for practice for free.

If you engrave well, you will also be rewarded by Senior Dean Kou.

Even if you don't engrave well, Senior Dean Kou will also give some pointers on the spot.

With pointers from an expert like Senior Dean Kou, even just a few sentences will benefit you immensely." Ling Mao said.

"There's such a thing?" Xu Jin was stunned.

Upon hearing this, Ling Mao smiled, "It's mainly because Lord Xu, you are too proactive; generally, new disciples are only informed of this information after three months. However, the Dao Academy does not have restrictions on disciples with good talent!"

After finishing, Ling Mao looked at the water clock, "If Lord Xu goes now, there is still time; Senior Dean Kou gives public lectures in his lecture hall for one hour every afternoon on even-numbered days."

"Thank you!"

After finishing, Xu Jin hurriedly rushed to the lecture hall of Senior Dean Kou Jing.

Among the many Deans and Deputy Deans of the Chen Guo Dao Academy, there were quite a few who were proficient in engraving emblems.

Engraving emblems is a means of increasing income and strength.

Like Ning Yuchan, she knew how to do it.

But for those with a very high level, in the Chen Guo Dao Academy, it had to be Senior Dean Kou Jing.

Senior Dean Kou is the only existence in the Dao Academy who has repeatedly engraved fifth-tier top-grade and sixth-tier emblems.

Therefore, Kou Jing has been giving public lectures on emblem engraving.

Most of Senior Dean Kou's disciples also focus on engraving emblems.

When Xu Jin arrived, the lecture hadn't started yet, and quite a few disciples were rushing over one after another.

The disciples guarding the hall let everyone through after checking their identities.

It was just that after checking Xu Jin's identity waist token, they took an extra look at Xu Jin.

"Hey, Senior Brother, you've come too."

Just after entering the hall and finding a corner to sit down, Xu Jin ran into an acquaintance, Wang Jiugao.

A few breaths later, Ji Hongli also crowded to Xu Jin's side.

A dozen breaths later, a gust of fragrance drifted past, but she suddenly turned her head, "Senior Brother, you've come to learn emblems too." It was Meng Qingqiu.

Meng Qingqiu was accepted as a disciple by Kou Jing this year, and what she mainly studied was naturally emblems.

"Come to learn a bit, so I have an extra means and strength in the future." Xu Jin said.

Not long after, Xu Jin discovered that the entire lecture hall was packed, and many disciples who came late were directly arranged outside the hall, numbering in the hundreds.

It seemed that there were very many disciples learning emblem engraving.

Before long, starlight fell, and Senior Dean Kou Jing, wearing a green robe and with a short goat beard under his jaw, appeared.

Without wasting words, he started the lecture directly.

With a flick of his finger, a point of starlight turned into a huge star screen, presenting itself in front of everyone; at the same time, Senior Dean Kou Jing's bell-like voice entered everyone's ears.

"The old rules: today I will talk about two types of emblems in total, one is the second-tier basic emblem Star Shield, and the other is the third-tier emblem Star Fire Explosion Emblem. Those who are already proficient in second-tier emblems, don't be impatient, wait a while, you can also combine the front and back.

As for the newcomers, you can focus on listening to the content in the front."

After finishing, Kou Jing began to speak endlessly.

While speaking, he used the Star-Pivot Star Pattern and Connecting Star Pattern to evolve on the star screen.

"For the star techniques you want to engrave, I personally suggest that you'd better engrave star techniques that can be cast instantly, so the success rate is the highest, and the quality will be better! If you don't have instant casting yet, lock onto a direction and achieve instant casting as soon as possible.

Regarding engraving emblems, it's better to be proficient in a few types first."

"You look, the Star-Pivot Star Pattern is to turn the entire Star Jade Tablet into a carrier that can carry star technique star patterns, so the first thing before engraving star patterns is to engrave the Star-Pivot Star Pattern completely into the Star Jade Tablet, but it must be filled.

And the Connecting Star Pattern is the key to mobilizing and outputting the star technique star patterns, the Star-Pivot Star Pattern, and the star power contained within the Star Jade Tablet.

However, the Connecting Star Pattern is not a simple connection, but requires differential treatment; at the position of mobilizing the star edge, the star pattern must be thick and extremely stable, and the star power channel should be left as wide as possible to mobilize star power extremely quickly.

The output star pattern channel should be short.

This can reduce the output time and strengthen the emblem's power!

For example, here..."

While speaking, Kou Jing demonstrated to everyone on the star screen.

Xu Jin was enlightened as he watched.

Previously, when self-studying, many things were only understood in a literal sense, and Xu Jin was prepared to slowly grope his way forward by himself.

He didn't expect that as soon as Senior Dean Kou spoke, all the knowledge of star pattern engraving that Xu Jin had worked hard to self-study was deeply understood.

This lecture lasted for a full quarter of an hour.

Xu Jin was listening with fascination.

After finishing, Kou Jing suddenly said, "The old rules: those who have cast stars with their Divine Soul, raise your hands."

Xu Jin raised his hand somewhat puzzled; from all directions, envious gazes instantly came.

Among the hundreds of disciples who came to learn, only half raised their hands, and most were disciples who had entered the Dao Academy last year, either at the late stage of the third-tier Refine Star or the early stage of the fourth-tier Condense Star.

The next moment, he saw Senior Dean Kou wave his hand, and hundreds of light spots flew towards everyone; in Xu Jin's hand, three second-tier Star Jade Tablets also fell.

"Then let's have an on-site engraving assessment!

Success on one piece counts as qualified; success on all three has a reward! If you fail three in a row, and fail more than three classes in my classroom, then I personally suggest that you change your path; you'd better not come to my classroom.

The path of engraving emblems might not be suitable for you!

Alright, start; I will keep the records myself!" Kou Jing said.

(End of chapter)