Chapter 262: Sixth Rank

Compared to the third-rank star region, the Fire Spirit tribe in the fourth-rank star region had already begun transitioning from tribes to a state-like structure.

Xu Jin easily found the Fire Spirit tribe's treasury.

Despite the chaos, the ruling powers of the Fire Spirit tribe had immediately sent personnel to seal the treasury within the Fire Spirit King's palace.

Normally, if Xu Jin had dared to forcibly storm the Fire Spirit tribe's treasury, he would have been declaring war on the entire tribe's elite.

But now, outside the city, the Great Army of the Wind Spirit Leopard-Tail tribe loomed on the horizon, their star-force fluctuations utterly chaotic; inside the city, the Fire Spirit King had just died, the Fire Spirit tribe was leaderless, and its people were in panic.

As a result, Xu Jin simply killed all two hundred Fire Spirit guards protecting the treasury—no one noticed.

Of the two hundred guards, two hundred were third-rank, five were fourth-rank elites, and not a single fifth-rank warrior was present.

So Xu Jin killed them with extreme ease.

These Fire Spirit guards couldn't even send a warning.

When Xu Jin smashed through the treasury doors with brute force and rushed inside, his gaze froze.

Because compared to the third-rank star region, the fourth-rank star region was simply immeasurably wealthy.

Inside the vast treasury, star-jade tablets of different colors piled up like mountains, alongside heaps of iron essence, copper essence, star-fall iron, gold, and several metals Xu Jin didn't recognize.

Before this, the various celestial materials for forging weapons Xu Jin had encountered in the second- and third-rank star regions had mostly existed in raw ore form.

Raw ore took up enormous space.

Xu Jin couldn't even carry it all back.

But here in the Fire Spirit tribe's treasury, all forging materials were already refined.

It made sense—after all, the Fire Spirit tribe excelled in fire-star techniques and naturally refined all manner of celestial materials.

Xu Jin didn't hesitate.

He immediately activated the Can Dou Platform to absorb.

Within a few breaths, the platform had absorbed exactly the amount needed to ascend from fourth-rank to fifth-rank: ten thousand jin of iron essence, one thousand jin of copper essence, one thousand jin of gold, ten thousand jin of silver, and ten jin of star-fall iron.

Among these, iron essence, copper essence, and star-fall iron were military-controlled resources; while Xu Jin could obtain them easily enough individually, acquiring them in large quantities was still troublesome.

Now, he had gathered them all at once.

Unfortunately, the Can Dou Platform couldn't carry more of these materials.

Otherwise, he could have made a fortune.

But Xu Jin immediately began transporting vast quantities of star-fall iron into his Numinous Space.

Xu Jin's Numinous Space was roughly seven cubic units.

He filled it entirely with the treasury's star-fall iron, which occupied only half the space—about forty to fifty thousand jin—then added some copper essence, leaving two cubic units empty before stopping.

At this moment, Xu Jin felt his Numinous Space was too small; he'd have to expand it vigorously when he had time.

Unfortunately, expanding the Numinous Space was a slow, painstaking process—the larger it became, the slower the expansion.

He could only accumulate gradually.

Next came the collection of star-jade tablets.

Here, there were star-jade tablets purely of fire attribute.

These fire-attribute star-jade tablets enhanced the power of fire-star emblems.

But Xu Jin, still third-rank, had no intention of keeping them.

He converted them all into Can Dou Platform starlight.

He absorbed ten thousand third-rank star-jade tablets at a time, repeating the process twelve and a half times until he had cleared every single third-rank star-jade tablet from the treasury.

All were converted into fourth-rank starlight.

He obtained just over five thousand strands, averaging more than twenty third-rank star-jade tablets per strand of fourth-rank starlight.

At this point, the total amount of fourth-rank starlight in Xu Jin's Can Dou Platform neared nine thousand strands.

He still needed one thousand more strands to reach the upgrade threshold.

But Xu Jin wasn't in a hurry, because he hadn't yet collected the vast quantities of fourth-rank star-jade tablets.

It was clear that the primary outputs of the fourth-rank Fire Cloud Star Region were still third- and fourth-rank star-jade tablets; fifth-rank star-jade tablets remained rare, though significantly more abundant than in the third-rank star region.

Xu Jin collected over seven thousand fourth-rank star-jade tablets, over two thousand of which were fire-attribute.

He kept one thousand non-attribute fourth-rank star-jade tablets and two thousand fire-attribute fourth-rank star-jade tablets, converting all the rest into Can Dou Platform starlight.

The Can Dou Platform's starlight instantly surged past thirteen thousand strands.

Even after deducting ten thousand strands for the fifth-rank upgrade, Xu Jin would still have over three thousand strands left.

He was instantly rich.

He collected all two hundred and seventy-plus fifth-rank star-jade tablets.

Previously, in the third-rank star region, acquiring fifth-rank star-jade tablets was rare—sometimes just a few, occasionally a dozen, and that was a windfall.

Now, he had over two hundred at once.

The total number of fifth-rank star-jade tablets in Xu Jin's possession surpassed four hundred.

This was an enormous fortune.

Even the Chen Guo Dao Academy's official purchase price for one fifth-rank star-jade tablet started at eight thousand Dao Xun.

On the black market, prices were even higher.

This was hard currency, second only to the Star Tower's starlight.

Throughout Xu Jin's looting, not a single Fire Spirit entered to disturb him.

Xu Jin leisurely finished his plundering, then exited the treasury, concealed himself, and ascended to the heights of Fire Cloud City.

Xu Jin's original plan had been simple: take advantage of the chaos.

If the Wind Spirit Leopard-Tail King appeared, Xu Jin would kill him in the confusion.

The Leopard-Tail King's primary cultivation was wind-star techniques, making him far easier to kill than the Fire Spirit King had been.

Moreover, Xu Jin's combat power had significantly increased since he killed the Fire Spirit King.

So he felt confident.

But to Xu Jin's surprise, the invading Leopard-Tail army showed no trace of the Leopard-Tail King.

The Leopard-Tail tribe's commander was a fifth-rank Gathering Dou Eighth Layer alien, carrying a massive bow, terrifyingly fierce—he could snipe fourth-rank Fire Spirit elites from extreme distances.

The Leopard-Tail tribe had sent two fifth-rank Eighth Layer, four fifth-rank Seventh Layer, and over ten fifth-rank mid-tier warriors to attack.

Originally, the Fire Spirit tribe wasn't weak.

But their King and their two top commanders had all been killed by Xu Jin.

With no one to oppose the elite invaders, they were already at a disadvantage.

The Fire Spirit City would likely fall soon.

After hesitating for a few breaths, Xu Jin did not attack the Leopard-Tail commander; instead, he silently departed and headed straight for the Leopard-Tail tribe's capital—Wind Spirit City.

About three thousand li away.

A normal fourth-rank cultivator would need two or three hours.

Now, with Xu Jin's Star-Treading flight, he could arrive in less than half an hour.

Xu Jin intended to strike directly at the Wind Spirit King's city.

He wanted to see what this so-called hidden master behind the Leopard-Tail tribe, whom the Fire Spirit King had mentioned, was really like.

Beyond that, a plan had quietly surfaced in Xu Jin's mind.

But to execute it successfully, he needed to fully understand the Leopard-Tail tribe's situation.

After half an hour, as Xu Jin caught sight of the green Wind Spirit City in the distance, he casually drew two strands of starlight from his Can Dou Platform to replenish his star-force, then concealed himself and slipped into the Wind Spirit City.

This was the mindset after becoming wealthy.

Previously, when Xu Jin had expended energy, he primarily relied on Wen Meng to recover.

Now, he directly drew starlight from the Can Dou Platform to restore.

Of course, if his soul-force was heavily depleted, the most convenient recovery method was still to activate Wen Meng and fall into deep sleep.

The Wind Spirit City of the Leopard-Tail tribe, due to the entire army being deployed, had long been under martial law.

But precisely because the entire army had left, the martial-law city appeared extremely hollow.

On the city walls, the number of fourth-rank elites guarding it was barely over a hundred.

Before Xu Jin infiltrated the royal palace, he had detected only two fifth-rank Gathering Dou cultivators.

This was vastly better than the situation in the Fire Spirit City.

Moreover, the entire Wind Spirit City felt eerily quiet.

Even though it was broad daylight!

This surprised Xu Jin.

How could it be so quiet?

Even if the army had marched out, they couldn't have taken all the ordinary tribespeople with them.

The next instant, as Xu Jin was sneaking forward, his steps suddenly halted—he had reached the city center and encountered a colossal statue, nearly causing him to stumble out of concealment.

One glance was enough for his judgment.

The Star-Dou True God statue of the Worshiping Dou Cult.

The statue's face was void, its body wreathed in swirling starlight.

If you didn't pay attention, you wouldn't notice anything unusual.

But if you focused on the statue and used your soul-sense to probe it, you'd feel an oppressive, chilling divine aura.

He had seen one before, months ago on Autumn Leaf Island, when rescuing Jiang Er.

But what shocked Xu Jin even more were the worshippers.

The star-determining true god statue on Qiuye Island had captured no more than two thousand believers.

At this very moment, countless members of the Leopard Tail clan knelt in all directions around the star-determining true god statue, silently praying.

Young and old alike. By count, at least forty to fifty thousand.

How much pure divine soul energy must this have accumulated?

This was Xu Jin's first thought.

His second thought: fortune had struck!

He had stumbled upon it.

Just like the Spirit Era Star Temple twenty years ago, any news of the Worship of Stars Sect filled him with more excitement than the New Year.

But Xu Jin never expected the Worship of Stars Sect had expanded into this star domain.

Yet upon reconsidering, these star domains were nothing less than heaven for the Worship of Stars Sect and the Blood God Sect.

In the current world, every nation heavily suppressed the Worship of Stars Sect and the Blood God Sect, forcing them to operate in secret.

But here in these star domains, once one managed to declare oneself king or overlord, such practices became official.

One could then openly engage in these activities.

So who among the Wind Spirit Leopard Tail clan was the outsider?

Or had they been controlled?

Xu Jin glanced at the silent, densely packed scene of worship, then vanished and headed toward the Wind Spirit City palace.

Even the palace guards at the gate were now kneeling devoutly toward the star-determining true god statue, utterly unaware of Xu Jin.

Of course, even if they had been fully alert, they still could not have detected him.

With a slight shift of his Mingji Star Pattern, Xu Jin discovered five fifth-rank alien beings and roughly a hundred fourth-rank aliens within the palace.

One aura, a fifth-rank ninth-layer peak, was unmistakable.

That must be the Leopard Tail King's aura.

Xu Jin crept forward and found every guard in the palace, near or far, now prostrated toward the star-determining true god statue.

Leopard Tail Queen?

Before a grand hall in the palace, a leopard-tailed woman radiating wild beauty, along with the other four fifth-rank aliens, knelt and prayed toward the star-determining true god statue.

A question instantly surfaced in Xu Jin's mind.

If even the Leopard Tail Queen was a believer, then who had introduced the Worship of Stars Sect here?

Suddenly, Xu Jin recalled the Fire Spirit King's words: the hidden master behind the Wind Spirit Leopard Tail clan!

That meant there was an outsider.

Where was this outsider?

Xu Jin carefully searched the entire Wind Spirit City palace, but found no other outsider besides the Leopard Tail clan's elite.

Suddenly, Xu Jin knew exactly where the master spoken of by the Fire Spirit King was hiding!

The statue.

He must be concealed within the starlight beneath the star-determining true god statue.

Only that spot was beyond the reach of Xu Jin's Mingji Star Pattern.

"There?"

A master capable of subjugating the Leopard Tail Queen, a fifth-rank ninth-layer peak, must at least surpass her in strength, right?

"Then—"

After a few breaths of contemplation, Xu Jin devised his battle plan.

At the same time, the prototype of his earlier plan in mind was further refined.

A few breaths later, Xu Jin selected a position from which he could strike the Leopard Tail Queen, yet remained far from the star-determining true god statue.

The next instant.

A vast surge of divine soul energy erupted.

Dream Startle!

In an instant, the strongest Leopard Tail Queen, fifth-rank ninth-layer peak, was frozen in terror, directly stunned.

In that fleeting moment when her divine soul was severely wounded, she had already fallen into Xu Jin's meticulously crafted dream.

At the same moment, the high-grade Fire Source Star Pattern of seventh-rank level activated; the Zhongxing Palace's barely fifth-rank Fire Spirit Heart blazed brilliantly, maximizing Xu Jin's fire-based star arts; on the Can Dou Platform, the two fifth-rank Fire Spirit Star Cores offered in worship glowed with starlight.

A faint crimson flash shimmered on the newly acquired Crimson Dragon Ring on Xu Jin's right thumb, and a spiral flame explosion instantly blasted toward a fifth-rank eighth-layer Leopard Tail warrior.

Xu Jin's form then materialized.

In that same instant, the other three fifth-rank Leopard Tail warriors and the hundreds of fourth-rank elites surrounding him all turned toward Xu Jin and rushed to encircle him.

All of this happened in a single flash.

But the next flash, the Leopard Tail clan's Left Commander, whose cultivation was second only to the Leopard Tail Queen, was suddenly engulfed by a burst of fire.

He didn't even cry out—he was consumed, leaving only black ash drifting through the air!

The Leopard Tail clan's Right Commander, who had just charged toward Xu Jin, instantly showed terror in his eyes, halted mid-stride, spun around, and raised his strongest defense—only for another spiral flame explosion to blast toward him.

Again, he was consumed!

But this time, the Right Commander endured for one second under Xu Jin's Starfire before being reduced to nothingness.

Xu Jin's face revealed understanding.

The Starfire's power, amplified by the high-grade seventh-rank Fire Source, the barely fifth-rank Fire Spirit Heart, the two mid-rank Fire Star Patterns, and the Crimson Dragon Ring.

These cumulative enhancements had elevated Xu Jin's Starfire to an unimaginable level.

Under ambush, it instantly incinerated a fifth-rank eighth-layer warrior.

Then, in direct assault, it incinerated another fifth-rank eighth-layer warrior.

This was Xu Jin's greatest confidence now.

Only after accumulating multiple layers of foundation over time, with all these amplifications, had his Starfire reached this power.

The next instant, the quicker Leopard Tail aliens turned and fled; the slower ones charged straight at Xu Jin—he fired a spiral flame explosion at each, killing them all.

Even fifth-rank eighth-layer warriors couldn't withstand it—let alone fourth-rank aliens.

As for the drawback of excessive star energy consumption, for Xu Jin, who commanded over ten thousand strands of starlight on the Can Dou Platform, it was no longer a drawback.

It was simply one word: blast!

Not a single Leopard Tail alien could approach within fifty meters of Xu Jin.

Suddenly, Xu Jin's Mingji Star Pattern trembled—the fifth-rank ninth-layer peak Leopard Tail Queen had awakened from Dream Startle.

She glanced at Xu Jin once, screamed in terror, and turned to flee!

In the Dream Startle dream, the Leopard Tail Queen had been terrified by the meticulously crafted scenario Xu Jin had prepared.

But the instant she turned to look at Xu Jin, his eyes flared—and the Killing Dream activated.

In an instant, heaven and earth transformed as Xu Jin dragged the Leopard Tail Queen into the Killing Dream.

Originally, Xu Jin's first plan had been to kill the Leopard Tail Queen with the Killing Dream!

But now, seeing the terrified Leopard Tail Queen, he changed his mind.

If the Leopard Tail Queen could submit to an unknown mysterious entity, perhaps she could submit to him.

One could say the Leopard Tail Queen had already been tamed by the master spoken of by the Fire Spirit King!

A tamed expert was far easier to control.

Especially after Xu Jin noticed how terrified she was by Dream Startle—he had already formed the idea.

In the Killing Dream, Xu Jin loomed above like a god.

The Leopard Tail Queen's former left and right arms, her elite guards, all reappeared, then charged toward Xu Jin, roaring in fury before her eyes.

But Xu Jin, looking down from above like a god, merely flicked his finger—and thunder crashed down, reducing the Left Commander to dust.

Another flick—and thunder crashed again, reducing the Right Commander to dust!

One flick, one death of a Leopard Tail elite.

The Leopard Tail Queen, just freed from the Dream Startle dream, was already shattered—especially under the influence of terror.

Witnessing Xu Jin's godlike power, she was nearly broken in spirit.

It felt as if the Star-Determining True God had descended.

"Wind, come!"

A furious gale erupted across heaven and earth!

"Rain, come!"

Torrential rain instantly poured down.

"Thunder, arrive!"

As Xu Jin roared, a purple thunderbolt hovered above the Leopard Tail Queen's head.

The Leopard Tail Queen trembled violently, her tail quivering, utterly terrified!

"Submit—or die!"

Xu Jin's stern voice fell, but to the Leopard Tail Queen, it sounded like celestial music.

"I submit! I vow to submit!" The Leopard Tail Queen feared speaking too slowly and being obliterated.

"I accept your submission. Kneel there, forehead touching the ground, until I permit you to rise."

"If you dare move even slightly!"

"Executed!"

The word "executed" echoed through heaven and earth with thunder, directly slamming into the Leopard Tail Queen's mind.

The Queen of the Leopard Tail said not a single word, but knelt prostrate, forehead pressed to the ground, utterly motionless.

The next instant, heaven and earth shifted.

The Killing Dream dissolved.

Xu Jin and the Queen of the Leopard Tail returned simultaneously.

But the Queen of the Leopard Tail was already kneeling before Xu Jin, forehead pressed to the ground, not daring to move.

Seeing this, Xu Jin felt a surge of joy.

Half of this plan had already succeeded.

Not because his Killing Dream was so powerful, but because the belief of the Fifth Realm Ninth Layer powerhouse, the Queen of the Leopard Tail, had been shattered by the unseen master behind her.

Or rather, by the Star God of the Worship of the Dipper Sect!

That was why Xu Jin could seize victory so easily.

In just a moment, Xu Jin suddenly sensed a powerful aura rising from the direction of the distant Star God.

"Which sect are you from, daring to intrude into this star domain? Wise men retreat at once!" A man in Daoist robes, his aura surging rapidly.

In an instant, his aura climbed to the peak of Fifth Realm: Gathering Stars.

In the next breath, the Daoist's crown lifted a seal, which drew a torrent of starlight directly from the Star God statue into his body.

The Daoist's aura began rising once more.

His aura shattered into the Sixth Realm in an instant.

Xu Jin's pupils contracted sharply!

Sixth Realm!

(End of chapter)