Chapter 264: At All Costs

In the ancient palace beneath the deep mountains, a god statue with a featureless face stood at the highest point of the great hall.

Below, dozens of uniformed believers knelt silently in prayer.

For core adherents of the Worship of the Dipper Sect, the three daily prayers—at dawn, noon, and dusk—were not merely acts of devotion, but also a means to elevate their cultivation base.

As they prayed, faint starlight fell upon these core adherents from the ancient Star Dipper True God statue, merging into their bodies.

Slowly and steadily, the adherents' aura rose.

Those with deep cultivation were barely perceptible in their growth.

Those with low cultivation, however, showed clear advancement.

Before the statue stood seven offering positions, but only six jade plaques were placed upon them; each jade plaque had a vacant space before it, except one, where an imperial seal stood upright.

It was identical to the Star Official Seal previously seen.

Crack!

Suddenly, a crisp sound rang out.

The second jade plaque from the left suddenly cracked, and within a single breath, shattered into fragments.

The expressions of the Worship of the Dipper Sect's adherents shifted slightly—but only slightly.

Clearly, this was not uncommon.

They had seen it often.

A Star Official had died!

Then, one by one, the core adherents lifted their heads toward the sky outside the underground palace, waiting for a streak of starlight to descend.

That was what truly mattered.

If a Star Official perished, find another—successive replacements would come.

But the Star Official Seal—that was the true legacy of the Worship of the Dipper Sect.

As long as the Star Official Seal returned, all was well.

As one of the Four Divine Palaces of the Worship of the Dipper Sect, the Vermilion Bird Palace had once possessed seven Star Official Seals, but after millennia of succession, only six remained.

All core adherents, including the Grand Supervisor of the Vermilion Bird Palace, waited in silence for the return of the Star Official Seal.

A hundred breaths passed.

Half a watch.

Even after two watches had passed, no starlight descended.

At last, the Grand Supervisor of the Vermilion Bird Palace panicked.

A Star Official's death was normal.

Among the four Divine Palaces of the Worship of the Dipper Sect, which one didn't lose a Star Official every one or two years?

But if the Star Official Seal was lost—

Even the Lord of the Vermilion Bird Palace, the Vermilion Bird True Person, would bear the blame.

Worse still, it would damage the future strength of the Vermilion Bird Palace.

Without hesitation, the Grand Supervisor activated the emergency contact method to inform the Vermilion Bird True Person.

Only half a watch later, a streak of starlight descended from the horizon, coalescing into a spectral figure beside the Star Dipper True God.

Instantly, all core adherents in the underground palace prostrated themselves.

"Your servants pay homage to the True Person."

"Which Star Official Seal has met with misfortune?" The Vermilion Bird True Person's spectral form sat down and gazed at the jade plaques and the seal before him; fragments of the Star Palace's life jade still lay there. One glance was enough—the spectral form of the Vermilion Bird True Person trembled.

"Zhu Wenhai is dead?

How is this possible?

Where was Zhu Wenhai before?" The Vermilion Bird True Person demanded in rapid succession.

The Grand Supervisor of the Vermilion Bird Palace replied, trembling, "True Person, the first three Star Officials—including this one, the Second Ghost Star Official who just died in battle—were all personally assigned by you. I truly do not know."

In the next instant, the Vermilion Bird True Person pressed his hand to his forehead. "I am foolish. The Second Ghost Star Official was previously—"

Suddenly, the Vermilion Bird True Person's aura plunged sharply; the atmosphere in the underground hall froze instantly.

In the next moment, the Vermilion Bird True Person sank his mind into the Upper Star Palace and began to activate the unique imprint tied to the Second Ghost Star Official Seal.

But no matter how he stirred it, the Second Ghost Star Official Seal remained as silent and unresponsive as a stone cast into the ocean.

Lost.

Controlled by someone!

"That old bastard! In two months, he's killed two Star Officials—is this how you handle things? Now you've lost the Second Ghost Star Official Seal too!"

Roaring in fury, the Vermilion Bird True Person immediately seized the Star-Plucking Token before him and sent out a sharp inquiry via starlight transmission. Within moments, a reply came back.

【What? Zhu Wenhai is dead?

That's impossible!

Zhu Wenhai was assigned to the Fourth-Rank Fire Cloud Star Domain—he had already subdued the queen of the Wind Spirit Leopard Tail Clan, had a corps of elite guards, his own combat power could temporarily breach to pseudo-Fifth Rank, and he was protected by a divine statue.

In the Fourth-Rank Fire Cloud Star Domain, he was invincible.

No one could kill him.】

The Vermilion Bird True Person stared at the starlight message and let out a cold laugh—its chill was unnerving.

【Chai, do you think I'd joke about something like this? Losing a Star Official isn't serious; losing a year or two of collection isn't serious—but if the Star Official Seal is lost, I won't let you off.

Now. Immediately!

One: Send people at once to investigate what happened in the Fire Cloud Star Domain.

Two: Not only will you send elite forces into the Fire Cloud Star Domain, I will also dispatch my own elite. Arrange it immediately—within three and a half days, my elite will arrive at your location, and you will send them into the Fire Cloud Star Domain.

At all costs, I must recover this Star Official Seal.

If you fail, don't blame me for turning against you!】

In a mansion within the Star River Battlefield, a clothed elder of the Chai family read the starlight message, his brow furrowed—he immediately grasped the gravity of the situation.

【Calm yourself. I am already dispatching forces into the Fire Cloud Star Domain to investigate. Wait for my report—I will act only after uncovering the truth.】

【You'd better find out quickly and give me an explanation! You know how vital the Star Official Seal is to me.】

【Understood. I will have news within two days.】

【Good. I'll wait two days.】

After the exchange, the Vermilion Bird True Person's starlit visage darkened as he stared at the shattered jade plaque, still unable to find peace.

The last time the Vermilion Bird Palace lost a Star Official Seal was over forty years ago.

The Sect Master had been furious then.

He ordered the former Vermilion Bird True Person to recover it within a deadline.

He did not say what would happen if it wasn't recovered.

But the outcome was: the Star Official Seal was never found, and the former Vermilion Bird True Person vanished.

No one knew if he was dead.

Or if he had been punished and imprisoned by the Sect Master.

He simply disappeared.

After that, the current Vermilion Bird True Person took office.

The benefits of being Vermilion Bird True Person need not be stated—he had spent the past forty years experiencing explosive growth in his cultivation base.

He wielded immense authority, comparable even to an emperor.

But if this Star Official Seal is lost…

On the New Year's Day, the Sect Master holds a grand sacrifice to honor the Star Dipper deities, during which the Four Symbols and Twenty-Eight Mansions are summoned to pay distant homage. At that moment, the Sect Master will notice the missing Seal.

Less than two months remain until New Year's Day.

After discovering the loss, the Sect Master will grant him at most three months to recover it.

Thus, theoretically, he has no more than five months to retrieve this Star Official Seal.

Of course, the best case is recovering it before New Year's Day.

As long as the Sect Master does not discover it, the incident never happened.

Otherwise, even if he recovers it, the Sect Master will remove him from his post as Vermilion Bird True Person.

"How many elite cultivators of Fourth Rank, Ninth Layer are in the palace?" The Vermilion Bird True Person suddenly asked.

At the True Person's question, the Grand Supervisor of the Vermilion Bird Palace felt as if released from a death sentence and immediately kowtowed. "Your servant reports: among the core adherents training within the palace, there are three elite cultivators of Fourth Rank, Ninth Layer, and eight elite cultivators of late Fourth Rank.

Outside the palace, among those on pilgrimage, there are twelve elite cultivators of Fourth Rank, Ninth Layer, and over seventy elite cultivators of late Fourth Rank."

"Those outside are useless—their loyalty cannot be guaranteed, and their combat power is insufficient. Immediately assign these eight late Fourth Rank elites to await orders at the Star River Pass.

Once the order is given, send them into the Fire Cloud Star Domain.

Even if they must sacrifice their lives to offer to the True God, they must reclaim the Star Official Seal." The Vermilion Bird True Person said.

"I humbly receive your True Person's decree. Your servant will arrange it at once."

After the Grand Supervisor of the Vermilion Bird Palace departed, the Vermilion Bird True Person sat upon his divine throne, pondering for several breaths, before dissolving into starlight.

Only then did the entire Vermilion Bird Underground Palace exhale a collective breath of relief.

Inside the Wind Spirit City of the Fire Cloud Star Domain, Xu Jin, who had been cultivating, gained a new understanding of the Star Dipper True God's stored reserves. Though most of the star power within the True God had been consumed, leaving only a small remainder—

Even that small remainder had allowed Xu Jin's Middle Star Palace to surge instantly to the peak of Fourth Rank, First Layer.

Just as Xu Jin intended to use this vast star power to condense another star core and break through directly to Fourth Rank, Second Layer, he suddenly realized—

He could not break through again!

Golden Star and Can Star.

In the Star-Picking Realm, the rule for challenging the Golden Star and Brilliant Star is that each time your cultivation base breaks through a minor realm, your challenge attempts reset but are not carried over.

Xu Jin's cultivation had just broken from the peak of Third Stage Ninth Layer to Fourth Stage Star-Condensing First Layer, meaning he regained eligibility to challenge the Golden Star and Brilliant Star.

With his current combat power, he would almost certainly succeed in claiming both the Golden Star and Brilliant Star.

But if Xu Jin broke through directly to Fourth Stage Second Layer, he would miss the chance to challenge at Fourth Stage First Layer.

He would lose two priceless Golden Stars and one Brilliant Star.

Therefore, he must not break through.

Although his Middle Star Palace could no longer advance, his Lower Star Palace could still break through and improve.

In the next instant, Xu Jin directed a vast amount of star power toward his Lower Star Palace to break through its cultivation.

Simultaneously, the star core of his Upper Star Palace rotated slowly, absorbing the leaking divine soul force from the statue.

Among the various manuals Xu Jin had obtained from the Star-Picking Tower's branch, one recorded how to handle the power within the Star-Divine Statue.

How to maximize absorption.

How to avoid waste.

All of this had been studied.

This shows how fiercely the Lingji Star Temple had struck (or favored) the Worship of the Stars Sect.

Xu Jin had learned it now.

While absorbing, he mixed star power with divine soul force to seal the cracks leaking from the Star-Divine Statue.

He strived not to waste even a fraction of the divine soul force.

With experience from his Middle Star Palace's breakthrough, his Lower Star Palace's breakthrough was only natural.

Yet for the foundational star pattern in his Lower Star Palace, Xu Jin chose the Great Gathering Star Pattern.

In the manuals he had obtained, a senior of the Lingji Star Temple had theorized that inscribing more Mingji Star Patterns could slightly enhance perception range and ability.

But this was merely one school's opinion.

He had merely found this one record.

Xu Jin planned to wait until he was secure, after deciding which star arts to inscribe on the second star cores of his Middle and Lower Star Palaces, then conduct a test.

For now, he would inscribe the more certain Great Gathering Star Pattern.

Of course, more importantly, the Great Gathering Star Pattern was faster—he was extremely familiar with it; now, Xu Jin could inscribe it in a few breaths.

The Mingji Star Pattern was comparatively more complex.

Half an hour later, the second star core of Xu Jin's Lower Star Palace appeared, and his cultivation broke through to the early stage of Fourth Stage Star-Condensing First Layer.

Xu Jin had expected his Lower Star Palace's cultivation to reach the peak of Fourth Stage Star-Condensing First Layer.

But when his Lower Star Palace's cultivation reached the late stage of Fourth Stage Star-Condensing First Layer, the star power within the Star-Divine Statue was completely depleted.

The final result: Xu Jin's Middle and Lower Star Palaces both broke through to Fourth Stage.

Middle Star Palace: Fourth Stage First Layer, peak.

Lower Star Palace: Fourth Stage First Layer, late stage.

And it had taken only a little over half an hour.

This speed was too fast.

No wonder the Star Official Zhu Wenhai's cultivation was at Fifth Stage peak; no wonder the Wind Spirit Leopard Tail Clan had one more Fifth Stage Eighth Layer expert than the Fire Spirit Clan.

The accumulated power within the Star-Divine Statue was truly terrifying.

If the statue's power had not been heavily depleted beforehand, and if all its star power had been available to Xu Jin, he estimated his cultivation could have broken through to Fourth Stage Third or even Fourth Layer in a short time.

But even if such an opportunity had existed, Xu Jin would not have wanted it.

Cultivation could rise gradually—it would eventually climb.

But the Golden Stars and Brilliant Stars, once missed, were gone forever.

With star power fully absorbed, Xu Jin could now focus entirely on the vast divine soul force remaining within the Star-Divine Statue.

Xu Jin had only slowly absorbed for half an hour, yet his divine soul force surged directly from Fourth Stage Fifth Layer mid-stage to Fourth Stage Sixth Layer mid-stage.

Another divine soul star appeared in his Upper Star Palace.

Correspondingly, the Chengpo Star Pattern also gained one more.

Yet Xu Jin did not immediately begin absorbing again; instead, he spread his divine sense to sense the remaining divine soul force within the statue.

About seven-tenths remained.

After thinking, Xu Jin resumed absorption.

Fifteen minutes later, another divine soul star appeared in Xu Jin's Upper Star Palace, and another Chengpo Star Pattern was added.

At this point, the number of Chengpo Star Patterns inscribed in Xu Jin's Upper Star Palace had reached an astonishing eighteen.

And all were Sixth Stage or higher.

Divine soul cultivation: Fourth Stage Star-Condensing Seventh Layer.

When he had leisure, he could still inscribe one more Chengpo Star Pattern on each of the newly added seventh and eighth divine soul stars.

At that time, the total number of Chengpo Star Patterns inscribed by Xu Jin would reach a staggering twenty.

Add to that the rank enhancement of Sixth Stage or higher.

Xu Jin estimated that even if he did nothing else, merely from the passive bonus of the Chengpo Star Patterns, he could raise his divine soul cultivation from Fourth Stage Seventh Layer early stage to Fourth Stage Eighth Layer early stage in less than a month.

Within two or three months, his divine soul cultivation would surely reach Fourth Stage Ninth Layer peak.

He would begin forming the Nascent Soul's prototype.

This was certain.

Therefore, the remaining six-tenths of divine soul force within the Star-Divine Statue, Xu Jin no longer intended to absorb.

Not intending to absorb did not mean not using it.

This was an extremely precious resource.

Why had the Grand Preceptor's divine soul cultivation remained stuck at Fourth Stage Ninth Layer peak?

One fundamental reason was that when breaking through a major stage, besides other conditions, one required massive amounts of divine soul force as support.

Vast quantities of star power could be found.

But vast quantities of divine soul force were extremely hard to find.

So Xu Jin planned to gather and store the remaining divine soul force within the Star-Divine Statue.

Not to mention anything else—he now had one of the most critical resources needed for his future breakthrough from Fourth Stage Ninth Layer peak to Fifth Stage.

In the past, even if he wanted to store it, he had no way.

Who else would bother gathering and storing divine soul force?

But the experts of the Lingji Star Temple did.

That was their specialty.

Among the various research manuals he had obtained from the Star-Picking Tower's branch, methods for gathering and storing divine soul force were recorded.

Some even detailed methods specifically for storing divine soul force drawn from the Star-Divine Statue.

It was not difficult.

One needed a blank Star Jade Tablet of Fourth Stage or higher as a vessel.

Then, after applying a special sealing technique, divine soul force could be stored.

But it was only temporary storage.

Especially the sealing technique required reinforcement every ten days, or the force would slowly leak.

Star Jade Tablets of Fourth Stage or higher were available.

Xu Jin was now a Star Pattern Master; turning them into blank Star Jade Tablets was simple.

Half a quarter-hour later, Xu Jin began channeling the remaining six-tenths of divine soul force from the Star-Divine Statue into the newly made Star Jade Tablets, beginning storage.

At first it was awkward, but as he continued, he grew increasingly familiar.

At the same moment, in the Fire Spirit King City, Feng Zhi, the Supreme Commander commanding his troops to pursue the Fire Spirit Clan, suddenly felt a jade tablet in his bosom grow hot. When he looked up, he saw a speck of starlight fall from the sky and land directly in his chest.

As he sank his mind into the jade tablet, Feng Zhi's expression changed.

A few breaths later, Feng Zhi handed command of his troops to his deputy, instructing him to continue pursuing the Fire Spirit people and fully occupy their territory, while he himself needed to return briefly to the Wind Spirit King City.

After giving clear orders, Feng Zhi, Supreme Commander, led his ten Fifth Stage elite troops directly toward the Wind Spirit King City.

(End of Chapter)