Chapter 293: Xu Jin

With the assistance of the Mid-tier Lei Yi Heart, the process of Xu Jin using ten Silver Stars to deduce the Lei Lei Yuanxing Pattern went exceptionally smoothly.

That feeling was somewhat like taking an open-book exam.

For anything he didn't understand, couldn't do, or couldn't grasp, the Mid-tier Lei Yi Heart would give Xu Jin the answer directly, and the answers were of the easy-to-understand kind.

Or, it would provide Xu Jin with hints in other aspects.

The Fourth-tier Lei Lei Yuanxing Pattern was like taking root and sprouting; one by one, the lines and main trunks were constantly growing and perfecting themselves.

Very quickly, the Fourth-tier Lei Lei Yuanxing Pattern was deduced by Xu Jin to the Fourth-tier top grade, and then it smoothly broke through to the Fifth-tier low grade, and Fifth-tier mid grade—incomparably silky.

When Xu Jin's consciousness fell out of the sky full of thunderclouds, this round of ordinary Dao Derivation had ended, and the final deduction result for the Lei Lei Yuanxing Pattern was Fifth-tier top grade.

A single ordinary deduction crossing four minor grades was truly rare.

But Xu Jin knew very clearly that this was the effect of the Mid-tier Lei Yi Heart.

The Will of Heaven and Earth Stars contained within the Mid-tier Lei Yi Heart had given Xu Jin immense help.

Otherwise, let alone four minor grades, even raising it by three minor grades would have been difficult.

For an ordinary cultivator, a Fifth-tier top grade Lei Lei Yuanxing Pattern was already a relatively high-tier star pattern.

According to the rules of the National Dao Academy, disciples at the Third-tier Refine Star Realm were generally only taught Fourth-tier star patterns.

Disciples whose cultivation broke through to the Fourth-tier Condense Star Realm would be directly rewarded with two Fifth-tier star patterns of their choice upon their initial breakthrough.

But Xu Jin was not satisfied.

For this Lei Lei Yuanxing Pattern, the Grand Master had only managed to exchange for it by using a Second-tier Star Domain plus a Will of Heaven and Earth Stars.

Under such a huge cost, the possibility of Xu Jin obtaining a high-tier Lei Lei Yuanxing Pattern from the Wood Spirit Palace in the future was non-existent.

Even if there were, the cost was not something Xu Jin could afford.

It was better to deduce it himself.

He still had three Gold Stars and two Radiant Stars in his hand.

The next instant, Xu Jin did not hesitate to activate a Gold Star and began the deduction again.

He continued to draw upon this Mid-tier Lei Yi Heart.

Very quickly, the Lei Lei Yuanxing Pattern was deduced by Xu Jin to the Sixth-tier low grade.

But after deducing it to the Sixth-tier low grade, Xu Jin keenly discovered that the help provided by the Lei Yi Heart had become very small.

In fact, from the moment the Lei Lei Yuanxing Pattern broke through to the Fifth-tier, the help provided by the Lei Yi Heart had been decreasing.

But after breaking through to the Sixth-tier, it was a cliff-like drop.

But there was still a little help.

Moreover, the Gold Star activated a high-tier Dao Derivation.

Deducing all the way, constantly deriving new star patterns and main trunks, the Lei Lei Yuanxing Pattern broke through to the Sixth-tier mid grade and slowly approached the Sixth-tier top grade.

But until the deduction time for this Gold Star ended, the rank of the Lei Lei Yuanxing Pattern still hadn't completely reached the Sixth-tier top grade, though it wasn't far off.

It was only one branch line away from being deduced to the Sixth-tier top grade.

But the rank of the Lei Lei Yuanxing Pattern was still the Sixth-tier mid grade; it hadn't reached Xu Jin's expectations.

Without hesitation, Xu Jin activated another Gold Star and began yet another high-tier Dao Derivation.

The Lei Lei Yuanxing Pattern smoothly achieved the Sixth-tier top grade and then broke through to the Seventh-tier low grade.

When the Lei Lei Yuanxing Pattern reached the Seventh-tier low grade, the Lei Yi Heart's assistance to Xu Jin during the deduction process was already negligible.

In the end, when this second Gold Star deduction ended, the rank had barely reached the Seventh-tier mid grade.

It was considered not bad.

But it was lower than Xu Jin's expectations.

Xu Jin's original plan was to use ten Silver Stars and two Gold Stars to deduce the Lei Lei Yuanxing Pattern to the Seventh-tier top grade in one go, and then use one Radiant Star to raise the Lei Lei Yuanxing Pattern to the Eighth-tier mid grade in one go.

According to previous experience, deducing the Lei Lei Yuanxing Pattern to the Eighth-tier mid grade should have yielded two very powerful Thunder-type Star Power characteristics.

But now, it was far below Xu Jin's expectations.

If Xu Jin wanted to achieve this goal, he would have to fill in another Gold Star, another Radiant Star, and it was even possible that might not be enough.

Tracing the root cause, there were three reasons: first, the enlightenment time in the Star Dome Secret Realm was gone, which meant one less layer of blessing; second, because the rank of the Lei Yi Heart was quite low, its auxiliary effect was gone—the pity was that Star Domains possessing Thunder-type Will of Heaven and Earth Stars were too few; if he discovered one in the future, he must go in and explore.

The third was that Xu Jin's own accumulation was also insufficient.

The various research notes within the Chen Guo National Dao Academy contained absolutely no Thunder-type star patterns.

In the end, Xu Jin decided to stop.

Especially this third point, which might even cause the deduction progress to drop off a cliff; he shouldn't throw in a Gold Star and a Radiant Star only to fail to even achieve the Eighth-tier low grade—that would be a huge loss.

Stop for now.

Lei Lei Yuanxing Pattern rank: Seventh-tier mid grade.

Compared to the past when Xu Jin could only rely on the thunder source provided by the Shelter Star Pattern, this was already very strong; the power had increased by more than double.

Currently, Xu Jin's number of Gold Stars had become one again.

Having just arrived at the Star-Plucking Tower, Xu Jin once again killed his way into the Star-Plucking Secret Realm.

When Xu Jin was previously at the Fourth-tier Condense Star First Layer, he had easily obtained two Gold Stars and one Radiant Star; Xu Jin estimated at that time that before his cultivation broke through to the Fifth-tier mid-to-late stage, he should have no great difficulty in plucking Gold Stars and Radiant Stars.

Very casually, Xu Jin obtained two Copper Stars and two Silver Stars.

When challenging the Gold Star-level Inner Demon and the Gatekeeper—targets that other disciples dreamed of defeating—they were reduced to machines for Xu Jin to test his Star Power might.

They still couldn't break through Xu Jin's Eighth-tier mid grade Earth Lei Lei Yuanxing Pattern-supported Fish Screen Golden Bell.

But Xu Jin was mainly testing his Thunder-type Star Arts.

Currently, his Thunder-type Star Arts were mainly evolved from basic Star Arts.

For example, Lei Shi, Thunder Explosion, Thunder Net, Thunder Screen, combined with the Chain Star Pattern, could blast out Chain Thunder Arrows, but overall, the power of Thunder-type Star Arts performed with basic Star Arts was mediocre.

The strongest one had to be the Purple Lei Hong brought by the Lei Lei Yuanxing Pattern enshrined on the Arena.

This should be a Fourth-tier Thunder-type Star Art; with the Seventh-tier mid grade Lei Lei Yuanxing Pattern, combined with the Chain Star Pattern, plus the blessing of the Mid-tier Lei Yi Heart, a single strike could directly severely injure a Fifth-tier Second Layer Gold Star-level Gatekeeper; the power was also quite considerable.

It was a pity that he couldn't reverse-engineer this Purple Lei Hong for now; if he could reverse-engineer it and then study the star pattern, it would be very formidable.

In the future, Xu Jin still had to try every possible way to collect more star patterns or Thunder-type Star Arts that could use Thunder-type Star Power.

Earth-type focused on defense and control.

Thunder-type focused on speed and explosion, Fire-type had high damage, Spirit Soul could control, plus the Sixth-tier Star Art Void-Breaker for finishing blows—Xu Jin's combat system now had a prototype.

But it still needed to be perfected.

For example, he lacked Fifth-tier or even Sixth-tier Fire-type Star Arts.

But this should be solvable; he could seek guidance from the Grand Master or the Great Dean Kou Jing!

Half an hour later, Xu Jin's Star-Plucking Secret Realm challenge ended once again.

He obtained another two Copper Stars, two Silver Stars, two Gold Stars, and one Radiant Star.

The Gold Stars Xu Jin had just consumed were replenished.

Currently remaining: two Silver Stars, three Gold Stars, three Radiant Stars.

Returning from the Star-Plucking Tower, for the next day or so, Xu Jin just ground away.

He ground away at the Wind Lei Lei Yuanxing Pattern and the Gold Lei Lei Yuanxing Pattern.

As for the six star patterns of Void-Breaker, having obtained them for so long, Xu Jin had long since finished grinding them; previously, he just didn't have the space to engrave them.

On the evening of November 12th, Xu Jin began engraving star patterns on the second Star Core of his Lower Shang Xinggong.

According to the cultivation experience notes given by his Uncle-Master Mo Ji, Xu Jin engraved them in order.

On the second Star Core of the Lower Shang Xinggong, there were a total of ten star pattern positions.

The first star pattern position was the Great Da Ju Xingwen; after engraving Void-Breaker and the other two Source Power star patterns in order, only one star pattern position remained. This Star Core should be named the Void-Breaker Star Core in the future.

But the empty star pattern position couldn't be wasted either.

According to what Xu Jin had learned and studied about star patterns, when engraving star patterns for high-tier Star Arts, the related star patterns had to be engraved coherently; the more coherent they were, the stronger the instantaneous effect.

The shorter the time to activate them.

Xu Jin had already chosen the star pattern to be engraved: the Bright Era Star Pattern.

Engraving the Bright Era Star Pattern had no effect on Star Arts.

Moreover, Old Qi had previously specifically pointed out to Xu Jin that it was best to engrave a few more Bright Era Star Patterns; for many Star Arts, it even had an indescribable blessing effect.

This had already been verified.

But should this Bright Era Star Pattern be engraved in the second star pattern position or the last one?

Xu Jin considered it for quite a while and made arrangements according to the characteristics of the Bright Era Star Pattern.

The Bright Era Star Pattern was mainly for sensing and perception.

Anticipating the enemy beforehand.

If the Bright Era Star Pattern had a blessing effect on the Sixth-tier Star Art Void-Breaker, then placing it in the front would have the best effect.

Subsequently, Xu Jin began engraving; in a quarter of an hour, the Bright Era Star Pattern was finished.

The moment the engraving was completed, the Bright Era Star Pattern began to operate spontaneously.

Almost the instant this Bright Era Star Pattern began to operate, Xu Jin's expression changed.

Undercurrents!

Tidal surges!

Chaos!

Violence!

With two Bright Era Star Patterns operating simultaneously, Xu Jin actually vaguely sensed that there were violent and chaotic Star Power turbulence fluctuations between heaven and earth, which made one feel extremely oppressed, and it was very close.

"Nine Star Tidal Surge!"

Suddenly, Xu Jin understood.

This was the reason why many powerhouses could discover the Nine Star Tidal Surge: their cultivation was high enough, and their perception was sharp enough.

Xu Jin had now engraved two Bright Era Star Patterns and actually vaguely sensed the fluctuations of the Nine Star Tidal Surge.

In Xu Jin's perception, this tidal surge-like Star Power turbulence was getting closer and closer.

An eruption was imminent!

It was almost upon them.

But this discovery made Xu Jin begin to re-examine the role of the Bright Era Star Pattern.

Previously, when he only had one Bright Era Star Pattern, he couldn't sense the Nine Star Tidal Surge at all.

Now that he had engraved two, he could vaguely sense the Nine Star Tidal Surge.

It seemed that Xu Jin hadn't attached enough importance to the Bright Era Star Pattern.

The Bright Era Star Pattern didn't just need rank; it needed quantity to stack, which could then improve and strengthen perception.

In the future, as long as there were empty star pattern positions, he would have to stack a few more Bright Era Star Patterns.

Noting this down, Xu Jin began to engrave other star patterns; an hour later, the work was completely finished.

Great Da Ju Xingwen, Bright Era Star Pattern, Object Control, Gold Source, Sharp Gold, Ten Thousand Jun, Wind Source, Swift Wind, Flicker, Star Attachment.

A total of ten star patterns completely filled the second Star Core of the Lower Shang Xinggong.

This second Star Core was Void-Breaker.

With a slight movement of his mind, all the star patterns within this Void-Breaker Star Core immediately became a whole.

In an instant, Xu Jin had a feeling that in all directions, in the sky and on the ground, every point within Xu Jin's perception range would be a target for Void-Breaker!

Xu Jin even had a feeling that he would never miss.

Could it be that this was also brought by the Bright Era Star Pattern?

If so, Xu Jin would have to reconsider the importance of the Bright Era Star Pattern.

He might even have to find an opportunity to use one or two Gold Stars to deduce it once.

Void-Breaker was thus achieved.

It was worth mentioning that the Wind Lei Lei Yuanxing Pattern and Gold Lei Lei Yuanxing Pattern Xu Jin engraved on the Void-Breaker Star Core were all Sixth-tier top grade.

Although he had obtained Eighth-tier mid grade and Seventh-tier mid grade ones, star patterns above the Seventh-tier required enlightenment.

Below the Seventh-tier, one only needed to copy and engrave, which was fast to grind.

Above the Seventh-tier, one needed to slowly enlighten, just like the Seventh-tier low grade Earth Source he had enlightened previously.

It required time, but the difficulty shouldn't be too great.

Moreover, Xu Jin still had the help of Wind-type and Gold-type Will of Heaven and Earth Stars.

Subsequently, Xu Jin entered the Fourth-tier Star Power Secret Realm to begin his routine evening lesson.

Within the Middle and Lower Star Palaces, a total of six Star Cores rotated simultaneously, like six whirlpools, and also like six engines, instantly sucking a large amount of Star Power into his body, then strengthening his cultivation.

Xu Jin carefully experienced it for a while.

This cultivation speed was indeed faster than when taking top-grade Refine Star Pills at the Refine Star Realm.

And it was much faster.

At Xu Jin's cultivation speed, one hour was equivalent to absorbing the Star Power of six top-grade Refine Star Pills.

It was stronger than Xu Jin's one-essence top-grade Refine Bu Bu Xing Dan; if compared to a three-essence top-grade Refine Bu Bu Xing Dan, it was slightly inferior.

However, this was inside the Fourth-tier Star Power Secret Realm; if it were in a common Second-tier or Third-tier Gather Star Array, or outside the Star Power Secret Realm, one hour would only be the medicinal power of one and a half top-grade Refine Star Pills.

But it was still considered fast.

Because previously, when cultivating with pills, there was a limit to the dosage.

But this way, he was directly absorbing Star Power to cultivate; as long as his Spirit Soul power was sufficient, and as long as he had time, bitter cultivation for twelve hours a day was also possible.

Xu Jin estimated that according to his normal morning and evening lesson times, normal cultivation—not counting the time to break through major and minor bottlenecks—would take about a month and a half to raise his cultivation in the Middle Shang Xinggong by one layer.

If cultivating both the Middle and Lower Star Palaces, it would take three months to raise one layer.

If combined with pills and the Star Power Secret Realm, two months should be enough to raise one layer.

Theoretically, in less than a year, Xu Jin's cultivation could break through to the Fourth-tier Ninth Layer peak; in two years, Xu Jin's cultivation in the Middle and Lower Star Palaces could simultaneously break through to the Fourth-tier Ninth Layer peak.

It was considered quite fast.

However, Xu Jin also had his own plans.

Suddenly, Xu Jin's Star-Plucking Token vibrated three times—a ten-thousand-fire-urgent Star-Plucking Token message.

Xu Jin took a look; it was a message from Grand Master Cheng Yuexiao.

【Xu Jin, I have returned to the palace. Come quickly, there is something.】

The next instant, Xu Jin got up and left the small courtyard, instantly flashing toward the Danxia Palace.

When Xu Jin arrived at the Danxia Palace, Grand Master Cheng Yuexiao, with a face full of dust, was eating.

It seemed he had been patrolling non-stop these past few days.

Seeing Xu Jin enter, Grand Master Cheng Yuexiao signaled for Xu Jin to sit opposite him, then personally poured a cup of wine for Xu Jin. After the two drank it in one gulp, Cheng Yuexiao suddenly asked, "Xu Jin, have you considered it?

The three plans I formulated for you before: Golden Cicada Sheds its Shell, Bitter Cultivation in Seclusion, and Heart Tempering in a Foreign Domain—which one do you choose?

The Nine Star Tidal Surge is imminent; it is time to make a choice."

Grand Master Cheng Yuexiao looked at Xu Jin and asked.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 294 =====