Chapter 321: Unexpected Gain

The Nine Spirit Supreme Mystic Art

This is the method Grand Master bestowed upon Xu Jin for forging the Soul Essence.

He stated it was a technique passed down by the Ultimate Emperor Star Lord three thousand years ago; all methods for forging Soul Essence in the present world, including the Star River Battlefield, originate from this, and even differences are minor—rest assured and cultivate it.

Xu Jin carefully studied it within the Star Dome Secret Realm, where Grand Master's annotations made comprehension exceptionally smooth.

Half an hour later, having fully grasped it, Xu Jin prepared a Three-Variant Dragon Turtle Soul-Forging Elixir and began forging the Soul Essence according to the Nine Spirit Supreme Mystic Art.

The first step is to locate and isolate one's own divine soul's primal consciousness.

In Xu Jin's understanding, the divine soul's primal consciousness is each cultivator's own awareness, or mental essence.

In philosophical terms, it is the root of why you are you.

It can also be understood as the commander of all thoughts!

This point, according to Grand Master's annotations, is the most difficult.

It requires a prolonged process of awareness—perhaps three to five days, perhaps three to five years, depending on each person's insight.

Xu Jin understood it thoroughly.

But to isolate his own divine soul's primal consciousness,

he could not find the way at all.

It was like asking you to find your true self within yourself.

How do you find it?

Utterly baffled!

Even pushing the Four Mingji Star Patterns of the Lower Star Palace to their limits yielded nothing.

Following Grand Master's method, he practiced self-awareness for two hours—still nothing!

This so-called divine soul's primal consciousness seemed right there, among the many divine soul stars in the Upper Star Palace, right before his eyes, omnipresent, yet he simply could not find it.

For a moment, Xu Jin grew restless.

The more anxious he became, the less he felt.

After a few breaths, sensing his state was off, Xu Jin reread the Nine Spirit Supreme Mystic Art and reconsidered: how exactly does one discover this divine soul's primal consciousness?

The scripture stated that divine soul power is formless, making it extremely hard to cultivate and perceive; the divine soul's primal consciousness is formless within formlessness, requiring patient awareness and gradual discovery.

Like a restless monkey and wandering mind, only when you become utterly still and sink deep within can you perceive it.

But where is it?

What puzzled Xu Jin further was that, according to the scripture's description, he felt he had seen his own divine soul's primal consciousness before.

It seemed as if there was a certain condition under which the primal consciousness of the soul would surface.

Yet he scoured his memory and could not recall it.

Suddenly, Xu Jin remembered Old Qi.

Master Qi Shanye was an expert in this field, and the Spirit Record Star Palace even more so.

If Old Qi were here, he might offer Xu Jin more guidance.

Thinking of Old Qi made Xu Jin even more eager to advance his cultivation.

Old Qi and Master Mo Ji had plunged into the Sixth-Rank Star Zone, where danger was immense—he must rescue them as soon as possible!

The next instant, Xu Jin froze.

Old Qi!

Suddenly, Xu Jin remembered the situation in which his divine soul's primal consciousness had appeared—Old Qi had mentioned it once.

The Split-Soul Technique!

When Xu Jin first obtained that inferior Split-Soul Technique, cutting his soul had injured his divine soul's primal consciousness.

Injured!

Xu Jin immediately seized upon the key word.

That is, when using the inferior Split-Soul Technique to cut the soul, one contacts the divine soul's primal consciousness—could he then simply pull it out?

Instantly, Xu Jin took out the Split-Soul Technique and studied it again.

He checked whether there was a shortcut possible.

If injuring the divine soul's primal consciousness was the only way to gain this shortcut, it would be pointless—too costly for too little gain.

Quickly, Xu Jin found the critical node within the steps of the inferior Split-Soul Technique.

Cutting the soul.

It all depended on how it was controlled.

If he could master it, he could find the primal consciousness quickly without injuring it.

The next instant, Xu Jin calmed his mind and began cutting his soul using the inferior Split-Soul Technique.

The inferior Split-Soul Technique was inferior precisely because it was crude and blunt.

It directly formed a soul blade from soul power and cut one's own soul.

The key point lay here.

In inner vision, within the Upper Star Palace, a soul blade slowly sliced toward the aura of one soul star, and Xu Jin, as the Split-Soul Technique required, focused all his awareness—or attention—onto that single soul star.

At first cut, he felt nothing; but when the blade passed halfway and began separating the strand of soul power saturated with his full attention, sudden agony struck—his mind felt as if struck by a massive hammer.

Almost simultaneously, an indescribable pain surged through him, as if something profoundly precious was slipping away—his entire body and spirit ached from within outward, everywhere!

The formless suddenly became form!

In an instant, Xu Jin grasped the divine soul's primal consciousness.

His attention, or mind, fully fixed there, he slowly began separating this strand of divine soul's primal consciousness.

The process was like pulling oneself up by one's own hair.

Extremely strange.

But this was precisely how strange it was.

The divine soul's primal consciousness, so impossibly hard to find, had been discovered by Xu Jin this easily.

A step that many needed one or two years of arduous effort to complete, Xu Jin accomplished effortlessly.

The strand of soul power he had just cut was instantly reabsorbed into Xu Jin's soul star as he halted the process.

Xu Jin held his breath, carefully guiding this strand of divine soul's primal consciousness to the center of the Star Palace.

The next moment, he activated the Nine Spirit Supreme Mystic Art to control and influence the ten soul stars within the Upper Star Palace.

Simultaneously, the medicinal power of the Three-Variant Dragon Turtle Soul-Forging Elixir surged in, releasing a vast flood of soul power that spread to envelop the ten soul stars.

Only when a massive volume of soul power enveloped the ten soul stars could they be positioned into a specific formation to forge the Soul Essence.

But immediately, Xu Jin realized the medicinal power of the Three-Variant Dragon Turtle Soul-Forging Elixir was insufficient.

He needed other soul treasures as aids.

He had prepared two—already.

One was the Star Jade Tablet, which had stored one and a half tenths of the soul power from the Worshiping Dipper Idol—enough to equal the power of twenty-eight Three-Variant Dragon Turtle Soul-Forging Elixirs, or the combined total of 168 ordinary Dragon Turtle Soul-Forging Elixirs—more than sufficient for Xu Jin's breakthrough.

The other was the Nine-Leaf Golden Lotus Seed given to him by the Grand Master.

And it had been nurtured for over a month.

As for whether nurturing had any effect, Xu Jin truly did not know.

A unique item, with no comparison or way to test it—whether nurturing worked or not remained unknown, but regardless, Xu Jin had nurtured it for a month.

Which one to use?

If he used the Star Jade Tablet storing soul power, success in forging the Soul Essence was certain—this he could foresee.

But what if he used the Nine-Leaf Golden Lotus Seed?

Unclear.

Xu Jin recalled the auction house host's description of the Nine-Leaf Golden Lotus Seed yesterday.

【The Nine-Leaf Golden Lotus Seed can heal latent soul injuries, replenish the divine soul's primal essence, and contains vast soul power—it can break through soul cultivation bottlenecks and yields superior results when forging the Soul Essence!】

Key phrases: replenish the divine soul's primal essence, superior results!

That is, using the Nine-Leaf Golden Lotus Seed might yield uncertain gains.

Even if, in the worst case, forging the Soul Essence with the Nine-Leaf Golden Lotus Seed failed, Xu Jin still had the Star Jade Tablet storing soul power as backup.

In an instant, Xu Jin made his decision.

Use the Nine-Leaf Golden Lotus Seed—see if any uncertain gains could be had.

The next instant, Xu Jin retrieved the Nine-Leaf Golden Lotus Seed from his Star Lamp—it glowed golden, its edges shimmering with starlight, faintly coalescing into a misty aura.

Hadn't it lacked this misty aura when he first obtained it?

Could nurturing have had an effect?

The next moment, Xu Jin placed the Nine-Leaf Golden Lotus Seed into his mouth.

The instant it entered his belly, it instantly transformed into a rolling, cool, moist energy that surged straight to his skull.

Xu Jin had expected a massive flood of soul power to rush in.

But it was not.

That cool, moist energy, upon entering his Upper Star Palace, instantly gave him the sensation of soaking in a warm bath—so comfortable he nearly moaned.

It was an ultimate comfort from within outward, as if all fatigue and injuries vanished in that instant.

So comfortable, Xu Jin nearly fell asleep.

The next instant, Xu Jin gave his own thigh a sharp pinch.

Must not sleep.

If you fall asleep now, all your efforts will be wasted!

Under the nourishment of this cool, moist energy, Xu Jin felt his Shang Xing Palace had been thoroughly cleansed, becoming crystal clear and transparent, with the movement of the Soul-Star even more free and effortless.

This sensation lasted for a full half-minute.

After half a minute, waves of faintly seven-colored auroras surged into Xu Jin's Shang Xing Palace; he instinctively knew this was the most precious, most fundamental power of the Nine-Leaf Golden Lotus Seed.

In contrast, the Soul-Power contained within the Nine-Leaf Golden Lotus Seed was merely supplementary.

In the next instant, the Soul-Source Consciousness controlling the ten Soul-Stars within Xu Jin's Shang Xing Palace suddenly trembled, and the newly arrived seven-colored auroras directly flowed into his Soul-Source Consciousness.

Instantly, Xu Jin's Soul-Source Consciousness visibly expanded by a full circle, nearly doubling in size.

Another wave surged into the Shang Xing Palace and, the moment it entered, merged into Xu Jin's Soul-Source Consciousness.

One after another, eighteen waves in total—all merged into Xu Jin's Soul-Source Consciousness, directly increasing its size by more than fourfold.

The seven-colored auroras vanished, and then a vast tide of Soul-Power flooded into Xu Jin's Shang Xing Palace; yet his heart was already wracked by stormy waves!

What kind of treasure had the Grand Preceptor given him?

Or rather, after being nurtured, what transformation had the Nine-Leaf Golden Lotus Seed undergone? Had its power multiplied?

But this sensation told Xu Jin he had gained an immense benefit.

A tremendous benefit.

Before absorbing the fundamental power of the Nine-Leaf Golden Lotus Seed, Xu Jin's Soul-Source Power had remotely influenced and controlled the ten Soul-Stars, but this control was extremely fragile.

It was like hanging a heavy weight with a single silk thread—controlling and moving the ten Soul-Stars required extreme caution, slow, deliberate, incremental movements.

Because if too much force was applied, the thread would snap.

If it snapped, Xu Jin would have to start over.

But after absorbing the eighteen waves of Nine-Leaf Golden Lotus auroras, his Soul-Source Consciousness had grown more than fourfold, and now he felt he could control the ten Soul-Stars as easily as moving his own limbs.

Previously, it had been a silk thread holding the weight; now it was a steel cable!

He could manipulate them any way he liked—without fear of breaking.

Though he didn't know what future effects this might bring, he had certainly secured this great benefit.

Using the Nine-Leaf Golden Lotus Seed to forge the Yuan Spirit had yielded unexpected gains: first, it healed his hidden Soul damage; second, it greatly strengthened his Soul-Source Consciousness—by at least fourfold.

At this moment, Xu Jin was certain the Star Lamp on the Can Dou Platform had effectively nurtured the Nine-Leaf Golden Lotus Seed.

Otherwise, such extraordinary results would not have occurred.

Otherwise, the Grand Preceptor would have already consumed the Nine-Leaf Golden Lotus Seed to break through and forge his Yuan Spirit, rather than being uncertain.

Because his Soul-Source Consciousness had grown more than fourfold, the next steps became exceedingly simple.

According to the "Nine Spirit Supreme Yuan Spirit Scripture," the next step was to carefully activate the Soul-Source to arrange the ten Soul-Stars according to the body's secret acupoints, then use Soul-Power to envelop and guide resonance, merging the ten Soul-Stars into a single whole to forge the Yuan Spirit.

This process required at least several hours, and the slower, the better.

The slower, the higher the chance of success.

The faster, the greater the risk of failure.

But under the influence of his Soul-Source Consciousness, now more than fourfold stronger, Xu Jin completed the placement of the ten Soul-Stars according to the body's secret acupoints and formed a tiny, seated humanoid Yuan Spirit prototype in just three breaths.

Xu Jin suddenly understood—he had already forged the Yuan Spirit prototype.

All that remained was to activate his Soul-Source Consciousness and the vast Soul-Power, fully merging them together, and he would have forged the Yuan Spirit, and his Soul cultivation base would have broken through to the Fifth Realm.

Just before breaking through, Xu Jin suddenly recalled the final line of the "Nine Spirit Supreme Yuan Spirit Scripture."

When forging the Yuan Spirit, ten stars are the minimum requirement—the more, the stronger.

Previously, Xu Jin had considered this line, but back then, he only wanted to break through.

Now, after his Soul-Source Consciousness had grown more than fourfold, he felt he had boundless surplus energy.

As recorded in the "Nine Spirit Supreme Yuan Spirit Scripture," the more, the stronger.

That meant: the more Soul-Stars forged into the Yuan Spirit, the more powerful the Yuan Spirit.

Did this imply he could forge even more Soul-Stars?

The thought struck him—what if he tried forging one or two extra Soul-Stars?

Wouldn't his Yuan Spirit then be far stronger than others'?

Most importantly, under the strength of his now-massive Soul-Source Consciousness, he felt he could accomplish this with nothing more than a single thought.

In the next instant, Xu Jin activated his central Soul-Source Consciousness and gently willed it.

Instantly, a clear Soul-Star pattern was inscribed into the empty space within his Shang Xing Palace; with a slight activation, it absorbed the vast torrent of Soul-Power threatening to burst his palace.

Instantly, a Soul-Star was forged.

Though barely formed.

But the moment this Soul-Star was forged, Xu Jin's Ming Ji Star Pattern sensed a surge of power from the newly formed Soul-Star instantly projecting into the central Soul-Source Consciousness.

The Soul-Source Consciousness grew again!

If this worked, could he forge another one?

Instantly, he willed it—and another Soul-Star, with only a single halo, was forged; the Soul-Source Consciousness grew again!

Xu Jin willed again—there was no stopping him now!

(End of Chapter)