Chapter 342

Five golden stars, four brilliant stars.

For Xu Jin, the number was small, but for others, it might be astronomical.

Xu Jin had to convert them into power as quickly as possible.

Especially after learning of the deep malice embedded in the Star Picking Tower's authority upgrade rules.

Like Tianyang Star Jun, who knew the Grand Preceptor held a Silver-level authority in the Star Picking Tower, yet could do nothing—could not kill him, could only sigh in helplessness!

But Xu Jin was different; if several Star Jun learned he had obtained the Silver-level authority, he would become a prized target for them.

"Star Spirit, how many currently hold Silver-level authority?"

"My lord, all current Silver-level authority holders have concealed their information; I cannot disclose it."

"Star Spirit, can you help me locate the positions of Silver-level authority holders?" Xu Jin asked again.

"My lord, I'm sorry, all current Silver-level authority holders have concealed their positions."

"Star Spirit, how can I detect other authority holders?" Xu Jin asked a crucial question.

"My lord, when another authority holder comes within a certain distance of you, you will sense them."

This answer made Xu Jin's nerves tighten instantly. "Star Spirit, what exactly does 'a certain distance' mean?"

"If the other enters the range of your Yuanling Taiguang, you will certainly sense them! But you may sense them even before entering the Yuanling Taiguang range—the closer they are, the higher the chance of detection; the farther, the lower." The Star Spirit replied.

The range of Yuanling Taiguang appeared to be a safety boundary.

How far did the Yuanling Taiguang of veteran beings like Tianyang Star Jun or Cangming Star Jun extend?

Ten meters? Twenty meters?

Or a hundred meters?

Xu Jin silently warned himself: if he ever encountered such beings in the future, he must keep his distance.

The next instant, Xu Jin instantly activated the Fifth-Rank Thunder Spirit Heart within the Central Star Palace!

Xu Jin had acquired three Thunder Heavenly Star Will in the Chunlei Star Domain, previously traded for one more, and after fusing them in Chunlei Star Domain, he obtained the Fifth-Rank Thunder Spirit Heart.

Previously, he had gone to great lengths to obtain Thunder Heavenly Star Will precisely for this moment.

With a sufficiently high-grade Thunder Spirit Heart, Xu Jin could rapidly evolve and elevate the Thunder Source Star Pattern to Eighth Rank.

Then, he would gain another primary combat Star Art.

Currently, the power of Thunder Star Arts was still insufficient, mainly due to the Thunder Source Star Pattern's low rank and the lack of any powerful Thunder Star Arts.

The National Dao Academy had no such lineage; there was nothing to be done.

But according to past evolution experience, when a Star Pattern reached above Eighth Rank, it granted a special Star Art—its power was immense.

This would perfectly fill the gap in Xu Jin's Thunder Star Pattern!

The next instant, Xu Jin activated this month's Star Dome Sanctuary's enlightenment time and sank his mind into the Thunder Source Star Pattern, activating one Golden Star.

His combat experience in the Chunlei Star Domain had yielded immense gains, and he had already stacked the Thunder Spirit Heart to Fifth-Rank Mid, making the evolution of the Thunder Source Star Pattern as smooth as water flowing downhill.

When the High-Level Dao Evolution time of this Golden Star ended, Xu Jin's Thunder Source Star Pattern rose from Seventh-Rank Mid to Seventh-Rank Upper—and more.

It naturally broke through to Seventh-Rank Upper, yielding three branches, yet failed to fully break into Eighth Rank!

Without hesitation, Xu Jin activated a Brilliant Star, first triggering its High-Level Dao Evolution.

Instantly, Xu Jin sank again into a world saturated with thunder.

Water thunder, fire thunder, wood thunder, earth thunder, metal thunder—Xu Jin immersed himself in the world of thunder evolution.

During the evolution, Xu Jin unexpectedly discovered that as he continuously willed it, the Fire Source Star Pattern, Wind Source Star Pattern, Earth Source Star Pattern, and Metal Source Star Pattern etched into his body all responded.

After fifteen minutes, the Eighth-Rank Lower Thunder Source Star Pattern was fully completed, marking Xu Jin's Thunder Source Star Pattern's official breakthrough to Eighth Rank.

At the very moment of full completion, the Fire Source Star Pattern within Xu Jin's Central Star Palace began to spin, interacting with the Eighth-Rank Lower Thunder Source Star Pattern; after a hundred breaths, a flash of insight surged into Xu Jin's mind.

Fire Cloud Divine Thunder!

This was the special Thunder Star Art granted by the Eighth-Rank Lower Thunder Source Star Pattern—but this special Thunder Star Art could interact with Fire Star Force.

In short, when activating Fire Cloud Divine Thunder, one could augment its power by channeling Fire Source Star Force.

The power would surely be formidable!

Xu Jin had not expected such a surprise.

After the surprise, Xu Jin calmed his mind and continued evolving.

Once the Star Pattern reached Eighth-Rank Mid, the difficulty surged again; by the end of the High-Level Dao Evolution time, Xu Jin had only evolved a minor branch of the Eighth-Rank Lower Thunder Source Star Pattern.

【Each Brilliant Star can directly complete one minor realm of any Star Pattern below Ninth Rank, then immediately enter High-Level Dao Evolution. Complete now?】

【Complete.】

Instantly, countless starlight emerged, once again plunging Xu Jin into a bizarre, dazzling thunder world—but this time, Xu Jin felt like an observer, as if watching a film; when the film ended, the outcome was already clear.

The Eighth-Rank Lower Thunder Source Star Pattern had been completed to Eighth-Rank Mid.

Simultaneously, another special Star Art appeared in his mind: Heavenly Gang Thunder Chain.

Condense Heavenly Gang Thunder into a Heavenly Gang Thunder Chain, capable of injuring, defending against, and breaking enemies—its applications are limitless.

The coverage range of the Thunder Chain depends on the wielder's spiritual willpower.

But the Star Art granted by Eighth-Rank Mid Thunder Source surprised Xu Jin—he had expected a stronger divine thunder, not this Heavenly Gang Thunder Chain.

Yet Xu Jin was not the least disappointed.

He even felt a touch of anticipation.

Because no special Star Art granted by Eighth-Rank Star Patterns had ever let him down.

Fire Cloud Divine Thunder could not be cast within the Star Dome Sanctuary, but Heavenly Gang Thunder Chain could.

The next instant, as Xu Jin willed it, a crackling sound filled the air—five Heavenly Gang Thunder Chains, as thick as a child's arm, instantly appeared.

The sensation was strange.

These Thunder Chains felt less like chains and more like five additional hands of Xu Jin's own.

They moved with his will—far or near, effortless and precise.

The maximum reach extended eighty meters, but at full extension, Star Force consumption skyrocketed.

The next instant, Xu Jin activated the Linked Star Pattern.

Instantly, a terrifying scene unfolded.

The five Heavenly Gang Thunder Chains multiplied into fifteen.

Standing there, fifteen Heavenly Gang Thunder Chains whirled behind Xu Jin, crackling with lightning, making him resemble a tentacled monster—utterly terrifying!

As Xu Jin willed it, the fifteen chains darted up and down, striking like venomous snakes with extreme speed and power, retracting with coiled readiness—equally terrifying.

Soon, Xu Jin mastered the Heavenly Gang Thunder Chain to perfection.

He could condense them into a cluster, forming a layered Heavenly Gang Thunder Chain shield, or fuse them into a Thunder Hammer, a Thunder Sword!

Extremely powerful!

Especially the Thunder Chain Shield, which Xu Jin found highly practical.

It added another layer of powerful defense for him.

Like Yu Mu Golden Bell, no matter how strong you are, you can only have one layer encircling your body.

But the Thunder Chain Shield could extend or retract at will—it was detached from the body.

And it was extremely strong.

It allowed layered defense!

Under such a Thunder Chain Shield, attacks from previous Golden Star-level heart demons posed little threat; with layered defense, the chance of breaking through Yu Mu Golden Bell became even smaller.

If he encountered a Seventh-Rank cultivator again, with this technique, Xu Jin would not be injured—he wouldn't need to rely on the Sixth-Rank Supreme Golden Scale Armor as his main defense, and even the Yu Mu Golden Bell might not shatter.

A massive sense of security!

This made Xu Jin's mind stir.

The importance of the Third-Rank Upper Linked Star Pattern now became clear.

Whether Fire Cloud Divine Thunder or Heavenly Gang Thunder Chain, both were immensely useful.

Xu Jin had planned to evolve other Star Patterns, but after acquiring Heavenly Gang Thunder Chain, he immediately began evolving the Linked Star Pattern.

He activated the Fifth-Rank Mid Thunder Spirit Heart, sank his mind into the Linked Star Pattern, then directly activated a Golden Star to initiate High-Level Dao Evolution!

This combination, applied to low- and mid-rank Star Patterns, was like using an anti-aircraft gun to shoot mosquitoes—extraordinarily effective.

The rank of the Linked Star Pattern rose rapidly.

After ten breaths, it reached Fourth-Rank Lower; after thirty breaths, Fourth-Rank Mid; after a hundred breaths, Fourth-Rank Upper.

After half a quarter-hour, it reached Fifth-Rank Mid.

After a bit over one and a half quarter-hours, when the High-Level Dao Evolution from this Golden Star ended, Xu Jin's Linked Star Pattern surged directly to Sixth-Rank Lower.

And it was a complete Sixth-Rank Lower—if given more time, it could even evolve to Sixth-Rank Mid.

Jumping from Third-Rank Upper directly to Sixth-Rank Lower was a massive leap.

Wow!

When Xu Jin activated the Linked Star Pattern again, the Thunder Chains behind him increased from fifteen to twenty-five.

A true tentacled monster!

The power of Heavenly Gang Thunder Chain became greater, more flexible!

The only drawback: its consumption also multiplied!

After activating the Linked Star Pattern, Xu Jin's Heavenly Gang Thunder Chain consumption surged fivefold.

After activation, the Star Force within Xu Jin's Thunder Source Star Core drained rapidly—one-tenth of his Thunder Source Star Force lasted only ten breaths.

But it didn't matter.

At this stage, Xu Jin had the Can Dou Platform—he had no shortage of Star Force whatsoever.

Moreover, Xu Jin's cultivation base is already established, and his total stellar energy will continue to multiply exponentially.

High consumption? No problem at all.

At this point, Xu Jin's five Golden Stars and four Brilliant Stars still had three Golden Stars and three Brilliant Stars remaining.

But this session of Star Dome Secret Realm contemplation had only used one hour—three hours remained.

Xu Jin prepared to continue his contemplation, but which stellar pattern should he focus on?

Xu Jin planned to expend another Brilliant Star!

Being good at everything is worse than being expert in one thing.

Xu Jin set his sights on the Fire and Earth elements.

Currently, Xu Jin's most powerful stellar arts were Fire and Earth; the strongest among them were the Solar Source and Terrestrial Source stellar patterns.

If Xu Jin could advance one of these two stellar patterns to Eighth Rank Upper, would he be able to nearly touch the Ninth Rank stellar pattern?

Which stellar pattern should he advance?

After only three breaths of thought, Xu Jin made his decision.

Advance the Great Sun stellar pattern.

Why this decision?

Primarily because of the choice between Dao and technique!

If the Solar Source and Terrestrial Source stellar patterns were likened to Dao, then the Great Sun stellar pattern was technique!

More concretely, the Solar Source and Terrestrial Source stellar patterns were power, while the Great Sun stellar pattern was the weapon!

Currently, Xu Jin's power was already extremely strong—his Brilliant Purple Heavenly Flame was an exceptionally potent special force; even many Eighth Rank cultivators lacked stellar patterns as powerful as his.

Yet his full-strength strike was still far weaker than even a Seventh Rank cultivator's.

This was partly because his stellar patterns had not been enhanced, but more importantly, the technique carrying this power was inadequate.

In other words, the weapon was weak!

The Great Sun stellar pattern's rank was Sixth Rank Upper, and its upper limit was fixed there.

Even the ultra-powerful Solar Source stellar pattern could only slightly overflow the Great Sun's upper limit—it could not surpass its rank.

Xu Jin believed that if he significantly advanced the Great Sun stellar pattern, the stellar art's power might multiply exponentially.

This decision was deeply tied to his earlier idea of compressing the Great Sun stellar art.

And he had already gained some results.

Xu Jin felt this was a viable path!

If this idea succeeded, the Great Sun stellar art's power would rise far beyond double!

In the next instant, Xu Jin activated the Fifth Rank Upper Fire Spirit Core, sank his mind into his final Golden Star, and initiated High-Level Deriving Dao.

Simultaneously, Xu Jin deliberately pondered questions related to compressing the Great Sun stellar art.

This was Xu Jin's insight from using High-Level Deriving Dao multiple times.

If you focus your mind on a specific aspect, High-Level Deriving Dao will reveal the Dao's evolution in that area.

Soon, Xu Jin saw a star in the vast starry sky begin to collapse and contract, then instantly explode—before his eyes, the world turned into a blazing light.

Soon after, Xu Jin saw a small flame contract and then burst forth.

Watching these Dao evolutions, suddenly, some of Xu Jin's earlier confusions about the Great Sun stellar pattern shattered—he instantly achieved clarity.

His previous direction had been wrong.

He had tried to compress the entire Great Sun stellar art like squeezing a balloon, using external force; though effective, it consumed immense soul essence and took far too long.

But this evolution showed him that such contraction must be an internal, active collapse.

Like drawing a fist back into the body!

That method was far more efficient, consumed less soul essence, and could be completed almost instantly with a single thought.

As Xu Jin contemplated, the Great Sun stellar pattern underwent a fundamental transformation.

All the primary stellar lines within the Great Sun stellar pattern changed.

They evolved while growing.

Even when advanced to Seventh Rank Lower, it continued to grow.

When the Great Sun stellar pattern reached Seventh Rank Middle, it had grown substantially.

The entire Great Sun stellar pattern became looser and broader, yet its contraction became far more intense.

Like a collapse, it rapidly shrank inward, then exploded!

Previously, its maximum range was ten meters; now it could reach twenty meters, yet when it exploded, it could effortlessly contract to just three meters—if Xu Jin spared no soul essence and contracted both inward and outward simultaneously, he could even compress it to one meter!

How much the power had increased, Xu Jin did not yet know.

The Star Dome Secret Realm could not be used to test it.

But doubling in power was certainly possible.

At this point, Xu Jin had only two Golden Stars left, with three Brilliant Stars still remaining.

Yet High-Level Deriving Dao still had two and a half hours remaining.

After thinking, Xu Jin directly activated the Seventh Rank Upper Pure Soul stellar pattern, then triggered one Brilliant Star, and began advancing and contemplating again!

The Star Palace bore seventy-eight Pure Soul stellar patterns; even a slight rank increase in the Pure Soul stellar pattern brought immense benefit.

It must be advanced!

(End of Chapter)