Chapter 423: The Complete Plan

June 9, the Seven Kill Secret Realm.

It was already the second day of the fifth trial in the Seven Kill Secret Realm.

At most another day and a half, the Seven Kill Palace would appear, and the fifth trial would enter its most intense phase.

Ju Xuan, an eighth-rank elder of the Jin Zhu tribe, descended from the sky, frowning as he stared at the shattered corpse before him, his fury burning fiercely.

This was the third corpse of his clansmen he had found using his secret technique, and the second seventh-rank clansman slain.

Especially since the golden horn on its head had been cut off, and its star core removed.

This made Ju Xuan even angrier.

Originally, Ju Xuan had planned to cultivate in place, waiting for the Seven Kill Palace to surface, then guard its entrance, where he could freely harvest the lives of the elite among the current human race.

If fortune favored him, he might even lead most of his clansmen inside the Seven Kill Palace.

But that required him to obtain a Seven Kill Token.

He had left such matters of chance to his clansmen.

Four seventh-ranks and seven sixth-ranks had been dispatched; even with terrible luck, retrieving at least one Seven Kill Token should have been no problem.

But problems had arisen.

One and a half days had passed, and not a single clansman had returned with a Seven Kill Token—he hadn't even seen a shadow of them.

According to his orders, these clansmen were required to regroup beside him every other day.

One reason was to report safety; the other was that beside him, they could recover their state in peace.

But not one had appeared.

This was definitely abnormal.

Ju Xuan had used his clan's secret technique to track his clansmen's qi, but all he had found so far were corpses.

Ju Xuan collected the corpse of the seventh-rank clansman into his space ring, then instantly soared into the air, activating his secret technique to track the next clansman's qi.

Ten breaths later, Ju Xuan suddenly detected a sixth-rank member of the current human race.

In the instant the man panicked, Ju Xuan surged forward and smashed him with a single palm strike.

But the man merely dissolved into starlight.

After waiting ten breaths and no one appeared, Ju Xuan understood—the man had used his death-replacement opportunity to leave permanently, without returning.

His fury intensified, yet he could do nothing.

He could only continue tracking his clansmen's qi.

In a cave within the southern mountain range of the Seven Kill Secret Realm, Xu Jin and Ning Yuchan sat cross-legged in deep cultivation.

The cave was fresh—carved on the spot by Ning Yuchan and Xu Jin using sword light.

The reason was simple.

After Xu Jin had collected eight Seven Kill Tokens, every token now had an owner.

Thus, the strong ones who had not found a Seven Kill Token would likely search the entire Seven Kill Secret Realm.

But such a vast realm could not be searched inch by inch on the ground—they could only patrol from high above, searching for targets.

Hiding in a cave was extremely safe.

Yet what Xu Jin feared most was Ju Xuan, the eighth-rank elder.

In the past half day, Xu Jin had hunted down and killed all eleven Jin Zhu tribesmen except Ju Xuan.

But he had not completed the job.

Xu Jin had located all eleven Jin Zhu tribesmen.

In the end, he had fully slain two seventh-ranks and four sixth-ranks, seizing one golden horn from a seventh-rank and three from sixth-ranks.

In addition, he had obtained seven and a half seventh-rank Pure Pearls and forty-eight sixth-rank Pure Pearls.

The remaining two seventh-ranks and three sixth-ranks of the Jin Zhu tribe, after being slain once by Xu Jin, had used the Seven Kill Secret Realm's death-replacement opportunity to leave permanently.

This cost Xu Jin the chance to acquire more Pure Pearls.

Still, since the Jin Zhu tribe possessed such valuable items as Pure Pearls, Xu Jin might one day have to undertake a major operation.

It was certain that, within the current Seven Kill Secret Realm, no Jin Zhu tribesman remained except Ju Xuan, the eighth-rank.

Xu Jin's second step—cutting off the enemy's wings—had succeeded.

In another day, half a day before the Seven Kill Palace surfaced, Xu Jin could execute his third step.

For now, cultivation.

"Yuchan, these are my previous spoils—take them. They'll rapidly boost your cultivation."

Xu Jin handed Ning Yuchan a pile of items.

Including two Ten Blood Spirit Pills, three seventh-rank Pure Pearls, twenty sixth-rank Pure Pearls, and twelve Three-Variant Dragon Turtle Soul-Forging Pills.

These were enough to greatly elevate Ning Yuchan's cultivation.

Her soul cultivation could even reach the peak of sixth-rank ninth layer.

Yet Ning Yuchan hesitated as she looked at the items Xu Jin gave her. "These are too valuable!"

As a cultivator, Ning Yuchan knew the value of these items better than anyone.

Especially the Three-Variant Dragon Turtle Soul-Forging Pills—they were priceless.

"Yuchan, if you say that, should I return them to you?" Xu Jin slapped two Star Jade Tablets onto his palm.

One bore the eighth-rank Golden Source Star Pattern Ning Yuchan had given him; the other, the sixth-rank upper Golden Image Star Pattern.

"Isn't that different?"

"What's different? Besides, what's mine is yours, and isn't yours mine too? Why divide 'yours' and 'mine'?" As he spoke, Xu Jin boldly slapped Ning Yuchan's remarkably elastic rear.

Instantly, Ning Yuchan's cheeks flushed crimson.

Though her face burned red, she still nodded shyly and obediently accepted the items.

The sight stirred Xu Jin's desire intensely.

But as he glanced around the cave, he abandoned the thought.

If the environment were better, he might have taken Ning Yuchan tonight.

A few breaths later, Ning Yuchan and Xu Jin each began cultivation.

Xu Jin first took a sixth-rank Pure Pearl and began absorbing it.

The star force within a sixth-rank Pure Pearl was extremely pure, and absorption was exceedingly fast.

In just one hour, Xu Jin had fully absorbed the sixth-rank Pure Pearl.

Xu Jin closed his eyes and sensed—this sixth-rank Pure Pearl had been used to enhance his Lower Star Palace.

His Lower Star Palace cultivation remained at fifth-rank second layer.

Judging by the increase just now, he would need at least seven sixth-rank Pure Pearls to raise his Lower Star Palace by one layer.

Suddenly, Ning Yuchan's aura surged violently.

She had broken through.

Within moments, her aura surged to fifth-rank eighth layer.

"Yuchan, how effective are sixth-rank Pure Pearls for your cultivation?"

"So far, one and a half sixth-rank Pure Pearls raise my cultivation by one layer."

"Just the sixth-rank Pure Pearls you gave me are enough to push both my Middle and Lower Star Palaces to the peak of fifth-rank ninth layer—with leftovers!" Ning Yuchan said.

"Good! With your cultivation greatly enhanced, and your Star Patterns improving further, your chance of killing Sun Fu will increase dramatically!" Xu Jin nodded, yet felt a quiet frustration—Ning Yuchan needed one and a half to rise one layer, while he needed seven. That was the cost of the Thirty-Six Star Castings.

"I hope so." Ning Yuchan nodded gently, then resumed cultivation.

Xu Jin then took a seventh-rank Pure Pearl and continued cultivating.

The star force within a seventh-rank Pure Pearl was immense—roughly ten times that of a sixth-rank Pure Pearl.

Each Pure Pearl's star force content varied slightly, but the overall difference was not great.

Cultivation efficiency using seventh-rank Pure Pearls was higher.

Three hours later, Xu Jin had fully absorbed the star force from the seventh-rank Pure Pearl.

His Lower Star Palace cultivation successfully broke through to fifth-rank third layer, and his Middle Star Palace cultivation also advanced to the mid-stage of fifth-rank third layer.

With three or four more sixth-rank Pure Pearls, Xu Jin's cultivation could break through to fifth-rank fourth layer.

Yet Xu Jin did not continue cultivating.

Instead, he began studying and contemplating the Wood Source Star Pattern.

The Wood Source Star Pattern had been obtained from Ji Hongli; originally, it was sixth-rank upper.

Later, Ji Hongli mentioned it to her grandfather Ji Bang, who immediately gave him the latest version.

The Ji family's support for Xu Jin was utterly wholehearted.

The Ji family's latest version of the Wood Source Star Pattern was seventh-rank middle.

Xu Jin held only a seventh-rank lower Water Source Star Pattern, obtained from the State Preceptor.

The Ji family also had one.

But both the Ji family and the State Dao Academy's latest versions were only seventh-rank lower.

The next instant, Xu Jin projected the Can Dou Lamp Domain using the cosmic laws beneath the Can Dou Platform, beginning his contemplation of the Wood Source Star Pattern.

He also instructed Ning Yuchan to stop cultivating and begin contemplating the Earth Source and Earth Image Star Patterns.

Though Ning Yuchan primarily cultivated Metal, she was currently a one-sided prodigy.

Her offense was overwhelming, her defense pitifully weak—a fragile shell.

Ning Yuchan had never trained Earth cultivation due to lack of time and energy.

But with Xu Jin's Can Dou Lamp Domain aiding her, she could learn Star Patterns rapidly.

If Ning Yuchan could master Xu Jin's Fish Curtain Golden Bell and plug this defensive weakness, her strength would be quite terrifying.

Under the four-tier wood-element law star on the Can Dou Platform, Xu Jin learned the Wood Source Star Pattern at an extraordinary speed.

In just two hours, he mastered the six-tier Wood Source Star Pattern, then began continuously contemplating and refining it.

Five hours later, one of Xu Jin's star cores was inscribed with a six-tier Wood Source Star Pattern.

The next instant, Xu Jin subtly shifted his intent, and a dark green Yi Wood Divine Thunder appeared in his hand, glowing brilliantly.

Compared to Bing Fire Divine Thunder and Wu Earth Divine Thunder, the power of Yi Wood Divine Thunder was far weaker.

After all, the Wood Source Star Pattern was only at six-tier upper, while Bing Fire and Wu Earth were both at eight-tier middle, and even received augmentation from eight-tier beast-type star patterns.

But it was sufficient for synthesizing the Five Element Divine Thunders.

After playing with it for a while, Xu Jin began studying the Water Source Star Pattern.

The water-element law star on the Can Dou Platform was five-tier, so the speed was even faster.

In just four and a half hours, Xu Jin inscribed the six-tier Water Source Star Pattern onto one of the star cores in his Central Star Palace.

This speed, if known, would be utterly shocking!

A beginner would take ten days to master a six-tier Water Source Star Pattern—even a six- or seven-tier novice would need three to five days.

Xu Jin needed only four and a half hours.

Within moments, Gui Water Divine Thunder appeared in his palm.

The next instant, Xu Jin's intent sank deeply: first a crimson Bing Fire Divine Thunder rose above his head, then golden Wu Earth Divine Thunder, followed by Geng Metal Divine Thunder, Gui Water Divine Thunder, and Yi Wood Divine Thunder, each ascending in turn.

As he activated them, the five thunders sought to merge.

But the instant the five thunders merged, a thunderous roar erupted—and only Bing Fire Divine Thunder and Wu Earth Divine Thunder remained; the others vanished entirely!

Five Element Divine Thunder synthesis failed!

Xu Jin frowned.

After two more attempts, using the Mingji Star Pattern to sense the flow, he discovered the reason for the failure.

Bing Fire Divine Thunder and Wu Earth Divine Thunder were too powerful!

Causing the synthesis to fail!

Half an hour later, having found the method, Xu Jin stared at the Five Element Divine Thunder before him, radiating immense energy, his brow slightly furrowed.

He understood now!

The Five Element Divine Thunder required all five elemental thunders to be of equal strength, then to harmonize through the Five Elements' mutual generation to achieve synthesis.

Theoretically, its power far exceeded the sum of the five individual thunders.

Each cycle of Five Elements' mutual generation increased power by fifty percent.

During the synthesis process, this mutual generation occurred five times.

Thus, theoretically, after synthesis, the power would increase three to fourfold.

But the drawback was that the power multiplier depended entirely on the weakest of the five elemental thunders.

That is, it was multiplied based on the Yi Wood Divine Thunder formed from the six-tier Wood Source Star Pattern.

Even so, if the Yi Wood Divine Thunder formed from the six-tier Wood Source Star Pattern and the eight-tier Lei Yuanxing Star Pattern were multiplied three or four times, its power would still be formidable.

It would definitely surpass a single Bing Fire Divine Thunder or Wu Earth Divine Thunder!

But the increase wouldn't be enormous.

However, the Five Element Divine Thunder had another major advantage.

It could be adjusted at will to counter an opponent.

If the opponent used fire-element star arts for defense, the source of the Five Element Divine Thunder could be switched to Gui Water Divine Thunder; under the principle of elemental suppression, its destructive power would increase dramatically.

The subtlety of its application lies entirely in the practitioner's mind.

This was the true brilliance of the Five Element Divine Thunder.

Unfortunately, less than half a day remained before the Qisha Palace would emerge.

There was no time to fully comprehend the Metal Source, Wood Source, and Water Source Star Patterns to seven-tier lower.

If these three star patterns could all be mastered to seven-tier lower, the base power of the Five Element Divine Thunder would greatly increase.

Upon successful synthesis, its power would surge!

In the future, Xu Jin now had a clear direction for significantly enhancing his star art power.

Two hours later, with four hours remaining until the Qisha Palace emerged, Xu Jin and Ning Yuchan leapt into the stars and swiftly flew toward the hidden cultivation retreat of Master Dong Zhao.

Xu Jin was about to execute the third step of his grand plan.

Worth noting is that during this day and a half, with Xu Jin's Can Dou Lamp Domain aiding her, Ning Yuchan had mastered the Earth Beast Star Pattern and Rain Curtain Star Pattern to four-tier upper, and the Earth Source Star Pattern to five-tier upper.

As for the Swimming Fish Star Pattern, Ning Yuchan had learned it long ago.

Now, Ning Yuchan could barely manifest the Fish Curtain Golden Bell.

But its power was worlds apart from Xu Jin's.

Still, all star patterns were now within her grasp; given time and her determination, she would advance rapidly.

Half an hour later, Xu Jin and Ning Yuchan found Dong Zhao.

At just one glance at the eight Qisha Tokens Xu Jin produced, Dong Zhao was stunned!

"You kid—did you kill everyone who held a Qisha Token?" Dong Zhao asked in disbelief.

"How could I? I was lucky, had a little sensing technique, and snatched a few more to get these eight Qisha Tokens," Xu Jin chuckled.

Dong Zhao sized Xu Jin up and down several times before smiling. "Speak. I know—you came here with these eight Qisha Tokens because you've got a complete plan."

"Master, you're perceptive."

Xu Jin grinned, then laid out his entire plan. Dong Zhao and Ning Yuchan grew more astonished with every word.

(End of Chapter)