Chapter 436: Hidden Worries and Fruits

June 16, inside the Seven Kill Secret Realm.

In the sky, a certain star suddenly blazed with brilliant light; a speck of stellar radiance fell from the horizon like a meteor, landing deep within the southern mountain ranges of the Seven Kill Secret Realm.

This sight stirred a flicker of awareness in Ju Xuan, who stood guard at the gate of the Seven Kill Palace, and he instantly understood its meaning.

He had walked this path himself, and naturally knew what this sign meant: someone had attained seventh-rank mastery over a source-type star pattern, awakening a faint celestial resonance.

Such phenomena typically appeared in cultivators who had not yet broken through to the seventh rank.

Yet even those who had already broken through to seventh rank or higher could experience this change if they achieved seventh-rank mastery over another source-type star pattern.

In short, one thing was certain: someone within the Seven Kill Secret Realm had strengthened, achieving seventh-rank mastery over one source-type star pattern.

But so what?

It was merely elevating one source-type star pattern to seventh rank; based on his experience, the related combat power would rise by at most ten percent.

Irrelevant!

He would continue to hold the gate of the Seven Kill Palace.

As long as he held the gate until the very last moment, and entered only after the sixth trial neared its end, he would emerge victorious.

The legacy of the Seven Kill True Lord, no matter how powerful, would belong solely to him.

In another direction, Luo Shui Marquis also noticed the falling streak of stellar light and naturally understood its meaning.

He knew even more clearly who it was.

All he could do was sigh.

Qi Tian Sheng's strength had grown again.

But it was only a sigh.

Qi Tian Sheng was currently his ally; his increased strength was beneficial to Luo Shui Marquis.

The stronger Qi Tian Sheng became, the greater his chance of receiving further transmission from the Seven Kill True Lord, and the more benefit Luo Shui Marquis would gain.

For now, he continued closing his eyes to recover his injuries and cultivate in stillness.

Two days later, another green streak of stellar radiance descended from the heavens, once again startling Ju Xuan and Luo Shui Marquis Song Shoujie.

Ju Xuan, though surprised, remained unchanged.

Luo Shui Marquis, however, grew even more stunned.

Such talent—he could only look up in awe.

He was, within the past sixty years, the strongest prodigy after State Tutor Cheng Yuexiao.

He remembered how long it had taken him to elevate his first Wind Source Star Pattern from sixth-rank upper to seventh-rank lower: a full eleven days, and that was already considered extremely fast.

For his second Earth Source Star Pattern, he took nine days to break through.

Yet Qi Tian Sheng? Two days.

Four to five times faster than him.

What kind of monstrous talent was this?

Luo Shui Marquis could only shake his head with a bitter smile.

Beyond envy, he quickly stilled his mind and returned to diligent cultivation.

No matter how strong another's talent, there was no need to envy.

Accept the present, walk steadily, and continue his own path of cultivation.

The path of cultivation's ultimate goal was to reach the end, to go far enough—not to race others in speed over a fixed time.

Luo Shui Marquis Song Shoujie's Dao heart had long been forged like iron.

Yet even so, on June 20, when he saw another cluster of icy-white stellar radiance drawn down, he was slightly shaken.

Another one.

In just a few days, Qi Tian Sheng had already elevated three star patterns to seventh-rank lower.

This pace was truly terrifying.

At the gate of the Seven Kill Palace, Ju Xuan glanced once and returned to his own cultivation.

To master so many source-type star patterns in such a short time—didn't he fear overreaching and choking?

From his experience, overloading too many patterns might raise the cultivation base, but combat power did not necessarily increase.

He closed his eyes and resumed his own practice.

Inside the cave, Xu Jin activated his mind, and five streaks of lightning instantly surged forth, coalescing into a terrifyingly powerful five-colored Five Elements Divine Thunder.

This was Xu Jin's latest version of the Five Elements Divine Thunder.

Previously, only the Gold, Wood, and Water Source Star Patterns at sixth-rank upper had been elevated to seventh-rank lower.

Theoretically, the power increase could not stack; the upper limit was only about ten percent higher than before.

But in Xu Jin's perception, the power had actually increased by more than eighty percent.

This power boost came from sixty percent due to the complementary enhancement among the Five Elements Star Patterns, and twenty percent from his cultivation base increase.

The Five Elements Divine Thunder was indeed a special star art granted by the eighth-rank upper Lightning Source Star Pattern—extremely difficult to cultivate, yet its power surpassed Xu Jin's expectations.

Xu Jin estimated that now, without needing to inject Nine Heaven Thunder Rhythm, a single strike could severely wound Zhang Lin, and two strikes could kill him.

Most cultivators could only master one or two, even three source-type star patterns at seventh rank—that was their limit.

To cultivate all five source-type star patterns to seventh rank? Not only was the cultivation difficulty and time prohibitive, many didn't even have access to them.

Moreover, in the current cultivation system, being proficient in everything often meant being mediocre in everything.

Thus, most cultivators focused on only one or two source-force star patterns.

Those who focused on five were exceedingly rare.

Even the Grand State Tutor, before Xu Jin provided him with high-rank star patterns, had cultivated only three source-type star patterns.

Especially for star patterns above seventh rank, each new level of mastery was extremely difficult!

The key issue was the immense difficulty in acquiring them—no faction possessed them all.

And even Xu Jin himself now faced this same problem.

Among the Five Elements Source Patterns, Fire Source was eighth-rank middle, Earth Source was eighth-rank middle—both self-derived by Xu Jin; Gold Source was eighth-rank middle, derived by Ning Yuchan; Wood Source was seventh-rank middle; Water Source was only seventh-rank lower.

To further enhance the power of the Five Elements Divine Thunder, Xu Jin's progress would now slow considerably.

First, he needed to self-derive the Water Source Star Pattern to seventh-rank middle.

Xu Jin did not rush to begin derivation; he continued studying star patterns and accumulating experience.

He hadn't even fully mastered the star patterns he currently held.

The Gold Source Star Pattern at eighth-rank middle, given by Ning Yuchan, he had only reached seventh-rank lower; the Wood Source Star Pattern could still be advanced to seventh-rank middle.

Once he completed mastering all existing star patterns, then he could begin deriving the Water Source Star Pattern—there was no need to hurry.

Notably, previously, Xu Jin had consumed all but one of his remaining sixth-rank Pure Pearls in just three days of intense cultivation.

Roughly seven sixth-rank Pure Pearls could elevate Xu Jin's Middle Star Palace cultivation by one level.

Currently, both his Lower and Middle Star Palaces were at fifth-rank fourth peak, and the maximum straight-line radiation distance of his Yuan Ling Tai Guang had reached a staggering seventeen meters.

Theoretically, Xu Jin's Spirit Soul cultivation had increased by about forty percent; he had also learned the precise details of Spirit Soul cultivation from the State Tutor.

Because Spirit Soul cultivation was extraordinarily difficult, very few in the world knew the methods beyond fifth-rank Spirit Soul.

Even the State Tutor did not know the details.

The State Tutor only knew that if Spirit Soul cultivation broke through to sixth rank, the Yuan Ling Tai Guang would gestate a Spirit Embryo.

The Spirit Embryo was the hallmark of sixth-rank Spirit Soul cultivation.

According to the State Tutor, among all top-tier experts in the current world, only the Tian Yang Star Lord might have formed a Spirit Embryo; others rarely even reached the late fifth-rank Yuan Ling.

Among the known eighth-rank top-tier experts of this era, due to resource limitations, State Tutor Cheng Yuexiao likely had the weakest Yuan Ling cultivation, barely at the early fifth-rank.

If the Yuan Ling Tai Guang's maximum straight-line radiation distance exceeded fifteen meters, one reached mid fifth-rank Yuan Ling.

If it exceeded thirty meters, one reached late fifth-rank Yuan Ling.

If it exceeded forty-five meters, one reached peak fifth-rank Yuan Ling.

But the upper limit of peak fifth-rank Yuan Ling remained unknown!

Of course, this was merely a rough method of dividing the realms.

The State Tutor only knew the general outline.

He said that after breaking through to fifth-rank Yuan Ling, further advancement relied solely on opportunity or slow, steady accumulation.

Among the eighth-rank experts of this era, most had Spirit Soul cultivation between mid and late fifth-rank Yuan Ling.

Only the Tian Yang Star Lord, who broke through very early and possessed abundant spiritual herbs, likely had already surpassed late fifth-rank Yuan Ling—or even reached peak.

He might even have gestated an Embryo.

Specific details were unknown.

With full activation, Xu Jin's Yuan Ling Tai Guang now reached a maximum straight-line radiation distance of seventeen meters, meaning his Yuan Ling cultivation had broken through to mid fifth-rank Yuan Ling.

Theoretically, among all experts in the current world, except for the very top few, anyone struck by Xu Jin's Spirit Soul attack would be affected.

But how severe the effect was, remained uncertain.

For example, Qiao Shen, a fifth-rank early Yuan Ling, was affected by Xu Jin's Spirit Soul attack—but only for an instant.

It was still a matter of time.

If given six or seven years, Xu Jin's Yuan Ling would naturally mature; he estimated that, alone, his Spirit Soul star art could make him invincible under heaven.

June 22: Xu Jin achieved seventh-rank middle mastery over the Wood Source Star Pattern.

June 26: Xu Jin achieved seventh-rank upper mastery over the Gold Source Star Pattern, then began studying the eighth-rank lower Gold Source Star Pattern.

Mastering the eighth-rank Gold Source Star Pattern was exponentially more difficult.

Previously, the State Tutor had said it took him nearly a month to master the eighth-rank upper Lightning Source Star Pattern.

Xu Jin now understood this firsthand.

With the aid of the Candledip Star Domain and the Metal Principle Stars, Xu Jin spent five full days to finally comprehend the eighth-rank Source Star Pattern.

Its difficulty was more than double that of a seventh-rank star pattern.

Yet, Xu Jin gained new insights.

On July 5, Xu Jin advanced the Source Star Pattern to eighth-rank middle.

At this point, all five-element Source Star Patterns in his possession had been fully learned to their latest versions, yielding fresh discoveries and new realizations.

Drawing on his accumulated insights from studying various star patterns, Xu Jin suddenly had a profound awakening.

Immediately, he activated the Candledip Star Domain and began directly researching and simulating the Water Source Star Pattern.

Previously baffling Source Star Patterns now felt like he'd found the thread—gradually, he unraveled them, step by step, completing the seventh-rank Water Source Star Pattern.

But it was not without setbacks.

Sometimes he deduced several branches, only to discover, when pushing further, that earlier branches were wrong or contradictory, forcing him to start over.

On July 9, when Marquis Song Shoujie's assembly alert rose, Xu Jin had already completed half of the seventh-rank Water Source Star Pattern.

And it had taken only four days.

Xu Jin estimated that with another four days—no, three—he could push the seventh-rank Water Source Star Pattern directly to seventh-rank middle.

After that, it would only get easier.

This filled Xu Jin with extraordinary delight.

Suddenly, Xu Jin realized he no longer needed the Golden Star to rapidly simulate seventh-rank star patterns.

This was the result of accumulated depth.

It was the fruit of daily, monthly effort.

It was the qualitative leap born from studying countless star patterns.

Xu Jin felt that with another ten days or half a month, he could push the Water Source Star Pattern to seventh-rank upper.

The same applied to the Wood Source Star Pattern.

Whether he could push it to eighth-rank was uncertain.

Probably.

But the time required might increase fivefold—or even tenfold.

Stepping out of the cave, Xu Jin drew a deep breath, his heart overflowing with uncontainable joy.

Unprecedented joy.

For a long time, a quiet unease had lingered in Xu Jin's heart.

Without the Golden Star and the Brilliant Star, could he no longer simulate star patterns or chart his own cultivation path?

If one day Xu Jin could no longer obtain the Golden Star and the Brilliant Star, where would his cultivation path lead?

Would his cultivation be doomed to stand still?

Like every Star Hall, with star pattern simulation moving agonizingly slow—let alone innovation!

If so, then the Star Lords of the various Star Halls would be the absolute limit of Xu Jin's power.

But now, this unease was utterly shattered.

Even without the Golden Star and the Brilliant Star, Xu Jin could simulate and research star patterns and star arts himself.

This was a power he possessed within himself.

Not one granted by external objects.

Even if slightly slower than using the Golden Star, it was entirely acceptable to him.

Far faster—dozens, even hundreds of times faster—than the research speed of the various Star Halls.

Of course, Xu Jin knew well: this was the fruit of studying countless star patterns, especially the most difficult Image-type and Soul-type star patterns, and a vast number of eighth-rank patterns!

From now on, even if the Star-Picking Tower vanished, even if he could never again obtain the Golden Star or the Brilliant Star, Xu Jin could walk his own cultivation path with unwavering confidence.

A few breaths later, Xu Jin stepped upon the stars and shot toward the location where Marquis Song Shoujie's alert had risen.

Less than two days remained until the end of the Sixth Gate of the Seven Kill Secret Realm.

It was time to settle the score with Ju Xuan!

If possible, settle it with life and death!

(End of Chapter)