Chapter 443: Final Acquisition of the Mysterious Palace Inheritance

Xu Jin cultivated in silence for three hours.

Qiao Shen agonized for three hours, desperately pondering.

Yet he still could not devise a fully viable method.

Bypassing the Divine Soul seal is no easy feat.

He even considered taking a disciple to pass on the knowledge, but the Mysterious Palace differed from other factions—only his master, the palace lord Luo Xian, and a few Elders were qualified to take disciples; all other disciples lacked the qualification, and they too were bound by the Divine Soul seal.

Though he failed to find a way to bypass the Divine Soul seal, his Yuan Ling, exposed directly to the myriad phenomena of heaven and earth without a physical body to nourish it, was steadily leaking away.

Only outflow, no inflow.

This situation made Qiao Shen feel as if he were walking step by step toward death, intensifying his panic.

"How is it?"

Suddenly, Xu Jin opened his eyes.

In three hours, he had adjusted his state to its peak and exhausted nearly all his patience.

If Qiao Shen truly could not devise a way to bypass the Divine Soul seal, Xu Jin would have to resort to his final tactic.

Use Qiao Shen as a living vessel.

He would first refine and control Qiao Shen's Yuan Ling, directly seizing control of Qiao Shen's life and death, then have Qiao Shen preliminarily forge the Spatial Dao True Intent and store it within his own Mysterious Space, after which Xu Jin would reseal Qiao Shen's Yuan Ling and imprison it within his own Mysterious Space.

After leaving the Seven Kill Secret Realm, he would then control Qiao Shen to hand it over, passing this hot potato to the State Tutor for handling.

"I—I couldn't think of any way to fully bypass the Divine Soul seal and transmit the Spatial cultivation inheritance to you." As he spoke, Qiao Shen nearly wept.

He truly wanted to live.

He did not want to be sealed inside the Mysterious Space, enduring a life of endless day and night.

He felt that if he stayed there any longer, he would go mad.

Hearing this, Xu Jin sighed helplessly.

Then it was useless—there was no other option.

He could only use this fellow as a vessel; after the matter was settled, he would eliminate him.

Seeing Xu Jin sigh, Qiao Shen turned pale with shock, his Yuan Ling trembling.

Xu Jin watched this scene and found it utterly ridiculous.

This fool was scaring himself—Xu Jin hadn't even opened his mouth to say he'd kill him.

"I—I thought of a clever method, but it demands a higher level of comprehension from the learner." Qiao Shen stammered.

Xu Jin had already planned to use him as a vessel; hearing this, he became interested.

"Speak."

"Seal— I'll craft the simplest Spatial Seal and give it to you; whether you can comprehend it depends on your insight."

"This—"

Hearing this, Xu Jin fell into thought—it was actually a decent method.

Yet extracting and comprehending a Star Seal from a Seal was unimaginably difficult.

Otherwise, the Star Healing Seals of the Wood Spirit Palace would have been replicated countless times already.

The same applied to the Mysterious Palace's Spatial Teleportation Seals.

But conversely, if Qiao Shen deliberately crafted it, the difficulty would drop significantly.

Generally speaking, like the Star Healing Seal or the most basic Spatial Teleportation Seal, they combine at least three or four Star Seals, plus a base Seal's Star Pivot, making extraction akin to finding a needle in a haystack, with overwhelming interference.

But if deliberately crafted—for instance, containing only a single Source Star Seal—the difficulty would decrease exponentially.

Yet the learner's comprehension still had to be extremely high.

Because the worst case was engraving only one Source Star Seal on the Seal—adding the base Seal's Star Pivot Star Seal, that still meant two Star Seals merged, with immense difficulty and interference.

Even Xu Jin lacked the confidence.

Just as he was about to reject it, a thought suddenly struck him.

"When crafting the base Seal for your Spatial Seals, are there any special requirements?" Xu Jin asked.

"No—just the Star Pivot Star Seal as the base," Qiao Shen replied.

Hearing this, Xu Jin smiled—he had it!

He had a solution.

The reason no one attempted to comprehend Star Seals from Seals was because the difficulty was immense and the interference overwhelming—all other Star Seal lines and patterns were interference.

Even reducing it to only the Star Pivot Star Seal and the Source Star Seal still left overwhelming interference.

Though the Star Pivot Star Seal on the base Seal appeared roughly similar, the details varied drastically across different lineages.

In Star Seal comprehension, a hair's breadth of difference leads to a thousand-mile error.

But Xu Jin could provide the base Seal himself.

His own crafted base Seal held the Star Pivot Star Seal's variations so clearly, he might as well have carved them into his mind.

With this, Xu Jin only needed to expend a little effort to isolate the Source Star Seal.

And he only needed to first engrave a simple one—say, a third-rank one.

That would suffice.

When Xu Jin explained this idea, Qiao Shen was also pleasantly surprised.

"If so, your difficulty in comprehension would drop dramatically."

"Exactly!"

Xu Jin nodded, and within mere seconds, he pulled out a fourth-rank Star Jade Tablet and forged a base Seal using the Star Pivot Star Seal. To further reduce difficulty, he meticulously memorized and replicated the Star Pivot Star Seal's flow and variations several times.

"Engrave a third-rank or lower Spatial Star Seal onto this base Seal," Xu Jin said.

Qiao Shen took it but did not act immediately; instead, he looked at Xu Jin hesitantly, as if wanting to say something but dared not.

"What else? Speak if you have something," Xu Jin frowned.

"I—I will spare no effort to give you what you want, but I need a… promise!" Qiao Shen said.

Though Qiao Shen feared death and had little worldly experience, he was not foolish.

On the contrary, he was quite clever.

He knew this was the moment to negotiate—fail now, and there would be no chance later.

"A promise? What kind of promise do you want?"

"I want to live. You must find me a vessel to inhabit and provide me with Divine Soul elixirs to sustain my Yuan Ling.

In the future, if there's an opportunity, help me find a method to reconstruct a physical body.

I heard my master say that once the Yuan Ling reaches a certain level, it may possess the potential to usurp a body—but I don't know the method," Qiao Shen said.

"A vessel and Divine Soul elixirs are no problem—I can promise you those.

But I cannot guarantee a method to reconstruct a body.

I don't know one myself, nor do I know if I'll ever discover or encounter one in the future—so I cannot promise that," Xu Jin said.

"Fine, acceptable! But you must swear a Great Dao Oath." Qiao Shen understood this well—he had spent time beside Mysterious Palace Lord Luo Xian and had seen enough.

Xu Jin carefully considered it—promising only to find Qiao Shen a vessel and supply a few elixirs to sustain his Yuan Ling—swearing a Great Dao Oath would have no real impact on him.

He immediately swore the Great Dao Oath.

But Qiao Shen still did not act; instead, he said, "Brother Qi, could I retrieve some Divine Soul-replenishing elixirs from my Mysterious Space? My Yuan Ling—"

"Of course!

Oh, by the way, take everything out of your Mysterious Space—I'll check if anything's useful to me. Of course, I'll leave you some Divine Soul elixirs for recovery.

After all, the contents of your Mysterious Space are my spoils of war," Xu Jin said.

Xu Jin's words were somewhat shameless.

But who was the victor?

The victor rules, the loser perishes—that is the way of the world. "Alright," Qiao Shen sighed bitterly.

At this moment, he was the fish on the chopping block—his only choice was to accept.

One could only say: inferior skill leads to lifelong regret!

As Qiao Shen activated his spiritual sense, he emptied every single item from his Mysterious Space.

To prevent Xu Jin from doubting him, he left nothing behind—even personal belongings and clothing were dumped out.

Xu Jin glanced once—and his eyes twitched.

"Are… all Mysterious Palace disciples this wealthy?"

One fifth-rank Star Array, a few hundred fourth-rank Star Jade Tablets, yet over three thousand fifth-rank Star Jade Tablets, and more than a hundred sixth-rank Star Jade Tablets.

Then the elixirs—especially the Dragon Turtle Soul-Forging Elixir, which Xu Jin recognized—eighteen bottles!

This damn thing!

Xu Jin felt a surge of anger.

In the Chen Guo Dao Academy, disciples received Dragon Turtle Soul-Forging Elixir by the pill.

Releasing dozens at once was considered a massive amount.

But this fellow pulled out eighteen bottles!

Four sixth-rank high-grade Spirit Instruments.

Eight fourth-rank Divine Soul herbs, three fifth-rank Divine Soul herbs.

Dozens of Spatial Teleportation Seals and various survival Seals.

He was essentially a walking treasure vault!

Xu Jin felt even the State Tutor Cheng Cheng Yuexiao wasn't as wealthy as this fellow.

"It's gone too!"

Qiao Shen shook his head. "Most disciples only have the cultivation resources granted by the sect. I performed well, so I'm considered a direct disciple."

Because strengthening star patterns with spatial power makes it extremely difficult to find medicinal herbs for assistance."

Our Master helped all of us direct disciples forge our Nascent Souls early on, using the Nascent Soul to reinforce star patterns."

But the cultivation resources my Master gave me were long since used up."

I've gained more benefits from these recent missions outside the sect."

"You get benefits from missions outside?" Xu Jin frowned.

"Indeed! For example, last time when Chen Guo, the Lord Tianyang Star Temple, and the Cangming Star Temple competed for superiority, our Master sent the three of us disciples down the mountain to open a temporary star gate."

I was assigned to the Lord Tianyang Star Temple and received quite a few rewards," Qiao Shen said.

This instantly stirred up Xu Jin's memories—and the doubts he'd held back then.

Although it was later confirmed that the leak came from Dai Dai Guanwen of the Xumi Palace, and Vice Academician Shen Shen Zhenxuan was indirectly killed by Dai Dai Guanwen, the full details remained unclear.

Now that Qiao Shen mentioned it, Xu Jin pressed for details.

Under these circumstances, Xu Jin's inquiry naturally prompted Qiao Shen to speak without reservation.

He told Xu Jin everything about that incident.

Before Xu Jin even finished listening, his face had turned ashen.

No wonder!

The leaks kept happening.

It wasn't just Dai Dai Guanwen leaking information—there was another senior brother inside the Xumi Palace, Zong Yan, acting as an information broker, making connections!

Now everything was clear.

The future hit list now had one more name besides Dai Dai Guanwen: Zong Yan.

And it wasn't just this generation.

Whenever the Superiority Competition required Xumi Palace disciples, their second senior brother, Zong Yan, sold intelligence—sometimes lightly, sometimes heavily.

But Qiao Shen had only been involved in external affairs for the past three or four years.

He didn't know what happened during Ning Ning Yuchan's generation.

But Xu Jin strongly suspected Zong Yan of the Xumi Palace had also sold Chen Guo's intelligence to the Lord Tianyang Star Temple.

Despicable traitors!

These Xumi Palace disciples may look rich beyond measure, but some of their wealth was bought with the blood and flesh of Chen Guo Dao Academy disciples."

"This Brother Qi, it's just some intelligence—why such a reaction?" Qiao Shen was puzzled.

In the next instant, Xu Jin's face shimmered with starlight, instantly reverting to his true appearance. "I am Xu Jin—the very man the Lord Tianyang Star Temple has been buying intelligence to target."

Qiao Shen froze, stunned into silence.

"I heard you weren't…" Qiao Shen dared not finish.

"Enough. Take this pill to restore your soul energy. I'll take all this now!"

Xu Jin swept his sleeve, instantly seizing all the star jade tablets, insignias, eighteen vials of Dragon Turtle Soul-Forging Pills, and other pills, medicinal herbs, and star artifacts.

This left Qiao Shen's expression bitter beyond words—but there was nothing he could do.

He could only silently begin crafting the simplest Empty Source insignia.

Xu Jin already had a preliminary plan for Qiao Shen's placement: once Qiao Shen's Nascent Soul recovered slightly, he would directly forge control over it.

Thus, he would fully control Qiao Shen's life and death.

Qiao Shen could only accept it.

After fifteen minutes, Xu Jin received the Empty Source insignia Qiao Shen had crafted.

The Empty Source star pattern inside was only third-rank lower.

Theoretically, it should have been very simple for Xu Jin, since the star core pattern within the base was his own work—he could simply strip it away.

But his progress in comprehending it was slow.

Comprehending the Empty Source star pattern was slower and harder than Xu Jin had imagined!

Especially since his prior accumulation in spatial star patterns was extremely limited.

This frustrated Xu Jin.

Acquiring the Empty Source star pattern was inevitable at this pace.

But what he'd acquire would be low-rank.

According to Qiao Shen, their direct disciples mastered seventh-rank upper Empty Source star patterns—including related spatial techniques like Spatial Shift, Spatial Cut, and Spatial Barrier, ranging from sixth to seventh rank.

But at this rate, he could only learn the third-rank version.

Then he could use Golden Star to simulate and accelerate the process—that would be fastest.

If he kept learning this slow, clumsy way, it might take years—even five or six years—to master it.

Too long!

"By the way, don't you and your senior brothers often discuss and study star patterns together?" Xu Jin suddenly asked.

"Of course! Master only imparts the methods—he rarely teaches us directly. Usually, our senior brothers guide us, and then we guide the junior disciples," Qiao Shen said.

In the next instant, Qiao Shen's Nascent Soul closed its eyes and fell into deep sleep.

Xu Jin had activated the Dream-Weaving Star Pattern, plunging Qiao Shen into a dream.

In the dream, a junior disciple from the Xumi Palace, familiar to Qiao Shen, held the simplest Empty Source star pattern and began asking for guidance.

In the dream, Qiao Shen returned to the Xumi Palace and treasured that feeling deeply.

He even wanted to remain lost in the dream forever!

So he guided the junior disciple with exceptional care.

With the third-rank lower Empty Source star pattern as a foundation, Xu Jin, in the dream, assumed the role of Qiao Shen's junior disciple, continuously asking questions and refining the star pattern's rank.

The dreaming Qiao Shen gave his guidance with equal diligence.

In just four days, Xu Jin, building on the third-rank lower Empty Source pattern, obtained the seventh-rank upper Empty Source star pattern.

He also discovered the secret to replicating the Xumi Palace's transmission!

First, have Qiao Shen craft the simplest insignia of the target star pattern; after Xu Jin learns it preliminarily, he then continuously asks questions and refines it within the dream.

Spatial Shift, Spatial Fold, Spatial Barrier, Spatial Cut.

Thus, Xu Jin learned one Xumi Palace transmission star pattern after another.

(End of Chapter)