Chapter 6: The Great Hunger Response

Xu Jin did not immediately draw the starlight from the Can Dou Platform into his body to cultivate; instead, he cultivated while observing others to summarize experience.

Fundamentally, among the youths who had already sparked stars, the strength of their cultivation progress—especially those who had not yet broken through to Canxia First Stage—besides the size of the starlight coverage, one piece of data was most important and most truthful: how many consecutive rounds of the Five Stars Killing Fist they could perform.

This represented the upper limit of star force their bodies could store.

Those who could perform three consecutive rounds of the Five Stars Killing Fist were all on the verge of breaking through to Canxia First Stage; everyone else could manage only one or two rounds at most.

Like Luo Geng, he could only perform two consecutive rounds of the Five Stars Killing Fist.

Those who had successfully sparked stars within the past month could mostly manage only one or two rounds before needing to activate the Canxia Form to draw in starlight.

Different individuals also drew and stored starlight at varying speeds; among youths who could only perform two consecutive rounds, some stored starlight quickly, others slowly.

For Xu Jin, after the starlight in his chest was fully depleted, it took roughly ten minutes to draw in and replenish it again.

After four consecutive rounds of cultivation, the starlight coverage in Xu Jin’s chest expanded slightly again, and the time needed to draw and store starlight reached fifteen minutes.

Xu Jin was already somewhat fatigued, feeling mentally drained.

Xu Jin noticed several youths had stopped cultivating and were each swallowing pills, sitting cross-eyed in meditation.

The pills looked familiar.

Awakening Pills?

A few minutes later, those who had taken the pills regained their vitality and resumed cultivation.

So this was the real purpose of Awakening Pills?

After completing the fifth round of cultivation, Xu Jin once again assumed the Canxia Form, intending to draw in more starlight for the next round.

But after barely two minutes, he felt the speed of drawing starlight into his body continuously slowing; after holding on for five minutes, he suddenly developed a headache, even experiencing palpitations.

Could it be another episode?

Xu Jin’s eyes flew open in alarm—and he saw long legs and a silver iron cane.

“Can’t draw in starlight anymore, right?” Ning Yuchan asked.

Xu Jin nodded.

“Everyone’s spiritual soul power is limited; activating the Canxia Form continuously consumes your spiritual soul power. When you can no longer draw starlight into your body, it means your spiritual soul power has reached its limit.”

“This is also why the Dao Academy schedules you for a one-hour nap every noon.”

“Awakening Pills refresh the mind and spirit; one pill can slightly restore your spiritual soul power, allowing you to cultivate a bit longer.”

“But remember: within a single time period, the first Awakening Pill has the strongest effect; taking more yields negligible returns.” After giving Xu Jin these two pieces of advice, Instructor Ning walked away again.

Only then did Xu Jin realize that half of the senior youths on the east side who could perform the Five Stars Killing Fist had already finished their morning session early.

They must have exhausted their spiritual soul power and gone to rest.

Following her advice, Xu Jin swallowed one Awakening Pill; within less than three minutes, the dizziness and mental fog vanished, and he resumed cultivation in the Canxia Form.

Soon after, the swelling pain returned to his chest—the starlight was fully replenished, but deep within his mind, an extreme sense of fatigue began to creep in.

One Awakening Pill could roughly allow Xu Jin to complete one additional round of cultivation.

Combined morning and evening sessions, he could take two pills, allowing two extra rounds.

Normally, one could cultivate eight to ten rounds per day.

If one continuously took Awakening Pills for four or five days, it was equivalent to gaining an extra day of cultivation compared to others.

A useful aid for cultivation indeed.

But this stuff was a gold-sink.

At least ten taels of silver per day.

Even if he sold his entire family, they couldn’t sustain this consumption for more than a few days.

After completing one and a half rounds of the Five Stars Killing Fist, the star force stored in Xu Jin’s body was completely depleted—but he did not stop. Instead, he focused his intent and directly drew the half strand of starlight from the Can Dou Platform into his chest.

Instantly, the swelling pain returned to his chest.

The starlight that had been fully consumed was instantly replenished.

Even more unexpectedly, the half strand of starlight on the Can Dou Platform had not yet been exhausted.

Compared to the full strand, it still retained nearly one-third.

This strand contained a considerable amount of star force.

Roughly estimated, it could supply Xu Jin’s current state with more than five full replenishments.

Continue the Five Stars Killing Fist.

Harmonize yin and yang, lift ten thousand stones, stir the six directions, shatter the Heavenly Wolf, center the Northern Dipper to stabilize the world.

Under the replenishment of the Can Dou Platform’s starlight, Xu Jin performed three consecutive rounds of the Five Stars Killing Fist; after finishing the third round, he suddenly realized the body-refining effect of consecutive rounds seemed to be stacking.

With a thought, he drew the remaining quarter-strand of starlight into his body; using the Can Dou Platform’s starlight, in this final round, Xu Jin performed four consecutive rounds of the Five Stars Killing Fist.

The starlight’s radiating range across his chest visibly expanded by a full circle—now larger than a fist.

Progress was encouraging.

Xu Jin fell into thought.

After the first round of the Five Stars Killing Fist stimulated body refinement, the refining effect of the second and third consecutive rounds grew stronger.

The refining effect of three consecutive rounds equaled that of four separate rounds performed earlier.

The body-refining effect of Xu Jin’s final round—four consecutive rounds—was stronger than the combined effect of his first five morning rounds.

The principle was simple.

The rebound effect.

Or, as they say, strike while the iron is hot.

If you stop after the first round and draw starlight again, the refined parts of the body rebound and recover; but if you refine continuously, you reinforce and strengthen without pause, and the refining effect grows ever stronger.

Currently, all star-sparking youths below Canxia First Stage could perform at most three consecutive rounds of the Five Stars Killing Fist.

Xu Jin had just performed four in a row—unexpected, but no one would likely notice Xu Jin.

After all, Xu Jin sparked his star on day eighty-three, making him the lowest-ranked among this season’s star-sparkers.

Almost no one paid attention to Xu Jin.

“Instructor, I’ve reached my limit—I’ll return to rest now.” Even though morning session hadn’t ended, any youth who had successfully sparked a star could leave early if they felt they’d reached their limit.

“Mm. Cultivation must be diligent, but after reaching your limit, never force it—otherwise you’ll damage your spirit and body.” Ning Yuchan gave Xu Jin another piece of advice.

Truly a good teacher.

“Let me see your morning cultivation results today,” Ning Yuchan said. In this world, a person’s cultivation talent was primarily judged by the day they sparked their star, but the results of their first morning and evening sessions after sparking were also an important reference.

Observing and summarizing the cultivation talents of these youths was part of Ning Yuchan’s duties as instructor.

As Xu Jin nodded, he sank his intent into the star pattern on his chest and activated the star force.

Instantly, his chest and abdomen were covered in brilliant starlight—spanning the size of a pineapple.

Ning Yuchan’s almond-shaped eyes widened slightly; beneath her veil, her jade-like face revealed astonishment.

This body-refining progress?

Even Yue Daqi, the top star-sparker of this season who sparked on day three, couldn’t match this!

“Was today your first time using the Five Stars Killing Fist for body refinement?”

“You only took one Awakening Pill, right?” Ning Yuchan asked rapidly.

“Yes, Instructor Ning—is there a problem?” Xu Jin asked, puzzled.

“No problem.”

“Go rest. Strive to break through to Canxia First Stage as soon as possible.”

Ning Yuchan waved him off, signaling him to leave.

Watching Xu Jin depart, Ning Yuchan silently sighed.

At present, Xu Jin’s body-refining speed was very fast—nearly matching Yue Daqi, the top star-sparker of this season.

Too bad he sparked so late.

Eighty-three days.

If he had sparked within sixty days and maintained today’s refining speed, she could have secured him a place in the Middle Courtyard—and perhaps even a future chance to enter the Star Palace and learn powerful star arts capable of overturning heaven and sea.

Hungry!

On the way back after morning session, an unprecedented hunger surged over him.

Xu Jin had never been this hungry before.

It felt like he hadn’t eaten in five days.

He felt he could swallow an entire ox.

This must be related to today’s body refinement; the reason for the difference in meals at the academy likely lay here too.

Lunch was still half a quarter-hour away, but Xu Jin immediately headed for the dining hall without hesitation.

Getting in line first meant eating sooner—he was starving.

If he weren’t certain food was coming soon, he felt like he’d chew on roadside leaves.

By regulation, after successfully sparking his star, Xu Jin could now eat at stall number two, which served meat dishes.

Watching the steaming food, had the head cook not been standing there with a giant iron ladle, Xu Jin would have rushed in and grabbed two handfuls already.

Seeing Xu Jin’s hungry, almost devouring-the-pot expression, the cook at stall two suddenly smiled and asked, “You’re very hungry?”

Obviously!

Xu Jin stared at the pot, his stomach rumbling like thunder, nodding vigorously, “Yes, Master—I feel I could eat this whole pot myself!”

“Don’t call me Master—I’m just a cook.”

Hearing Xu Jin’s address, Cook Liu hurriedly waved his hands; each of these youths who had sparked their stars would have brilliant futures—even the worst would become low-ranking officers in the county guard. He couldn’t accept the title “Master.” The dining hall cook quickly waved off the honor, then grabbed a large bowl.

“Since you’re so hungry, I’ll serve you first, young sir.”

"Thank you, Master."

"No, no, I can't accept!"

Without hesitation, Xu Jin went straight to eating, gobbling and devouring, finishing the giant bowl in less than two minutes—this bowl was even larger than the bowls used for Lanzhou beef noodles in his past life.

After finishing, Xu Jin handed the bowl back over. "Master, another bowl!"

Politeness never offends; this time, Liu the Head Cook deliberately added a few extra pieces of meat to Xu Jin’s bowl.

He kept eating.

He devoured four bowls in one go.

Xu Jin himself stared in astonishment at his own stomach.

In either his past or present life, he had never devoured four giant bowls of rice.

He thought that if he could return to his old world, he’d have real potential as a competitive eater.

With a satisfied burp, Xu Jin returned the bowl to the stove and still took a moment to thank Liu the Head Cook.

But Liu the Head Cook suddenly asked, "You’re unfamiliar—did you just successfully awaken your Star today? Just started your Body Tempering? And now you’re starving mad?"

"That’s right. Do everyone go through this?" Xu Jin felt slightly embarrassed after devouring four giant bowls.

"Not at all."

Liu the Head Cook shook his head, and that single motion left Xu Jin bewildered—everyone wasn’t the same?

"What about the others?"

"Besides Yue, the top Star Awakener of this season, who has the same intense hunger during Body Tempering, you’re the second."

"Huh?"

Xu Jin suddenly realized something and looked thoughtfully at the Head Cook.

The Head Cook smiled. "Don’t overthink it, young man. I’ve been here a long time—seen a lot. I’ve been doing this for over a decade."

It’s said those with intense hunger during Body Tempering progress faster in cultivation."

Faster Body Tempering means greater physical strain and consumption, but you must supplement with elixirs."

Without them, you risk damaging your body and even harming your foundation. The Dao Academy’s Blood-Replenishing Elixir and Foundation-Strengthening Elixir are commonly used."

Even without intense hunger, if you have the means, taking Blood-Replenishing and Foundation-Strengthening Elixirs regularly during the Breath-Feasting stage can also accelerate Body Tempering."

Otherwise, you’ll have to slow down your Body Tempering deliberately—harming your foundation would be worse."

"Thank you for the advice, Master Liu. My name is Xu Jin."

"No, no, I can't accept!"

As other youths came one by one for their meals, Xu Jin had already left—but as he walked away, a sense of melancholy settled in his heart.

Buying elixirs required a fortune in silver.

Why was he always short on money, no matter where he went?

How could he ever get silver?

(End of Chapter)