Chapter 62: Selection Quotas

On the evening of July 1st, the man in blue did not come.

Not only did he not come on the evening of the 1st, but for the next three days, the man in blue never appeared.

At first, Xu Jin even thought it was because he had moved courtyards—the man in blue couldn’t find him, so he even waited half the night at the old Dormitory Yi-42, but still didn’t come.

Not only did the man in blue not come.

For these past few days, Xu Jin hadn’t seen Instructor Ning Yuchan either.

He went to Ning Yuchan’s small courtyard several times, wanting to ask questions about cultivation and the Star-Picking Order, but no one opened the door, whether at noon or night.

Not just Ning Yuchan—over several consecutive days, all the instructors and trainers at the Dao Academy were nowhere to be seen.

Even Master Gan from the Elixir Room only showed up briefly, saying the originally scheduled seven-day assessment had been postponed.

Many disciples now had rare leisure time.

Though called leisure time, all disciples continued their morning and evening cultivation sessions without interruption.

Even those previously lacking discipline were inspired by their fellow disciples’ daily commitment to the morning and evening routines.

Xu Jin’s morning and evening sessions were only intensified, never interrupted.

In his past life during high school, he slept past one a.m. and rose at six a.m., napping at most forty minutes at noon—still a mortal body—and he stuck to it for over a year.

In this world, Xu Jin’s physical and mental constitution, cultivated to Meal-Mist Level Five, far surpassed ordinary people; morning and evening sessions were effortless.

Of course, Xu Jin had his own leisure time.

His leisure time came after morning and evening sessions, when he lay on his newly bought reclining chair and entered the Star-Dou Lamp to either train or engrave the Great Gathering Star Pattern.

On July 3rd, after days of training within the lamp, Xu Jin’s basic star technique, Starlight Flash, reached perfect mastery and could be cast instantly at will.

On July 5th, Xu Jin’s basic star technique, Star Ring, reached perfect mastery and could be cast instantly at will.

Subsequently, Xu Jin replaced Star Ring with Starlight Shield as the fixed star technique in Star Lamp One.

From this moment on, theoretically, Xu Jin could instantly cast all five basic star techniques.

For these four days, Xu Jin entered the Star-Picking Tower’s Training Realm daily to train.

After six training sessions per day, his soul would grow weary, so he would exit the training realm.

Over these four days, all twenty-four training bouts ended in victory.

As the number of training sessions accumulated, Xu Jin grew increasingly familiar with these star techniques, especially after mastering instant casting of all five basic techniques—winning challenges became easy.

The only issue was his low cultivation base; when facing opponents at Meal-Mist Level Seven or even perfect mastery, his Star Shield proved too weak.

It would be shattered outright.

But the instant casting of Starlight Shield perfectly compensated for this weakness.

His training realm score reached ninety points.

His training realm ranking soared to an astonishing 75,443rd place.

He broke into the top one hundred thousand.

During morning practice on July 5th, a Star Burst erupted from the tip of Xu Jin’s left foot, signaling his cultivation had broken through to Meal-Mist Level Five.

Both legs had been refined.

Thus, the normal refinement process ended, and the results were highly satisfying.

Especially the speed boost after refining his legs gave Xu Jin a sense of being a mini-superhuman.

When he ran, a light push of his feet made him move like a whirlwind.

A slight leap could carry him three meters high.

A light bound could cover seven or eight meters; with full force, a single leap could span up to ten meters.

Far exceeding the world record from his past life.

The distance his Star Arrows could fly also surged from four chi to five chi.

But without finding Chief Instructor Ning Yuchan, the refinement of his head could not proceed.

Originally, Ning Yuchan had said all disciples reaching Meal-Mist Level Five must report to her.

Head refinement was extremely dangerous; one misstep could severely injure the head, ranging from minor wounds to permanent insanity.

On the evening of July 5th—the same night Xu Jin broke through to Meal-Mist Level Five—this year’s Star-Picking Champion, Yue Daqi, completed the refinement of the Six Yang Supreme Head and broke through to Meal-Mist Level Six, beginning his advance toward Meal-Mist Level Seven.

Also on the evening of July 5th, after engraving the Great Gathering Star Pattern over ten thousand times within the lamp, Xu Jin finally succeeded once inside the lamp.

But after that first success, he failed five times in a row before succeeding again.

To attempt engraving the Great Gathering Star Pattern on his own body, he must first achieve perfect success every time within the lamp.

Yet after that first success, achieving one hundred percent success was no longer far off.

On the morning of July 6th, the Jinshan Dao Academy suddenly opened its mountain gates.

The Academy Head Dong Zhao, Deputy Head Feng Shu, Supervising Inspector Cao Chun, and Director Tian Zhang—the four highest authorities of the academy—personally stepped out to greet them, waiting about half a quarter-hour before a group arrived.

Leading the procession were three figures walking side by side: the central one wore the third-rank official robe of Chen Guo—he was Left Minister of Justice Yao Yuanzhi; to Yao Yuanzhi’s left stood a middle-aged man with sharp brows, bright eyes, a tall, upright frame, strikingly handsome—the epitome of a middle-aged gentleman—this man was none other than Lu Chenfeng, Director of the Yanzhou State Dao Academy; to his right was a familiar face to Dong Zhao and the others—Hu Xuechuan, Director of the Yanzhou Branch of the Tianyang Star Temple.

For these past few days, Hu Xuechuan had tried every means, escalating his demands, but Dong Zhao remained unmoved.

In the end, he could only bring in Yao Yuanzhi, Left Minister of Justice of Chen Guo.

It wasn’t that bringing in Yao Yuanzhi, a third-rank official, could force Dong Zhao into submission.

Within the Dao Academy system, whether facing the imperial court or the military, Dao Academies held authority above ordinary officials—even more so.

After all, this was an era where power resided within the self.

The reason Yao Yuanzhi was summoned was Dong Zhao’s own idea.

Zhou Qingzhu had slaughtered Chen Guo civilians, violating state law.

Dong Zhao could hand over the prisoner, but he would never hand him to Hu Xuechuan of the Tianyang Star Temple—he must deliver him to the Ministry of Justice, or the State Dao Academy, or the National Dao Academy, for higher authority to decide.

But how the higher authority would handle it was beyond Dong Zhao’s control.

This was the only concession Dong Zhao could make.

Originally, the plan was to hand him over to the National Dao Academy.

But the National Dao Academy’s stance was extremely firm; Hu Xuechuan estimated that if Zhou Qingzhu entered the National Dao Academy, he would be dead.

He could only pressure the Chen Guo imperial court.

Eventually, the Chen Guo court issued a command through the Star-Picking Tower: Dong Zhao must hand over all prisoners to Left Minister of Justice Yao Yuanzhi.

Yet before transferring the prisoners, Dong Zhao, Lu Chenfeng, and Hu Xuechuan entered a quiet chamber in the Lecture Hall.

“Director Lu, Head Dong, I’ve done exactly as you asked—I’ve brought the man. Now hand over the prisoner, and this matter is done,” Hu Xuechuan urged.

“What about the conditions we discussed?

How will they be fulfilled?” Dong Zhao asked, glancing at Lu Chenfeng.

“I promised, so I will fulfill them,” Hu Xuechuan said.

“Words mean nothing!” Dong Zhao insisted.

Instantly, Hu Xuechuan stiffened his neck. “Dong Zhao, are you questioning my integrity? I, Hu Xuechuan, keep my word!”

“Zhou Qingzhu also kept his word—but when he impersonated a demon and slaughtered my Jinshan County civilians, he didn’t hesitate!”

Dong Zhao’s retort left Hu Xuechuan speechless.

“Written in black and white, signed and sealed, with your star force imprint,” Lu Chenfeng, who had remained silent until now, said.

Hearing this, Hu Xuechuan grew furious again. “Some conditions can be written down, but if I put others in writing, wouldn’t I be a fool? Giving you grounds to trap me!”

Dong Zhao and Lu Chenfeng exchanged another glance, then Dong Zhao spoke: “Other matters are fine, but two conditions—you must put them in writing. Otherwise, I’ll cut Zhou Qingzhu’s head now and post his confession all over the city.”

“You—!”

Hu Xuechuan slammed his fist on the table and rose, glaring.

“I’ve already printed a thousand copies of Zhou Qingzhu’s confession—I can print ten thousand anytime!” Dong Zhao sat beside the table, smiling pleasantly, but that smile made Hu Xuechuan want to draw his blade.

Hu Xuechuan glared at Dong Zhao and Lu Chenfeng for a long while, then said, “Fine, I’ll write it.”

“Good. I’ll speak, you write.”

“First condition: Due to internal reorganization, the Tianyang Branch will suspend recruitment during this year’s Autumn Star-Picking Season. For next year’s Spring and Autumn Star-Picking Seasons, each will admit only twenty disciples.” Dong Zhao said.

Hu Xuechuan glanced at Dong Zhao, then picked up his brush and wrote.

“Second condition: The Yanzhou Branch of the Tianyang Star Temple, due to internal reorganization, voluntarily forfeits this year’s selection quota within Yanzhou.” Dong Zhao said.

Hu Xuechuan glanced at Dong Zhao, then suddenly asked, “Dong Zhao, do I sense you’ve hidden a top-tier genius this year?

You’re writing this just to prevent us from picking him?”

“Every year you snatch our best, I have to resist somehow,” Dong Zhao chuckled.

Hu Xuechuan had no choice but to write it on the spot, then stamp it and imprint his star force, before storming off in fury.

In the Lecture Hall, Head Dong Zhao personally handed over all confessions and prisoners to the Ministry of Justice’s patrol officers brought by Left Minister of Justice Yao Yuanzhi.

After reviewing the confessions, Yao Yuanzhi, following Hu Xuechuan’s request, immediately released Deputy Head Liu Yelan, Supervising Inspector Wang Qiang, and several trainers.

This was one of Hu Xuechuan’s demands.

With these two released,

the Tianyang Branch could resume basic operations.

After lunch, Left Minister of Justice Yao Yuanzhi and State Dao Academy Director Lu Chenfeng swiftly departed with Zhou Qingzhu and the other prisoners.

Head Dong Zhao, Director Tian Zhang, and the others finally breathed a sigh of relief.

In the afternoon, though the academy’s lockdown remained, the disciples finally received orders from the laborers.

Training Hall classes would resume in the afternoon.

Hearing this, Xu Jin was delighted—he would finally see Ning Yuchan!

(End of Chapter)