Chapter 695: The First Shards of the Star

The Dao Palace training ground.

After three hours of arena battles, the Dao Son ranking contest had entered its sixth round.

It had reached the most critical moment.

Starting from the fifth round, each competitor could apply for up to two instants of recovery time before each match.

As for Xu Jin, he had easily passed the fourth and fifth rounds. But by the sixth round, only sixty-three Dao Sons remained qualified.

All were elites among elites.

Sixty-three Dao Sons had been selected from over a thousand star regions, across ten years, from hundreds of millions.

Each one was, in talent, a peerless genius.

The lowest cultivation among them was Ninth Stage mid-stage; apart from Xu Jin, who was Eighth Stage early-stage, and Su Su Lingluo, the Eighth Stage peak genius girl from the Su family of Commander Tian Zhang, not a single other Eighth Stage remained.

Yet even so, the combat power gap remained enormous.

This was tied to each peerless genius's path of cultivation.

Especially every realm before Eighth Stage served as a distinct foundation.

Having a master's guidance versus having none was entirely two different states.

Xu Jin, observing throughout, found that among Ninth Stage cultivators of the same realm, those from renowned great clans possessed stronger combat power.

Xu Jin also discovered that the Heaven-and-Cloud Tower was not his exclusive privilege.

Many others, when fighting at full strength, had manifested the Heaven-and-Cloud Tower.

But no one had used their Heaven-and-Cloud Tower to smash opponents, as Xu Jin had.

Primarily because their Heaven-and-Cloud Towers differed considerably from Xu Jin's.

For instance, Yuan Luzhen's Heaven-and-Cloud Tower had fifty-eight levels, but was dominated by seven-pointed stars, with eight-pointed stars accounting for only one-fifth.

In contrast, Xu Jin's Heaven-and-Cloud Tower had one hundred eight levels, dominated by nine-pointed stars at eighty percent, with eight-pointed stars making up the remaining twenty percent.

The difference was still immense.

Moreover, Xu Jin's Heaven-and-Cloud Tower had absorbed the primordial chaos essence of the Star River Islet.

Unfortunately, in the first five rounds, Yuan Yuan Chengfa had not manifested either the Heaven-and-Cloud Tower or the Zhai Xing Lou.

From this, one could see that Yuan Yuan Chengfa's strength still far surpassed these peerless genius-level Dao Sons.

"Seventh round begins: sixty-three to thirty-two. Those who have not drawn the Emperor Dongxuan Token will receive a bye!" The voice of Liu Xingjun rang out, and immediately thirty-two individuals had starlight rising above their heads.

Yuan Yuan Chengfa, Xu Jin, Su Chu Xuan, Shen Hui—all these top-tier geniuses—still had no starlight above them; they remained selectors.

This must be the maximum maneuvering Commander Tian Zhang Tianyang Zhenjun could manage.

To ensure these top geniuses did not meet too early, avoiding the premature elimination of true talents.

Yet when Xu Jin saw the starlight rise above Su Su Lingluo of the Commander Tian Zhang Su family, he knew Commander Tian Zhang Tianyang Zhenjun showed no favoritism toward his own kin.

Think about it—if he did favor them, what good would it do?

If anyone disagreed, they could immediately challenge and knock them down.

In that case, only Commander Tian Zhang Tianyang Zhenjun would be criticized.

Throughout the entire seventh round, Xu Jin continued carefully observing others' battles, especially those of Yuan Yuan Chengfa, Shen Hui, and Su Chu Xuan.

Unfortunately, although Yuan Yuan Chengfa and Su Chu Xuan both faced opponents at Ninth Stage late-stage, neither had yet revealed their full strength.

This revealed just how powerful the two were.

Worth noting was that Zhu Zhu Shizhen of the Yutang Wang family was not as weak as he claimed.

He had fought his way through, reaching the seventh round.

He had entered the top sixty-four of the Dao Son ranking.

He was now eligible for Level Five benefits.

Yet based on Xu Jin's observation from the previous round, Zhu Zhu Shizhen would likely be stopped at thirty-second place.

Because in the previous round, Zhu Zhu Shizhen had already deployed his life-soul treasure.

That was his greatest advantage.

"Brother-in-law, it's your turn—don't draw me!"

Xu Jin was still the last to draw his opponent, but after Zhu Zhu Shizhen's reminder, he noticed that the two remaining unclaimed Emperor Dongxuan Tokens high above belonged to Su Su Lingluo and Zhu Zhu Shizhen.

That was why Zhu Zhu Shizhen said that.

If he got lucky and received a bye, he would advance to the eighth round.

Even if he reached the eighth round, he'd gain little tangible benefit—but as Yutang Wang, a higher Dao Son ranking would at least look better on his face.

"Brother-in-law, please don't pick me!" Zhu Zhu Shizhen's chubby face beamed at Xu Jin, faintly tinged with flattery.

This didn't look like a prince at all!

As Xu Jin privately scoffed, he had already made his decision—he must pick Su Su Lingluo.

Zhu Zhu Shizhen's flattery was too nauseating to watch.

Su Su Lingluo was far more pleasant to look at.

Even if she cried.

But even if she cried, he'd still watch her!

In truth, under the aura of Commander Tian Zhang Tianyang Zhenjun, neither Xu Jin nor even a Star Jun could distinguish between the two Emperor Dongxuan Tokens.

How much less could Xu Jin?

It came down to probability.

Fifty-fifty.

The next instant, as Xu Jin stepped onto the void arena, he casually selected one Emperor Dongxuan Token and gently tugged it.

"Brother-in-law, mighty!"

Zhu Zhu Shizhen's flattery-filled cheer echoed in Xu Jin's mind.

As Xu Jin glanced at Zhu Zhu Shizhen, Su Su Lingluo had already stepped onto the void arena, her baby-faced expression taut with tension.

The moment she landed, her chest trembled slightly, drawing Xu Jin's sideways glance.

The moment she landed, Su Su Lingluo's body erupted with vast starlight—thunder-crackling protective starlight, two Star Towers circling her, one wrapped in lightning, the other in howling winds, while starlight instantly descended from the heavens, revealing two Eight-Star spiritual treasures.

She had learned from the mistakes of previous opponents eliminated by Xu Jin—she went all-out from the start.

She didn't want to end up like Ruan Zhen, eliminated without realizing she'd been trapped in an illusion.

If she did that, it would be too humiliating.

Xu Jin, watching the Star Towers surrounding Su Su Lingluo, paused slightly.

Since arriving in the Emperor Dongxuan Star Realm, this was not the first time he had seen someone split their Zhai Xing Lou.

This differed entirely from Kunling Domain.

In Kunling Domain, the method of forging Star Towers at Eighth Stage was to merge them into one.

Regardless of element, all were stacked together.

For example, the State Advisor's Zhai Xing Lou rose over a hundred levels, magnificent to behold.

But seeing it again today stirred something in Xu Jin.

The difference here deserved careful inquiry—or perhaps later, he could ask his Master, Master Fenghua Emperor Jun.

He was only Eighth Stage early-stage; there was still time.

"I am Xu Jin. Please."

"Su Su Lingluo!" The girl's face was tightly drawn, visibly nervous—likely still haunted by Xu Jin's display on the Thunder Law Path.

Almost simultaneously, the moment Liu Xingjun dropped the substitute token, the invisible starlight barrier between them vanished.

Strange and intense spatial fluctuations immediately surged.

Spatial Star Art: Void!

Su Su Lingluo's face instantly paled; her body erupted in thunder and lightning, transforming into a ball of pure electricity in an instant.

All to counter Xu Jin's Spatial Star Art: Void!

Since Xu Jin had advanced the Void Star Pattern to Ninth Stage mid-stage, and his Space Law Stars had reached Fifth Stage (49), the power of Spatial Star Arts had nearly doubled.

The power of Spatial Star Art: Void had become terrifying again.

Yet it was impossible to instantly kill Su Su Lingluo with just this one Star Art.

So Xu Jin had prepared a three-move combo for this little girl!

Hmm, letting her cry was fine too.

Almost the instant Void erupted and drained most of her defensive power, a terrifying ice force struck from nowhere.

Spatial Flash: Ice Trace!

Su Su Lingluo, who had just barely defeated Xu Jin's Spatial Star Art, was momentarily stunned.

Ice appeared out of nowhere, threatening to freeze her solid.

The two Star Towers instantly blazed with brilliance, spewing starlight to shatter the ice encasing Su Su Lingluo.

BOOM!

A terrifying bolt of thunder erupted from the Nine Heavens Thunder Seal.

At the exact moment Su Su Lingluo shattered the ice herself, before her protective starlight could reform, the thunder exploded above her head.

Amid a frightened, slightly childish scream, Su Su Lingluo's figure vanished from the void arena.

On the ground, Su Su Lingluo, teleported out by the substitute token, stared up at Xu Jin with tear-filled eyes—her anger long replaced by fear.

Terrifying!

This man was too terrifying!

Among the Dao heirs watching, Yuan Yuan Chengfa, Su Chu Xuan, and Shen Hui all trembled with their gazes.

Especially Su Chu Xuan—his gaze toward Xu Jin had become deeply wary.

He had clashed with Su Su Lingluo no fewer than two or three hundred times.

He had never defeated Su Su Lingluo so cleanly and decisively.

His former best record was defeating Su Su Lingluo within five breaths.

But this Xu Jin—

Farther away, the isolated Yuan Luzhen wore a grim expression.

His earlier fiery determination to punish Xu Jin for his father's sake had turned to worry.

He was already worrying whether he could defeat Xu Jin!

What angered him more was that because of Xu Jin, he had lost his top rank on the Wind Principle Path.

With that, he had lost his bonus point.

Yuan Luzhen's original goal had been to secure third place and aim for second.

If he had taken second, he would still have received First-Class Dao Heir benefits.

But now, not only would he not get First-Class benefits—looking at this, even Second or Third-Class benefits were uncertain.

Because a powerful new rival had emerged: Xu Jin.

The top thirty-two had been decided.

Those eliminated still had to determine their rankings among themselves, but they had little relevance to Xu Jin and the other prodigies.

The Dao Heir Ranking Battle had now fully entered its fiercest phase.

The next round would determine the top sixteen.

The rankings within the top sixteen were crucial.

The benefits between tenth and eleventh place differed greatly.

As before, starlight rose above sixteen figures—Xu Jin, Yuan Yuan Chengfa, Su Chu Xuan, and the other supreme prodigies remained the selectors.

This eighth round moved much faster.

Yet each arena battle took longer and longer.

Several fights lasted over a hundred breaths.

Without surprise, Zhu Yutang of the Wang Clan was eliminated—by Shen Hui, in only five breaths.

Soon, it was Xu Jin's turn.

Xu Jin stepped once more onto the void arena, casually drew a Emperor Dongxuan Token, and in the next instant, a figure dashed onto the arena.

The arrival made Xu Jin's gaze pause.

Li Li Qingchen—the space prodigy who had shone on the Space Principle Path but been crushed by Xu Jin.

With cultivation base at Ninth Stage Mid-Level, he looked at Xu Jin with concern and bowed slightly, "Brother Xu, cultivators of the Space Principle are rare, and we seldom have sparring partners. 【132】 Today's battle between us—why not use only Space Star Arts, to mutually refine and advance?" Li Li Qingchen proposed voluntarily.

Today, you and I fight. Let us both use only Spatial Star Arts, to exchange and improve—what do you say?" Li Li Qingchen proposed voluntarily.

Xu Jin naturally understood Li Li Qingchen's intent.

But for Xu Jin, Li Li Qingchen's suggestion was quite favorable.

Most cultivators used Space Star Arts only as auxiliary tools; few focused on them primarily.

He wanted to test others' Space Star Arts.

"Agreed!"

"Please!"

The starlight of the Substitute Token descended; the invisible barrier between them vanished. Simultaneously, massive space fluctuations surged—silver starlight erupted repeatedly across Li Li Qingchen's body.

In the next instant, Xu Jin's figure vanished from the spot.

Spatial displacement.

He directly evaded Li Li Qingchen's Space Star Art attack.

Li Li Qingchen was startled—this Xu Jin could anticipate the landing point of his Space Star Art.

Just this alone was terrifyingly powerful!

Next, Xu Jin focused entirely on defense, letting Li Li Qingchen attack freely.

Space barriers, space folding, spatial displacement—all clashed head-on.

"H-How come you're not attacking?" Li Li Qingchen, after launching over a dozen consecutive assaults, his face flushed red—he felt humiliated!

"Then watch closely!"

In the next instant, Xu Jin extended one finger.

Suddenly, silver starlight erupted from Li Li Qingchen's chest, piercing through his protective starlight.

The moment it exploded, the Substitute Token's radiance flared instantly, teleporting Li Li Qingchen away.

Xu Jin's Star Art's power ceased abruptly, having only unleashed half its force.

On the ground, the eliminated Li Li Qingchen wore a look of shame—he now understood why Xu Jin had not attacked.

Because to attack meant certain defeat!

This was only a practice match; otherwise, he would already be dead.

Star Art: Low-Level Shattered Star!

Ignoring protective starlight, directly shattering the space one occupies—this was the most terrifying aspect of Xu Jin's Space killing technique!

Any hesitation in resistance meant instant death.

Far away, Yuan Yuan Chengfa, Su Chu Xuan, Yuan Luzhen, Shen Hui, and others watched this scene, their faces turning pale, then simultaneously pulled out their Emperor Dongxuan Tokens to send messages.

They had countermeasures and ways to break Xu Jin's other killing techniques.

Only this one—they had no solution!

They could only consult their seniors!

(End of Chapter)