Chapter 75: The Abbot Who Fled Decisively (Requesting Follow Reads)

On the afternoon of July 11, Xu Jin continued exploring beyond Jin Ying Peak, reaching as far as Floating Cloud Valley, a hundred li away.

Inside Floating Cloud Valley, Xu Jin gathered considerable loot—over a thousand taels in value.

The most valuable find was a herb called Rooster Comb Branch, crimson in color, named for its resemblance to a rooster’s comb.

One plant fetched fifteen taels of silver; a one-star specimen was worth forty taels, a two-star eighty.

Xu Jin collected over sixty plants total, twelve of which were one-star.

In Floating Cloud Valley, Xu Jin also discovered something even rarer: Ghost Eye Ginseng, growing in dense patches—but he dared not harvest it.

Because around the Ghost Eye Ginseng, he detected only one powerful beast aura.

That aura was stronger than the third-rank Green Snake he had slain before.

At least a mid- to late-Star Refining star-beast.

Xu Jin did not act rashly; he quietly withdrew.

The Emblem was a devastating weapon, but it was single-use.

If used at the wrong moment, it would not only be wasted but could cost him his life.

Fortune is sought in danger, and lost in danger too.

Xu Jin memorized the location, planning to return later when his strength had grown.

There was no need to risk it now.

Walk by the river often enough, and you’ll get your shoes wet.

Better to be cautious.

Even after storing the Rooster Comb Branch, his harvest still exceeded a thousand taels.

I have to admit, the Green Snake’s Spirit-Scent Star Pattern was remarkably effective.

It had allowed Xu Jin to detect and avoid danger multiple times.

Especially in evading powerful star-beasts.

Without it, Xu Jin could never have ventured a hundred li beyond Jin Ying Peak.

But Xu Jin was wise enough not to push further.

Beyond a hundred li from Jin Ying Peak, star-beast auras grew increasingly frequent; in just half a day, he detected three.

Along the way, to avoid being scented and hunted as prey, Xu Jin constantly sought out strongly scented leaves, crushed them, and rubbed the pulp onto his skin.

On the evening of July 11, Xu Jin continued his rigorous cultivation.

But since the Great Gathering Star Pattern had been successfully engraved, the Star-Picking Tower was inaccessible again; he could only stubbornly practice Flying Star Step inside the Star Lamp, and of course, his Daily Golden Seal could not be skipped.

He extended the half-hour daily fixation of the Clear Soul Star Pattern to a full hour.

While fixing it inside the cave at night, suddenly he felt a spot in his head—suddenly, it opened.

The previous resistance he’d felt while fixing the Clear Soul Star Pattern vanished in an instant.

His head felt an unprecedented sense of clarity.

Refreshed, invigorated, his spirit soared.

Xu Jin vaguely sensed the Clear Soul Star Pattern had fully stabilized—but he wasn’t certain.

He kept his eyes closed and continued fixing.

The moment he closed his eyes, a star pattern appeared before him—exquisitely intricate, resembling a flower bud, shimmering with flowing light.

Huh?

Xu Jin was stunned, opened his eyes—the pattern vanished.

Closed his eyes again—and it reappeared?

After repeating this several times, Xu Jin realized: this must be the Clear Soul Star Pattern he had engraved nearly a month ago.

Was he able to see inward now?

After a few breaths, he confirmed: the Clear Soul Star Pattern had fully stabilized.

And he could now see inward—not just the Clear Soul Star Pattern.

He could also see the Great Gathering Star Pattern on his chest, the flow of star-force within his body, even the faint outlines of his internal organs.

Large clusters of starlight gathered at his right chest, lower back, and left calf—he didn’t understand at first.

He thought it meant his kidneys were strong.

After studying for a while, he realized: these three spots were all areas injured in the past two days.

Probably, his star-force had automatically gathered there to accelerate healing.

At this moment, Xu Jin deeply missed the mysterious green-robed man.

The Clear Soul Star Pattern he taught was indeed powerful—but this fellow vanished after teaching half.

What came next?

Was he truly a demon sealed away?

Xu Jin felt a pang of melancholy.

But soon, the changes brought by the Clear Soul Star Pattern’s full stabilization thrilled him.

As the green-robed man had said: its power would become clear once he stabilized it.

The first obvious change was Star Arrow.

Previously, Xu Jin’s Star Arrow range was just over six chi—equivalent to Meal Dew Sixth Layer—this range had only been reached last night.

Now, his Star Arrow range had reached eight chi.

And it was faster, with greatly increased velocity.

Remember, even Meal Dew Seventh Layer senior brothers had only seven chi range; only those at the peak of Meal Dew Seventh Layer reached eight chi.

Xu Jin was still at Meal Dew Fifth Layer—yet his Star Arrow range now matched the peak of Meal Dew Seventh Layer.

Xu Jin thought: if he were to ambush Yang Ba and Jiang Long again today, Yang Ba wouldn’t escape.

Even if he dodged, killing them would be easier.

Because the power of all star techniques had increased dramatically.

Previously, it took two strikes to shatter Yang Ba’s Meal Dew Seventh Layer protective starlight; now, only one was needed.

Suddenly, Xu Jin recalled the green-robed man’s words when teaching him the Clear Soul Star Pattern.

“I have a star pattern called Clear Soul Star Pattern. Once perfected, it daily refines your spirit and soul, raising the upper limit of your spirit force and accelerating its recovery—making it a superb cultivation tool and an excellent tool for casting star techniques.

After Star Casting, a star technique’s full ten-tenths power becomes twelve-tenths.”

Xu Jin had never believed it back then.

Just boasting—who couldn’t?

If he were boasting, he’d claim at least double.

Yet it was true.

Now, even without Star Casting, merely stabilizing the Clear Soul Star Pattern had already increased his star technique power by at least two-tenths.

Two hours later, Xu Jin tested other changes.

After depleting his star-force, his Starlight Absorption cycles increased from four to five.

The duration of the Daily Golden Seal also extended by half an hour.

His spirit force upper limit had indeed risen.

Unfortunately, he still couldn’t enter the Training Realm.

Xu Jin guessed his maximum challenge count in the Training Realm, while at full spirit force, had also increased.

Previously six; now, perhaps seven or eight. With his strength rising, he grew restless, thinking of the Ghost Eye Ginseng in Floating Cloud Valley—worth at least two thousand taels.

He even thought of slaying that star-beast and placing its third-rank star-soul on the Ginseng Platform to see what protection it might grant.

In the end, Xu Jin suppressed his greed.

Greed invites loss.

Save it for next time.

The coming month remains his period of rapid strength growth; next time, he’ll be more certain.

With current harvests, he had enough for a month’s cultivation and enough to upgrade the Ginseng Platform—no rush.

On the morning of July 12, while practicing the Daily Golden Seal, Xu Jin noticed another change.

After the Clear Soul Star Pattern stabilized, the effect of his Daily Golden Seal—the Meal Dew Sixth Layer body tempering efficiency—increased again.

And the increase was striking.

In recent days, each hour of cultivation added only one centimeter of starlight coverage; today, it added about one and a half centimeters.

Efficiency surged.

Clearly, the green-robed man hadn’t lied.

This Clear Soul Star Pattern truly was a cultivation marvel.

But why choose him?

What did the green-robed man want from Xu Jin?

On July 12, Xu Jin narrowed his exploration range to within fifty li of the safety boundary marked on the Academy’s map.

Harvests were modest but still substantial.

His large backpack was nearly half full.

When exploring the outskirts of Red Pine Platform, his enhanced Spirit-Scent Star Pattern suddenly twitched—he smelled a familiar aura.

Two of the six living auras on Jiang Long’s person.

Very strong.

He must have been here not long ago, which is why the scent Xu Jin detected was so strong.

Almost certainly blood sect demons.

But there are two of them.

Xu Jin hesitated—should he chase after them?

If it were just one, Xu Jin would have chased without hesitation.

Even a Star Forging realm cultivator, Xu Jin had confidence he could kill; if worst came to worst, he could use his life-saving technique and remain safe.

But two blood sect demons? That was uncertain.

The key issue was that current intelligence was too scarce.

Just as Xu Jin hesitated, abruptly, a crimson alert shot skyward from a nearby hillside.

“It’s one of my Dao Academy disciples calling for help!”

“It’s close to me!”

After only half a second of thought, Xu Jin surged toward the direction of the alert.

Dao Academy brothers—both classmates and comrades—must be rescued!

As he neared the source of the alert, Xu Jin slowed his pace, avoiding excessive noise that might alert the enemy.

On the battlefield, ambush is not shameful.

Only those who survive are true heroes!

On the hillside, three men were locked in combat: Dao Academy’s Second Senior Brother Zhang Han was being driven back by two attackers.

One was at the seventh layer of Meal the Mist, the other a Star Forger.

Especially that Meal the Mist seventh-layer man—his strikes were viciously treacherous, every move aimed straight for the eyes or the groin.

His techniques were brutally crude and lewd.

Xu Jin did not know that these two men had previously targeted him; the ferocious, lewd one was Zhou Baihan, and the Star Forger was Long Yu.

Now, they had turned their attention to Zhang Han.

Even though Zhang Han was extremely strong, he was struggling desperately.

Mainly because his right arm was wrapped in a gray-white cloth band issued by the Dao Academy—he must have been injured before the ambush, and his left leg was also stiff.

With his right arm unusable, Zhang Han could not unleash even half his strength.

Before two breaths passed, he took another blow and spat blood as he collapsed.

Just as Xu Jin was about to act, Long Yu, the Star Forger, suddenly blew a sharp whistle.

In the instant that a streak of starlight exploded from Zhang Han’s hand, both Long Yu and Zhou Baihan’s feet erupted in starlight as they retreated swiftly.

Zhang Han had used his life-saving talisman—but failed.

“Ha! Altar Master, push harder! Kill him, and I’ll have both my Star Forging breakthrough and your cultivation resources!” Zhou Baihan laughed, raising his long knife and lunging at Zhang Han as the latter struggled to fend off Long Yu’s charge.

And in that exact instant, Xu Jin moved.

With a burst of Flying Star Step, he crossed over twenty meters in an instant, appearing above and behind Zhou Baihan.

Before landing, his hands flicked repeatedly—each strike sent a star-tipped arrow screaming outward.

By the time he landed, in barely a single breath, Xu Jin had launched seven star-tipped arrows.

He sealed off all escape routes—above, below, left, right.

Zhou Baihan was stunned.

“Altar Master, save me!”

In the very moment he cried out, his shout turned into a scream—he dodged and blocked three star-tipped arrows, but missed the fourth.

Then three more star-tipped arrows struck him in succession.

Zhou Baihan was grievously wounded and collapsed backward; as he fell, he saw his Altar Master Long Yu’s feet erupting in starlight.

Hope rose in Zhou Baihan’s eyes.

With his Altar Master rescuing him, he still had a chance to live.

But the next instant, Zhou Baihan’s eyes bulged in fury.

He saw his Altar Master Long Yu’s starlight erupting—not toward him, but in the opposite direction—starlight flaring repeatedly beneath his feet as he vanished into the forest, fleeing far away.

Not even glancing back once.

Zhou Baihan wanted to curse—but the grievous wounds left him unable to speak.

Xu Jin was equally stunned.

He stared at the Altar Master who had just appeared and immediately used Flying Star Step to flee at top speed—slightly bewildered.

What kind of Star Forger was this?

Why so cowardly?

To flee with such decisiveness!

Not even giving them a chance to surround him?

(End of Chapter)