Chapter 95: Acquiring Property and the Seducing Sage

The basic star art Star Mist is one of the Twelve Golden Chapters of the Lingji Era, also known as the Penetrating Gold Chapter, but it is not exclusive to the Lingji Star Hall—other star halls also possess this star art.

Basic star arts generally have no exclusive origins.

The same Concealment Star Pattern is also not unique to the Lingji Star Hall.

The Concealment Star Pattern uses star force communication and transformation to hide one’s silhouette and even aura within the myriad phenomena of the cosmos, hence its name; it is highly effective for concealing one’s form.

Likewise, this star pattern is not exclusive to the Lingji Star Hall—many star halls and even national Dao academies possess it.

But according to Qi Shanye, the same star pattern varies greatly in power depending on its origin.

Regarding the Concealment Star Pattern, the Lingji Star Hall has led other star halls by over a century.

It has been updated and replaced at least twelve times, while other star halls have only revised their Concealment Star Pattern eight generations.

However, the Lingji Star Hall has sealed its halls for twenty years; the Cangming Star Hall is likely to have caught up by at least one generation.

Xu Jin understands this point very clearly.

It’s about versions.

Other star halls’ versions may still be third or fourth generation, while Lingji’s is already fifteenth generation.

Of course, this does not mean the Lingji Star Hall is absurdly superior—it’s simply that each star hall and national Dao academy emphasizes different priorities.

Or perhaps, each genius’s path of enlightenment differs, so the direction of star pattern evolution differs too.

Fundamentally, there is one trait that can determine a star pattern’s rank.

That is the number of main trunks and branches.

The more main trunks and branches, the higher the star pattern’s rank.

A star pattern with three main trunks is typically called a first-rank pattern; one with six main trunks is usually second-rank; branches have little effect on rank but significantly affect the pattern’s power.

Currently transmitted star patterns are mostly second- or third-rank; fourth-rank patterns are extremely rare, and fifth-rank or higher patterns are top-secret transmissions in any star hall or national Dao academy, rarely ever passed on.

The Lingji Star Hall’s Concealment Star Pattern has sixteen main trunks and is already a mid-level fifth-rank pattern.

Previously, the Jinshan Dao Academy passed down the Great Gathering Star Pattern, with ten main trunks—a high-tier third-rank pattern, quite excellent among star-force-related patterns.

That’s why they taught it in three stages—if students had been required to engrave the full Great Gathering Star Pattern from the start, nine out of ten would have been ruined.

Additionally, the Clear Soul Star Pattern and Mingji Star Pattern that Xu Jin learned from Qi Shanye have thirteen and seventeen main trunks respectively, classified as mid-fourth-rank and upper-fifth-rank.

Both these star patterns are among the Lingji Star Hall’s most secret secrets; only core members or geniuses who pass loyalty evaluations may receive them.

The Clear Soul Star Pattern is different.

All other star patterns and star arts can be transmitted and learned by engraving onto jade tablets, but the Clear Soul Star Pattern must be engraved directly into the student’s body by the master’s prolonged spiritual essence—self-study is virtually impossible.

This is a natural limitation inherent to the star pattern’s nature.

This is also why the major star halls, even after killing the Lingji Star Hall into lockdown, could never obtain the Clear Soul Star Pattern transmission—and why Hu Xuechuan insisted on capturing Qi Shanye alive.

If they could capture Qi Shanye alive, Hu Xuechuan was confident he could make him speak.

The higher the star pattern’s rank, the greater the difficulty in cultivation.

Previously, the Gui Cang Star Pattern had fourteen main trunks, a high-tier fourth-rank pattern; Xu Jin learned it in one go after seven hours inside the Star Lamp.

The Concealment Star Pattern has sixteen main trunks, mid-fifth-rank; Xu Jin only spent half an hour inside the Star Lamp before suddenly awakening to its truth.

He had been overly focused on techniques and neglected the Dao.

To some extent, the Dao is the foundation—cultivation base is the foundation.

Without sufficient cultivation base, no matter how exquisite the star pattern or star art you learn, it is useless.

For example, during the battle on Thousand Leaf Island, Xu Jin’s star arts were strong, but his star force was weak, making it extremely difficult to fight experts of the Star Refining realm.

Currently, cultivation must remain the priority.

His cultivation base must be raised as quickly as possible.

Switch to the Man Jin Chapter.

One and a half hours later, Xu Jin’s body-cultivation starlight had already spread to his third eye.

Xu Jin felt that tonight, he might break through to Meal of Mist Sixth Layer.

At noon, his father and sister Jiang Er returned from house-hunting, saying they had seen several properties but hadn’t settled on any, and wanted Xu Jin to join them in the afternoon.

In the afternoon, as Xu Jin toured houses with his father and sister Jiang Er, he couldn’t help but laugh and groan.

His father was still habitually frugal.

The houses he and Jiang Er had viewed that morning were all single-courtyard homes—three rooms plus a kitchen; even including the courtyard, none exceeded 150 square meters.

But Xu Jin said nothing more.

Such frugality was not something one could simply change.

Besides, without his father Xu Dajiang’s frugality, how could Xu Jin have ever achieved Star Pointing?

Xu Jin went directly to the real estate agency, deliberately wearing his main uniform of the Star Patrol Corps.

Xu Jin knew well that wearing the main uniform of the Star Patrol Corps alone, without saying a word, would avoid many troubles.

As for being cheated or swindled?

Come on—if you tried to deceive the head of the Star Patrol Corps in Jinshan County City, you wouldn’t last long!

You wouldn’t even need the Star Patrol Corps to act—just a single word to the government office clerks, and they’d make those scammers wish they were dead.

Before the confiscation, those government office clerks all addressed Xu Jin as “my lord”; after the confiscation, having received bribes, their relationship grew even closer.

“I want a large house, with a big courtyard, quiet, and close to the Jinshan Dao Academy—recommend a few to me,” Xu Jin said upon entering the agency.

Seeing how young he was, the agency proprietor bowed even deeper in respect.

Such a young main commander of the Star Patrol Corps—his future wasn’t even limited to squad leader—who would dare not show deference?

Quickly, the agency proprietor gathered several top agents and selected six properties for Xu Jin.

Ultimately, Xu Jin chose a two-courtyard residence with three main halls, four side rooms, six auxiliary rooms, and thirteen total rooms; besides the front courtyard, there was also a rear courtyard twenty meters long and twelve meters wide, both usable for cultivation.

It was also close to the Jinshan Dao Academy.

“How much for this house?” Xu Jin asked.

“Your Excellency Xu, the current asking price is three thousand nine hundred taels,” said the agency proprietor.

Xu Dajiang, standing beside him, widened his eyes in shock—but barely held himself back from exclaiming.

After all, his son was now an official of the Star Patrol Corps—he absolutely could not embarrass his son in public.

This was Xu Dajiang’s belief.

“What if I buy it?” Xu Jin smiled at the proprietor.

“If Your Excellency Xu buys, naturally there’s a special price for you.”

The agency proprietor bowed low and whispered, “Your Excellency, three thousand five hundred taels—I won’t make a single tael of profit, and I won’t charge any commission. Moreover, I’ll arrange for cleaning and preparation today; if you wish to move in, you can do so tomorrow.”

“Done,” Xu Jin immediately laid down three thousand five hundred taels, then added another fifty taels. “Your commission won’t be short. Also, recommend me two shopfronts—preferably prime ones.”

To get his father settled in the county city, he needed to secure him some property—otherwise, with no steady income, his father wouldn’t stay.

Moreover, Xu Jin thought further ahead.

The path he now walks is one of life-and-death risk—walk by the river often enough, you’ll get your shoes wet; he might die any day.

Secure some assets.

Even if Xu Jin truly died one day, his attachments would be fewer.

“Shopfronts?”

The agency proprietor thought a moment, then bowed and said, “Your Excellency, to be honest, prime shopfronts in the county city are always in high demand—good ones are almost never available. I do have a few, but I fear they won’t meet Your Excellency’s standards.”

“But I have a good lead—likely suited to you.”

“Go on.”

“Your Excellency, the county government just confiscated the Zhao family’s assets—over a hundred shopfronts were seized. The Zhao family’s shopfronts were top-tier. Given your status, acquiring one or two shouldn’t be difficult,” said the agency proprietor.

This was indeed a good lead—Xu Jin hadn’t thought of it himself.

For the rest of the afternoon, Xu Jin took his father and sister to inspect the house in person, then went to the government office to complete the paperwork.

Along the way, Xu Jin also bought three shopfronts from the government office—small ones, but with excellent locations.

The government office collected five thousand taels from him altogether.

Originally, the government office planned to auction them publicly, but now sold them directly to Xu Jin at regular market price.

Xu Jin wasn’t foolish—he distributed over a hundred taels in tea money to five or six people, saving at least two thousand taels.

Xu Jin had no intention of letting Xu Dajiang operate these shops.

His father had spent most of his life farming or doing manual labor—running a business in the county city wasn’t a good fit.

Rent them all out; he’d earn at least seventy to eighty taels monthly.

More than enough for city living, with money left to save.

Thus, Xu Jin’s silver reserves dropped sharply from twenty-two thousand taels to just over thirteen thousand.

But Xu Jin felt utterly at ease.

He had resolved his rear worries.

No matter what happened, his father and sister Jiang Er would have a stable source of income.

Even if he truly died, with the Star Patrol Corps brothers watching over them, no one would dare seize their property by force.

In the evening, he bought several sets of clothes and shoes for Jiang Er and his father.

One must admit: wherever you go, young people adapt fastest.

In just one afternoon, Jiang Er had already adjusted to the changes in the Xu family’s circumstances; after Xu Jin’s repeated deliberate guidance, her mindset had shifted.

But changing his father, who had lived frugally his entire life, was not easy.

“Jiang Er, here’s a thousand taels—take it. Tomorrow, see what’s missing in the new house and buy everything you need—don’t save silver. Your brother isn’t short on money now,” said Xu Jin.

“Yes, brother, don’t worry—I know exactly what to do.”

Xu Dajiang couldn’t stand it anymore: “Jin’er, you worked hard to build this family fortune—you must be frugal, or it’ll vanish too fast.”

“Father, with those three shops, what’s there to worry about? I get fifty taels a month in salary.”

“Oh, by the way, my colleagues might come over to warm the new house soon—you’d better hurry.” Xu Jin had just devised another plan.

His father’s frugality wasn’t a Golden Body—it had weaknesses.

The weakness was his son’s face.

Sure enough, hearing this, Xu Dajiang grew tense: “Warm the house? So soon?”

“We must hurry then—your brother’s colleagues are all officials; we can’t bring shame to your brother!”

“Jin’er, roughly when?”

The middle sentence was Xu Dajiang instructing Jiang Er; the last one was directed at Xu Jin.

“Uh, probably within the next seven or eight days.”

Xu Jin gave a random time.

He’d made it up—he’d only bought the house today; how could his colleagues possibly know?

Nightfall. Jinshan Dao Academy.

Xu Jin was practicing the Man Jin Zhang.

After an hour and a half, starlight had fully covered his forehead; another hour later, it crept toward the Baihui acupoint at the crown of his head.

Half an hour later, the starlight converging at Baihui surged through his entire body in an instant, filling him with an indescribable sense of smoothness.

Inner vision revealed nothing.

Xu Jin snapped back to awareness and shifted his star-force intent, halting the Gui Cang Star Pattern’s circulation—immediately, starlight shimmered all over his body.

Meal-Mist Sixth Layer achieved!

In that moment, Xu Jin felt as light as a swallow, sensing star-force everywhere, flowing without obstruction.

Many changes.

His eyesight had become extremely sharp.

Previously blurred details were now crystal clear.

His hearing, smell, and all six senses had strengthened. The next instant, he casually launched a Star Arrow—it flew four meters.

Range surged.

From three meters and three to four meters.

Of course, this was merely a base increase—if Xu Jin intensified his star-force output, the range would rise dramatically further.

With the breakthrough to Meal-Mist Sixth Layer, Xu Jin had temporarily reached the limit of what he could cultivate.

Because he didn’t know how to cultivate Meal-Mist Seventh Layer—he’d need to find time to meet Ning Yuchan.

He decided instead to sink into the Star Lamp Concealment Star Pattern.

“Huh?”

Suddenly, Qi Shanye’s startled voice rang out—he appeared in the courtyard, staring at Xu Jin’s cultivation, his eyes brimming with unrestrained shock.

“Y-you—how is your star-force aura completely gone?”

“Have you… already perfected the Gui Cang Star Pattern?” Qi Shanye fixed his gaze on Xu Jin, his expression almost excited.

Seeing Qi Shanye’s stunned and excited expression, Xu Jin knew he’d shown too much.

Mainly because he still wasn’t fully familiar with the Gui Cang Star Pattern—but fortunately, Qi Shanye was his master, not an outsider.

“Yes, I successfully engraved it tonight—just a short while ago.” Xu Jin didn’t dare say it was that morning.

Hearing Xu Jin’s affirmative reply and sensing his star-force aura,

even Qi Shanye himself had to activate his Divine Soul Star to perceive Xu Jin’s true cultivation level—without it, Xu Jin appeared before him like an ordinary person with no cultivation at all.

All of this meant Xu Jin had perfected the Gui Cang Star Pattern.

In an instant, Qi Shanye felt the urge to laugh aloud to the heavens.

Heaven had been kind to him.

For years, he’d been hiding, fleeing, searching for a worthy successor—and now he’d found one, and Heaven had delivered him a tremendous surprise.

Qi Shanye himself had taken twenty-one days to engrave the Gui Cang Star Pattern—already a very fast time within the Lingji Star Hall.

The fastest recorded time in the Lingji Star Hall was nine days.

But that was one hundred and twenty years ago, and the pattern engraved then was the ten-main-stem, third-rank lower Gui Cang Star Pattern.

Xu Jin had engraved the fourteen-main-stem, fourth-rank upper Gui Cang Star Pattern—the difficulty was incomparable.

But how long did Xu Jin take?

One day!

One day!

If this reached the Star Hall, wouldn’t even the Hall Master be stunned?

Discovering such a talent—wouldn’t the Hall Master reward Qi Shanye with great merit, even pour him a few cups of wine himself?

Thinking of the Star Hall, Qi Shanye’s expression suddenly darkened.

The Hall was sealed.

He didn’t even know if the Hall Master was alive or dead!

“Hahaha, good lad! I never expected you’d move so fast—I’ll teach you the Gui Cang Star Pattern’s techniques right now.”

“You can display whatever cultivation level you wish in front of others,” Qi Shanye chuckled.

Inside the First-Level Combat Realm of the Zhaixing Tower, Xu Jin stared at the starlight message, torn between amusement and exasperation.

【Cowardly Great Saint, are you dead?】

【Still not here? Should I burn incense and candles for you?】

【I’ve climbed to #47 on the leaderboard—are you too scared to face me?】

【Just change your name to Cowardly Great Saint!—Zuiyue Immortal’s note】

Upon entering the Zhaixing Tower, Xu Jin received a starlight message.

The content aside, he had only four words: this girl is truly extravagant!

At least one hundred taels of silver per starlight message—she really spent it!

In the First-Level Combat Realm leaderboard, Xu Jin had dropped to #4630 due to his absence yesterday—but he quickly found Zuiyue Immortal’s rank.

【Zuiyue Immortal: #27】

She’d climbed further today.

It seemed she’d been winning continuously, her combat ability rising steadily.

Even this former defeated opponent had reached #27—how far behind could Xu Jin be?

Challenge!

After forging his Divine Soul Star, mastering Fei Xing Step, enduring several life-or-death battles, and now breaking through to Meal-Mist Sixth Layer, Xu Jin’s combat power had skyrocketed.

As to how high it had soared, even he didn’t know.

Eight battles, eight consecutive victories.

So far, no opponent had lasted more than three seconds in his hands.

This was even while he restrained his own strength.

His Divine Soul Star greatly enhanced his ability to output star-force at once—maximum output now reached forty percent of his total star-force.

Xu Jin estimated this output alone could instantly kill even a Star Refining beginner.

But using it frequently would inevitably draw attention.

Experienced experts would sense the anomaly and deduce that Xu Jin had forged his Divine Soul Star—further linking it to the Lingji Star Hall could bring catastrophic consequences.

So during Combat Realm challenges, Xu Jin imposed a rule—or rather, a prohibition—on himself.

In the Combat Realm, he was only permitted to use basic star techniques; absolutely no use of Divine Soul Star enhancement.

That meant the Divine Soul Star must not interfere at all—the basic star techniques must appear exactly as they were.

For example, Star Arrow: maximum range twelve chi—four meters. Star Ring: could extend six chi—two meters.

Star Shield and Star Veil appeared unremarkable, but Xu Jin knew their thickness had doubled compared to before—meaning his defensive capability had doubled as well.

Of course, star-force consumption had also increased.

This was still the most basic level.

If Xu Jin activated the Divine Soul Star’s enhancement, everything would be completely different.

This was also Qi Shanye’s advice to him.

Never reveal the Divine Soul Star’s enhancement unless absolutely necessary.

And when it became necessary, strike to kill!

Moreover, before reaching a sufficient level of growth, he should avoid revealing the Divine Soul Star’s enhancement before fifth-rank experts.

Because fifth-rank experts had sharp eyesight—just one glance would likely lead them to suspect the Divine Soul Star.

And before Star Refining or Star Condensation, only the Lingji Star Hall could forge a Divine Soul Star.

Even so, Xu Jin’s Star Arrow still obliterated opponents instantly!

One strike, one kill.

Even challengers of Meal-Mist Seventh Layer fell the same way.

This was normal.

Most Meal-Mist Seventh Layer peak cultivators had Star Arrow ranges of eight or nine chi; ten chi was extremely rare.

Of course, if Xu Jin’s Star Arrow didn’t miss, ordinary people couldn’t judge its range.

This made the eight challenges feel meaningless to Xu Jin.

Previously, Xu Jin had faced obstacles in his challenges, using all sorts of tactics—kiting, thrusting, airship maneuvers, and more—but now he was turning back into a stationary spellcaster.

With a single flash of Flying Star Step, he could glide over the opponent’s head and obliterate their skull with a Star Arrow or Star Radiance before they even reacted.

No challenge at all.

But satisfying!

The feeling of bullying weaker opponents was truly satisfying.

With eight straight victories, Xu Jin’s points rose rapidly, and his ranking climbed even faster.

【Arena Ranking: 97】

Eight consecutive wins propelled Xu Jin directly into the top hundred of the First-Rank Arena Realm.

Eight consecutive challenges in the Arena Realm had been Xu Jin’s previous limit within the Arena Realm.

But today, he felt nothing.

Xu Jin felt that with his current Divine Soul power, not even eight consecutive challenges—let alone eighty—would pose any problem!

Still, Xu Jin prided himself on listening to advice.

In life-or-death situations, it didn’t matter.

But in daily cultivation, it was still better to play it safe.

Ten times!

This was the limit Xu Jin had set for himself: in the First-Rank Arena Realm, he capped his daily challenge attempts at ten.

Compared to geniuses like Lu Xianbing, who challenged six times a day, this was nearly doubled.

Without doubt, the remaining two matches were also victories.

Xu Jin’s Arena ranking rose another twenty-two places.

【Star Lord: Great Sage Equaling Heaven】

【Arena Points: 186】

【Arena Ranking: 75】

Watching his ranking climb so fast, Xu Jin began to wonder: would he only encounter a true rival once he broke into the top ten of the First-Rank Arena Realm?

He’d know the answer tomorrow.

Suddenly, Xu Jin found himself looking forward to tomorrow’s challenges.

As he thought of exiting the Arena Realm, starlight flashed repeatedly—two starlight messages shot toward him at high speed.

“Why don’t you reply to my messages?

Why come here but dare not fight?

Are you really scared?”

“Are you really the Cowardly Great Sage? You only dare challenge others but won’t face my challenge?

Are you even a man?

Can’t you stop being such a coward?”

As the two starlight messages arrived, Xu Jin received Zuiyue Immortal’s challenge request.

【Great Sage Equaling Heaven: Zuiyue Immortal has initiated a challenge against you. Accept?】

【No】

Xu Jin chose to decline.

I’ve reached my daily limit of ten challenges today.

No sooner had he declined than another starlight message came.

“Cowardly Great Sage, are you really not a man?

Not replying to my messages and avoiding me is one thing.

But now you even refuse my challenge?

Can’t you stop being such a coward?”

Even with his good temper, Xu Jin felt a flicker of irritation from these three messages.

But having spent time on Qianshi forums and comment sections, Xu Jin knew exactly how to make Zuiyue Immortal angrier.

Zuiyue Immortal couldn’t even compare to the real trolls from Qianshi comment sections—not even a fraction of their intensity.

Soon after, Zuiyue Immortal launched challenge after challenge at Xu Jin, over and over—he declined every single one.

Then, without a word, Xu Jin exited the Arena Realm.

【Your opponent has left the Arena Realm and can no longer be challenged.】

In a palace atop a high mountain, a girl suddenly woke from her couch, her eyes snapping open wide with fury as she grabbed every cushion and hurled them wildly across the room.

She wanted to smash them to pieces.

As if she were hurling the Great Sage Equaling Heaven himself!

“Asshole! I’m furious! Refusing my challenge and ignoring me!”

“Cowardly Sage, don’t let me find you!” The girl gnashed her teeth, her white incisors clicking loudly with rage.

On July 17, after morning cultivation, Xu Jin planned to meet Ning Yuchan, as he had no further cultivation techniques.

Lao Qi had some, but Lao Qi said he should still focus on the Jinshan Dao Academy’s methods.

The Lingji Star Palace’s techniques, if revealed, could bring disaster.

If exposed, all witnesses must be eliminated!

So he had to find Ning Yuchan.

But before meeting Ning Yuchan, Xu Jin had another urgent matter to attend to.

(End of Chapter)