Star Martial Era: The Way of Star Light Cultivation

65: Chapter 61: Sect’s Ultimate Skill?

65 -61: Sect’s Ultimate Skill?

A star, like a meteor, hurtled toward Xu Jin at high speed.

Xu Jin even instinctively closed his eyes.

When he reopened his eyes in the next instant, the world before him had transformed into a completely new one.

The dark forest barely let through the light from the sky above, leaves rustled, the wind howled, and Xu Jin even heard the sound of flowing water.

Xu Jin subconsciously reached out to touch the leaves, wondering if they were real.

“Newcomer?”

A voice sounded, and Xu Jin saw a man with a square face and broad ears step out from behind a big tree ten-odd meters away, holding a longsword and looking slightly surprised at Xu Jin’s action of touching the leaves.

As Xu Jin nodded, a voice suddenly echoed in his mind.

[Dense forest terrain, challenge will commence in five breaths]

[Challenging Star Master: Green Robed Divine Sword]

The leaves were real; it’s just that the name of this Star across from him seemed a bit crude—there were too many “Divine Swords” in games from his previous life.

“Looks like I’m in luck,” the Green Robed Divine Sword said with a smile, as if he had stumbled upon a treasure, watching Xu Jin touch the leaves.

“Indeed!”

Xu Jin, holding the torn leaves in his hand, was extremely surprised, or rather, shocked.

This Martial Arts Secret Realm was damn realistic.

It was hundreds of times better than whatever 5D6D real-life immersive experiences from his past life.

Punching a tree trunk was summed up in one word.

Pain!

And in that instant, the starlight between Xu Jin and the Green Robed Divine Sword dissipated, and the battle began.

Almost instantaneously, the Green Robed Divine Sword darted around the tree; the moment starlight shone beneath his feet, his whole body accelerated instantly, weaving through the dense forest like a swimming fish.

In the blink of an eye, the longsword, spewing out two feet of starlight, slashed towards Xu Jin.

Xu Jin had a plan in mind for this battle.

He wanted to test the application of his basic Star Skill in real combat.

Thus, Xu Jin did not dodge; before the longsword’s starlight reached him, a basic Star Shield appeared instantly.

It blocked the starlight emitting from the longsword.

The starlight from the longsword and Xu Jin’s Star Shield dissipated together.

“Instantaneous?

Great Perfection?” a look of astonishment appeared on the Green Robed Divine Sword’s face, but the longsword in his hand did not stop, continuing to slash at great speed, with starlight bursting forth once again.

But in that same instant, Xu Jin flicked his finger lightly.

A Star Arrow blasted out like lightning.

It shot straight into the forehead of the Green Robed Divine Sword, who was only over three feet away from Xu Jin.

The Green Robed Divine Sword didn’t even have time to mobilize his Star Power.

The Star Arrow had already penetrated his brain.

Leaving behind an extremely astonished expression, he dissipated into specks of starlight in front of Xu Jin.

A series of messages emerged in Xu Jin’s mind.

[Star Master Great Sage Equalling Heaven achieves victory in the challenge, earning 3 Martial Arts Competition Points, currently ranked 1,665,345th.]

[Continue the challenge or exit?]

This ranking gave Xu Jin quite a shock.

One million six hundred sixty-five thousand ranks?

Could there be that many cultivators in the Dining Dawn Realm?

No, could there really be that many cultivators of the Dining Dawn at the Sixth Layer or above?

Normally, according to the activation requirements of the Star-picking Order, one needed to reach the Sixth Layer of the Dining Dawn to activate and enter the Star-picking Tower; Xu Jin was probably an exception, but definitely not the only one.

Currently, activating the Star-picking Order had something to do with the Divine Soul.

Such exceptions would definitely not be common.

Therefore, the number of over one million cultivators at the Sixth Layer of the Dining Dawn or above was indeed terrifying.

But upon another thought, Xu Jin figured it out.

This was likely a large district.

Based on the Star Gates that Xu Jin had pushed open before, such as the Tianyang Star Hall and the National Taoist Institute of Dachu Country, but still able to enter this Martial Arts Secret Realm,

it meant that there were no requirements for this Martial Arts Secret Realm; as long as one obtained a Star-picking Order, one could enter.

If calculated this way, this number would be the cultivators in this world who possessed Dining Dawn at the Sixth Layer or above.

One million six hundred thousand would be the normal count.

Perhaps, after these three points scored by Xu Jin, there were still tens of thousands of people behind him.

It was even possible that many had not yet obtained a Star-picking Order.

Currently, Xu Jin did not know of other channels to obtain a Star-picking Order.

Next, Xu Jin did not rush to challenge further but started to ponder and explore.

First, he figured out the situation with this Martial Arts Secret Realm.

With points, there must be a leaderboard.

The Martial Arts Secret Realm only displayed the top one thousand ranks.

According to the tips of the Martial Arts Secret Realm, if one ranks within the top thousand and maintains it, one could receive a wisp of Starlight from the Star-picking Tower for every seven days of sustained ranking.

From ranks one thousand to one hundred, the reward was the same.

For ranks from one hundred to ten, maintaining a rank for seven days could earn two wisps of Starlight from the Star-picking Tower.

From rank ten to six, maintaining the rank for seven days could earn three wisps of Starlight.

For the fifth and fourth ranks, maintaining for seven days could earn four wisps of Starlight.

Rank three would earn five wisps of Starlight when maintained for seven days.

The second rank reward was six wisps.

The first rank reward was seven wisps.

Additionally, different ranks would receive different titles within the Martial Arts Secret Realm, and upon obtaining a title, one would receive different benefits in the Star-picking Tower.

This surprised Xu Jin greatly.

He must strive for this ranking, hoping to break into the top thousand was the base target, with hopes to maintain within the top one hundred for better rewards.

As for the top ten, Xu Jin dared not even think about it.

Those who could break into the top ten must be the most top-tier geniuses of this world.

After getting a basic grasp of the rules of the Martial Arts Secret Realm, Xu Jin continued to ponder.

During the battle with the Green Robed Divine Sword, Xu Jin didn’t dodge or evade but instead met the challenge head-on with Star Skill, as he was researching and determining a strategy.

In his past life, Xu Jin had watched many TV dramas and read novels, which presented numerous approaches to cultivation.

However, almost all forms of cultivation essentially followed the same path of technique nearing the way.

Constantly training in martial arts, pondering, understanding, enhancing skills, and grasping the true essence of the martial way, and so forth.

But in this world, since Xu Jin arrived, the combat experience had been entirely different.

Star Skill felt as different from martial arts as firearms are from cold weapons.

The battle with the Green Robed Divine Sword just then proved the point: no matter how fast you are or how fancy your moves, a Star Arrow shot like a pistol could claim your life.

In this world, then, where Star Skill took precedence, there was little point in refining pure blade and sword techniques.

For example, when he crossed swords with Yue Chong, he wielded a First Tier Star Weapon that emitted a Starlight trail over two or three meters long.

What use was fancy blade work then?

The adversary’s blade was three meters long, whereas yours wasn’t even one meter.

Even previously, when Blood Slaughter Tian Zhang attacked, his blade light extended over a hundred meters with each strike.

Facing a real hundred-meter-long greatsword, how could any exquisite swordsmanship be of use?

Of course, if the Cultivation Levels were the same, swordsmanship could still be useful.

It was at this point that Xu Jin confirmed his strategy: prioritize Star Skill and Star Pattern, with technique as secondary.

[Challenge]

After clarifying this strategy, Xu Jin continued to choose to challenge.

Not just for points, but also to verify whether his chosen direction was correct.

According to Ning Yuchan and Cui Tianqi, even those with considerable talent would normally need about two to three years to achieve instantaneous release of basic Star Skill at the level of Great Perfection.

For most people, it took more than two to three years.

Theoretically, among the millions of cultivators in the Martial Arts Secret Realm within the Dining Dawn Realm, those able to instantaneously release basic Star Skill would be few.

Because prodigies who cultivate quickly have already broken through the Dining Dawn Realm and started Star Casting, and those with average talent, slower in cultivating, didn’t break through or reach instantaneous release of Great Perfection in Star Skill.

Now, Xu Jin’s only doubt was what advanced Star Skills would look like?

Knowing this, the focus of future cultivation would be clear.

The second battle was even easier than the first.

An opponent armed with knuckledusters was taken out with three Star Arrows by Xu Jin before they could get close.

Xu Jin won five straight battles.

In the sixth battle, a woman wielding a long spear posed a challenge for Xu Jin.

Her spear emitted Starlight that extended over three meters, while Xu Jin’s range with the Star Arrow was only four chi.

This fight was extremely tough, and he nearly lost.

In the end, Xu Jin managed to withstand her advance with the Star Shield, knocked her down with an eruption of the Star Ring, and finished her off with a rapid burst of Star Arrows.

Six consecutive victories.

After six straight wins, Xu Jin wanted to continue but suddenly felt a strange fatigue.

A bit drowsy.

He immediately realized what it was.

He had overexerted his Divine Soul Power.

It seemed the combat in Star-picking Tower wasn’t entirely without cost.

Though it didn’t consume Starlight, it did deplete Divine Soul Power.

By contrast, bouts within the Candou Platform’s Star Lamp at Xu Jin’s home required very little energy.

Several two-hour sessions within the Star Lamp brought negligible exhaustion.

This was Xu Jin’s advantage.

With a thought, the information from the Martial Arts Secret Realm appeared before Xu Jin.

[Star Master: Great Sage Equalling Heaven]

[Martial Arts Competition Points: 18]

[Martial Arts Ranking: 1325826]

Winning six battles in a row, he moved up more than three hundred thousand ranks, a fairly rapid progression.

But it made sense, given that in the Martial Arts Secret Realm winning a battle earned three points, but losing deducted three points.

Under these circumstances, many who lost more than they won or whose wins and losses were equal still had zero points.

Hence, this ranking was quite normal.

Exiting the Martial Arts Secret Realm, Xu Jin returned to the Star Gate Hall within Star-picking Tower, but didn’t explore much further.

However, before leaving the Starlight Hall, Xu Jin noticed a globe of light called ‘Starlight Transmission’ at his side.

Through the Star-picking Order, one could send and receive messages.

Receiving messages was free, but sending a message depleted a strand of Starlight.

If converted into silver, one message cost one hundred taels; if considering Star-picking Tower’s redemption rate, two hundred taels.

Even China Mobile in the early cellphone era of his last life wasn’t this expensive.

Moreover, there were range restrictions.

With a one-star Star-picking Order, one could only send and receive messages within a hundred li of Star-picking Tower.

Such a prohibitively expensive feature didn’t pique Xu Jin’s interest, so he simply left.

The Starlight around him dimmed, and Xu Jin stood again in his own courtyard, holding the Star-picking Order.

Yet the Star-picking Order in his hand now felt as if it was connected to him by flesh and blood.

“Divine Soul Power!”

Xu Jin concentrated and looked inward, carefully examining the faint Clearing Soul Star Pattern within the Upper Star Palace.

Today’s entry into the Martial Arts Secret Realm of Star-picking Tower, in addition to deciding on the focus of future cultivation, revealed to Xu Jin the paramount importance of Divine Soul Power.

Divine Soul Power was more critical than he had previously imagined.

He had already been trying to overestimate the significance of Divine Soul Power.

But the battles in the Secret Realm made Xu Jin realize that Divine Soul Power’s influence penetrated everywhere.

It might be more than ten times more crucial than he had anticipated.

What value would the Clearing Soul Star Pattern, which could enhance Divine Soul Power and hasten its recovery, hold then?

It would be treasured as a Sect’s Ultimate Skill anywhere, wouldn’t it?

Why had the green-clothed man taught it to him?

Would he come again tonight?