Star Martial Era: The Way of Star Light Cultivation

66: Chapter 62 Selection of Superior Quotas

66 -62 Selection of Superior Quotas

On the evening of July 1st, the green-clothed man did not come.

Not only did he not come that evening, but he also did not show up for the next three days.

Xu Jin initially thought it was because he had changed residences and the green-clothed man couldn’t find him; he even spent half the night at his old dorm, Yi-Character number forty-two, but still, he did not come.

It wasn’t just the green-clothed man who didn’t come.

During these days, Xu Jin didn’t even see Instructor Ning Yuchan.

After going to Ning Yuchan’s courtyard several times to ask questions, about cultivation and the Star-picking Order, and so on, nobody answered the door, neither at noon nor in the evening.

Not just Ning Yuchan, the instructors and senior disciples of the Taoist Institute were absent these few days as well.

Tutor Gan from the Pill Room only showed up briefly, mentioning that the originally scheduled seven-day assessment had been postponed.

Many disciples thus had some rare leisure time.

Although it was leisure time, all disciples still diligently attended their morning and evening cultivation sessions without interruption.

Even those who previously lacked perseverance found themselves influenced by their fellow disciples’ dedication to their daily cultivation sessions.

Xu Jin’s morning and evening sessions only intensified; they absolutely could not be interrupted.

Back in his high school days, he slept past one in the morning and got up at six, only catching up on sleep with a forty-minute nap at midday, all the while being but a mortal, and yet he persisted for over a year.

Now in this world, Xu Jin, having cultivated to the fourth layer of Dining Dawn, had a physical and mental constitution far surpassing that of ordinary people; his morning and evening sessions were, to say the least, a piece of cake.

Of course, Xu Jin also had his times of leisure.

Xu Jin’s leisure time consisted of lying on his newly bought recliner after his morning and evening sessions and then entering the Star Lamp of the Candou Platform to either practice martial arts or engrave the Great Gathering Star Pattern.

On July 3rd, after several days of practicing martial arts in the Star Lamp, Xu Jin’s basic Star Skill, Star Radiance, achieved Perfection, allowing him to cast it instantaneously.

On July 5th, Xu Jin’s basic Star Skill, Star Ring, also reached Perfection, becoming readily castable at will.

Afterward, Xu Jin replaced the fixed Star Skill in Star Lamp one from Star Ring to Starlight Shield.

From this moment on, Xu Jin theoretically could instantly cast each of the five basic Star Skills.

During these four days, Xu Jin entered the Martial Arts Secret Realm of the Star-picking Tower daily for practice.

Practicing martial arts six times a day would wear out his Divine Soul, prompting Xu Jin to exit the Secret Realm.

In these four days, twenty-four bouts of martial learning all ended in victory for him.

With the accumulation of martial practice, Xu Jin became increasingly familiar with the application of these Star Skills, and after gaining the ability to instantly cast all five basic Star Skills, winning challenges was not difficult.

The only issue was his relatively low cultivation level; against challengers of the seventh layer of Dining Dawn or even Great Perfection, Xu Jin’s Star Shield would appear quite fragile.

It would get shattered directly.

However, the instantaneous casting of the Starlight Shield perfectly compensated for this shortcoming.

His points in the Martial Arts Secret Realm reached 90.

His ranking in the Martial Arts Secret Realm astonishingly reached 75,443.

He had broken into the top 100,000.

During the morning session on July 5th, with a burst of Star Burst shooting from the tip of Xu Jin’s left foot, it marked his cultivation breakthrough to the fifth layer of Dining Dawn.

His legs’ tempering was complete.

From then on, normal tempering came to an end, and the results of the enhancement were quite gratifying.

Especially after completing the tempering of his legs, the increase in speed gave Xu Jin a feeling akin to that of a mini-superman.

When he ran, a gentle push from his feet made him move like a whirlwind.

With a light leap, he could jump three meters high.

With a slight spring, he could cover a distance of seven or eight meters; if he exerted full force, he could cross up to ten meters in one bound.

That was far beyond the world records of his former world.

And the distance his Star Arrow could travel from the body also surged from four chi to five chi.

It’s just that without locating Chief Instructor Ning Yuchan, he could not proceed with the tempering of his head.

Instructor Ning Yuchan had said before that all disciples who broke through to the fifth layer of Dining Dawn should seek her out once.

Tempering the head was extremely dangerous; one mishap could severely damage the head, resulting in injury at best or, at worst, idiocy.

On the evening of July 5th, the same night Xu Jin broke through to the fifth layer of Dining Dawn, First Yue Daqi of the current Star-pointing Season completed the tempering of the Six Yang Leader and advanced to the sixth layer of Dining Dawn, starting to make headway towards the seventh layer.

Also on the evening of July 5th, after engraving the Great Gathering Star Pattern inside the Star Lamp tens of thousands of times, Xu Jin finally succeeded in engraving it inside the Star Lamp.

However, after the first successful attempt, he failed five times in a row before succeeding again.

To attempt engraving the Great Gathering Star Pattern on his own body, he must succeed with every attempt inside the Star Lamp.

But after the first successful engraving, being able to consistently succeed at it was not far off.

On the morning of July 6th, the gates of the Jinshan Taoist Institute suddenly swung wide open.

Mountain Master Dong Zhao, Vice Mountain Master Feng Shu, Dean Cao Chun, and Governor Tian Zhang, the four high-ranking authorities of the Institute, personally went out to the gate and waited for about fifteen minutes before a procession arrived.

Walking at the forefront were three figures, advancing shoulder to shoulder.

The one in the middle dressed in Dachen’s third-rank official attire was Yao Yuanzhi, the Left Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Justice from Dachen.

To the left of Yao Yuanzhi was a middle-aged man with star-like brows and bright eyes, standing tall and handsome, the very model of a dashing middle-aged uncle.

This man was none other than Lu Chenfeng, the Dean of the Yan State Taoist Institute from Dachen.

The person accompanying on the right was a familiar face to Dong Zhao and the others—it was Hu Xuechuan, the Sub-hall Master of the Yan State Branch Hall of the Tianyang Star Hall.

In the past few days, Hu Xuechuan had thought of numerous methods, continuously upping his offer, yet Dong Zhao remained unmoved.

In the end, he had no choice but to bring in Yao Yuanzhi, the Left Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Justice.

It wasn’t that bringing Yao Yuanzhi, an official of the third rank, would be enough to pressure Dong Zhao into submission.

In the Taoist Institute system, whether it was facing the court or the military, they had authority over normal officials, sometimes even more than just a rank above.

After all, this was an era where might was self-derived.

The reason Yao Yuanzhi was brought in was at the behest of Dong Zhao.

Zhou Qingzhu had recklessly killed the citizens of Dachen and violated national law.

Dong Zhao could hand over the offenders, but it was impossible to hand them over to Tianyang Star Hall’s Hu Xuechuan; it had to be to the Ministry of Justice—or alternatively to a State Taoist Institute or the National Taoist Institute—so that the seniors could deal with it.

But how the seniors would deal with it was out of Dong Zhao’s control.

This was the only concession that Dong Zhao could make.

Initially, the intent was to hand them over to the National Taoist Institute.

However, the National Taoist Institute took quite a hard stance; Hu Xuechuan estimated that once Zhou Qingzhu was in their hands, he would face certain death.

His only option was to exert pressure on the Dachen court.

In the end, the Dachen court issued orders through the Star-picking Tower: command Dong Zhao to hand over the group of criminals to the Left Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Justice, Yao Yuanzhi.

However, before the transfer of prisoners, Dong Zhao, Lu Chenfeng, and Hu Xuechuan came to a quiet room in the Scripture Hall.

“Dean Lu, Mountain Master Dong, I’ve done as you asked, and have also brought the man.

Hurry up and hand over the people, and let’s call this matter settled,” urged Hu Xuechuan.

“What about the conditions we discussed before?

How are they to be implemented?” Dong Zhao glanced at Lu Chenfeng before asking.

“I’ve agreed, and it will be implemented,” replied Hu Xuechuan.

“Empty promises don’t count!” insisted Dong Zhao.

In an instant, Hu Xuechuan bristled, “Dong Zhao, are you doubting my integrity?

I, Hu Xuechuan, am a man whose word is as good as gold…

“Zhou Qingzhu’s word was also as good as gold, but when he disguised himself as an evil demon and started killing off the common folk of Jinshan County, he didn’t hold back in the slightest!”

Dong Zhao’s retort left Hu Xuechuan speechless.

“We need it in black and white, in writing, with the seal and the engraving of Star Power,” stated Lu Chenfeng, who had been silent until now.

At these words, Hu Xuechuan flew into a rage again, “Some conditions can be put into writing, but for others, if I gave you written proof, wouldn’t I be a fool?

I’d be giving you grounds to hold against me!”

Dong Zhao and Lu Chenfeng exchanged another look, then said, “Other conditions can be discussed, but there are two that you must put into writing for us.

Otherwise, I’ll decapitate Zhou Qingzhu right now, and then plaster his confession all over the city.”

“You!”

Hu Xuechuan slammed the table and rose in fury, glaring daggers.

“I already have a thousand copies of Zhou Qingzhu’s confession printed out, ready to increase the print run to ten thousand at any moment!” Dong Zhao sat beside the table, smiling amiably, but his expression made Hu Xuechuan feel the urge to strike him with a knife.

After glaring at Dong Zhao and Lu Chenfeng for a long while, Hu Xuechuan finally declared, “Fine, I’ll put it in writing!”

“Hmm, I dictate, you write.”

“First condition, due to internal reorganization, the Tianyang Branch Institute will cease recruiting disciples during the autumn Star-pointing Season this year; for the following spring and autumn seasons next year, they will recruit only twenty disciples for each of the two Star-pointing Seasons,” Dong Zhao stated.

Hu Xuechuan gave Dong Zhao a look and could only begin writing.

“Second condition, the Yan State Branch Hall of the Tianyang Star Hall, due to internal reorganization, voluntarily gives up this year’s privilege to choose the best candidates within Yan State,” Dong Zhao continued.

Hu Xuechuan glanced at Dong Zhao and suddenly said, “Dong Zhao, why do I feel like you’ve hidden a top-tier genius this year?

Are you writing this to prevent us from taking the talent?”

“You’ve been snatching the best from us every year; I have to fight back at some point,” Dong Zhao replied with a smile.

With no other choice, Hu Xuechuan wrote as dictated and then used the seal, branded it with his Star Power essence, and left in a huff.

Inside the Scripture Hall, Mountain Master Dong Zhao handed over all the confessions and criminals to the Ministry of Justice’s patrol officers brought by the Left Assistant Minister Yao Yuanzhi himself.

After reviewing the confessions, in line with Hu Xuechuan’s suggestion, the Left Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Justice released Vice Mountain Master Liu Yelan, Superintendent Wang Qiang, and several instructors on the spot, as they were only minimally involved.

This was also one of Hu Xuechuan’s requests.

With the release of these two individuals.

The Tianyang Branch Institute could essentially resume operations.

By the afternoon, after a simple meal, the Left Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Justice, Yao Yuanzhi, and Dean Lu Chenfeng, escorted Zhou Qingzhu and the other criminals away swiftly.

It was only then that Mountain Master Dong Zhao and Governor Tian Zhang could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

In the afternoon, the ban on the Taoist Institute had not yet been lifted completely, but the institute’s disciples finally received the servant’s instructions.

Classes were to resume in the Martial Arts Hall in the afternoon.

Xu Jin also rejoiced upon hearing this, as he would finally be able to see Ning Yuchan!