Star Martial Era: The Way of Star Light Cultivation

Chapter 512: Chapter 218 Rejection

Having free Star Jade to practice with, Xu Jin naturally felt extremely happy.

A Second-tier Star Jade had a market price of two hundred taels of silver apiece, while inside the National Taoist Institute, a piece would cost twenty points of Taoist Merit.

Moreover, judging by Academician Kou’s attitude, it seemed likely that he would continue to give guidance to him.

The guidance of a famous master was an invaluable treasure.

As before, Xu Jin first used the Star Pivot Star Pattern to lay the foundation for three pieces of Star Jade.

Xu Jin was extremely quick at laying the foundation; he completed three pieces of Second-tier Star Jade in less than a minute.

This once again took Academician Kou, who had begun to take notice of Xu Jin, by surprise.

Such speed was indeed impressively fast.

Many disciples who had learned Emblem making for two to three years did not possess this speed.

And there were two factors affecting the speed of laying the foundation: one was proficiency, and the other was the power of the Divine Soul -- both indispensable.

This indicated that Xu Jin had put in a great deal of effort in mastering the Star Pivot Star Pattern. But how much hard work could one put in in just a month and a half?

Could it be more than the hard work of other disciples over two to three years?

It could only mean that Xu Jin was more efficient, which is to say, he had a very high natural aptitude and comprehension in this area.

The next factor was his Divine Soul Power.

In Academician Kou’s perception, Xu Jin’s Divine Soul Cultivation was around the 5th and 6th Layer of Refining Star.

This level of Divine Soul Cultivation was exceedingly rare, not just among this year’s new disciples but also among those who had entered the Institute last year.

But on Xu Jin, it was quite normal.

Not to mention the Pills obtained in other ways, just during the last Minglun Hall meeting, the number of Dragon Turtle Soul Refining Pills they lost to Xu Jin in a wager amounted to thirteen.

Combining these two factors, this Xu Jin was simply an extraordinary natural talent specifically for Emblem engraving!

Suddenly, Academician Kou Jing felt some regret!

If he had been more proactive back then, if he had lowered his status a bit more, could he have taken Xu Jin under his wing?

Then, there was an eight or nine out of ten chance that Xu Jin would have become the disciple to inherit his mantle.

Alas...

Now, the only thing Academician Kou Jing felt fortunate about was that Xu Jin, the young man, had a greater interest in Emblem engraving, so that was an angle he could work from.

This time, Xu Jin’s progress in making the foundation Emblem was not so evident.

The third foundation Emblem only managed to incorporate ninety-two percent of the Star Power within the Star Jade.

Then, Xu Jin began to continue making the Second-tier Star Shield Emblem.

This time, it was done with practiced ease.

The pace was rapid, with a successful creation of a Second-tier Star Shield Emblem every forty breaths or so.

After receiving instructions from Academician Kou, there was no longer any risk of an Emblem explosion.

Especially with the third Star Shield Emblem, Xu Jin felt very good about his work.

At least he himself had not noticed any flaws.

”Let me take a look.”

Seeing Xu Jin complete three Second-tier Emblems in less than 15 mins, Academician Kou Jing felt even more regret.

Such comprehension, such speed.

Why didn’t he...

”The first two are of Middle Grade Second-tier Emblem quality. You made a total of seven mistakes, but with the third one, you only made four mistakes.

This third one can already be considered a top-grade Second-tier Emblem. If you put it up within the National Taoist Institute, it would be in high demand.”

To avoid disturbing other students, Academician Kou Jing directly used a sound transmission method to communicate with Xu Jin.

Then, Academician Kou Jing pointed out one by one the mistakes Xu Jin had made. For three of those mistakes, Academician Kou also demonstrated the differences using a Star Curtain, which led the somewhat confused Xu Jin to suddenly understand.

”Academician Kou, how can one make a top-grade Emblem?” asked Xu Jin.

”Ho, you’re quite ambitious, young man!”

Hearing this question, Kou Jing chuckled. ”First off, the foundation Emblem must be of good quality, and yours is acceptable, but it’s not enough for a top-grade Emblem.

The coverage of Star Power in the foundation Emblem must reach about ninety-five percent or so, only then is it possible to make a top-grade Emblem.

And the higher the coverage of the foundation, the better.

I see your speed at making the foundation is very fast, but the knack for making the foundation is not just about speed. It’s also about stability. With long-term practice, you can achieve parallel progress.”

”What is parallel progress?”

”That’s another little ingenious method I’ve invented for making the foundation of Emblems. If you’re willing to learn, you can stay after the class is over,” said Kou Jing.

Hearing this, Xu Jin was thrilled and promptly expressed his thanks.

Seeing others still working on their creations, Kou Jing gave Xu Jin another three pieces of Second-tier Star Jade for him to practice with.

This time, Xu Jin improved further; all three were top-grade Emblems.

But he was still far from making a top-grade Emblem.

Xu Jin was not in a rush, he would take his time.

As the timekeeping incense stick came to an end, regardless of whether the other students had finished or not, Academician Kou Jing began discussing the content of Third Tier Emblems.

”The higher the tier of the Emblem, the harder it is to make. There’s only one reason: the Connected Star Patterns need to connect more and more Star Skills and Star Patterns.

For Second-tier Emblems, generally only one basic Star Skill needs to be connected.

Whereas with Third Tier Emblems, at least one Star Skill and one Star Pattern need to be connected, and some even need to connect two Star Patterns, with the difficulty increasing manifold.

Therefore, the use of Connected Star Patterns is key!

Usually, a stacking method is used, meaning one Star Skill with one Connected Star Pattern, one Star Pattern with one Connected Star Pattern. This method has an average success rate, a low risk of Emblem explosion, but the tier of the completion is generally not high; most are Mid to Low Grade, and it’s difficult to produce top-grade Emblems. The advantage is that it requires less Divine Soul Power.

There’s another method known as the framework method, which uses one Connected Star Pattern to simultaneously connect both the Star Skill and Star Pattern. This method has a low success rate and a high risk of Embodiment explosion, but the tier of completion is decent, easily producing top-grade Emblems. However, it demands a good amount of Divine Soul Power.

Next, I will use these two methods to demonstrate the making of a Third Tier Star Fire Explosive Pattern. Pay close attention,” Kou Jing said.