Xu Jin did not immediately absorb the Starlight on the Candou Platform into his body for cultivation, but instead cultivated while observing others to summarize their experiences.
In general, among the teenagers who had accomplished Star Pointing, their cultivation progress's strength, especially those who hadn't broken through to the first layer of Dining Dawn, depended not only on the size of the area covered by Starlight but also on another important and authentic metric — how many times they could perform the Five Battles Killing Fist continuously.
This represented the upper limit of Star Power that could be accumulated in the body.
Those who could continuously perform the Five Battles Killing Fist three times were about to break through to the first layer of Dining Dawn; others, mostly, could only manage it one or two times.
Like Luo Geng, who could only perform the Five Battles Killing Fist twice in a row.
And those who had succeeded in Star Pointing within the last month were mostly only able to do it once or twice before needing to use the Dining Dawn Form to absorb Starlight.
Different people had different speeds in accumulating Starlight, and even among those who could only perform the Five Battles Killing Fist twice, some could accumulate Starlight quickly, while others slowly.
For Xu Jin, after the Starlight at his chest was depleted, it took about ten minutes to fully accumulate again.
After continuously cultivating four rounds, the area of Starlight coverage on Xu Jin's chest had slightly increased, and the time it took to accumulate Starlight reached fifteen minutes.
Xu Jin was already feeling a bit tired, experiencing a sense of mental fatigue.
Xu Jin saw that a few teenagers had already stopped cultivating and were each swallowing pills and sitting cross-legged with closed eyes.
The pills looked familiar.
Mental Awakening Pill?
A few minutes later, those who had ingested the pills seemed refreshed and began to cultivate again.
So, this was the real purpose of the Mental Awakening Pills?
After the fifth round of cultivation, Xu Jin again assumed the Dining Dawn Form, wanting to attract Starlight for another round of cultivation.
But just a few minutes in, he noticed the speed of attracting Starlight into his body was continuously slowing down, and after persisting for five minutes, he suddenly felt a headache and even a sensation of heart palpitations.
Could it be another illness?
With a start, Xu Jin opened his eyes, only to see long legs and a silver iron staff.
"Unable to attract Starlight anymore, right?" Ning Yuchan asked.
Xu Jin nodded.
"Everyone has a limited amount of Divine Soul Power. Operating the Dining Dawn Form actually continuously consumes your Divine Soul Power. When you cannot attract Starlight into your body, it means that your Divine Soul Power has reached its limit.
This is also why the Taoist Institute arranges for you guys to have a two-hour nap at noon every day.
The Mental Awakening Pill refreshes and clears the mind. Taking one pill can slightly restore your Divine Soul Power, allowing you to cultivate for a bit longer.
But remember, within a time period, the first Mental Awakening Pill has the strongest effect; taking more after that, the effects are minimal," advised Ning Yuchan before walking away again.
Only then did Xu Jin realize that half of the older brothers who could cultivate Five Battles Killing Fist had already ended their morning class early.
It must be because their Divine Soul Power had been exhausted to the limit, and they had gone back to rest.
Following the instructions, Xu Jin took one Mental Awakening Pill, and in less than three minutes, the feeling of dizziness had disappeared, and he resumed the Dining Dawn Form for cultivation.
In a short while, a feeling of distension again transmitted from his chest; the Starlight was fully accumulated, but deep in the mind, a sense of extreme fatigue lingered.
Essentially, one Mental Awakening Pill allowed Xu Jin to cultivate for another round.
Putting morning and evening together, taking two pills should enable two additional rounds of cultivation.
Normally, one could cultivate eight to ten rounds a day.
If one continuously used the Mental Awakening Pills for four or five days of cultivation, it was equivalent to having an extra day's worth of cultivation time compared to others.
Indeed, it's a great help for cultivation.
But this thing, it's like swallowing gold.
At least ten taels of silver per day.
Even selling his whole family, Xu Jin couldn't support this kind of expense for many days.
Having completed one and a half rounds of the Five Battles Killing Fist, the Star Power accumulated in Xu Jin's body was completely exhausted, but he didn't stop; instead, he thoughtfully drew half a wisp of Starlight from the Candou Platform directly into his chest.
Instantly, a sensation of distension reappeared in his chest.
The Star Power within him, which had been depleted, was suddenly full again.
To Xu Jin's mild surprise, that half wisp of Starlight on the Candou Platform wasn't fully consumed.
Compared to a full wisp of Starlight, there was about one-third left.
The Star Power contained within this wisp of Starlight was not insignificant.
Roughly estimated, it could enable the current Xu Jin to continuously replenish his Star Power five times or more.
Continuing with the Five Battles Killing Fist.
Yin-Yang Combining, Lifting Ten Thousand Stones, Six Harmony Shaking, Break Sky Wolf, Central Leader Determines the World.
With the supplementation of Starlight from the Candou Platform, Xu Jin managed to perform the Five Battles Killing Fist three times in one go. After completing the three rounds continuously, Xu Jin suddenly realized that the Body Refining effect from continuous executions seemed to be compounding.
With a thought, he once again drew that one-fourth of a wisp of Starlight into his body. Using this Starlight from the Candou Platform for the final round, Xu Jin managed to perform the Five Battles Killing Fist four times continuously.
The range of Starlight radiation from his chest had visibly expanded by a radius, now exceeding the size of a fist.
The progress was pleasing.
Xu Jin reflected thoughtfully.
The first round of the Five Battles Killing Fist's stimulating Body Refining, followed by the second and third rounds, resulted in increasingly stronger Body Refining effects.
The Body Refining effect from the three continuous rounds equaled the effect of separately performing it four times before.
This final round of four continuous rounds of Five Battles Killing Fist had a Body Refining effect stronger than the sum of the previous five rounds of morning cultivation.
The principle was quite simple.
A rebound effect.
Or, to put it another way, striking while the iron is hot.
After finishing the first round and then immediately attracting more Starlight, the body parts refined by the cultivation would undergo a rebound recovery, but if the Body Refining is continuous, it will constantly solidify and strengthen, enhancing the Body Refining effect.
As of now, all the Star Pointing teenagers, below the first layer of Dining Dawn, could only perform the Five Battles Killing Fist three times continuously.
Xu Jin, managing four rounds in one go, was somewhat unexpected; however, probably no one would take notice of Xu Jin.
After all, it took Xu Jin eighty-three days to achieve Star Pointing, already making him the slowest of this Star-pointing Season.
Almost no one paid attention to Xu Jin.
"Instructor, I have reached my limit in cultivation for today; I will head back to rest now." The morning class had not ended, but those who had successfully achieved Star Pointing could go back first if they felt they had reached their cultivation limit.
"Hmm, diligent cultivation is good, but after reaching the limit, you absolutely must not force it, or it will harm both mind and body," Ning Yuchan advised Xu Jin once more.
True Good Master.
"Let's see your results from today's morning cultivation," said Ning Yuchan.
In today's world, a person's cultivation talent is primarily determined by the timing of "Star Pointing," but the effect of the first morning and evening practice sessions after a successful Star Pointing is also an important reference.
Observing and summarizing the cultivation talents of these young people was one of Instructor Ning Yuchan's responsibilities.
As Xu Jin nodded, his thoughts sank into the star pattern on his chest, activating the Star Power.
In an instant, a pineapple-sized area of bright starlight covered the center of Xu Jin's chest and abdomen.
Ning Yuchan's almond eyes widened slightly, and a look of surprise appeared under her veiled face.
This Body Refining progress?
Even the first and third days' top performers of this Star-pointing Season, Yue Daqi, couldn't match this, right?
"Is this the first time you used the Five Battles Killing Fist for Body Refining this morning?
And you only took one Mental Awakening Pill, right?" Ning Yuchan asked consecutively.
"Yes. Instructor Ning, is there a problem?" Xu Jin was puzzled.
"No problem.
Go back and rest. Aim to break through to the First Layer of the Dining Dawn Realm as soon as possible."
Ning Yuchan waved her hand, signaling Xu Jin to leave.
Watching Xu Jin leave, Ning Yuchan couldn't help but feel it was a pity.
At present, Xu Jin's Body Refining speed was very fast, almost matching this season's top performer Yue Daqi.
It's a pity that his Star Pointing was too late.
Eighty-three days before Star Pointing.
If he had achieved Star Pointing within sixty days and maintained today's Body Refining speed, she could have secured a spot for him in the Middle Court, and he might even have a chance to enter the Star Hall and learn powerful Star Skills that could turn the heavens and the earth upside down.
***
Hungry!
On the way back after the morning session, an unprecedented sense of hunger surged over him.
Xu Jin had never felt as hungry as he did at this moment.
It felt as if he had not eaten for five days.
He felt like he could devour an entire cow.
This should be related to today's Body Refining, and largely to the differentiation in food provided by the Taoist Institute.
There were still 15 minutes until mealtime, but Xu Jin didn't hesitate and headed straight to the dining hall first.
Getting in line early and eating sooner—it was simply too hungry to wait.
If it weren't certain that there would be a meal shortly, Xu Jin felt like he might even munch on the leaves from the roadside trees.
After Star Pointing, according to the rules, Xu Jin could move to Stall No. 2 to have meals that included meat.
Looking at the steaming food, if not for Chef Cook Liu holding a giant iron ladle watching over, Xu Jin nearly rushed in to grab a bite.
Seeing Xu Jin's voracious gaze, the chef at Stall No. 2 suddenly smiled and asked, "Are you very hungry?"
What a question!
Xu Jin, staring at the pot with his stomach rumbling thunderously, nodded vigorously, "Yes, Master, right now I feel like I could eat the entire pot by myself!"
"I don't deserve the honor of being called 'Master,' I am just a cook."
Hearing Xu Jin's address, Chef Cook Liu quickly waved his hand. These young men who succeeded in Star Pointing would all have bright futures, at the very least becoming lower-ranking officers of the county guard. He couldn't bear the title 'Master,' and while modestly waving his hand, he directly grabbed a large bowl.
"Since you're so hungry, let's serve you first, young brother."
"Thank you, Master."
"Not at all, not at all!"
Ignoring everything else, Xu Jin started to eat, blowing and flaunting simultaneously. In less than two minutes, he finished flaunting the entire large bowl, which was even bigger than the bowls used for Lanzhou beef noodles in his previous life.
After flaunting, Xu Jin passed the bowl back, "Master, another bowl, please!"
More courtesy never hurt, and this time, Chef Cook Liu specially added a few more pieces of meat into Xu Jin's bowl.
He continued to flaunt.
In one go, he flaunted four large bowls.
Xu Jin stared at his own stomach in sheer amazement.
Never in his past life or present had he flaunted four large bowls of food.
He thought that if he could go back, he might have the potential to become a food vlogger.
Content with a full burp, Xu Jin returned the bowl to the stove, not forgetting to thank Chef Cook Liu.
But Chef Cook Liu suddenly asked, "Young brother, you look unfamiliar. Did you just succeed in Star Pointing today? Just started Body Refining? And then got desperately hungry?"
"Yes. Is it the same for everyone?" After flaunting four large bowls, Xu Jin was somewhat embarrassed.
"Not really."
Chef Cook Liu shook his head, which bewildered Xu Jin. Everyone wasn't the same?
"What about the others?"
"Except for Yue Daqi, the top performer of this season's Star Pointing, who had the same huge hunger reaction during Body Refining, you are the second."
"Uh?"
Suddenly, Xu Jin realized something and pensively looked at the chef.
The chef smiled, "Young brother, don't overthink it, I have just worked here for many years, seen a lot, been here for over a decade.
Apparently, those with extreme hunger reactions during Body Refining tend to progress faster in cultivation.
Fast Body Refining progress means greater strain and consumption on the body, but it must be compensated with Pills.
Otherwise, it can harm the body and even damage the foundation. The Blood Replenishing Pill and Solid Foundation Pill from the Pill Room of the Taoist Institute are commonly used.
Of course, even without extreme hunger reactions, if one has extra money, regularly taking Blood Replenishing Pills and Solid Foundation Pills during Body Refining in the Dining Dawn Realm can also speed up the process.
Otherwise, one would have to intentionally slow down Body Refining to avoid damaging the foundation."
"Thank you for the advice, Master Liu. My surname is Xu, first name Jin."
"Not at all, not at all."
As other youths gradually came to eat, Xu Jin had already left, but as he departed, he felt somewhat melancholic.
Buying Pills requires a lot of silver.
Why is there always a shortage of money?
How can he manage to get some silver?