Xu Jin's mind delved into the Star Lamp to study for quite some time yet failed to understand what "can solidify" meant.
Reluctantly, his mind returned to the Candou Platform.
On the Candou Platform, a strand of starlight floated, received from today's star-greeting ceremony at the Candou Platform. As before, there was only a Star Lamp and a piece of Jade on the platform.
So, where did this "can solidify" take place?
Xu Jin's mind sank into the Jade again. This time, when he concentrated his mind on the Jade and focused on the entry [Star Skill: Basic Star Shield, can solidify], the Star Lamp suddenly appeared before his eyes. The 'Basic Star Shield' from within the Star Skill transformed into a point of starlight and flew into the Star Lamp.
Following a flash of brilliance from the Star Lamp, another layer of scaly Star Patterns suddenly appeared both inside and outside the lamp, glittering under the resplendent illumination of the lamp.
Was this solidified?
In the midst of his confusion, Xu Jin looked at the Jade again.
[First Tier Candou Platform]
[Fighting Master: Xu Jin]
[Received Star Favor, daily respect earns one strand of starlight]
[Star Lamp: Solidified Star Skill Basic Star Shield, can be changed after eight days.]
[Nourishable Items: Zero]
[Star Skill: Basic Star Shield, solidified]
[Upgrade available]
The changes in the information on the Jade instantly made Xu Jin realize what had happened—solidification had succeeded.
What use then, had this solidification of the Star Skill?
Immediately, Xu Jin delved his mind back into the Star Lamp to test it.
In less than a minute, a look of surprise appeared on Xu Jin's face; he had understood the effect of solidification, at least the effect of practicing martial arts within the Star Lamp.
The effect was similar to the effect of achieving Perfection in the Five Battles Killing Fist.
Previously, every time Xu Jin practiced the technique of Yin-Yang Combining in the Star Lamp, he could produce a Star Shield.
But currently, Xu Jin's Yin-Yang Combining was merely at Small Success—completing three moves with one technique took enough time to eventually seal off a Star Shield using Star Power.
However, after solidifying the Basic Star Shield, he could produce a Star Shield with a wave of his hand.
Just like Bearded Cui had demonstrated.
So now, Xu Jin could easily produce a Star Shield within the Star Lamp, but what about in reality?
At this thought, Xu Jin's heart started beating uncontrollably.
Because if it were indeed true, the value... was immeasurable.
According to what Bearded Cui had said, he had spent five to six years training hard to reach his current level with the Five Battles Killing Fist, thus being able to casually trigger various basic Star Skills.
But if Xu Jin could do this simply by solidification, then...
At this thought, Xu Jin spoke briefly to Qian Xiaohu, who was still pondering, and left ahead of time, eager to test it. He wanted to see if he could casually produce them in reality after solidifying the Star Skills in the Star Lamp.
The Taoist Institute was quite large, and behind the dormitories was a small grove of trees, which would have been a sacred site in his former life but was now deserted, empty, and convenient for Xu Jin.
Firstly, Xu Jin performed the technique of Yin-Yang Combining in the grove.
Three moves in one technique, with the Star Power in his body surging forth. On the third move, Xu Jin succeeded in sealing a Starlight Shield on his chest, and rejoicing at the sight of this shield.
In this world, he had finally produced his first basic Star Skill, which also provided him with a bit of life-saving capital.
The Starlight Shield just covered a good portion of his chest and abdomen, which could be due to not yet breaking through the first layer of Dining Dawn, and couldn't manifest anywhere on the body or be moved around like Instructor Cui could produce.
The consumption of Star Power was also significant.
Just after sealing the Star Shield, Xu Jin noticed that a quarter of the Star Power in his Star Patterns was depleted, and maintaining it continued to consume Star Power, albeit at a much lesser rate.
Given Xu Jin's current upper limit of Star Power, he could perform more than two sets of the Five Battles Killing Fist. Calculating from this, with basic Star Skills like the Basic Star Shield, Xu Jin could currently blast it out four times before his Star Power was exhausted.
From this reasoning, the strand of starlight Xu Jin brought into his body on the Candou Platform could support him practicing the Five Battles Killing Fist ten times, which meant a strand of starlight could support blasting out twenty Basic Star Shields.
At this, a thought flickered, and the Star Shield he'd blasted with the Killing Fist dispersed, Xu Jin slightly moved his mind towards the Star Lamp, which caused the Star Patterns on the surface of the lamp to flicker momentarily. Instantly, they activated the Star Power within Xu Jin's body, and in an instant, a Star Shield formed in front of Xu Jin's chest.
This super-fast speed spawned two words in Xu Jin's mind instantly.
Instantaneous!
Xu Jin estimated that with the Small Success of the Five Battles Killing Fist, taking about two to three seconds to complete the three moves for producing a Star Shield, even if done at the fastest speed. If perfected, producing a Star Shield could be done casually with any move, but it would still take time.
Approximately half a second to one second.
Only after achieving Perfection in the Five Battles Killing Fist could he achieve Instantaneous manifestation, where it appears as soon as the mind shifts—this summed up Instantaneous.
Of course, it also took time, but possibly less than 0.1 seconds.
According to Bearded Cui, even those with outstanding talent needed two to three years of hard work to accomplish Instantaneous.
Those with ordinary talent might not be able to achieve instantaneous execution even after five or six years.
But Xu Jin, after solidifying the Star Skill inside the Star Lamp, was able to do so.
Can it be exchanged in eight days?
Does this mean that another Star Skill can only be solidified after eight days?
Xu Jin carefully studied the basic Star Shield derived from the Star Skill solidified within the Star Lamp, making his summary.
The Star Shields, both front and back, consumed the same amount of Star Power.
They also appeared to be the same size.
But whether it was an illusion or not, Xu Jin felt that the solidified Star Shield seemed thicker. He wondered if its defensive prowess would be stronger against foes?
He thought about testing it, but soon dismissed the idea.
Firstly, it was inconvenient to find someone to test it, and secondly, Xu Jin's main goal was to reach the First Layer of Dining Dawn. Star Power was extremely crucial; it could not be wasted.
After all, two Star Shields would consume the same amount of Star Power needed for Xu Jin to perform a round of Five Battles Killing Fist.
This was a critical moment; he simply couldn't afford to waste Star Power.
After all, a Mental Awakening Pill worth five taels of silver would only allow Xu Jin two more iterations of the Five Battles Killing Fist.
Just like yesterday, Xu Jin took a Blood Replenishing Pill and a Solid Foundation Pill during the evening class, drawing in the strand of starlight he had obtained from the Candou Platform into his body and performing the Five Battles Killing Fist twelve and a half times. The Body Refining effect was still astonishing.
A small incident occurred when Xu Jin spent half an hour inside the Star Lamp performing martial moves before the evening class, to address the issue of unintentionally creating a Star Shield while executing the Yin-Yang Combining move.
Producing a Star Shield once would consume a quarter of Xu Jin's Star Power, greatly affecting his Body Refining.
Normally, it would be extremely difficult to resolve this issue on his own, but with the Star Lamp, it was relatively easier.
By slightly altering the speed of his punches, he managed to refrain from producing a Star Shield without affecting the Body Refining effect.
With four days left until the end of Star-pointing Season, many of the youths became very diligent.
Both those who had succeeded and those who had not succeeded in Star Pointing were putting in great effort.
Those who had not succeeded were anxious; with only four days left, they must find a way to succeed.
If they failed in Star Pointing, their lives would be destined for a different path.
Many of the youths began to train extra after the evening class, but Ning Yuchan persuaded them to go back.
Haste makes waste.
The closer to the end, the more urgent they became, and the less likely they were to succeed in Star Pointing.
On the contrary, staying calm with the preceding two months of accumulation could still possibly lead to success.
Ning Yuchan's reasoning was understood by many, but few were able to truly accept and act on it.
The youths who had succeeded in Star Pointing were also very committed.
There were many who were refining with Pills.
After all, as soon as they succeeded in Star Pointing, their futures and values changed in the eyes of many, and they could now borrow silver or even attract investment.
Xu Jin wasn't the only one who realized this; he was just more proactive.
The reason these successful Star-pointing youths were so diligent was that after the end of the Star-pointing Season, if they wanted to stay in the Taoist Institute, there were three possible places.
Inner Court, Middle Court, Outer Court.
The differences in treatment between each were vast; indeed, the court they entered after the season would dictate their social class.
The Outer Court was straightforward; any successful Star Pointer could enter.
The Inner Cour goes without saying; it had the top-most treatment, with resources reportedly more than ten times that of the Middle Cour.
But the requirements for entering the Inner Court were stringent; a top-tier evaluation, directly admitted.
Rated top-tier within three days of Star Pointing.
A mid-tier evaluation, meaning Star Pointing within ten days, could also directly enter the Inner Court if they break through to the Fifth Layer of Dining Dawn by the end of the season.
A lower-tier evaluation, meaning Star Pointing within thirty days, might have a chance to enter the Inner Court if they can break through to the Fifth Layer by the end of the season.
That's why Ren Xiaoxiang, Lu Xianbing, and Zhou Du, who pinpointed on the twenty-first day, were particularly desperate.
Entering the Inner Court would vastly change their futures.
Others, including Xu Jin, were striving to enter the Middle Court.
All the Star-pointing youths understood that after the season, the Middle Court and the Outer Court were a whole different world.
But a piece of news suddenly made entering the Middle Court the greatest competition and the most intense battle.
It also vastly increased the difficulty of Xu Jin entering the Middle Cour.