198: The Legacy of the Star Devourer

One minute!

Two minutes!

...A full half hour passed!

"What the hell? Absorb it!" Zhang Sheng roared, frantically pouring Spiritual Power into his fingertips.

Yet, those few ancient Jade Slips remained cold and dead, like ordinary stones.

"Huge loss! Hundreds of merit points just went down the drain!" He slapped his thigh in annoyance.

It seemed that comprehending the Soul-Startling Thorn from an ancient Jade Slip last time was purely dumb luck.

"Heh heh, if Xiao Buyu knew that the 'trash' he casually gave away contained the Soul-Startling Thorn, wouldn't he regret it until his guts turned green?" Zhang Sheng curled his lips into a mischievous smile.

Pushing aside distracting thoughts, he solemnly took out another Jade Slip—the Star Scripture, valued at ten thousand merit points.

If he gained nothing again, the loss would truly be severe.

He observed it repeatedly, his Mental Energy penetrating like mercury, and Spiritual Power attempting to inject like a trickle... but the Jade Slip didn't budge, offering no response.

Stars... Stars... A flash of inspiration hit Zhang Sheng's mind, reminding him of an Alchemy technique he mastered—the Star Synchronization Technique:

It could draw upon the power of the circulation of stars, resonating with the Pill Furnace and medicinal ingredients to improve the quality of the resulting pills and eliminate conflicts in medicinal properties.

"I'll try anything! If this fails, the Ten Thousand Treasures Hall probably won't issue a refund..." Zhang Sheng steeled his resolve and immediately summoned the cyan rock fire copper furnace.

This time, there were no ingredients in the furnace.

He carefully placed the Star Scripture Jade Slip into the center of the furnace.

"Buzz..."

As the Pill Incantation circulated, a faint yet pure thread of the circulation of stellar power seemed to be drawn by invisible threads, penetrating the roof and quietly injecting into the Pill Furnace.

Zhang Sheng's Divine Sense firmly locked onto the Jade Slip inside the furnace.

The moment the Pill Furnace and the Jade Slip produced a subtle, synchronized vibration, that wisp of starlight was silently swallowed by the Jade Slip!

"It's working!"

Zhang Sheng's heart pounded wildly. He suppressed his excitement and fully activated the Star Synchronization Technique.

More and more stellar power was drawn down, pouring into the Pill Furnace.

The Jade Slip was like a land long thirsty for rain, greedily absorbing the starlight.

Its dull, stony texture gradually faded, replaced by a warm, reserved texture, and it began to diffuse a faint, dreamy purple halo.

However, the Star Synchronization Technique was ultimately just an auxiliary Alchemy method, and the stellar power it drew was extremely limited.

Yet, this "Jade Slip" was like a bottomless abyss, rejecting nothing that came its way.

"This Upper Realm... is truly strange." Zhang Sheng maintained the Spell while diverting his attention to ponder.

He looked up at the eternally bright sky outside the window, which showed not a single star.

Being in a "high-level Universe," yet no stars manifest?

Bizarre!

But since the Star Synchronization Technique could take effect, it proved that stellar power truly existed in this world.

This refining process lasted three days and three nights.

Finally, the Jade Slip stopped absorbing.

It had completely transformed, turning into a palm-sized piece of dark purple metal, its surface shimmering with fragmented starlight.

The moment he took hold of it, the mountain-like weight of ten thousand jin almost made Zhang Sheng's wrist droop!

He eagerly probed it with his Mental Energy.

"Boom—!"

A tsunami-like torrent of Divine Sense information exploded without warning at the core of his Sea of Consciousness!

The enormous impact caused Zhang Sheng's vision to blacken, and thirty percent of his Mental Energy was instantly drained!

He groaned, veins bulging on his forehead.

A full quarter of an hour passed before his churning Sea of Consciousness barely calmed down.

Zhang Sheng's pupils contracted violently, and his heart continued to pound uncontrollably.

"Is Lu Shi Qi's Heaven-Defying Strong Luck Talent... still taking effect?" he muttered to himself, finding it hard to believe.

"The Star Scripture... is actually a Cultivation Technique for Star Beasts!

It belongs exclusively to a terrifying existence called the Star Devouring Beast!

Upon reaching adulthood, they are instantly in the Star God Realm, and the main Cultivation Technique they use before adulthood is this Star Scripture!"

But this Cultivation Technique is almost a dead end for the Human Race.

The Star Devouring Beast's growth period, which can last tens of thousands of years, is enough to exhaust any astonishingly talented Human Race Cultivator to death.

More critically, the physical structure of Star Beasts and humans is vastly different. Without the accompanying Myriad Manifestation Divine Fetus secret method, forcibly Cultivating it would be tantamount to destroying oneself.

What he held was not a Jade Slip at all, but the Star Devouring Beast clan's ultimate Legacy treasure—Star Stone!

"By sheer chance, I obtained the fundamental Legacy of the Star Beast clan..." Zhang Sheng took a deep breath, suppressing his ecstasy,

He gathered his thoughts, turning his attention to the talent panel deep within his Sea of Consciousness:

Among the Beginner Spells, Breath Concealment Art, Spiritual Eye Technique, Flight Technique, Object Manipulation Art, Electric Shock, and Spirit Shield had all reached the True Intent Realm.

And among the Second-Tier Spells, only Moon Slash had reached the True Intent Realm.

Inside his Sea of Consciousness, the Soul-Startling Thorn was constantly condensing, collapsing, and re-condensing at an astonishing frequency... This cyclical, extreme tempering caused even his Mental Energy to slowly grow under the high pressure.

Zhang Sheng multitasked, his left hand's five fingers moving rhythmically, causing masses of clear water to condense and twist out of thin air;

His right hand drew out emerald green light, transforming it into the phantom image of a sturdy wooden cage—simultaneously Cultivating the two Spells, Water Binding and Wood Prison Cage.

At the same time, a thin, tough phantom image of the Profound Light Shield flickered around his body.

He decided to enter secluded bitter Cultivation for a while, pushing all the Spells he mastered to the True Intent Realm as quickly as possible.

Three days later, Water Binding was the first to Breakthrough. The agility of the water flow and its binding power became perfectly harmonious, stepping into the True Intent Realm.

Zhang Sheng paused his Spell Cultivation.

At this moment, his Physical Body, tempered by the Nine Tribulations Secret Codex, was stable enough to withstand the next round of the Spiritual Power Calamity—the Fire Element!

"On Earth, stabilizing the Physical Body requires half a month. On the Tianxing Continent, a single day has forty-eight hours, so seven days should be enough!"

He activated the Flame Manipulation Art. Violent Fire Element Spiritual Power instantly swept through his limbs and bones, completely incinerating and reshaping his original physical structure!

Following the intense pain came the comfort of Nirvana and rebirth.

His affinity for Fire Element Spiritual Power soared dozens of times!

Immediately after, he began to study a new Dark Element Spell—Shadow Bind.

His fingertips flew, forming incantations so fast they left afterimages.

Suddenly, a strange thread, black as ink and seemingly capable of absorbing all light, shot out from his fingertip!

"Success!" The panel information flickered:

[Spell: Shadow Bind - Tier 1 (Beginner: 1%)].

"Perhaps because my strength and Mental Energy have improved, learning this is much easier?" Zhang Sheng pondered inwardly.

If other Cultivators knew his thoughts, they would probably be enraged enough to spit blood.

Spells outside the Five Elements are inherently extremely difficult. Wind and Lightning are already symbols of Talent, and Light and Dark attributes are forbidden Domains second only to Space Spells. Even if an ordinary person learned them, they would require lengthy incantations, making them hard to use in actual combat.

The strangeness of Shadow Bind lies in its ability to adhere to an opponent's shadow, directly restricting the movements of their Physical Body.

Zhang Sheng calmed down and practiced repeatedly.

Three days later, this Heaven-Grade Tier 1 Spell finally reached the Transcendent stage.

Its Cultivation difficulty far exceeded that of ordinary Beginner Spells.

Immediately, he turned to the more profound Second-Tier Heaven-Grade Dark Spell—Nether Erosion.

This technique converts Dark Spiritual Power into terrifyingly corrosive "Nether Shadows" that can erode physical entities and dissolve energy shields.

Dark Element Spells possess unparalleled power, but the Cultivation threshold is despairingly high.

Zhang Sheng had yet to see a Cultivator who truly used Dark Element Spells.

Four more days passed in secluded Cultivation.

Zhang Sheng stopped, his brow slightly furrowed.

Even with the foundation provided by Shadow Bind, this Nether Erosion still hadn't reached the Perfected State!

Its profound complexity far exceeded expectations.