Chapter Ten: Star Tower

“What’s wrong with the gloves?” Chen Fan asked, bewildered by the expressions on their faces.

Ye Wuji cleared his throat and took the initiative to explain.

“You don’t know this? Spirit armaments come in all kinds, with all sorts of effects. Glove-type weapons require less material, so in general they are among the lower-valued spirit armaments of the same grade. Not to mention compared with armor-type spirit armaments, even ordinary blades and swords are worth more…”

“As the top performer in this assessment, you may choose any spirit armament you like. Even if you are skilled in fist techniques, you can still pick something of greater value, sell it, and then buy spirit gloves if you want…”

Chen Fan suddenly understood. After thinking for a moment, he looked at Mao Wangchen and said, “Then this disciple would like an armor-type spirit armament.”

Although he already had a treasured soft cuirass, armor-type spirit armaments required the most materials, and were therefore naturally the most expensive.

Just as Ye Wuji had said, only a fool would insist on taking a pair of spirit gloves.

At that, everyone burst into laughter.

Chen Fan really was a young man of true temperament.

Mao Wangchen smiled and nodded, very pleased with him as well. “The martial academy does not currently have a suitable armor-type spirit armament. Wait a little while. I will certainly find a fitting one for you.”

Chen Fan nodded. “Thank you, Master Dean.”

Spirit armaments were standard equipment for grandmasters, and even the martial academy did not have many. Defensive spirit armaments were especially rare.

Chen Fan was not worried that the academy would withhold his reward.

As for the earth-grade cultivation pill, Mao Wangchen handed it to him on the spot.

“This pill is called the Azurefield Jade Refining Pellet. It has only one effect: to help condense true essence and improve the tempering process.”

The effect was simple, but as an earth-grade pill, it was still immensely powerful.

“You have already reached the limit of qi and blood, so your true art refinement efficiency is high to begin with. If you can fully absorb the medicinal power of this pill, it should at least help you complete half of the fourth stage of tempering!”

Bone and aptitude determined the speed at which true art could be refined, while qi and blood could accelerate the tempering process of true art. These two were key factors in the advancement of cultivation.

“Half of the fourth stage?” Chen Fan’s eyes widened.

Mao Wangchen smiled. “So long as you can fully draw out the medicinal power of this Azurefield Jade Refining Pellet, you will absolutely be able to do it. It’s just that before the fourth stage has fully completed the meridian-opening process, you cannot fully absorb the pill’s power in the first place.”

Hearing this, Chen Fan felt somewhat complicated.

Even for himself, reaching the fourth stage would still require several months of idling before he could cultivate it to completion. Even the blood-body prodigies of the martial academy would likely need a year. Yet this tiny pill, containing such vast medicinal power, could help complete half of that stage’s progress. It was truly astonishing.

The value of an earth-grade pill was even higher than he had imagined.

The others took their leave, but Ye Wuji stopped Chen Fan again.

“I heard from your master that a few months ago you took the White Jade Crimson Sun Pill and broke through the bottleneck of the fourth stage. That pill’s main effect is to break barriers, but it should also have increased your tempering progress quite a bit. For the time being, do not swallow this Azurefield Jade Refining Pellet…”

The medicinal power of an earth-grade pill was vastly greater than that of a human-grade pill, so it was not suitable to take them in quick succession.

Especially pills like this, which greatly boosted cultivation. Not only would they waste medicinal power, they could also cause the accumulated forces within the body to clash, leading to unpredictable consequences.

As for Chen Fan, he had never actually eaten the White Jade Crimson Sun Pill; it had simply remained on his person all this time.

Since he had been idling until now and had never encountered a bottleneck, he naturally did not want to treat the White Jade Crimson Sun Pill as an ordinary cultivation pill.

Still, now that Dean Ye had said so, Chen Fan obediently agreed.

In truth, he had no intention of taking the Azurefield Jade Refining Pellet right away either.

His cultivation was already improving fast enough. He was not far from full meridian completion, and with a few more months of idling he would be able to break through to the fifth stage. Once the meridians throughout his body were fully opened, the efficiency with which he absorbed pills would increase by quite a bit.

He wanted to rely on his own strength to break into the fifth stage, and only after reaching it would he take the Azurefield Jade Refining Pellet.

…

The martial academy entrance assessment came to an end.

This assessment had been exceptionally rich in value.

Not only had there been someone like Chen Fan, who had reached the limit of qi and blood, but there had also been a newly entered blood-body prodigy.

As for Chen Fan, while he waited for Ye Wuji’s follow-up arrangements, he could only temporarily reside in the Starlit Tower.

Together with the other top five examinees from this assessment who had entered the Starlit Tower, Chen Fan followed a martial academy instructor named Ke Cheng on a tour of the academy.

Before a majestic pavilion that seemed to have been cast from white jade, Ke Cheng introduced it.

“This is the Starlit Tower. It is divided into seven levels. It contains independent training rooms, and is where the disciples of the Starlit Tower cultivate on a daily basis. There are also communal rooms, and every day different instructors and teachers give lectures here and share their experience…”

This Starlit Tower was the first privilege granted to a disciple of the Starlit Tower.

Its cultivation facilities were fully equipped, with dedicated training chambers whose spiritual energy was several times denser than that of ordinary training rooms. Of course, that was only the most basic benefit.

Disciples of the Starlit Tower enjoyed higher authority, and could borrow more manuals from the martial arts pavilion.

They could also enter many special cultivation grounds.

“As disciples of the Starlit Tower, you now already have access to some of the martial academy’s special areas. The more important ones, aside from the Myriad Forms Plaza, are the Hall of Self-Questioning and the Hall of Ten Thousand Illusions…” Ke Cheng continued.

The Hall of Self-Questioning also connected to the Dao artifact, the Myriad Forms Vessel. One could enter an illusory realm there to gaze inward upon oneself and temper the will. Disciples of the Starlit Tower could enter once every quarter.

The Hall of Ten Thousand Illusions was even more marvelous.

Through formations and yuan stones, it could simulate the most unusual natural conditions of the outside world, helping with the cultivation of certain special martial techniques.

Some true arts and martial techniques could only be cultivated quickly, or even comprehended, in special environments.

For instance, if one could continually observe the changing light of thunder at close range, then even an ordinary disciple, given enough conditions, could break through to the micro level more quickly when practicing the Three Thousand Thundersteps movement art.

The Ten Thousand Illusions Array had even more wondrous uses. It could even simulate extreme conditions such as volcanic heat, icy peaks, and many other harsh environments.

Not only breakthroughs and comprehension of specific martial techniques, but even simply cultivating true art in an extreme environment was faster than doing so without pressure.

Unfortunately, as a disciple of the Starlit Tower, one could only enter the initial area of the Hall of Ten Thousand Illusions. Not only were the simulation effects much weaker, but the spiritual energy of heaven and earth was different as well.

Chen Fan’s heart stirred with anticipation. He wondered whether the scenes simulated by the Ten Thousand Illusions Array might trigger some hidden conditions in his martial arts.

With his master Dong Guzhi supporting him, he had no great hunger for ordinary resources.

In his daily cultivation of martial arts, insight born of sudden understanding was the most elusive and the hardest thing to break through.

Even if he ran about outside every day, it was not as though every martial technique offered any real chance of advancement.

Take the Three Thousand Thundersteps, for example.

He had once tried to observe the flickering of lightning between heaven and earth during thunderstorms, but this natural phenomenon was the hardest to grasp and carried terrifying force. Even Chen Fan had only watched it from afar and had never seen lightning at close range.

And the weather was unpredictable. Over the past few months, Chen Fan had only seen thunderstorm weather a few times.

This world was not as technologically advanced as his previous life. It had not even entered the industrial age, and Chen Fan ordinarily had no contact with thunder or electricity.

When his Three Thousand Thundersteps had reached major completion at the micro level, observing lightning had once brought about a breakthrough, but that green progress bar advanced at an agonizingly slow pace, still far from unity.

If the Ten Thousand Illusions Array could simulate the changes of thunder, and he could observe or even come into contact with it every day…

His imagination ran wild, and he looked forward to the Hall of Ten Thousand Illusions with great anticipation.

The other disciples were likewise eager to try it for themselves.