…The cultivation of a Jiugong Tianshi centers on refining every one of his acupoints. An individual Jiugong Tianshi possesses seven hundred and twenty such points, and mastering this rank requires completely purifying every single one of them.
To cultivate the body’s acupoints, one must utilize the Essence of Stars drawn from the myriad constellations above. Only when the power of this Star Essence integrates fully into an acupoint can the cultivation penetrate deeper, imbuing that point with the very essence of the stars.
The cultivation path of a Jiugong Tianshi is akin to treating one’s own flesh as a star domain. The countless acupoints across the body represent the myriad stars within that domain. Only when every single acupoint transforms into a celestial body, imbued with the power of Star Essence, is the peak of the Jiugong Tian realm truly attained.
Star Essence is the most fundamental power emanating from the stars, condensed from the primordial forces gathered from the River of Stars. The Star Essence within each individual star is finite, exceedingly rare, and certainly not inexhaustible.
In the Solar Star Domain, due to the sheer number of Tianshi, countless practitioners have reached the Jiugong Tian realm since antiquity. Every Tianshi who achieved this state relied on the Star Essence found within the Solar Domain’s stars. Over time, the stars still holding accessible Star Essence have dwindled significantly.
In recent years, some Jiugong Tianshi in the Solar Domain have been forced to venture to the extreme fringes of the domain, seeking out stars that still possess this vital Essence. Encounters with other Jiugong Tianshi during these searches are common.
When Jiugong Tianshi share the same objective and locate a suitable star for cultivation, conflict often erupts.
For the sake of Star Essence, Jiugong Tianshi in the Solar Domain frequently engage in battles of the spirit and soul. Many a Jiugong Tianshi’s soul has been utterly annihilated while searching for Star Essence in the Solar Domain, scattering their spirit at this very peak of attainment.
Resources are too scarce, and Jiugong Tianshi are too numerous. This reality has made cultivation in the Solar Domain arduous. Some Jiugong Tianshi might spend half a year or longer just locating a single star containing Star Essence; if their luck is poor, they might exhaust their spiritual energy without finding a suitable celestial body.
This scarcity explains why the Blood Emperor and Li Hentian, despite having broken through to the Jiugong Tian realm, have made meager progress.
They simply cannot locate stars containing Star Essence in a short span, naturally hindering their continued advancement. While the Blood Emperor held some sway on the Five Elements Continent, his chances of survival when encountering powerful Jiugong Tianshi from other continents while seeking Star Essence in the Solar Domain were alarmingly high.
The Blood Emperor’s cooperation with Youlan was precisely to glean experience from her, hoping to acquire some advantageous resources that would allow him to extract Star Essence for his own cultivation.
The Solar Domain, suffering from resource depletion, is no longer a suitable place for Jiugong Tianshi to cultivate. Advancing in the Jiugong Tian realm here not only slows progress but also drastically increases the associated dangers.
Yet, standing on this entirely unfamiliar continent, gazing at the strange, dense tapestry of stars above, Ji Changkong felt a sense of fortune found in disaster, as if he had stumbled upon a treasure.
This feeling intensified when his spirit left the continent and truly entered the vast, boundless sea of stars!
His intuition had been correct!
In this unfamiliar star field, luminous stars stretched in every direction. Releasing his soul, Ji Changkong confirmed that those stars indeed bore no trace of life’s energy.
This meant, unequivocally, that Star Essence absolutely existed upon those celestial bodies!
Generally, stars inhabited by life are shrouded by Heavenly Yuan Qi. Where Heavenly Yuan Qi lingers, Star Essence cannot persist. Only on stars unsuitable for biological survival, devoid of life and Heavenly Yuan Qi, can the pure Star Essence remain preserved.
Ji Changkong allowed his soul to expand but did not immediately alight upon any single star. Instead, he traversed between them, letting his spirit feel the aura of each celestial body.
The more he sensed, the greater Ji Changkong’s delight grew. He realized this was indeed an unexplored star field. Every star his spirit passed over lacked any sign of life; these were all perfectly suited for his cultivation.
Such an immense reservoir of resources, had it been in the Solar Domain, would have long since become a fiercely contested jewel by the major powers. The so-called Eight Great Powers would stop at nothing to seize control of the Star Essence within a single star, preventing the spirit of any other faction from approaching it.
This is precisely why, in recent years, the more dominant powers in the Solar Domain have frequently produced Ten Directions Tianshi.
It is because the prime cultivation resources are monopolized by these dominant forces.
A powerful faction might field several formidable Jiugong Tianshi. When these masters appeared together in the Solar Domain and discovered a star holding Star Essence, these established cliques of Jiugong Tianshi could easily overpower and expel any lone cultivator seeking the same prize. Wandering among these countless stars, Ji Changkong was overcome with elation—truly feeling like he had unearthed a treasure. At this moment, he suddenly recalled the words of his maternal grandfather, Gu Tao.
Gu Tao had once mentioned that the larger a star, the higher the purity of the Star Essence it contained. If every acupoint were refined using the Essence from those massive stars, then, even among those in the Jiugong Tian realm, such a cultivator would undoubtedly wield far greater power than one who relied on smaller stellar sources.
If he were in the Solar Domain, upon sighting any star bearing Star Essence, no matter how minuscule, he would be ecstatic to gather it for refinement, as the primary goal there was simply to fill his body with enough Essence to purify even a single acupoint.
However, now that his resources were staggeringly abundant, he needn't be so frugal. He could afford to be selective among these countless stars, choosing to cultivate first using the most magnificent specimens.
Thinking thus, Ji Changkong felt even less urgency. Within this oceanic expanse filled with stars, his spirit drifted leisurely, searching for his primary target.
A star tens of times larger than the Five Elements Continent suddenly appeared within his soul’s sensory range. After a brief scan revealed no life signatures upon it, his heart surged with joy, and Ji Changkong immediately plunged into this colossal celestial body.
Once a target was identified, Ji Changkong showed no hesitation. On this untouched star, free of both Heavenly Yuan Qi and demonic energy, he flew dynamically, seeking the pathway to the star’s core.
A dormant volcano materialized within his spiritual perception. The volcano was long past its fury; its crater was a black maw leading straight into the planet’s depths.
A secret thrill rising within him, Ji Changkong’s spirit shot downward, flying directly into the depths through the volcanic vent.
His soul descended tens of thousands of zhang, piercing through seas of hazy starlight. Guided by his longing and sensitivity to Star Essence, he finally, finally reached the absolute core of this star.
Fortunately, he had been thoroughly tutored by Gu Tao, who had instructed him on the precise location of Star Essence within a typical star and the necessary methods for its extraction.
Because of this predecessor’s guidance, his initial venture to collect Star Essence proceeded smoothly and without incident. He bypassed external obstructions and detected no dangerous natural calamities within the star, successfully entering the repository of Star Essence. Utilizing the power of his soul, he managed to harvest a large chunk of Star Essence, shimmering with multi-hued starlight.
Having secured this large piece of Star Essence, he first used his spirit to merge and harmonize with it, ensuring that this star’s core now possessed his own soul’s signature. He then extracted a portion of the peculiar stellar energy refined from the Essence—energy meant for tempering the soul—and used this isolated component to completely reforge his own spirit.
With these tasks complete, Ji Changkong retracted his soul. The large piece of Star Essence was enveloped by his spirit, seemingly vanishing into his being. Swiftly, Ji Changkong’s spirit dragged this Essence, returning the way he came from the massive star.
Deep within this giant star, the remaining Star Essence measured about one mu wide, enough to allow six or seven Jiugong Tianshi to refine a single acupoint simultaneously. Because the Star Essence of each star is unique, the Essence from one star can only refine one acupoint; no amount more can cultivate a different point.
This meant that the surplus Star Essence held little value for Ji Changkong.
A single soul can only utilize the Star Essence from one star to refine one acupoint. Furthermore, once the Star Essence leaves its host star, it rapidly dissipates its stellar energy. Ji Changkong had to immediately transport the harvested Essence back to his physical body and use it for cultivation before its stored energy leaked away entirely, thereby completing the purification of the acupoint.
Precisely because of this peculiar constraint, Ji Changkong did not take away excessive Star Essence. It would be useless on the unfamiliar continent where his body resided, and it would quickly lose its stellar potency. He was unable to bring the excess Essence back for Li Hentian to cultivate.
Finally, through his painstaking efforts, the Star Essence was successfully transported back to the unfamiliar continent where his body waited.
Without a moment’s delay, and utilizing this piece of Star Essence, he began to refine an acupoint according to the meticulous methods passed down from his maternal grandfather, Gu Tao.
Dozens of hours later, emerging from deep meditation, Ji Changkong, whose Tiantu acupoint was now filled with stellar power, immediately moved. Drawing upon the strength of this newly refined point, Ji Changkong’s figure flickered, and he soared into the air once more.
Simultaneously, he could feel the power of the starlight streaming down from that immense star overhead. Through the Tiantu acupoint, he could actually borrow the starlight from that massive celestial body to replenish his own elemental energy.