One year later.
A young man of ordinary appearance and medium build, dressed in a sky-blue long robe, was flying at low altitude.
With his hands clasped behind his back and his long hair fluttering between his brows, he exuded an ethereal aura, yet his brow was slightly furrowed, as if he was pondering something.
This was none other than Shi Jiu, whose magical power had rapidly advanced after Cultivating the Formula of Guiding the Stars.
At this time, he had already rocketed his cultivation from the second layer of Qi Refinement Stage to the seventh layer of Qi Refinement Stage within about a year, thanks to the mysterious Vortex within his body; it could be said his progress was swift.
This was still the result of Shi Jiu deliberately refining his magical power multiple times, fearing an unstable Foundation.
Shi Jiu came to a conclusion by consulting books and observing other Cultivators with higher cultivation levels casting Spells.
His solid and refined magical power already made him comparable to an ordinary tenth-layer Qi Refinement Stage Cultivator.
This result naturally filled him with joy. With his cultivation advancing by leaps and bounds, even the Formula of Azure Wood, which Shi Jiu only occasionally Cultivated to avoid drawing attention, had advanced to roughly the Peak of the fourth layer.
He could enter the fifth layer at any time, which made Shi Jiu's 'halo' as a good student shine brightly, becoming an example frequently used by the old man teaching in the academy to encourage other Disciples to Cultivate diligently.
This couldn't help but make Shi Jiu feel quite amused. The Formula of Azure Wood had improved by more than two layers in a year.
Among the Disciples of the Spirit Herb Hall, he could already be called an example. What if the old man knew that the Cultivation Technique he truly Cultivated, the Formula of Guiding the Stars, had actually reached the seventh layer of Qi Refinement Stage?
Moreover, his magical power was no less profound than that of an ordinary tenth-layer Qi Refinement Stage Cultivator. The old man would probably jump up and place him on an altar for other Disciples to admire daily.
The reason he achieved such results without much Cultivation of the Formula of Azure Wood was, he felt, a blessing bestowed upon him by the power of 'Jupiter' among the Seven Luminaries.
Jupiter represents the Star Power of the Five Elements' ultimate wood, which indeed has a very good promoting effect on Cultivating ordinary wood power like the Formula of Azure Wood.
So he carefully researched it. In the Formula of Guiding the Stars, excluding the sun and moon, which correspond to light and dark attributes, he seemed to have no way to start Cultivating them.
The other Five Stars all have fixed correspondences with magical powers of certain Five Elements attributes:
For example, Venus corresponds to the power of metal, Jupiter to the power of wood, Mercury to the power of water, Ying Huo Peak to the power of fire, and Saturn to the power of earth.
However, although he gained new insights into the Formula of Guiding the Stars, he also encountered several new problems with the rapid increase in his cultivation:
The first problem was that Shi Jiu currently lacked a suitable Magical Artifact. He had originally found a knife and a sword at the Immortal Cave where he was teleported.
Although they were extremely sharp, they were strangely unable to be controlled by magical power, and their grade could not be discerned, which left Shi Jiu speechless.
Moreover, according to the cultivation speed of Shi Jiu's group of Disciples, they would generally only reach the second or third layer of Qi Refinement Stage after more than a year.
But the Helian Family, in order to protect low-level Qi Refinement Disciples, stipulated that those below the fifth layer of Qi Refinement Stage were not allowed to go out and perform any Family tasks.
Being protected within the Family all day, there was no real need for any Magical Artifacts.
Furthermore, with magical power cultivation below the fifth layer of Qi Refinement Stage, even if they were given a Magical Artifact, they wouldn't be able to operate it for long, and their magical power would probably be drained in no time.
However, Feng Ming, who joined at the same time and was assigned to the dining hall, had already come into contact with Magical Artifacts, and even a mid-grade Magical Artifact.
Because the Helian Family has a vast population base, with numerous Cultivators and a large number of Mortals serving them.
Eating every day was a huge undertaking, so the dining hall was equipped with nearly a hundred specially refined large pot Magical Artifacts for the kitchen's exclusive use. These large pots had no other function; they were just excellent for cooking.
And to solve the problem of low-level Disciples and Mortals being unable to use the large pot Magical Artifacts, places were specially installed for embedding Spirit Stones, which would power them with Spirit Stone energy, allowing everyone to use them freely.
However, even if Shi Jiu were given such a Magical Artifact, he had no interest in touching it.
So, with a wry smile, he politely declined Feng Ming's suggestion to secretly take him into the kitchen to try stir-frying together.
However, although he hadn't yet managed to acquire a suitable Magical Artifact within the Helian Family, he had learned through his Cultivation of the Formula of Guiding the Stars that the most suitable Material for a Star Power Cultivator's weapon is a substance called 'star stone'.
The formation of this star stone is quite peculiar. In some Spirit Stone Mine gathering places,
if the Star Power in the area is relatively rich, then a portion of the Spirit Stones, after absorbing Star Power for years, will gradually transform into star stones due to some unknown reasons.
After the star stone is mined, and refined using certain techniques, it becomes the most suitable weapon for a Star Power Cultivator.
In fact, it's not just Cultivators of Star Power techniques; star stones are also quite popular among some other Spell Cultivators.
Because both star stones and Magical Artifacts made from star stones naturally possess the ability to store a certain amount of Star Power, and Star Power has always been known for its immense and profound nature.
Therefore, for instance, in a stalemate during a battle, if one side suddenly uses a Magical Artifact imbued with Star Power, the chances of winning will undoubtedly greatly increase.
Furthermore, Star Power inherently contains the Five Elements, making it remarkably effective in breaking many Cultivation Techniques and Restrictions.
So, even though the difficulty of producing star stones isn't that high, once discovered, they are quickly acquired at a high price, which also causes the price of star stones to remain high.
Shi Jiu checked the Helian Family's material exchange point and found that a palm-sized star stone would cost a full 1000 contribution points.
It was among the mid-to-high ranking exchange Materials. Even the Formula of Guiding the Stars for layers 8-10, which Shi Jiu eagerly desired, only required 500 contribution points.
However, it's not that the Formula of Guiding the Stars is too low-end or less valuable than a palm-sized star stone. It's purely because there are virtually no Helian Family Cultivators who can Cultivate the Formula of Guiding the Stars.
The latter part of the Qi Refinement Stage Cultivation Technique for the Formula of Guiding the Stars has only been exchanged a few times since it was listed. It's estimated that even if it's listed for another ten or eight years, hardly anyone will exchange for it.
And a palm-sized star stone can at least allow a Cultivator skilled in Magical Artifact refinement to forge several small Flying Swords or Flying Sword-type Magical Artifacts, which have immediate practical utility.
Moreover, even if the stored Star Power is fully released, it can slowly accumulate again after being warmed and left for a period.
When Shi Jiu first saw the exchange items at the exchange point, he could only take out his token, look at the meager 300 contribution points on it, and silently sighed.
He wiped away his envious drool, then angrily went to the dining hall and devoured three bowls of rice to calm his mood.
Even though Shi Jiu only had 300 contribution points, it was already the highest among Disciples of the same period.
Besides the twenty contribution points they received monthly, Shi Jiu and his peers could only exchange their cultivated Spiritual Plants from their contracted Spiritual Fields for contribution points by harvesting and submitting them to the Helian Family.
Furthermore, many Disciples would periodically exchange for some Medicinal Pills to consume in order to increase their cultivation speed.
However, the price of Medicinal Pills was often not cheap. When all was calculated, how many contribution points could these low-level Disciples possibly have left? Having 80 or 90 points was considered good.
Only when their cultivation was higher, at least at the fifth layer of Qi Refinement Stage, could they go to the Task Hall to accept tasks with slightly more contribution points, and their wallets would become a bit more comfortable.
This was actually a supervisory method adopted by the Helian Family to urge their Disciples to Cultivate diligently.
Shi Jiu also didn't need to consume any Medicinal Pills that promoted Spiritual Qi absorption or magical power refinement at the moment.
Moreover, he took excellent care of his Spiritual Field, and he also gained a small side income related to Spirit Medicine harvesting due to the gray Vortex within his body.
After a series of intense operations, the output from his Spiritual Field was quite considerable, which allowed him to accumulate these 300 contribution points in a year.