Translator: CinderTL
As the armored man's voice echoed through the air, a low hum resonated from the Purification Pool.
Buzz!
Passageways opened along the pool's edge, inviting the crowd forward.
"Ancheng Third High School, all students, enter the Purification Pool!" Cao Feng shouted, his voice carrying across the assembly.
Hearing his command, the students began moving toward the open passages.
Zeng Xueqing, a member of Class One, was naturally among them. She glanced in Jiang Ye's direction, her eyes flickering with complex emotions.
After this tempering, I'll surpass you, she thought silently. I hope you don't fall out of the top hundred in the grade.
This was Zeng Xueqing's first cosmic tempering.
It was undeniable that nascent aptitudes would experience a significant boost in power after undergoing this process. Once they refined the cosmic energy, they would no longer be ordinary humans, having truly embarked on the path of cosmic martial arts.
In contrast, primitive aptitudes were considered low-grade precisely because they struggled to absorb stellar energy. Cosmic tempering had minimal effect on such aptitudes.
Moreover, Jiang Ye had chosen the Advancement Method—the most challenging cultivation technique—for his refinement method after achieving Perfection in his cultivation method.
"What was he thinking?" Zeng Xueqing wondered aloud, genuinely puzzled. "With his Primitive aptitude's already poor absorption efficiency, choosing the Advancement Method is pointless. He won't be able to absorb any stellar energy at all, will he?"
While the Advancement Method could accommodate the most stellar energy, even if Jiang Ye could absorb that much, he still needed to refine it.
If he couldn't refine it, it would be a complete waste.
Unrefined stellar energy would continuously dissipate. Only fully refined stellar energy, truly absorbed by the body, would become one's own and remain permanently.
But with a Primitive aptitude's abysmal absorption efficiency, ninety percent of the stellar energy would be wasted.
"He's gambling," Zeng Xueqing concluded, already imagining various scenarios. She closed her eyes and sighed inwardly, "For someone from a poor family to reach this point, Jiang Ye has already achieved something remarkable."
Too bad...
A Primitive aptitude was ultimately a low-grade aptitude. Defying fate? Such a thing never existed.
By now, all five hundred students had entered the Purification Pool.
Circles were drawn on the ground, each representing a tempering position.
Jiang Ye found a spot and sat down, waiting for the tempering to begin.
Whoosh!
The man in silver-black armor reappeared above the Purification Pool.
"Cosmic tempering has no time limit," the armored man declared in a deep voice. "Endure as long as you can. Know your limits."
"The energy source for this cosmic tempering comes from Mercury."
As he spoke, he tossed several crystal-like Energy Orbs into the Energy Base.
Hum~!
The energy conduction patterns around the Purification Pool rapidly lit up.
"Star Practitioner," Wang Zi'ang murmured, his gaze burning with fervent admiration as he watched the armored man.
"Star Practitioner?" Jiang Ye glanced at him, puzzled.
Wang Zi'ang sighed wistfully. "Star Profession... it's one of the most lucrative careers out there. My future goal."
"Most lucrative?" Jiang Ye was surprised. He'd never heard of it.
"It's normal you wouldn't know," Wang Zi'ang said, shaking his head. "Some things are kept hidden from commoners."
"Do you know why the class monitor is so wealthy? It's not because her father is a business tycoon, but because her mother is a Star Practitioner," Wang Zi'ang whispered.
"Star Practitioners can travel between planets, transporting cosmic energy," he continued.
"The countless cosmic martial artists on Blue Star require an unimaginable amount of cosmic energy daily."
"Where does all that cosmic energy come from? From the Star Practitioners."
"The profits involved are beyond comprehension," Wang Zi'ang said, his eyes gleaming with avarice.
Jiang Ye held his breath, hearing all this for the first time.
This was understandable, considering he had only just encountered cosmic energy himself.
He naturally knew nothing about these matters.
Wang Zi'ang continued, "Stellar energy is incredibly expensive. Even this diluted version, refined hundreds of times, costs tens of thousands of yuan per cosmic tempering session."
"Star Practitioners explore the cosmos, discovering raw, primordial energy. Just skimming a little off the top can net them tens of millions."
"Tens of millions?" Jiang Ye gasped.
An ordinary person couldn't earn that much in a lifetime.
Even wealthy individuals earning a hundred thousand yuan a month, or a million yuan a year, would need a decade to accumulate ten million.
Tens of millions? I wouldn't even dare to dream of such a sum.
Yet for Star Practitioners, it was merely a matter of lifting a finger.
"The gap between the rich and the poor is truly unimaginable," Jiang Ye murmured, his voice tinged with awe.
Buzz!
At that moment, starlight began to shimmer across the glass dome overhead.
Simultaneously, fine cracks spiderwebbed across the floor.
Stellar Radiance surged upward like a dense mist, intertwining with the starlight from above.
For a fleeting moment, it felt as though they were truly immersed in the cosmic sea.
"Cosmic tempering is merely a simulation of the true Cosmic," the man in silver-black armor announced. "In the future, if any of you become Star Practitioners, you can journey to the cosmos and undergo refinement beneath the radiant stars themselves."
"We welcome you to apply for the Star Profession through the Federal Unified Examination Bureau."
Jiang Ye's heart stirred slightly.
He hadn't expected the Star Practitioner to recruit applicants on the spot.
This Star Profession seems to offer immense benefits, but it likely conceals tremendous dangers as well, Jiang Ye mused inwardly.
Take the Shadow Calamity, for example.
As far as he knew, the Shadow Calamity wasn't confined to Blue Star.
It had manifested in space stations across the solar system, on various planets.
Blue Star boasted numerous martial dao experts capable of swiftly containing the Shadow Calamity. However, the situation on other planets remained uncertain.
As Jiang Ye pondered this, the cosmic tempering officially began.
The five hundred students present gradually closed their eyes and activated their respective refinement methods, absorbing the Stellar Radiance.
"This cosmic energy..." Jiang Ye murmured, observing the shimmering Stellar Radiance around him.
Though beautiful and romantic in appearance, this energy was exceedingly dangerous. The pained expressions on some of the surrounding students made that clear.
"Let's begin."
Jiang Ye sat cross-legged, his heart filled with anticipation. Hadn't he endured a month of grueling training precisely for this moment?
He closed his eyes and activated the Star Martial Advancement Method.
Instantly—
Whoosh!
Every pore on Jiang Ye's body opened like miniature whirlpools, drawing in the surrounding silver Stellar Radiance. The radiant energy flowed through his pores and into his body.
The next moment—
Jiang Ye's pores felt as if they had been sliced open with tiny knives, sending waves of excruciating pain through his body.
"Is that all?"
To Jiang Ye, this pain was utterly insignificant. He didn't even flinch.
"Increase the power!"
Jiang Ye took a deep breath, performing an epic-level lungful.
Breathing, too, could absorb stellar energy.
Simultaneously, he pushed his body to its limits, every pore on his skin opening wide to draw in the surrounding silver Stellar Radiance, absorbing it all into his body.
Whoosh!
A silver glow erupted from Jiang Ye's skin.
(End of the Chapter)
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