After absorbing this human Star Pearl, Jiang Xiao had truly made a fortune.
As Silver Quality Star Skills, Bell Chime and Bearing Seal required either 10 Star Pearls of the same category or 100 Skill Points to improve their quality.
Jiang Xiao pondered for quite a while before finally understanding how it worked.
The White Ghost Star Pearls and White Ghost Witch Star Pearls Jiang Xiao had absorbed were both Bronze Quality Star Pearls because their Star Skill qualities were Bronze Quality, so he needed 10 Bronze Quality Star Pearls of the same category.
However, once Green Glow and Endurance were upgraded to Silver Quality, they would require either 100 Bronze Star Pearls or 100 Skill Points.
Bell Chime and Bearing Seal, on the other hand, were Silver Quality Star Skills. They skipped Bronze Quality entirely, so they required 10 Silver Quality Star Pearls of the same category.
But if he used Skill Points instead of Star Pearls to upgrade them, the requirement would still be 100 Skill Points.
In other words: 10 Skill Points = 10 Bronze Star Pearls = 1 Silver Star Pearl.
After conducting experiment after experiment, Jiang Xiao discovered that Blessing and Bell Chime were vastly different.
The White Ghost Witch's Blessing slowly restored a target's vitality.
This vitality covered nearly everything. It could heal the human body, such as nausea, vomiting, and general discomfort. It could also restore a target's stamina and had a certain ability to heal wounds.
It was practically a divine skill in the early stages.
The Lava Ghoul Witch's Bell Chime Star Skill, however, had only one function: healing the physical injuries sustained by the target.
Its effect was also fairly remarkable. On their way back to the city, Jiang Xiao had tested it on a decapitated White Ghost.
Xia Yan had sliced off the White Ghost's head with a single stroke, separating its neck from its head as great streams of blood poured out.
Jiang Xiao directly used Bell Chime on the lone head, and the neatly severed neck slowly began growing flesh.
Although the flesh grew slowly, the process was visible to the naked eye.
In the end, after Jiang Xiao's Star Power had been completely drained from releasing Silver Quality Bell Chime ten times, the lone head stopped bleeding because a layer of flesh membrane had grown over its neck.
It was, well, disgusting.
The trio ultimately decided to head home. They were out of time, and if they did not return soon, they would miss the second half of military training.
Jiang Xiao's task was also arduous. He had to integrate into a First Year of High School class within four or five days and ultimately be selected as the student representing that class in the competition.
Whether the team won first place was not important. What mattered was the tremendous value Jiang Xiao demonstrated.
Of course, winning first place in the team competition would be even better. Whether they were First Year or Second Year students, anyone who won the team championship would earn the right to challenge the "school overlords."
The so-called "school overlords" were not one person but a team.
At Jiangbin No. 1 High School, the school overlord team was the team that Han Jiangxue and Xia Yan belonged to.
If First Year or Second Year students defeated the school overlord team, they would receive generous rewards. The school would provide some high-quality Star Pearls as encouragement.
But this was an unrealistic fantasy. If Jiang Xiao were a reckless hothead, perhaps he would be arrogant enough to eagerly accept the challenge.
However, after working with Xia Yan and Han Jiangxue for so long, Jiang Xiao knew that defeating the two of them would be harder than ascending to heaven.
For starters, Han Jiangxue might be able to declare Jiang Xiao's death with a single exchange.
Shattered Space plus Barren Wind.
Jiang Xiao probably would not even have a chance to make a move.
For First Year and Second Year students, this challenge was not really a battle for rewards and honor. Put plainly, it was a battle meant to teach them that there was always someone stronger and a higher sky beyond the sky.
The school used this method to temper the new students' arrogance and spur them to work harder in their cultivation.
Of course, if you could not even withstand such a setback and were beaten into a slump by the Third Year school overlords, that would be even better.
Recognizing yourself early was a good thing. Awakened whose hearts were that fragile should withdraw as soon as possible. After all, once you left school, the dangers you faced would increase by thousands or even tens of thousands of times.
Xia Yan also explained the Star Power and Star Skill levels of the two remaining teammates in her group. Unsurprisingly, both boys were in the middle stage of the Star Cloud Stage.
Xia Yan focused on explaining the abilities of the one named Gao Junwei.
His Star Map was a blade, similar to a Tang Blade, with 25 Star Slots.
Embedded within it were 2 Bronze, 3 Silver, and 1 Gold Star Skill.
His Bronze Star Skills were Green Glow and Endurance.
Two of his Silver Star Skills also overlapped with Xia Yan's: Scorching Flame and Exploding Flame. They had probably both been acquired in an Other Dimension Space around the volcanic region.
His remaining Silver Star Skill was rather interesting. It had probably been given to him by his family and was called "Charge."
Although this Star Skill sounded like a support skill, it was actually an out-and-out offensive divine skill.
Gao Junwei was highly skilled in unarmed combat, and his Tang Blade techniques were even more formidable.
When he fought, the Charge Star Skill could unleash tremendous effects.
Whether he used his fists and feet or his Tang Blade, Gao Junwei could gather the power of lightning with every move. When he punched or slashed, lightning erupted in all directions. It not only added extremely powerful damage, but also had an exceptionally potent armor-breaking effect. It could even leave the target's entire body numb and unable to move for a short time.
His Gold Star Skill was called Fearful Roar.
This was a rare, genuine divine skill.
Although Gold Quality Star Skills consumed an enormous amount of Star Power and Gao Junwei could not use it many times, even once was enough.
Especially when facing Different Dimension Creatures, a single Fearful Roar would leave a considerable number of low-ranked Different Dimension Creatures terrified, their legs trembling, their will to fight gone, and fleeing in all directions.
It was a perfect Star Skill for saving one's life and turning a battle around.
Gao Junwei's family had spent a great deal of money and called in countless favors to acquire these Star Pearls.
One had to understand that although Star Pearls contained Star Skills, absorbing them successfully was not as simple as wanting to do so.
At this point, Jiang Xiao asked Xia Yan in surprise, "Isn't Gao Junwei in the Star Cloud Stage? How did he obtain a Gold Quality Star Skill? Didn't you tell me that one's Star Power had to reach at least the Star River Stage before one could possibly possess a Gold Quality Star Skill?"
"Supposedly, his family poured money into this Gold Quality Star Skill like water. They nearly went bankrupt throwing money at it." Xia Yan's face wore a mocking smile. "Who knows how many Gold Quality Star Pearls he absorbed?"
Although Gao Junwei was a genius with 25 Star Slots, his Star Power rank placed a limit on him, making it nearly impossible for him to absorb a Gold Quality Star Skill.
But that was exactly what happened. He had succeeded.
Whether or not his family had gone bankrupt, Gao Junwei was truly formidable now.
Gao Junwei was completely different from Han Jiangxue. She had successfully absorbed the Gold Quality Star Skill Shattered Space on her first try. That was not only because she possessed extraordinary talent, but also because she had luck on her side.
Of course, in terms of talent, Han Jiangxue was far superior to Gao Junwei.
Although Han Jiangxue had only five more Star Slots than Gao Junwei, to an Awakened, every additional Star Slot represented a world-shaking difference in aptitude.
Perhaps an Awakened with 16 Star Slots was not much more talented than one with 15 Star Slots.
But an Awakened with 30 Star Slots was vastly stronger than one with 29.
The closer one got to the limit, the harder it was to surpass it.
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