Nine-Rank Body Refining

Sky Snake Star, Xiūshé City, Second High School, Senior Class Three Star Lord Class.

Homeroom teacher Du Chengze stood at the podium, looking at the thirty-four students below. He nodded in satisfaction and said, "Very good. Your Natal Stars have now all condensed First-Order Spiritual Veins, given birth to your own Star Vassals, and advanced into First-Order Stars. Your foundations have been preliminarily laid."

"Your personal files, along with the basic information on your Natal Stars, have all been uploaded to the Star Alliance's official website on the Star Net."

The Star Net was the network the Star Alliance had built upon the Celestial Star Array Diagram platform, referred to simply as the Star Net.

"For the next period of time, some companies will contact you to discuss investments."

"You must choose carefully and cautiously. Read the clauses on rights and obligations in the contracts clearly. Don't see a large investment amount and muddleheadedly sign away; by the end, you might have sold yourselves without even knowing it."

"If there is anything you don't understand, or anything you find difficult to decide, you can come ask me."

"Your teacher has been teaching for many years. I know the ins and outs of this business very well."

The Star Alliance's currency system was divided into two sets. One was the Star Coin system issued by the Star Alliance, while the other was the Spirit Stone system.

Star Coins were used by countless people in the Star Alliance for their daily lives and cultivation. They could be used to purchase consumables such as low-grade spirit plants, Spirit Medicine, Spirit Pills, artifacts, and spiritual materials.

Spirit Stones, meanwhile, could only be produced on stars possessing Spirit Veins. They were generally mined from the Natal Stars of Star Lords. However, mining Spirit Stones damaged a star's Star Spirit Vein, so Star Lords were exceedingly cautious when mining them, and the quantities were limited.

Low-level Star Lords generally would not rashly mine Spirit Stones in order to protect their Natal Stars.

As for the various Main Stars of the Star Alliance, although they too possessed Spirit Veins, the Star Alliance prohibited Spirit Stone mining on every Main Star, lest it affect the Main Stars' Spirit Veins and weaken humanity's foundations upon them.

Thus, Star Coins were easy to obtain in the Star Alliance, while Spirit Stones were hard to find.

Resources such as Demon Cores, Spirit Roots, and Spirit Seeds, which Star Lords needed to cultivate their Natal Stars, often could only be bought with Spirit Stones. Star Coins had a price but no market.

For many Star Lords of ordinary origins, gathering a basic set of Spirit Root and Spirit Seed resources in the early stages to complete the foundational cultivation of their Natal Stars was extremely difficult.

Liang Ji was one such example. With the combined efforts of his entire family and friends, they had only managed to provide him with the Five-Colored Spirit Grain Spirit Root, the Essence of Breathing Soil Spirit Seed, and the Tianyi Jellyfish Spirit Seed—three resources in total.

Yet to complete the foundational cultivation of his Natal Star, Dragon Soul Star, he needed at minimum the basic five-element Spirit Seeds. In other words, he was still lacking Metal-element and Fire-element Spirit Seed resources.

Relying solely on himself and his Lineage, purchasing those two Spirit Seed resources would undoubtedly be exceedingly difficult.

Thus, an investment system had long since formed within the Star Alliance.

The basic information of newly advanced Star Lords would be published on the Star Alliance's official website. Some companies in the Star Alliance could contact these new Star Lords and sign investment agreements, investing in them, providing the capital for their beginnings and development, and helping them cultivate their Natal Stars.

To these investment companies, investing in newly advanced Star Lords was a lucrative business. Usually, there was no concern of operating at a loss.

After all, every Star Lord controlled a Natal Star. So long as they put that star to use by cultivating resources such as Spirit Medicine, spirit plants, spirit mines, and spiritual materials, they could easily earn a considerable sum.

Although, due to the special nature of Natal Stars, they could only cultivate spiritual materials of a rank lower than the star itself—meaning that only Second-Order Stars could begin cultivating First-Order spiritual materials—and although the efficacy and quality of such cultivated spiritual materials were far inferior to those cultivated on the Star Alliance's Main Stars.

Still, they could produce them in massive quantities and at tremendous speed!

Take a Star Lord's Second-Order Natal Star as an example. Such an enormous star could cultivate vast quantities of First-Order spiritual materials, and at its fastest, it could achieve a time differential of one day to a hundred years. If managed well, it was equivalent to harvesting a batch of thousand-year spiritual materials every ten days or so!

Even if the efficacy and quality of those thousand-year spiritual materials could not compare to hundred-year spiritual materials from the Main Stars, sheer quantity could make up for it.

The profits involved were easy enough to imagine.

Across the many Main Stars beneath the Star Alliance, countless cultivators followed other orthodoxies such as the Human Immortal Path, Ghost Immortal Path, Immortal Deity Path, and Qi Refiner Path. The various spiritual materials and resources they consumed every year were undoubtedly an astronomical figure.

It was precisely because of the enormous quantities of resources and supplies cultivated and harvested annually by the Natal Stars of the Star Alliance's many Star Lords that such consumption demands could be supported.

Therefore, even First-Order Star Lords like Liang Ji and the others, whose Natal Stars could not yet cultivate useful spiritual materials, would have many companies willing to invest in them and provide early development funds. Once they advanced to Second-Tier Star Lords, those companies would naturally reap returns tenfold or a hundredfold.

Of course, where there was profit, there would be no shortage of risk-takers. Naturally, companies of mixed quality would appear, seeking to harvest the greatest gains from these low-level Star Lords with the smallest investment possible, even to trap them tightly and sell them off.

So, having investment companies come knocking was a good thing, but they still needed to distinguish carefully and sign contracts cautiously.

If there was anything they could not determine, they still needed to ask their teachers for more advice.

That afternoon, Liang Ji and the others' class location changed from the classroom to a cultivation chamber.

Homeroom teacher Du led in a burly man over two meters tall, built as sturdy as a bull, and introduced him to them. "This is your new teacher, Teacher Wang. He is a master of the Human Immortal Path and will be responsible for teaching you cultivation during the Body Refining stage. Everyone, welcome him!"

Clap, clap, clap...

Everyone applauded.

The Path of the Star Lord cultivated the Celestial Immortal Path, whose cultivation path was divided into nine ranks: Nine-Rank Body Refining, Eighth-Rank Qi Refining, Seventh-Rank Soul Refining, Sixth-Rank Golden Core, Fifth-Rank Nascent Soul, Fourth-Rank Spirit Transformation, Third-Rank Void Refining, Second-Rank Dao Integration, and First-Rank Celestial!

Thus, the first step of cultivation for Liang Ji and the others was Body Refining.

Among the Star Alliance's flourishing and diverse cultivation orthodoxies, the Human Immortal Path possessed the most thorough research into Body Refining cultivation, having developed it to its pinnacle.

Therefore, the school had directly found a Body Refining master of the Human Immortal Path to teach them cultivation during the Nine-Rank Body Refining stage.

"Hello, students." Teacher Wang stepped forward, a simple and honest smile on his face as he greeted everyone. "My name is Wang Hu. I'm very happy to meet you all."

"You are all Star Lords with bright futures. Perhaps in the future, I will even need to rely on your care!"

"I hope we can get along happily over the coming half year or so."

After the greetings, Teacher Wang went straight into Body Refining cultivation.

"Body Refining cultivation is divided into four levels: Skin-and-Flesh Refining, Bone-and-Tendon Refining, Viscera Refining, and finally, Marrow Cleansing and Blood Replacement."

"In the Human Immortal Orthodox, every stage has a corresponding method of training."

"For Skin-and-Flesh Refining, there is the Ox Demon Great Strength Fist. For Bone-and-Tendon Refining, there is the Tiger Demon Bone Refining Fist. For Viscera Refining, there is the Tiger Leopard Thunder Sound Method. Finally, for Marrow Cleansing and Blood Replacement, there is the Spirit Snake Nine Molts."

"In Human Immortal Path cultivation, every one of these training methods requires swallowing medicinal pills internally, soaking in medicinal baths externally, and spending vast amounts of time, energy, and resources. Only after enduring repeated tempering can one achieve anything."

"But you don't need that!"

As Teacher Wang said this, he looked at Liang Ji and the others, unable to keep a trace of envy from appearing on his face.

"You are Star Lords. The Star Power transmitted from your Natal Stars is the finest medicine and resource. Not only can it support your Body Refining cultivation, but it is also fast and effective."

"For cultivators of the Human Immortal Path, completing one level of Body Refining cultivation takes at least several years of bitter effort!"

"But you only need a few months."

"And the effects of your Body Refining will surpass those of Human Immortal cultivators."

"Especially at the final stage, Marrow Cleansing and Blood Replacement. Human Immortal cultivators can only replace their blood nine times before reaching their limit, while you can replace it ten times!"

Teacher Wang sighed with feeling, while Liang Ji and the others below could not help but show a measure of pride.

From the very beginning, every stage of a Star Lord's cultivation path surpassed those of other cultivation orthodoxies. Such advantages accumulated step by step, and in the end, the difference would surely be as vast as heaven and earth.

"All right. Next, I'll teach everyone the training method for the Ox Demon Great Strength Fist!"

As Teacher Wang spoke, he first demonstrated the Ox Demon Great Strength Fist in its entirety, then broke it down and taught them each move and stance.

Liang Ji and the others followed along and practiced several times, quickly grasping the moves and training method fairly well.

Before class ended, Teacher Wang reminded them again, "This Ox Demon Great Strength Fist has a complete instructional video on the Human Immortal Orthodox's official Star Net website, Human Path. You can watch it for a fee."

"Also, this fist technique is easy to practice in form but difficult to grasp in intent! The Human Path official website also has accompanying video materials on the Void Monster Bull Demon, likewise available for a fee."

"I suggest that you watch these video materials more often."

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