Star-Drawing Technique

"Mission started?"

Xia Ping looked confused. The mission had started, sure, but what exactly was this trial?

Before Xia Ping could ask, the mechanical voice spoke again. "The pictures and text carved into the walls describe one of the Star Sect's basic arts, the Star-Drawing Technique!"

"Once mastered, you can draw upon the power of the stars throughout the heavens. If you reach a high level of mastery, a single breath can set myriad stars dancing and condense them into a Myriad Star Body, making you a Child of the Stars."

"If you learn this technique within a year, you can leave this base. But if you fail to learn it, you will fail the trial—and die."

"Of course, during that year of study, the base will provide you with food and water to meet your basic needs."

Xia Ping looked at the wall and examined it closely again. It was covered with countless diagrams of the human body—more than a thousand in all. Each illustration was accompanied by a great deal of ancient text, written in a language he didn't recognize.

The basic art was so complicated that anyone who saw all that information would feel as though their head were about to burst. It was like asking an elementary school student to solve calculus.

"Why does it take a whole year? Can't I learn it in a day?" Xia Ping blinked, puzzled by the time limit.

The voice fell silent for a moment, at a loss for words. This native really had an overactive imagination. He thought he could learn the Star-Drawing Technique in a day? Why not just fly to the heavens? Did he think it was some ordinary, run-of-the-mill technique?

Still, it explained, "The Star-Drawing Technique is an extremely complex art. Even a genius might need