Eastsea Blacksmith's Association.
Mu Chen looked at Jiang Xia.
"Are you really not signing up for the competition?"
Jiang Xia shook his head.
"There's no need."
Mu Chen nodded regretfully.
With accomplishments like these, not showing his brilliance in the competition would truly be a waste.
But Jiang Xia's ambitions lay elsewhere, and he could not force him.
After all, Jiang Xia's teacher was not him, but Zhen Hua.
With nothing else to attend to at Mu Chen's end, Jiang Xia left early.
Spirit Pagoda.
Xu Xiaoyan and Gu Yue were already waiting for him at the entrance.
"Brother Jiang!"
Xu Xiaoyan called out sweetly.
She was the sweet, adorable type to begin with.
Now that she deliberately pitched her voice a little higher, she seemed even more adorable.
Beside her, Gu Yue pursed her lips.
After experiencing Jiang Xia's amplification, Xu Xiaoyan had been completely won over.
Especially after Jiang Xia used Broken Dream to simulate a nighttime environment, helping Xu Xiaoyan extend the hours during which she could use her Starwheel Ice Staff, she had come to admire him quite a bit.
Or rather, depend on him.
There was no helping it. Her Martial Soul's greatest characteristic was its absolute effectiveness in its starwheel state.
And that state's greatest weakness was that it required nighttime.
Jiang Xia had helped her make up for that weakness.
How could Xu Xiaoyan not see him in a different light?
Jiang Xia nodded at Xu Xiaoyan.
His smile was warm.
Who could dislike a sweet girl?
Most importantly, he did not have to do much to maintain his relationship with Xu Xiaoyan.
He only needed to set aside an hour or two each week to cultivate with her and study the Starwheel Ice Staff.
During that time, Jiang Xia was also experiencing the Starwheel Ice Staff's absolute effectiveness for himself.
He had not replicated it completely, but he had achieved some results. At least it had gone much more smoothly than his research into the Golden Dragon King bloodline.
It was worth mentioning that his research into the Golden Dragon King bloodline remained stalled at superficial imitation. The golden Blood Essence Power he simulated did not possess the Golden Dragon King bloodline's amplification effect.
However, Jiang Xia had once tried something on the spot inside the Spirit Ascension Platform. Rather than simulating the Golden Dragon King's Blood Essence Power out of nothing, he had gathered and mobilized the Blood Essence Power Tang Wulin released during battle.
He had felt the amplification then.
But that was as far as it went.
There had been no further progress afterward.
One factor was the matter of Tang Wulin's cooperation.
Jiang Xia could hardly demand his complete cooperation.
After all, Tang Wulin might not think much of it, but Old Tang inside him would definitely be on guard.
One careless move could even leave Jiang Xia with some hidden means planted in him by Old Tang.
The other factor, and the most crucial issue, was that his technique simply was not up to the task.
Some things remained beyond your understanding no matter how you studied them.
How much you invested in them had little to do with it.
Projects that could truly produce results often showed a faint glimmer of hope in their early stages.
The sort of project that inspired despair from the outset, even if it yielded results, would only do so after a long accumulation finally bore fruit.
Could Jiang Xia withstand the early disadvantages of that long accumulation?
Clearly not.
He would be better off simulating other powerful bloodlines.
Mu Ye's Blood Essence Power, for instance, had so far been very effective in helping Jiang Xia cultivate his own body.
When the day came that he could turn the illusory into the real, perhaps he could fully mobilize his own blood essence and condense genuine Blood Essence Power.
His cultivation would only become smoother then.
Aside from Mu Ye, if Jiang Xia encountered a powerful true dragon bloodline in the future, such as Long Yue's Mountain Dragon King bloodline, he could try simulating it.
These bloodline powers could be simulated.
Jiang Xia had tried the Bone Dragon King, and even the Dark Demon Eagle.
The mechanisms by which their Martial Souls acted upon their bodies could all be replicated within Broken Dream.
Only the Golden Dragon King's blood essence amplification of the body remained beyond Jiang Xia's capabilities for now.
"Brother Jiang, what are we doing today?"
Xu Xiaoyan's tone was curious.
Today was not her scheduled time to cultivate the Starwheel Ice Staff with Jiang Xia, yet he had called her over early anyway.
Naturally, Xu Xiaoyan was looking forward to it.
Her eyes were full of curiosity.
"Come into the Spirit Ascension Platform with me. I want to study your Starwheel Ice Staff."
Just extra practice with the Starwheel Ice Staff?
Hearing this, Xu Xiaoyan felt a little disappointed.
She glanced at Gu Yue beside her. It did indeed seem to be serious business.
Jiang Xia led the two girls into his room.
There were three Spirit Ascension Chambers in his room.
One was for his regular use, one was a spare, and the last was one he had temporarily asked someone to add today.
Xu Xiaoyan looked at the arrangements in Jiang Xia's private room at the Spirit Pagoda, her eyes full of envy.
Even for an official member of the Spirit Pagoda, having a Spirit Ascension Chamber in their own room that allowed them to enter the Spirit Ascension Platform at any time was no easy matter.
At the very least, Xu Xiaoyan had to apply.
Although, with her talent, an application once a week would definitely be approved.
Still, it was nowhere near as convenient as Jiang Xia's arrangement.
Jiang Xia pointed to two of the Spirit Ascension Chambers and had the two girls lie down inside.
She herself lay down in her own exclusive Spirit Ascension Chamber.
Space flipped over.
A corner of the Spirit Ascension Platform.
"This is an area opened up especially for me. There are no soul beasts, and no one will come to disturb us."
"Gu Yue, sorry for the trouble."
Jiang Xia looked at Gu Yue.
Gu Yue maintained a cool, aloof demeanor and nodded slightly.
"Don't put so much pressure on me this time..."
Jiang Xia smiled and nodded.
He had to give his assurance, but putting less pressure on her was certainly out of the question.
This time, he wanted to study the Starwheel Ice Staff's absolute effectiveness, so naturally, the more mental capacity he had to spare, the better.
And where could he spare it?
From Gu Yue, of course.
The more Gu Yue shouldered, the more mental capacity Jiang Xia would have.
As for how he persuaded Gu Yue to cooperate? With the rent for Broken Dream, of course.
As long as he did not go too far, Gu Yue would accommodate him.
Jiang Xia released Broken Dream and connected to the two girls' minds.
Gu Yue worked with Jiang Xia, rapidly constructing the formation model for opening up an illusory space.
As the fourth illusory space opened up, Jiang Xia once again completed a four-layer Dream Overlapping.
With four layers of Dream Overlapping, Jiang Xia simulated a nighttime environment.
Xu Xiaoyan's Martial Soul also transformed into the Starwheel Ice Staff.
"Stars above, shining bright, ever brilliant, ever at peace!"
Xu Xiaoyan recited the incantation. Chains appeared on the Starwheel Ice Staff in her hand and shot toward a large tree ahead to bind it.
Jiang Xia unleashed his perception to its fullest.
With four layers of Dream Overlapping, his Spirit Detection reached the finest details, perfectly capturing even fluctuations in space.
Apart from the domain of time, he felt that he could now observe every change.
The chains produced by the Starwheel Ice Staff, and the stellar aspect attributes they contained, all revealed their true faces behind the mountain mists.
Compared with the original three-layer Dream Overlapping, things were much clearer.
Jiang Xia quickly surveyed the structure of the entire chain.
Then he began trying to simulate it.
He raised his right hand. Strands of chain took shape in his palm, then interwove to form a single chain.
The chain extended, likewise shooting toward a large tree ahead to bind it.
At first, interweaving the chain was quite troublesome. As link after link formed, Jiang Xia quickly grew proficient. By the end, the chain was forming almost as fast as Xu Xiaoyan could unleash her Soul Skill.