After Chen Yaoguang finished speaking, the seven children answered in unison, their expressions solemn.
"You may leave."
Chen Yaoguang waved his hand, then vanished into thin air along with the elders.
Time to get out of here.
Chen Qingyu took the lead, walking toward the golden hall's doors.
The other children followed silently behind him, seemingly accepting his position by default.
"Dad."
With a composed expression and unhurried steps, Chen Qingyu left the golden hall and came to Chen Zhengxing's side.
Chen Zhengxing looked him over and said:
"Nine-star talent. Better than your old man back in the day. Very good."
Chen Qingyu chuckled and said modestly:
"Nothing special, nothing special. Just third best in the world."
A faint smile appeared on Chen Zhengxing's face at that.
"You little rascal. Let's go."
He took Chen Qingyu's hand, turned, and swept his sleeve:
In an instant, vast starlight surged forth, forming a shimmering river of stars that tore through the nine layers of astral winds suffused with golden light, revealing the bustling city below.
Chen Zhengxing leaped up and became a streak of starlight, taking Chen Qingyu with him as he flew down ahead of the others, leaving the floating celestial palace.
Clang!
After a clear, sonorous toll, the ancient bronze bell directly above the celestial palace, enormous as the moon, slowly faded away, and the sea of stars filling the sky receded with it.
Across hundreds of millions of miles, the nine-colored clouds gradually faded as well, until they vanished entirely.
An hour later.
The results of this year's direct-line bloodline assessment had already spread throughout the divine capital of Changluo, immediately sparking another wave of heated discussion.
After all, the annual talent assessment was Changluo's liveliest occasion, attracting countless people's attention.
And in this year's assessment:
Without question, Chen Qingyu, whose nine-star talent was unmatched in the world, became the center of the greatest sensation and the hottest topic.
The earth-shaking phenomenon of nine stars spanning the sky and the clan-guarding divine weapon resonating finally had a confirmed owner.
People also dug up the deeds of the nine-star talents in the Chen Clan's history, relishing them and discussing them endlessly.
As for the others, they naturally became unremarkable backdrops, with few people discussing them.
Only Chen Qingyuan, with his Pure Yang Sacred Physique and seven-star talent, occasionally received a passing mention, but even he had been reduced to a foil for Chen Qingyu.
And that was not all:
Nine-star talent represented the strongest cultivation talent among one's peers.
The Chen Clan of Changluo had produced a young sage with nine-star talent. This news would certainly sweep across the entire Desolate Continent in a short time, drawing the attention of the great sacred lands and sage clans.
Meanwhile-
After collecting the foundational cultivation method of the Illustrated Record of the Celestial Stars and Constellations from the Inheritance Hall, Chen Qingyu and his father, Chen Zhengxing, returned to their residence.
Both father and son were of the direct bloodline. They lived in the central district of the divine capital of Changluo, in their own courtyard residence covering ten mu, with many servants attending them.
Inside the courtyard:
Chen Zhengxing sat on a stone stool, looking at Chen Qingyu, who sat upright opposite him, and spoke slowly:
"Since the age of three, you've received a complete introductory education in cultivation at the clan's elementary school."
"You're already very familiar with the common sense, knowledge, taboos, and some general tricks and secret arts of cultivation."
"All the secret cultivation texts of our Chen Clan of Changluo are rooted in the power of the celestial stars. Their introductory Foundation Establishment methods are much alike. I believe they won't pose any difficulty for you."
He paused, then continued:
"Go into the meditation chamber, settle your mind, and prepare to begin cultivating."
"I'll stay here and stand guard for you."
"Understood, Dad."
Chen Qingyu rose, first bowed respectfully to Chen Zhengxing, then headed for the cultivation chamber.
A moment later, with a dull rumble, the heavy jade partition descended. Spiritual light surged, and a formation activated, sealing off the cultivation chamber.
Chen Qingyu looked around:
The cultivation chamber was not large. It was built entirely from ten-thousand-year-old green jade, with holes for ventilation.
At its center lay a meditation cushion woven from mind-clearing spirit grass. Sensing his arrival, the incense burner in the corner had automatically lit its calming ambergris sandalwood incense.
Chen Qingyu sat cross-legged on the cushion, took a deep breath, and closed his eyes.
Just as his father, Chen Zhengxing, had said:
He had received three years of preschool education and was already quite familiar with the ways of cultivation in this world. Although he had never formally cultivated, his understanding of its various principles and techniques far surpassed that of ordinary cultivators outside.
Such was the depth of an ancient clan's foundations.
As the saying went, true teachings took a single sentence; false teachings filled ten thousand books.
Mysteries of cultivation that ordinary cultivators outside could spend a lifetime pondering without understanding were known even to three-year-old children within the Chen Clan.
The sun and moon travel together; the stars array themselves in constellations. Gather stellar power and forge the Star Gate...
Chen Qingyu's breathing grew long and steady, and his mind gradually settled.
The profound meanings of the Illustrated Record of the Celestial Stars and Constellations flowed through his mind as lines of mysterious characters.
Within the Chen Clan, all profound cultivation methods and secret texts shared the same introductory method-
Gather the power of the stars, refine the Star-Forging Gate, draw down starlight to temper the body, and open the heavenly martial meridians, thereby generating Star True Qi.
This was the beginning of cultivation: the Meridian Opening Realm, the first of the Four Physical Body Realms!
Once meridian opening reached perfection and True Qi brimmed over, one awakened the earthly apertures. This was called the Aperture Opening Realm.
After the Aperture Opening Realm, heaven and earth united, apertures and meridians connected, and a blood sea formed. This was called the Blood Sea Realm.
Beyond that, one forged a golden bridge spanning the blood sea. This was called the Golden Bridge Realm, also known as the realm of martial grandmasters.
Meridian Opening, Aperture Opening, Blood Sea, and Golden Bridge: these four realms were collectively known as the [Four Physical Body Realms], and their cultivators were called martial artists.
A moment later:
Hum!
Chen Qingyu's consciousness shuddered. He clearly sensed the omnipresent, immense power surrounding his body, vast beyond belief.
Everything in heaven and earth lay within the embrace of this immense power.
This is the power of the celestial stars!
Understanding immediately dawned in his mind.
Many cultivation methods separated the sun and moon from the stars, treating them as different powers.
But in the Chen Clan's profound cultivation methods and secret texts, the sun and moon were both among the stars and constellations, operating within the same system and belonging to the power of the stars.
Then let's begin.
With that thought, Chen Qingyu settled his mind and began cultivating.
As expected, with his solid theoretical foundation, his first cultivation session went very smoothly. In just a short time, he had already condensed the Star-Forging Gate anew.
Hum, hum, hum...
Vast stellar power swirled around Chen Qingyu, pouring endlessly into his body through the Star-Forging Gate.
It even caused the light around his body to begin distorting slightly.
Guided by his will, boundless stellar power circulated according to the method, gradually tempering his body while opening his first martial meridian.
But before long, Chen Qingyu stopped cultivating, opened his eyes, and shook his head.
Looking inward at his body, he saw a short stretch of light within its pitch-black depths, as tiny as an earthworm.
This was the martial meridian he had yet to finish opening.
The Meridian Opening Realm had nine heavens in total. Opening the first martial meridian counted as successfully entering the first heaven.
Different cultivation methods allowed different numbers of martial meridians to be opened in each heaven.
The Illustrated Record of the Celestial Stars and Constellations allowed nine martial meridians to be opened at each stage. Upon perfecting the ninth heaven, one would have eighty-one martial meridians, enough to look down upon all rivals and stand above hundreds of millions of Meridian Opening cultivators.
But at this rate, I'll need to cultivate for ten whole days just to open a single martial meridian.
Eighty-one martial meridians, each harder to open than the last. In a mere three years, I'd probably only barely advance to the Aperture Opening Realm.
Too slow!
Chen Qingyu was somewhat dissatisfied.
Sure enough, my actual cultivation talent is probably only four stars. Pretty trash.
Then I'll just have to use cheats.
He pursed his lips, settled his mind once more, and activated the divine ability [Qi Absorption in Nine Breaths].
Chen Qingyu drew a deep breath.
In an instant, the surrounding primordial Qi of heaven and earth almost became a torrent, drawn by a mysterious force and pouring into his body out of thin air.
This primordial Qi, drawn in through the power of Qi Absorption in Nine Breaths, was pure beyond belief.
Whoosh...
Maintaining his breathing rhythm, Chen Qingyu exhaled.
Almost simultaneously, his blood and Qi trembled slightly. Between inhalation and exhalation, the vast quantity of pure primordial Qi was automatically refined, becoming his own strength.
He could clearly sense that his strength had increased by a substantial margin.
This feeling...
A trace of astonishment appeared in his eyes. He steadied his mind, maintained his breathing rhythm, and completed a cycle of nine breaths.
Then he looked inward at his body and was immediately dumbfounded:
This...
Within his body, that tiny stretch of light in the dark depths had grown more than tenfold, and it was still growing continuously with his breathing!
He made a rough estimate, and his heart immediately began pounding:
Completing one cycle of nine breaths is directly equivalent to almost twelve hours of cultivating as hard as I can?
This is fucking heaven-defying!
Coming back to himself, his little face flushed with excitement, and he rapidly began calculating.
One breath took roughly three to four seconds.
In one minute, he could complete roughly two nine-breath cycles.
In other words, one minute of breathing was equivalent to a full twenty-four hours of all-out cultivation by someone with the same talent!
A day had twenty-four hours, or one thousand four hundred and forty minutes.
That meant he could do nothing at all, and as long as he kept breathing, one day would equal four whole years of someone else cultivating without food, drink, sleep, or rest-
The [Qi Absorption in Nine Breaths] technique was far more broken than he had imagined!
Holy shit...
At that moment, Chen Yu had only one thought:
I'm fucking taking off!!