Star Vein Diagram

So, people really shouldn't Show Off...

Ye Chen truly felt that now.

Staring at the dizzying catalog of medicinal materials before him, Ye Chen, not yet two years old, could only sigh and make another effort to memorize it...

"Rhubarb Polygonaceae Marrow Star Point—chewing it leaves a gritty sensation that sticks to the teeth.

Polygonaceae Fleeceflower Cloud Brocade Pattern—red skin, shallow grooves, wrinkled texture.

Cimicifuga Ranunculaceae Nodule Form—the upper portion has stem cavities and net-like grooves;

the lower portion bears uneven fibrous root scars, light in weight yet firm in texture, slightly bitter and astringent.

..."

Drowsy, muddled, miserable, utterly wretched...

A tiny little child sat in the pavilion, sprawled across a stone table, bobbing his head as he recited the tedious Medicinal Scripture.

In the distance, a woman who looked no older than twenty approached with graceful steps. Behind her, two maidservants carried silver trays laden with exquisite pastries and candied fruits.

"Chen'er, what are you doing?" A sweet voice carrying a hint of playfulness rang out, startling the dozing child so badly that he slammed his head into the tabletop.

"Mother, could you give me some warning before speaking? You scared me half to death..."

Rubbing his reddened forehead, little Ye Chen rolled his eyes.

"Hehehe, let Mother see whether the Ye Family's little genius was scared silly."

The Beautiful Woman directly scooped the little fellow into her arms and kissed her forehead. Seeing the look of utter disgust on her son's face, she immediately laughed so hard that her body shook.

Speechless, Ye Chen wriggled free from his birth mother's embrace in this life, hopped down, took several candied fruits from a maidservant, and tossed them into his mouth. Then he lazily sprawled over the table again, resting his head on his arm as he tilted it and asked, "Why are you here today? Didn't you say a couple days ago that you were going to find a husband for Little Aunt? Aren't you, as her sister-in-law, concerned about that?"

At the mention of this, Song Chun'er's face immediately lit up with gossip. She grabbed her son and eagerly said, "Haha, you have no idea. Let Mother tell you—your little aunt, she..."

Watching his gossip-hungry mother, Ye Chen shook his head and sighed with the air of an old man.

Sure enough, even though she was already a mother, she was still this childish!

"You little brat, what kind of expression is that!"

Song Chun'er caught the look on her son's face and immediately poked at his head in dissatisfaction.

Speaking of her son, Song Chun'er was reminded of a year ago...

Aside from when he had first been born, when he had been like any ordinary infant—knowing only how to eat and sleep, sleep and eat, and wail loudly whenever he was unhappy—

once he turned one and could run and talk, the Kid had immediately displayed monstrous talent.

Not only could he converse fluently with adults, but his mind was as mature and quick as an adult's. Moreover, he had learned to read in just one month, and reading and writing thereafter had posed no difficulty for him at all.

This had delighted the entire Ye Family beyond measure. Everyone said they had given birth to a Qilin Child...

Now, rumors had even spread throughout all of Ye City, claiming that the Ye Family Young Master was the reincarnation of a divine being: on the day of his birth, the sun and moon lost their light, star gods glittered in the sky, and auspicious signs descended from heaven.

In any case, they made up whatever sounded most absurd. Now, whenever the Ye Family's servants and maidservants looked at their young master, their gazes were strange, irritating Ye Chen to no end.

"Sigh... this is all the trouble caused by Showing Off!" Ye Chen had lamented this in his heart more than once.

As someone who had transmigrated and been reborn, Ye Chen had retained his memories from the moment of his birth.

However, in order not to appear too shocking, he had pretended to be an infant for a full year. Every day, he could not even take care of his own eating, drinking, or bodily needs—the misery of it was beyond words...

Finally, once this tiny body could move on its own, Ye Chen, unable to endure any longer, immediately revealed how different he was from other one-year-olds. He had even been unable to resist his wicked sense of humor and deliberately displayed the abilities to read and write at one, and to remember anything at a glance.

He had originally only wanted to enjoy the reputation of being a genius, but he had Showed Off far too hard. His Grandpa—Ye Zhong, the current Ye Family Patriarch—had directly dragged him before an old man called the Ye Family Old Ancestor. Then Grandpa had wept bitterly, babbling about how the Ye Family's rise was finally within reach. In the end, Ye Chen had begun being forced to memorize these long and boring Medicinal Scriptures...

Whenever he thought of this, Ye Chen wanted nothing more than to give himself two hard slaps!

Instead of enjoying a perfectly happy childhood, why the hell had he insisted on Showing Off?!

Just as Ye Chen was wallowing in regret, a sharp pain suddenly struck his head again. He then saw a Pretty Face, caught between annoyance and anger, appear before him.

"Ow! Mother, why did you hit me again? If you beat me stupid, let's see how you explain that to the Old Ancestor!"

This left Song Chun'er both annoyed and amused. She poked his smooth little forehead and said, "You little thing, your whole body came out of my belly. Are you saying that I, your mother, can't even hit you?"

"Fine, fine, you can hit me. You could take a mallet and use your son as a drum right now if you wanted..."

Pfft!

Song Chun'er could not help laughing at her son's utterly lifeless expression. She grabbed his ears and twisted them back and forth like steering handles.

After a round of loving mother-and-son bonding, Song Chun'er left in satisfaction.

Little Ye Chen was left staring despairingly at his Medicinal Scripture before continuing to recite and memorize it...

Night fell.

Looking utterly exhausted in both body and mind, Ye Chen entered his room and came before his bed. He sat cross-legged upon it as a cool ray of starlight shone in through the window, landing precisely on his body.

Ye Chen did not sleep. Instead, he directly entered a strange place within his body.

Here, dim stars filled the space, with only one or two emitting faint starlight...

Star Vein Diagram

This was the name of this place.

It was also the Golden Finger Ye Chen had carried with him after being reborn in the Dou Qi Continent.

Using the Star Vein Diagram, he could absorb Star Power from the outside world and gather star essence; he could then use that star essence to light up Star Souls, enhancing his special abilities in essence, qi, spirit, physique, strength, speed, fire control, Soul Control, recovery, and more.

Beyond that, the Star Vein Diagram had two other functions that greatly satisfied Ye Chen.

Since it was called a diagram, it naturally could not be without an image.

A complete Star Vein Diagram possessed a tangible image manifestation, which would unlock even more powerful functions... such as combat techniques similar to Dou Skills.

Manifesting the Star Vein Diagram was not difficult. The simplest method was to directly kill a magical beast and absorb its Essence Soul Blood, allowing the image of that magical beast to manifest directly.

Depending on the magical beast's strength, attributes, bloodline, and other factors, the manifested image would also greatly affect the strength of the abilities granted by the Star Vein Diagram in the future.

Once the Star Vein Diagram had fully taken shape, different Star Domains would appear. Each Star Domain contained a varying number of Star Palaces, waiting for their Star Souls to be lit.

The different Star Palaces were connected by star tracks. Connecting Star Palaces of the same attribute would grant skills of the corresponding attribute, known as Star Track Skills.

And when all the Star Souls within every Star Palace in a Star Domain had been lit, an even more powerful Star Region Skill could be obtained...

Using these skills only consumed star essence, not dou qi or Soul Power. Therefore, regardless of whether one's strength had reached the required level, as long as there was sufficient star essence, they could be easily unleashed without placing any burden on the user.