Chapter 172: Chapter 110: Ziwei Palace, Lord of the Celestial Stars

This ability to change the world with a single thought was a perfect fit for the Ziwei Emperor Star’s Dao Rhyme.

But what troubled Zhong Ming was whether he should choose the Ziwei Emperor Star or... the Great Sun Origin.

’The Sun is just one of many stars. Both the Seven Stars of the Eastern Azure Dragon and the Three Circles are composed of countless stars.’

’Logically, a Star Constellation, especially the Ziwei Palace, should hold a higher status than the Sun.’

However, there was a saying: a distant magistrate is no match for the official on the scene.

This principle was just as applicable to the stars.

The Sun was extremely close to the world, and its influence was immense. As a result, many people considered it equal in status to the Ziwei Emperor Star, the symbol of the Lord of the Celestial Stars.

At times, the Sun was even considered superior to the Ziwei Emperor Star.

’Should I choose the Celestial Ziwei Emperor Star or the Sun Origin...’

Hesitant, Zhong Ming read through the message from the Supreme Elder one more time.

After skimming it, he actually found a solution.

"The Ziwei Emperor Star is the soul and can serve as the Celestial Star*Life Soul Origin. The Solar Power is tyrannical and can be used to forge the body. The endless stars and the manifest Star River can serve as the origin for the Star River... Be careful, the Solar Power..."

’One for the Divine Soul’s origin, one for the body’s origin. So that’s how it’s solved... A pity I don’t have a Life Soul cultivation method.’

Although the Cultivation Technique was incomplete (the Qi Cultivation method of the All Heaven Stars Sect), and he would have no chance to complete it before reaching the Nascent Soul realm, it had ultimately shown Zhong Ming the path forward.

Thus, Zhong Ming quickly made his decision.

’I’ll use Solar Power to forge the Star Soul Artifact!’

Having made his decision, Zhong Ming immediately altered his cultivation method.

The next moment, he projected his Candlelight Heart Eye into his Dream World, hanging the pupil in the dream’s sky and transforming it into a furiously burning Great Sun.

Then, Zhong Ming’s projection also appeared. With a low hum, the Great Sun fixed its gaze on ’Zhong Ming’, and the raging Solar Flame began to scorch his physical body.

SIZZLE...

In just three breaths, the smell of burnt flesh wafted over. Zhong Ming’s brow furrowed tightly. This brief moment made him understand why the Supreme Elder had specifically warned him to be careful with Solar Power.

Because of its proximity, Solar Power was easy to obtain.

But this didn’t mean that using the Sun as the origin made cultivating Star Heaven·Divine Monarch any easier.

’If the difficulty of the Ziwei Palace lies in its lofty realm being hard to comprehend, then the drawback of Solar Power is that it’s too tyrannical and impossible to control.’

Within the Dream World, Zhong Ming ran several simulations.

However, after replacing the gentle Power of the Stars with Solar Power, his body was burned to the point of serious injury the first few times.

Using the Sun’s True Flame for Body Forging could temper the flesh into fine steel, but it could just as easily reduce it to charcoal.

Fortunately, the Dream World gave Zhong Ming countless opportunities for trial and error.

If one attempt failed, he’d try a second. If the second failed, a third. If the third failed, he’d try ten times, a hundred times...

After three hundred attempts, Zhong Ming had learned what intensity of Flame to use to burn his body, allowing him to temper his flesh to the greatest extent without causing injury.

At this point, his progress in the Star Heaven·Divine Monarch Cultivation Technique had reached First Realm Initiation (10,803/13,600) points.

—When Star Heaven·Divine Monarch’s quality advanced to the Celestial Level, its experience cap had also increased.

Its difficulty had even risen slightly.

As a result, even after cultivating for several more hours (in dream time), Zhong Ming still hadn’t maxed out its progress.

He could have continued grinding if he wanted to, but he hadn’t forgotten about the wager. This forced Zhong Ming to awaken from the Illusory Dream World.

He let out a long breath.

Although it was a deep sleep, and merely maintaining the Dream World wouldn’t have consumed much of Zhong Ming’s Heart Power...

...he had not only accelerated time in his dream but had also continuously projected his body to perform the ’burning’ experiments over and over. This left the awakened Zhong Ming feeling mentally and spiritually exhausted.

This scene was witnessed by Ji Qingyue, Ji Qinglian, and the others, who had noticed his stirring and looked over.

"Zhong Ming, are you alright?"

Seeing Zhong Ming’s pale face, Ji Qingyue’s hand clenched, her expression filled with worry.

While she looked distraught, the attitudes of Ji Qinglian and her entourage were the complete opposite.

They all breathed a sigh of relief. The leader of the group, Ji Qinglian, even stepped forward with a beaming smile. She tilted her head up slightly at Zhong Ming and said, "You arrogant fool, you’re about to fail. For the next three days, you will be my servant."

"Heehee, have you figured out how you’re going to serve me and please me yet...?"

Before she could finish, Ji Qinglian’s voice suddenly caught in her throat.

Staring directly at Zhong Ming, she had expected to see an expression of regret, vexation, or fear on his face.

But none of them appeared.

Upon hearing her words, not only did Zhong Ming show no concern, but the look he gave her was as if he were ’looking at a half-asleep idiot’. His face was filled with incredulity and bewilderment.

’Why does he have that kind of expression?’

Just as she was feeling confused, Zhong Ming’s voice rang out.

But his words nearly choked them all.

"Princess Qinglian, from the very beginning, I never understood. Why would you make such a bet with me? And you actually thought I would lose?"

"Comprehending a Cultivation Technique is difficult?"

"What part of that is difficult at all!"

"..."

After he said this, not only Ji Qinglian, but even Ji Qingyue felt that Zhong Ming was being far too arrogant.