especially Star Picking.
It set his imagination ablaze.
The Star-picking Tower had existed for many years, as had the challenges of the Star-picking Secret Realm.
Moreover, according to Liu Qingzhu, although the Star-picking Secret Realm had existed for thousands of years and numerous Star Pickers had attempted it, there were none who had managed to pick a Bright Star!
At least, none were known in the current historical records.
But it wasn’t just about picking a Bright Star; even those who had picked a Gold Star were all individuals who had risen to prominence.
What made Xu Jin most curious was that the Star-picking Secret Realm allowed both illusory and physical challenges!
That is to say, whatever you possessed, you could bring with you for the challenge.
In theory, as long as you had the means, even a Third Tier cultivator could bring Fourth Tier, Fifth Tier, or even Sixth Tier Star Artifacts for the challenge without it being considered cheating.
Under these circumstances, the scarcity of people who had picked a Gold Star intrigued Xu Jin greatly.
Therefore, after leaving Liu Qingzhu, Xu Jin once again arrived at the Star-picking Square and stepped directly into the Star-picking Tower.
Inside the grand hall on the first floor of the Star-picking Tower, Xu Jin selected the last Star Gate on the right side.
One step through, and instantly, a magnificent scene unfolded before Xu Jin.
Under the Star Dome, a towering building adorned with dazzling stars appeared before him. If one looked closely, this towering building was not only decorated with a variety of bright stars but more so with Gold, Silver, and Copper stars.
However, these tri-colored stars, in terms of brightness, paled considerably in comparison to the Bright Stars, hardly noticeable without closer inspection.
As Xu Jin shifted his gaze, a curtain of starlight descended from the Star Dome, with the words "Star-picking List" shining brilliantly.
Above it, there were only a few lines of text.
[Bright Star: Total picked zero, this year zero]
[Gold Star: Four hundred and ninety-seven picked in total, one this year]
[Silver Star: Total of one hundred and ninety-seven thousand three hundred and seventy-five picked, three hundred and ninety-two this year, Da Chen Star Tower picked forty-three]
[Copper Star: Over ten billion picked]
Just four lines, yet Xu Jin looked on with curiosity.
It was clear that Copper Stars weren’t much of a challenge.
With over ten billion picked, it seemed that most cultivators could attain them, at least those from the Da Chen National Daoist School.
When it came to Silver Stars, the difficulty skyrocketed, with less than four hundred picked in a year.
This wasn’t just the annual number picked by Da Chen; this Star-picking List represented the totals of the Star Towers across the world.
After winning in any Star Tower, the results would be displayed here.
Moreover, it included cultivators of all stages.
No matter if you were in the Star Refining Realm, Star Condensing Realm, or a Fifth Tier, Sixth Tier, or Seventh Tier cultivator, as long as you picked a star, it was counted here.
This meant, out of the tens of millions of cultivators in the world, only three hundred and ninety-two Silver Stars were picked in the Star-picking Challenge within the Secret Realm in a year, with Da Chen contributing forty-three.
After doing a quick average, Xu Jin came to a conclusion: Da Chen was relatively weak.
Currently, there were eight known Star-picking Tower Masters: Lingji Star Hall, Tianyang Star Hall, Cangming Star Hall, Doom-suppressing Star Palace, Da Chen, Dachu, Dahong, and the Barbarian Clan.
Among them, with Lingji Star Hall locked due to its Star Tower being decimated, effectively sealing the tower.
In reality, there were only seven functional main towers for Star Picking.
The median number of Silver Stars picked by these seven powers should be fifty-six, while Da Chen had only forty-three.
This was clearly holding everyone back.
The next instant, Xu Jin stepped into the Star-picking Secret Realm.
As he did, a series of rules materialized before him.
[Other than special victory conditions marked, all other challenges must be won by annihilating the enemy forces]
[Upon succeeding in a Star-picking Challenge, one may continue to the next challenge. If defeated twice, one can only challenge again after three days; if defeated three times, it’s seven days; after three or more defeats, one can re-challenge after thirty days]
[A Copper Star can be exchanged directly for two strands of starlight from the Star-picking Tower, a Silver Star for a hundred strands, and a Gold Star for ten thousand strands]
[Ten Silver Stars may be used for Tao Derivation once]
[One Gold Star may be used for a high-tier Tao Derivation once]
[Bright Star: Revealed only to the one who breaks through]
The few simple rules intrigued Xu Jin deeply.
Even a Copper Star could fetch two strands of starlight, valued at two hundred taels of Silver.
Silver Stars were worth even more, and picking a single Gold Star could instantly make one wealthy.
However, what intrigued Xu Jin the most was the notion of Tao Derivation opportunities.
Did it mean deduction or something else?
The next instant, as the list of rules faded, a Star Gate appeared before Xu Jin.
[Star-picking Challenge: One may challenge the Gatekeeper or confront the Heart Demon]
[Succeeding against a Gatekeeper or Heart Demon of the same cultivation level earns a Copper Star]
[Succeeding against a Gatekeeper or Heart Demon three tiers higher earns a Silver Star]
[Succeeding against a Gatekeeper or Heart Demon an entire Realm higher earns a Gold Star]
[Succeeding against both a Gatekeeper and Heart Demon an entire Realm higher earns a Bright Star]
[All challengers must ascend through the ranks of Star Picking, starting with Copper Stars of their realm before attempting Silver, Gold, and Bright Stars]
[Upon breaking through each minor cultivation tier, one may reattempt the Star Picking]
The challenge details were simple; one glance was enough to understand. But what exactly was a Heart Demon?
After pondering, Xu Jin chose to face the Heart Demon challenge first.
The next instant, as he stepped through the Star Gate, the starlight around him shifted, and he found himself in a boundless space filled with dazzling light. Ahead, a countdown timer flickered while on the opposite side, a shadowy figure loomed faintly.