After continuous study, Shi Jiu finally understood why the Seven Luminaries Sect's foundational Cultivation Technique was the Formula of Guiding the Stars.
In fact, the "Seven Luminaries" of the Seven Luminaries Sect refer to the seven stars in the heavens: the Sun, the Moon, Taibai Star, Suixing Star, Chenxing Star, Yinghuo, and Tianxing Star. The brilliant Seven Luminaries shine brightly, illuminating the world with the sun, moon, and five planets.
And this Formula of Guiding the Stars was actually only the Qi Refinement Stage portion of the complete Cultivation Technique. The name of the entire Cultivation Technique was not noted on the Formula of Guiding the Stars.
In summary, this was a rare Dual Cultivation Technique that used Star Power as a guide to cultivate magic power internally and the Physical Body externally.
According to the book, the magic power cultivated from Star Power was not only rarely countered by other Cultivation Techniques, but it could also draw upon the Star Power of the Nine Heavens to, in turn, counter other Cultivation Techniques.
For example, when encountering Cultivators of the Demon Race or ghost races, one could draw upon the power of the Sun Star or the Yinghuo Force, imbuing the magic power with the might of true heavenly and earthly flames, directly annihilating the enemy;
When encountering some Righteous Path Cultivators or Buddhist Cultivation Techniques, one could use the power of the Moon to break them;
When encountering defensive Magic Treasures of Cultivators, one could mobilize Taibai Star Power to condense Taibai Sword Aura, destroying all enemies before them; when encountering an opponent stronger than oneself, one could also use Tianxing Power for defense;
It even had unique methods for breaking illusions, so it could basically be said that it feared no enemy.
However, although this Cultivation Technique was powerful, absorbing the Star Power of the Nine Heavens would inevitably cause a large amount of Star Impurities to enter the body.
Even during the Seven Luminaries Sect's heyday, with ten Star Grinding Grand Formations assisting its Disciples in Cultivation, it could only be said to slightly reduce the difficulty of Cultivation. Truly successful Disciples were still extremely rare.
After the great war with the foreign races, the Seven Luminaries Sect, as the leader of the Righteous Path, led the charge, and after sacrificing nine Star Grinding Grand Formations to achieve a Pyrrhic victory, it became even more difficult for a Disciple to successfully Cultivate this Cultivation Technique.
Fortunately, the Seven Luminaries Sect did not have only this one foundational Cultivation Technique. It was said that the Seven Luminaries Sect had three foundational Cultivation Techniques.
It was just that the Formula of Guiding the Stars should have been the most powerful and unique one, otherwise, if it were so difficult to Cultivate, the Seven Luminaries Sect's Legacy would probably have been severed long ago.
After Shi Jiu had thoroughly studied the Formula of Guiding the Stars many times, he formally began to Cultivate this Cultivation Technique late one night.
As Shi Jiu gathered his magic power at several major acupoints around his body according to the Cultivation Technique's guidance, he gradually felt a faint, almost imperceptible connection between his body and the stars in the sky.
At this moment, Shi Jiu began to communicate with the Star Power from above the Nine Heavens, guiding it into his body, following the methods recorded in the Cultivation Technique.
At first, there seemed to be no change, but gradually, Shi Jiu felt a slight fluctuation in the Star Power around his body.
Some extremely tiny dark blue light points began to gather around him, but amidst these dark blue light points, there were also many dark substances of gray, brown, and apricot colors mixed in.
As Shi Jiu absorbed the dark blue light points into his body, these dark substances also floated into Shi Jiu's body along with them.
As the dark blue light points gradually gathered within his body, Shi Jiu could clearly feel that this Star Power was indeed extremely powerful.
After all, when Cultivators usually Cultivate, the Spiritual Qi they absorb is relatively smooth and calm, but even at the moment of absorption, Star Power would produce sharp stinging sensations as it penetrated the skin and muscles.
Moreover, Shi Jiu finally understood why Su Wen had warned him and the others in the Cultivation Method Hall not to Cultivate the Formula of Guiding the Stars casually, otherwise a large amount of Star Impurities would enter their bodies, be difficult to remove, and affect their future Cultivation.
Because in just this short while, Shi Jiu already felt a large amount of Star Impurities entering his body's Meridians along with the Star Power, even beginning to slightly obstruct the circulation of Spiritual Qi within his body.
So Shi Jiu quickly stopped absorbing external Star Power and immediately guided all the existing Star Power within his body towards the strange Vortex.
Fortunately, the strange Vortex had always accepted all comers; any Star Power that approached would be absorbed instantly.
Then the Vortex could clearly purify the inherently mixed Star Power, separating it into pure Star Power and a portion of dull Star Impurities.
Shi Jiu was overjoyed at this sight. He quickly used his magic power to expel the excess Impurities from his body, and then fully began to refine the Star Power into pure, light blue magic power.
This portion of magic power, refined from Star Power, actually emitted specks of starlight within his body, seemingly adorning Shi Jiu into a light blue humanoid lantern, emitting an extremely captivating and brilliant mysterious glow.
"Oh, what powerful magic power!"
Suddenly, Shi Jiu let out a soft exclamation. He found that the magic power cultivated from Star Power contained strength vastly different from magic power cultivated from ordinary Spiritual Qi.
To use an analogy, it was like a piece of wood and a block of iron of the same volume; although they looked the same size, there was a huge difference in both quality and power.
The magic power refined from Star Power was filled with a sense of explosive power.
And he wondered if it was an illusion, but Shi Jiu felt that after refining this Star Power, the strength of his body's skin and bones seemed to have slightly increased.
As expected, this Formula of Guiding the Stars was a powerful Dual Cultivation Technique. He had truly stumbled upon a treasure.
Shi Jiu suppressed the joy in his heart, calmed himself, and continued to absorb and refine Star Power.
As he continuously absorbed and refined, the magic power within Shi Jiu's body gradually increased. After a "pop" sound seemed to echo within him, Shi Jiu was surprised to find that he had actually reached the second level of the Qi Refining Realm just like that.
After Shi Jiu continued to Cultivate for a while and stabilized his second-level Qi Refining Realm, he seemed to sense a faint sliver of sunlight peeking through the cracks in the doors and windows, knowing that dawn was approaching.
Calculating the time, his 5-day holiday should be over, and today he would resume his normal Spirit Herb Hall life.
However, these five days should be the five days of his true metamorphosis. From now on, his Cultivation would likely soar.
On the way to the academy, as the sunlight shone on his body, Shi Jiu suddenly noticed that his body faintly seemed to want to absorb the power of the great sun in the sky.
He suddenly remembered that there was an annotation in the Formula of Guiding the Stars.
It stated that some Cultivators who possessed a slight Aptitude for sensing Star Power did not need to only practice at night but could also draw upon the power of the great sun during the day, thus allowing them to Cultivate continuously at any time of the day.
Shi Jiu thought to himself: It seems that although his Spiritual Root Aptitude is rather poor, he appears to have a slight extra Aptitude for sensing Star Power compared to others. This is good news.
However, although Shi Jiu really wanted to stop and Cultivate immediately, he could only force himself to suppress this urge.
Because last night's Cultivation had already shown him that when he Cultivated the Formula of Guiding the Stars, his body would unconsciously follow the Cultivation Technique's movements, and his magic power would display a special color. If others around him discovered it, they would certainly be curious about what strange Cultivation Technique he was Cultivating.
Moreover, it was possible that someone knowledgeable might recognize that Shi Jiu was Cultivating the Formula of Guiding the Stars. If that were the case, Shi Jiu would be in danger.
Other immortal Cultivators would certainly be curious why others couldn't Cultivate this Formula of Guiding the Stars, yet Shi Jiu, a mere low-level Cultivator in the Qi Refinement Stage, could Cultivate it freely, and crucially, was unaffected by Star Impurities.
Either he had a special Physique or he possessed a rare treasure. It was possible some old monster might pop out and take Shi Jiu for research, and then Shi Jiu would probably be finished.
Therefore, as long as it was possible, Shi Jiu would absolutely not expose to others that he could Cultivate the Formula of Guiding the Stars.
He would keep it a secret for as long as possible, only revealing it when he truly possessed enough power to protect himself.
So Shi Jiu restrained his inner thoughts, and in the following days, he continued to act as usual, attending classes normally, going to the dining hall normally, maintaining the spiritual fields normally, and submitting the necessary produce.
However, apart from these few things, others seemed unable to see Shi Jiu's figure from outside anymore, because he had immersed all his available time in Cultivating the Formula of Guiding the Stars.
Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, a year had passed.