Star Martial Era: The Way of Star Light Cultivation
Chapter 355 - 165 Dawn (20,000 words combined for subscription)

Chapter 355: Chapter 165 Dawn (20,000 words combined for subscription)

In the subordinate branch of Star-picking Tower within the Cangming Star Hall.

As two hours had passed once more, Star Masters Zhang Zhen and Du Tingyun could hardly wait to urge State Preceptor Cheng Yuxiao, "State Preceptor Cheng, it should be time to push for the position update."

Cheng Yuxiao glanced at the water clock and then poured his Divine Thought and Star Power into the Six Alloy Wheel before him.

Before he even initiated it, Zhang Zhen and Du Tingyun looked over with some urgency.

The reason for these two Star Masters’ haste was clear.

According to the Six Alloy Wheel’s display, a disciple of the star halls had already neared a disciple of the Da Chen National Daoist Institute.

Obviously, the former was about to catch up with the latter.

So now, the results were about to be revealed!

Even though they couldn’t contact the disciples within the Purple Wind Star Domain, monitoring the position display allowed them to deduce the likely outcomes.

If over such a long period the positions of a disciple of the Da Chen National Daoist Institute and a star hall disciple had remained overlapped, it was very likely that the former had been captured by one of the star hall disciples.

This would be the first success!

Of course, there were other possibilities.

If a disciple died, then as their breath faded, their position information would no longer be displayed on the Six Alloy Wheel.

By now, the disciples had been in the Third Tier Purple Wind Star Domain for over half a day, and everyone’s positions had already been displayed on the Six Alloy Wheel.

At this moment, it was clear at a glance.

If one of the disciples from the Da Chen National Daoist Institute was missing, then it meant a kill had occurred!

That would be an auspicious start to this battle for selection.

It would also severely damage State Preceptor Cheng Yuxiao’s morale and confidence!

The Blood Star Pact had not changed, but the rules for the selection contest were continuously altered due to State Preceptor Cheng Yuxiao’s persistent struggles.

Initially, there was only one Category A plan.

The most direct and forceful.

Each of the two great star halls would simply pick one favored genius disciple from the national daoist institutes and take them away for cultivation.

Whether to cultivate or destroy them was at the discretion of the star halls.

Naturally, no star hall would cultivate an enemy, save for one exception; all other disciples were cultivated to become wasted.

Destroyed.

But over the last twenty years, State Preceptor Cheng Yuxiao, through several grand gatherings and competitions, had continuously altered the rules of the selection contest by gambling.

Not only did he add a Category B plan, but he also reduced the number of disciples provided by the Da Chen National Daoist Institute in the Category A plan.

Now, in the Category A plan, each of the great star halls could only choose two genius disciples directly from the Da Chen National Daoist Institute to take away.

And in the Category B plan, there were seven slots, but it required the star hall disciples to conquer the disciples of the Da Chen National Daoist Institute.

If they conquered, they could take them away.

If they couldn’t win, or conquer, then the selected disciple would remain in the national institute.

And the star halls would naturally lose the disciples they had selected that year.

Usually, State Preceptor Cheng Yuxiao would only choose the Category B plan when he was quite confident, that is, when he had great faith in the capabilities of his own disciples.

This was also the reason why the two great star halls had directly sent their top-tier Top-Grade Star Casting disciples this year.

Over the thirteen years since Category B was added, the Da Chen National Daoist Institute had chosen this option six times. They suffered a devastating loss one time, with only one disciple returning alive, while six disciples from the star halls returned alive.

There were two major defeats where only two disciples returned alive, but five from the star halls survived.

One narrow victory where the institute had three disciples return, but the star halls also had four return alive.

Two minor victories where the institute had four disciples return alive, with only three from the star halls.

There were wins and losses, but overall, the losses for the Da Chen National Daoist Institute were a bit more grievous.

However, in reality, State Preceptor Cheng Yuxiao’s persistence, or rather his iron will, increasingly intimidated the star halls.

Because if they implemented Category A, the institute would directly lose four top-tier genius disciples.

But if Category B were enacted, even though the institute would undoubtedly lose more top talent, the star hall disciples would also suffer losses.

Especially during those two minor victories, the loss of four genius disciples hit the star halls hard.

So when they heard of Category B, both great star halls took it very seriously.

All the participating disciples were carefully chosen from those who met the criteria.

The aim was to ensure a crushing or complete defeat for the Da Chen National Daoist Institute!

If such defeats persisted for a few times, they could grievously hurt State Preceptor Cheng Yuxiao and the Da Chen National Daoist Institute, and crush them.

Then, in the future, they would not dare use the Category B plan so easily.

Afterwards, the star halls could slowly whittle down the Da Chen National Daoist Institute over generations; after several decades, if the top combat power were to be severed, it would be splendid.

This also accounted for the nervousness of the two Star Masters.

Although the two great star halls were free to choose any candidate according to the rules, there was still a minimum requirement for this selection contest.

Tianyang Star Hall’s requirement was that no more than one disciple could be lost, while Cangming Star Hall’s was a maximum of two.

Additionally, at least five or more disciples from the Da Chen National Daoist Institute had to die in battle.

A loss greater than that of Category A was needed to strike against State Preceptor Cheng.

So, both Du Tingyun and Zhang Zhen were somewhat impatient at this time.

To be honest, State Preceptor Cheng Yuxiao himself was also extremely anxious.

At the moment when he activated the Six Alloy Wheel, his fingers even trembled slightly.

Because from now on, he would inevitably have to confront one bad news after another, it was just a matter of how much!

Others might not understand, but for a teacher, to have to destroy or send to death several of the most talented disciples from one’s own school each year, the agony and pain were beyond most people’s comprehension.