Over the past two days, Gu Zhen had been diligently cultivating. With the aid of Star Gathering skill and star power enhancement potions, his star power level finally advanced one sub-level, reaching Realm 1, Level 2.
Though his superpowers remained unchanged, his total star power increased by twenty percent—a decent boost.
The academy held weekly competition every week, and tomorrow was test day again.
Gu Zhen attitude toward the weekly tests was lukewarm. The rewards no longer appealed to him; Star Gathering skill had surpassed the role of star power enhancement potions.
With just Star Gathering skill, he could draw star power from the environment faster than his star cores could absorb it.
Adding potions was merely a bonus
As for the first floor of the academy star skill library, he didn't think much of its available skills. In that time, he'd rather sell Iron Fist and research new star skills.
Deciding this, he planned to skip class tomorrow, head to the Yunfan Chamber of Commerce to sell Iron Fist, and check for spirit-type materials.
Being marked absent was no big deal—just once wouldn't result in any punishment.
Gu Zhen could always go next time.
With his mind made up, he continued cultivating until the next afternoon, when the weekly test first-place winner was decided. Only then did he leave his dorm for the Yunfan Chamber of Commerce.
On the way, he glanced at messages from his teacher, Xie Yanwen, asking why he would missed the test. After a moment thought, he replied that he'd been caught up in cultivation, having just broken through to sub-Level 2 and lost track of time.
Seeing his excuse, Xie Yanwen didn't press further. After all, cultivation was a valid reason, and missing one test wasn't a big deal.
After dealing with his teacher, he continued on, soon arriving at the Yunfan Chamber of Commerce and finding Master Li from his last visit.
"Hello, I'd like to sell a physical-type star skill," Gu Zhen said.
Master Li looked a bit surprised to see Gu Zhen. After all, it was rare to see someone complete their star skill insight upload so quickly. He clearly remembered him from before.
"It's only been eleven days since you last sold a star skill."
Like before, Master Li brought out a star skill stone and placed it in front of Gu Zhen, gesturing for him to upload his insights.
Gu Zhen placed his hand on the stone. Not long after, he transferred his insights on Iron Fist into it.
"A very good skill. High offensive power, but difficult to execute. Overall, I'd rate it D-rank skill."
"Considering its power, the fact it's a physical-type, and also that I've never seen this particular version before, I can offer you 600,000 star coins."
The Yunfan Chamber of Commerce paid more for uncollected star skill. Though Master Li had seen similar ones, this was unique, justifying the high price.
"Deal"
Gu Zhen agreed without hesitation. As before, Master Li issued him a voucher worth 600,000 star coins.
As before, Master Li handed him an appraisal voucher worth 600,000 star coins.
The voucher could be redeemed for star coins on the second floor or used as a discount coupon for any purchase within the Chamber, equivalent to its value in star coins.
Clutching his 600,000-star-coin voucher, Gu Zhen headed to the materials section to look for anything that could boost spirit power.
Soon, he found some options:
Before long, he found a few suitable targets:
Mindgrass: Tier 2, Low-grade Spiritual-type material which boosts spiritual power upon consumption. Price: 500 star force crystal.
Petals of Tranquility: Tier 1, High-grade Spiritual-type material which provides moderate spiritual boost. Price: 30 star force crystal.
spirit-heart Fruit: Tier 2, Peak-grade Spiritual-type material which greatly boosts spiritual power. Price: 2,000 star force crystal.
After browsing through the options, Gu Zhen realized all spiritual-type materials required star force crystals to purchase.
Star force crystals were not only vital for cultivation past the first realm but also served as hard currency in high-level transactions.
Star coins, on the other hand, were more for daily living—suitable only for purchasing basic materials and low-grade skills.
Anything remotely advanced or rare required payment in crystals.
A single star force crystal was roughly equivalent to 10,000 star coins in value, but there was no direct exchange mechanism between the two.
No one in their right mind would trade crystals for coins.
Gu Zhen noticed that materials for other, lower-grade elemental types could still be purchased with coins—but not spiritual-type. And when it came to the other two rare elements, he couldn't even find a single material.
This wasn't unexpected. After all, Sunmoon City wasn't a major hub. Rare materials were naturally hard to come by.
Since he couldn't afford any spiritual materials, Gu Zhen turned his attention toward physical-type materials instead.
Physical realm, one of the three major secondary attributes alongside spiritual and soul realms, could also be enhanced through materials or cultivation.
Unlike spiritual or soul attributes, improving the physical attributes didn't require complex methods or rare resources—just continuous, hard training. But the process was incredibly slow.
There were no special skills for body cultivation; only training or the use of enhancement materials.
Among the three attributes, the body was easiest to improve in the early stages—but the higher the level, the harder it got.
Even among well-known Realm 5 masters, those with maxed-out spiritual power were rare, and those with Realm 5 physical constitution were even rarer.
After a bit of searching, Gy Zhen finally found a physical-type material that caught his eye.
Purple-blood Fruit: Realm 1, High-grade physical-type material which Increases physical strength and has a chance to improve body constitution. Price: 550,000 star coins.
This was the best physical-type material Gu Zhen could afford—not the best in his eyes, but the best his wallet allowed.
Without hesitation, he used his voucher to purchase the Purple-blood Fruit. Since the leftover balance was small, the clerk simply gave him the remaining change in coins.
"Mr. Gu Yi, we offer free private cultivation rooms for customers who wish to use their materials on-site. Would you like to use one?"
"Sure," Gu Zhen nodded. Using it here or back at the dorm made little difference, but if something happened on the way, it'd be a hassle.
Better to use it now.
The staff soon led Gu Zhen to a sealed cultivation room.
"Mr. Gu Yi, this room is reserved for your use for the next 24 hours. If you're still inside after that time, we'll send you a reminder."
Gu Zhen nodded, having no objections. Absorbing a Realm 1 material would take far less than 24 hours—more than enough time.