Li Yang again upgraded the remaining two 1st-grade 1st-tier Star-Attracting Pills to the 2nd grade.
However, the three high-tier 1st-grade Star-Attracting Pills that Zhong Kun gave her, she was reluctant to risk her life to upgrade them.
It’ll be fine like this, three 2nd-grade pills plus three high-tier 1st-grade pills, a total of six Star-Attracting Pills, enough for her for a while.
As for trading… no hurry, she’ll deal with it after she goes to military school.
Li Yang liked Fang Chuyun, and she could tell she had a straightforward personality, but they weren’t particularly close, so it wasn’t good to keep bothering her.
Moreover, she had to keep secrets from Zhong Kun.
One Star-Attracting Pill could be explained as helping him solve a mutant plant, but explaining three more would be difficult.
After Li Yang carefully put away the Star-Attracting Pills, she turned her attention to the book Basic Star-Attracting Technique.
She originally planned to wait until she enrolled in school and had professional teachers to practice, but both Zhong Kun and Fang Chuyun said that one could start cultivating as long as they had a strong enough body…
So, she might as well start practicing early.
Right now, she hadn’t taken the cultural exam yet, and there were more than two months of summer vacation before school officially started in September.
Instead of wasting time, it would be better to improve her strength as much as possible.
Li Yang looked at her system panel—she still had 32 years of life remaining, so she could afford to “spend” a little more.
“Consume 1 year of life, practice Basic Star-Attracting Technique.”
[You meditated for a year, but due to your poor comprehension, you couldn’t even master the basic breathing method. Your progress with Basic Star-Attracting Technique is 10%.]
Li Yang couldn’t help but complain, “This longevity system must be taking a PUA course or something.”
Every day, it either said she had poor talent or was dumb, and now it was saying she had bad comprehension!
With so much “life,” Li Yang wasn’t in a hurry.
She continued to consume her life force.
If a year of progress only amounted to 10%, then ten years should be enough, right?
It was already past 9 p.m., and Li Yang wasn’t planning to continue practicing questions, so she just consumed one year of life after another, watching the progress of Basic Star-Attracting Technique.
20%…
30%…
40%…
The system kept repeating the same phrase: “Poor comprehension,” but finally, the progress reached 100%.
[Though your comprehension is poor, with your willpower far exceeding that of ordinary people, you have finally mastered Basic Star-Attracting Technique. The system panel is about to open new features, please wait.]
Oh, new features?
Li Yang focused on the system panel, which had turned grayish-white, seemingly undergoing adjustments.
This time, it took a little longer.
Li Yang sat on the bed, waiting, and her thoughts began to wander.
It had taken her ten years to learn Basic Star-Attracting Technique… her comprehension was indeed lacking.
She didn’t know how long it would take other military school students to learn, but it certainly wouldn’t take this long.
Forget ten years; maybe even a year… or perhaps a month would be enough to get the basics?
After all, this was just a basic technique.
Around ten minutes later, the system lit up again.
It was clear this was a major upgrade, as the entire interface had become more refined.
The formerly stark white page now had a faint green glow.
Li Yang looked quite pleased.
“The longevity system seems to have gained some vitality now.”
The personal information section had also become clearer, and there were new details displayed.
Name: Li Yang
Life span: 22 years / 50 years
Physique: 95
Mental: 90
Star Aperture: 1 (95%)
Technique: Basic Star-Attracting Technique (100%)
Pills: Star-Attracting Pills (can be upgraded)
Notes: Only 22 years of life remaining, please harvest plants to gain more life.
Notes 2: The Star-Attracting Pills contain too many impurities; it is recommended to consume life force to purify them.
Li Yang’s eyes immediately focused on the “Star Aperture” part, which was a key concept in Basic Star-Attracting Technique.
For ordinary people to become Star Bearers, one key threshold is attracting the stars into the body.
To attract stars into the body, there are two steps:
The first is to sense the starlight and bring it into the body through meditation;
The second is to retain the starlight inside the body, which requires opening the body’s “Star Aperture.”
Li Yang was practicing with a lifespan cost, so she didn’t really feel much of the process.
She closed her eyes and tried to sense where her Star Aperture was.
In the instant she closed her eyes, she entered a meditative state, which was usually very hard to achieve.
Though her eyes were closed, she could still see her “body.”
Of course, it wasn’t her real body, but rather an outline in the dark, like a soul leaving the body, allowing her to observe herself from the outside.
In the dark, her body was just a blurry outline, but near her heart, there was a tiny speck of starlight.
Though the speck was small, it was very bright.
Especially in this darkness, it stood out like the North Star.
Is this the “Star Aperture”?
Li Yang opened her eyes and looked at the system panel again.
She wondered, “Only one Star Aperture is open. What does the 95% mean? What will happen if it reaches 100%?”
She also noticed the change in the notes.
The four previous notes had been reduced to two, especially the one about the physique limit being gone.
Does this mean she can continue improving her physique?
Li Yang also noticed something strange:
“Physique 95, Star Aperture 1 at 95%, is there a connection here?”
Li Yang decided to test it out:
“Consume 1 year of life, improve physique.”
[You meditated for a year, but due to the lack of starlight and your limited Star Apertures, your physique increased to 120 points.]
Li Yang gasped, “It increased so much!”
She had thought that, at most, her physique would increase by a few points, but it had skyrocketed to 120!
The next moment, Li Yang murmured in pain.
Indeed, when the physique increased so much, there was a noticeable reaction in the body.
She had already been quite strong compared to ordinary people, but after this 25-point increase, her body underwent a transformation beyond human limits.
Li Yang sweated from her forehead.
The pain wasn’t just from muscle growth but also from her bones cracking.
She looked at her hand, seeing some starlight flickering as her body continued to strengthen.
Li Yang clenched her fist and felt that with a little more strength, she could smash the bed into powder.
The feeling of strength was great, and Li Yang felt that even her senses had become sharper.
Combined with her 90 mental points, she felt incredibly clear-headed, as if she could easily breeze through a whole night of mock exams without tiring.
Within three to five minutes, Li Yang had adjusted to her new body.
Indeed, as her physique increased, her adaptability improved as well.
It wasn’t like when she first started, where she rolled around in pain.
Li Yang opened the system panel again and looked at the Star Aperture section.
As her physique reached 120 points, the Star Aperture section had also changed.
The number of Star Apertures became 2, and the progress was “20%.”
Not only had the Star Aperture changed, but her lifespan limit had also increased to 100 years!
Li Yang closed her eyes again, entering a meditative state to observe her Star Apertures.
The first speck of starlight was now much brighter, while the second one was still relatively dim.
“I see,” Li Yang understood.
“The maximum physique for ordinary people is 95. Only after attracting the stars into the body can they bear more strength, and each Star Aperture seems to bear 100 points of physique.”
With this in mind, Li Yang now understood the cultivation logic of Star Bearers.
First, they attract stars into their bodies to fill the Star Aperture, and as the Star Aperture fills, their physique continues to grow…
Li Yang now knew that a 1st-grade Star Bearer’s physique ranged from 100 to 500 points.
So, she was technically a Star Bearer now.
For a Star Bearer, 120 points of physique wasn’t much.
Li Yang felt she could keep improving.
Lifespan was important, but strength was also crucial.
This world wasn’t peaceful.
Only by becoming stronger could her lifespan truly be effective.
Li Yang was about to consume more life force when she suddenly remembered her Star-Attracting Pills.
These pills were essential resources for Star Bearers to cultivate!
The system had also said, “There’s too little starlight.”
Would taking a Star-Attracting Pill increase her progress?
Li Yang hesitated, “150,000…”
But in the end, she decided to swallow it.
After all, the money was meant to be spent on herself.
She swallowed the pill, and its taste was quite pleasant—fragrant, with a hint of sweetness and bitterness.
As soon as it was swallowed, starlight immediately filled her body.
Li Yang began meditating, easily drawing the dense starlight into the second Star Aperture.
When she opened her eyes, she saw that her physique had increased to 130 points.
She hadn’t even needed to “spend” any more life force yet!
She muttered, “Consume 1 year of life, improve physique.”
[You meditated for a year, and due to the lack of starlight and Star Apertures, your physique increased to 155 points.]
Li Yang: Does this mean you can’t take pills and spend life force at the same time?
There are less than three months left until the start of school.
Li Yang may not be able to successfully guide the star into her body, but Zhong Kun will successfully open his second star aperture, raising his physique value to at least 150 points!
This is probably his only chance to surpass Li Yang.
He must seize it and act big when the time comes!
Li Yang put away the Star-Inviting Pill.
She didn’t want to waste money anymore.
Life is important, but her “life” can be earned.
The agricultural department has a large area of wheat waiting for her to harvest, so there’s no need to waste real money and gold here.
If it weren’t inconvenient to tell Fang Chuyun, she would’ve just sold all the Star-Inviting Pills to exchange for money.
Li Yang took a deep breath and honestly continued to burn life to improve her physical fitness.
Since guiding the star into her body, her physique value has been increasing more steadily than before, around 25 points a year, but once the physique value reached 200 points…
A new note appeared on the system panel.
Note 3: The number of star apertures has reached its limit. Please find a breakthrough opportunity.
It was stuck again.
Li Yang closed her eyes and checked her body.
She had two very full star apertures, both now hanging fully around her heart.
How could she open the third star aperture?
Li Yang opened the “Basic Star Control Technique” again and read it carefully.
This technique not only helps in cultivation but also includes some scientific explanations.
After reading it for a while, Li Yang finally understood…
It turns out that she had hit a bottleneck.
She is now a qualified first-level low-tier Star Controller, but to open the third star aperture, a breakthrough opportunity is needed, which could be a battle of the same level or the consumption of a Breakthrough Pill.
Once she opens three star apertures, she will become a first-level mid-tier Star Controller.
Li Yang has no interest in fighting; she only wants to save money to buy a Breakthrough Pill.
It shouldn’t be too expensive, right?