Chapter 50: Chapter 49: Body of Steel In the refining pool, time slipped away. In the blink of an eye, several hours passed. At this moment, there were quite a few people in the refining pool who had twisted expressions and began to tremble all over. The star sky energy carries extraordinary attributes, which transform the human body from its roots. This process is akin to the fracture and reassembly of cells. The longer the transformation, the greater the agony endured, but equally, the benefits are more plentiful. "Ah!" Finally, someone couldn’t take it anymore and yelled out, fleeing the refining pool in a sorry state. They exited through the passageway. After a while. One after another, people trembled as they got up and left the area. Time kept passing by. In the blink of an eye, the star sky refinement had lasted for three hours. More than a hundred people had already left the refining pool in succession. On the suspended platform. Zhang Jianwu watched this scene, nodding slightly: "Those participating in the star sky refinement for the first time generally have finished their refinement." Participating in the star sky refinement for the first time, it is mostly difficult to endure such agony. To persist unto this point is considered extremely excellent. Cao Feng nodded and said: "The longer the cultivation time of the refining technique, the longer one can endure the agony." "These first-time participants are just entering the practice, naturally unable to stick for long." Saying this, he looked at Jiang Ye with some surprise. "This boy actually persisted until now." Cao Feng’s eyes were filled with wonder. Zhang Jianwu wasn’t surprised. He had long known Jiang Ye’s Martial Arts Will was quite strong. Even if the advanced technique hadn’t been learned, he could persist longer. Yet as time passed, the agony grew more intense, Jiang Ye was likely soon unable to continue enduring. ... In the refining pool. Jiang Ye was untouched by external influences. He tightly closed his eyes, feeling the starlight in the Guanyuan acupoint. "Three hours have passed, the starlight in the Guanyuan acupoint exceeds three hundred strands." Jiang Ye calculated: "But to completely fill the Guanyuan acupoint, it should have nearly ten thousand strands of starlight." Looking at it, there’s still a big gap. But at this moment, Jiang Ye was brimming with confidence. For just a short while ago, he sensed something thrilling. "As the pain intensified, my rate of absorbing starlight seemed to have slowly accelerated!" Jiang Ye speculated, this might be the effect of finding joy in adversity. In a painful state, all his attributes received significant boosts. The increase in attributes also accelerated his rate of absorbing starlight. "The deeper the pain, the higher the boost." Jiang Ye internally rejoiced: "According to this pattern, as long as I stay longer, the quicker my rate of absorbing starlight will be towards the end!" Previously. He could absorb only a hundred strands of starlight per minute. Now, he could absorb at least three hundred strands per minute! However, the efficiency of absorption hadn’t changed; still at 1%, out of three hundred strands of starlight, less than three strands entered the Guanyuan acupoint. The boost in attributes couldn’t change his talent. Nonetheless, Jiang Ye was highly thrilled. "Go for it." Jiang Ye silently encouraged: "Strive to fill the Guanyuan acupoint early and then refine it here." Refining in the refining pool undoubtedly yielded better effects than refining alone back home. After all, the star energy in the Guanyuan acupoint would dissipate as well. It’s just that the dispersal speed wasn’t so fast. Jiang Ye closed his eyes and began absorbing at full speed. ... Two hours. Four hours. Unwittingly, this star sky refinement had been going on for over seven hours. At this moment, there were less than a hundred people remaining in the refining pool. Half of these were students from An City No.1 High School. From An City No.3 High School, there were less than twenty people remaining. Outside the field, Zeng Xueqing looked at Jiang Ye in the refining pool with a face full of incredulity: "Is this guy crazy?" "He actually managed to persist for such a long time!" She thought her strength was roughly on par with Jiang Ye’s. Yet she had only managed to persist for less than four hours before withdrawing. But now, seven hours had passed, and Jiang Ye was still inside. Nearby, Lin Xuan from An City No.1 High School wore a dark expression: "Damn it, is this guy cheating?" "How can this original talent persist for so long!" On the suspended platform. Zhang Jianwu, Cao Feng, and Cang Haisheng were also extremely surprised. "This boy’s Martial Arts Will is this strong?" Zhang Jianwu frowned, pondering: "His performance in the last Thunderfire Trial wasn’t this strong." By his side, Cang Haisheng suddenly said: "Old Zhang, did you notice? This boy’s absorption rate seems to have increased!" Zhang Jianwu and Cao Feng’s eyes narrowed. They had also noticed. Previously, Jiang Ye could absorb at most one hundred strands of star energy per minute. But now? He absorbed five hundred strands of star energy per minute! "With this absorption rate, did his advanced technique get learned!?" Cao Feng was shocked. The longer the cultivation of the advanced technique, surely the faster the absorption rate. But this varied from person to person. Previously, when Jiang Ye absorbed one hundred strands per minute, he largely didn’t seem to have it learned. Without original talent cultivating this technique, there was no good reference. But now, five hundred strands a minute? This definitely showed it had been learned! "More than just learned." Cang Haisheng by his side also showed astonishment: "This speed surpasses Zhao Qingli and Lin Yushu!" Zhao Qingli and Lin Yushu, their refining techniques were close to great success. Could it be that Jiang Ye’s advanced technique also was nearing great success? What kind of interstellar joke is that! Zhang Jianwu’s eyes sparkled, recalling something Chen Zilu had said to him before. "Could it be..." His eyes were flashing. Just then, inside the refining pool, Jiang Ye suddenly stood up. "Hm?" All three eyes narrowed. "Finally can’t endure anymore?" Cao Feng looked at Jiang Ye. Yet in the next second, Jiang Ye walked over to another refining spot and sat down again. Seeing this, all three had twitching eye corners. "This boy dislikes that the previous spot didn’t have enough star energy?" The trio was speechless. The star sky refinement had proceeded to this moment. Others were already nearing their limits, in unbearable agony. And yet Jiang Ye still thought the star energy wasn’t abundant, deliberately moving to a more concentrated spot for absorption. It must be known, the denser the star energy, the more horrifying the agony! Could Jiang Ye be of steel, not fearing pain!? "Interesting." Cang Haisheng suddenly laughed: "I’m starting to be a bit curious about how long this student can persist." ... Time passed second by second. As the star sky refinement continued, the latter stages became increasingly difficult with each minute. Each person seemed to be in a furnace of thousands of degrees, pain reaching the extreme. Even Zhao Qingli bit her red lip desperately, with sweat covering her fair forehead. As for Lin Yushu, he had long since given up on maintaining his demeanor, his big pockmarked face cramped in a frown. Another hour passed. Wang Ziang finally couldn’t endure anymore and withdrew from the refinement. At this point, An City No.3 High School had only two people left. Zhao Qingli, and Jiang Ye! On the An City No.1 High School side, there were also fewer than ten people remaining. Time kept flowing. The last few from An City No.1 High School also left one after another. The tenth hour of the star sky refinement. Only three people remained in the refining pool.