Chapter 138: Foundation Establishment (Dedicated to zzyzzx123, the Alliance Leader)
Chapter 138: Foundation Establishment (Dedicated to zzyzzx123, the Alliance Leader)
Foundation Establishment!
This was the first major hurdle for any aspiring cultivator.
In ancient times, when spiritual energy was abundant, only those who had achieved Foundation Establishment were considered true cultivators, known as the "True Foundation Cultivators."
Usually, the process of Foundation Establishment was closely related to one's spiritual roots and cultivation techniques, and it rarely took more than a hundred days, hence the saying "Hundred-Day Foundation Establishment."
...
Ten days later.
Outside the Second-Tier Cave Abode cluster, a streak of light flew by.
As the light landed, a Foundation Establishment cultivator appeared.
He wore a purple robe, had a valiant appearance, and carried a purple jade spirit sword on his back.
He silently gazed at the rentable cave abodes and suddenly sent out a sound transmission talisman.
Before long, Wang, the manager, rushed over and respectfully bowed, "Greetings, Elder Min!"
This Elder Min, whose full name was Min Yixing, was a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator. He was directly under the City Lord's Manor and was in charge of enforcing the law in Ziyu City. He was an incredibly powerful sword cultivator.
His status in Ziyu City went without saying.
It was not something that a small fry like Wang, the cave abode manager, could afford to offend.
"Have you seen this person?!"
Elder Min casually tossed over a jade slip, which contained the image of a young man in silver robes, unmistakably the appearance of a cultivation clone.
"Reporting to Elder, I saw him ten days ago. He claimed to be from the Fang Clan and was a wandering cultivator. He rented a second-tier high-grade cave abode to prepare for his Foundation Establishment..."
Wang felt that there must be something amiss with this person, so he quickly recounted the details without daring to slack off.
"Foundation Establishment? And he's accompanied by someone?"
Elder Min nodded, "It seems that the Zhou family massacre was indeed his doing..."
"What?!"
Wang was startled. A few days ago, it was discovered that the entire Zhou family had been wiped out, including the elderly Zhou family head, who had attained Foundation Establishment.
He had always thought that it was the doing of some demonic cultivator, but he never expected that the perpetrator would turn out to be such a graceful young man.
'Truly, you can never judge a book by its cover. Fortunately, I didn't deliberately make things difficult for him, or else this old bag of bones would've kicked the bucket...'
Wang secretly felt relieved and quickly said, "That person rented Cave Abode Number Seven in the Jia sector... Elder, what are your orders?"
"Lead the way!"
Elder Min instructed Wang to take the lead and arrived in front of the cave abode where Fang Xing was secluded in meditation. His eyes narrowed, deep in thought.
"Are you certain it was this person, Elder? He's merely at the Qi Refining stage and has a martial artist servant... Could he really have killed the entire Zhou family?"
Wang's face showed his dilemma, "The array formation of this cave abode does have a secret passage, but if we forcibly break in, our reputation will be damaged..."
"Hmph, before the Zhou family met their demise, this person was the only one who visited them. Later, someone saw him leaving the Zhou family estate with someone else... So fearless and audacious. It seems that martial artist servant of his is actually his bodyguard, at least a Foundation Establishment cultivator. He's just hiding his presence, that's why you didn't notice anything..."
Elder Min coldly harrumphed, eyeing the cave abode but not rashly entering.
Seeing this, Wang immediately understood.
It seemed that although Elder Min was a sword cultivator, he was also quite cautious and didn't want to directly confront the culprit behind the Zhou family's annihilation.
Otherwise, he would've just barged into the cave abode, turning it into a life-or-death situation.
Wang thought for a moment and decided to just stand there, keeping Elder Min company as they waited.
Several days later, the sky above the cave abode suddenly shook, and a vortex of spiritual energy appeared, frantically absorbing the surrounding mist of spiritual energy.
"This is... a vortex of spiritual energy? No mistake... Someone is attempting Foundation Establishment?!"
Many cultivators were drawn by the vortex and, upon seeing Elder Min and Wang, were startled. They quickly stood to the side, speculating about the identity of the cultivator within the cave abode.
"To draw the Heaven and Earth's spiritual energy so quickly?"
Wang's heart felt sour and bitter as he witnessed this scene.
Although he had failed in his own Foundation Establishment attempt back then, he was quite knowledgeable about the process.
He never expected that the young man, who seemed to have not even perfected his Qi Refining stage, would be able to progress to this stage in one go.
"The vortex of spiritual energy is quite stable. He should succeed."
Elder Min spoke up, his face showing surprise, "Such a sharp and fierce aura... Could he also be a sword cultivator?"
...
Several days ago.
Inside the cave abode.
Fang Xing opened the Ten Thousand Transformations Cauldron and took out two Foundation Establishment Pills.
The inferior-grade Foundation Establishment Pill, which had a faint black line on it, no longer showed any signs of that line.
As for the superior-grade Foundation Establishment Pill, it had shrunk in size and was emitting a lustrous, jade-like glow.
"A perfect Foundation Establishment Pill."
Fang Xing nodded in satisfaction, sat cross-legged, and silently operated the Foundation Establishment technique from the 'Golden Transformation Manual.'
In an instant, he entered a state of profound clarity, and the spiritual energy within the cave abode was wildly attracted, flowing into his limbs and bones.
"Foundation Establishment... begins."
Fang Xing murmured, directly swallowing the perfect Foundation Establishment Pill.
Whoosh!
As soon as the top-grade Foundation Establishment Pill entered his body, it transformed into a warm current, seemingly igniting all the spiritual energy within him.
Countless streams of spiritual energy frenziedly coursed through his body, performing one "muscle transformation and marrow cleansing" after another!
On Fang Xing's body, only a little viscous sweat appeared.
"Hmm... This is due to my innate talent, where all my meridians are interconnected. When cultivating, I only consumed peerless pills without any pill toxins... Hence, the muscle transformation and marrow cleansing didn't purge any impurities."
"I passed the first hurdle of the three foundational establishment bottlenecks, and it didn't seem to be a painful process."
"Even the power of the exceptional foundational establishment pill didn't seem to be consumed much..."
He nodded, sensing that most of the pill's power had gathered in his dantian, causing his Qi cultivation to surge once more, quickly reaching the peak of the Qi Refining stage!
Subsequently, his Qi took on a viscous quality, condensing into a vortex.
Drop!
At the center of the vortex, a drop of pale golden liquid Qi appeared.
It was incredibly viscous, like a golden pearl, floating within Fang Xing's dantian.
"The liquid Qi of a foundational cultivator... A single drop is enough to rival the total Qi of an ordinary Qi Refining cultivator. With this, I can form a true Yuan barrier that ordinary first-tier methods will find difficult to breach."
Fang Xing nodded, watching as drop after drop of pale golden Qi appeared.
One bead, two beads, three beads...
Six beads, seven beads, eight beads...
Finally, a total of nine pale golden 'pearls' floated and sank within his dantian, each one lustrous and full, even carrying a hint of solidity.
"Generally speaking, the number of liquid Qi a cultivator can refine during their first foundational establishment is related to their roots and their cultivation technique..."
"The worst foundational cultivators may only be able to condense one or two drops of liquid Qi..."
"I possess a heavenly spirit root, and my roots might even surpass that. Although the Golden Transformation Manual seems average to me, it's still a technique that can be cultivated to the Golden Core stage. Ordinary vagrant cultivators wouldn't even have a chance to see it..."
"Taking everything into account, I managed to condense nine drops of liquid Qi? If I had cultivated to the peak of Qi Refining before attempting foundational establishment, I might have even condensed ten drops."
"However, this upper limit of liquid Qi can still be improved upon through cultivation after foundational establishment..."
Fang Xing manipulated the nine drops of liquid Qi, forcing them to circulate along the foundational establishment route outlined in the Golden Transformation Manual.
With each circulation of the technique, he felt his body strengthen and his Qi become more fierce and sharp.
Most importantly, between his eyebrows, something seemed to be budding.
This was a sign that his spiritual sense was about to transform into divine sense!
"Now's the time!"
Fang Xing channeled all the remaining power of the foundational establishment pill into his Niwan Palace, and his head felt like it was about to explode.
Then, between his eyebrows, it was as if a third eye had opened, slowly observing his body and then reaching out to the world beyond.
Five zhang, ten zhang...
Twenty zhang! Thirty zhang!
With his experience in spiritual power, Fang Xing found the process of familiarizing himself with divine sense to be extremely easy.
Soon, he was able to use his divine sense to observe the entire cave abode, as well as his 'main body' sitting cross-legged outside!
He even tried to delve deeper into his main body, but was stopped by a mental force.
"Divine sense can observe the outside world, and its perception of subtleties far surpasses spiritual power. It even has a bit of X-ray vision, easily seeing through ordinary objects. No wonder it could see through my puppet..."
Fang Xing opened his eyes, "But I remember that when Su Ye first broke through, her divine sense could only cover an area of ten zhang... Is her 'spirit' among the Three Treasures really that weak? Or am I just too strong?"
After foundational establishment, there was indeed an all-around enhancement.
He pondered for a moment, then raised his hand.
A several-foot-long metal sword Qi appeared, its golden brilliance dazzling and with what seemed like runes flowing within.
It would surely only take one sword to destroy the defense of a high-quality spiritual artifact.
"As expected, a foundational cultivator completely overwhelms a Qi Refining cultivator..."
Fang Xing sighed, then looked at himself and shook his head, "After foundational establishment, spiritual artifacts are basically useless. It's best to replace them with magical artifacts. That spiritual artifact fan is not suitable for me, so I should sell it and get a second-tier flying sword, a defensive magical artifact, and preferably another flying magical artifact..."
Although foundational cultivators could fly with their physical bodies.
For long-distance travel, it would definitely be a waste of Qi to do so.
He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, his body naturally floated in mid-air.
"So this is physical flight? With the power of my domain wrapping around me and using the Skywalking Step, it does feel different."
Fang Xing played with his new ability for a while before landing and leaving the cultivation room to stand shoulder to shoulder with his main body.
"Quite a lot happened while I was in seclusion."
He took out the cave abode token and slightly released the restrictions on it.
One sound transmission talisman after another flew in like butterflies.
Most of them were from Qi Refining cultivators, congratulating him, their senior, on his foundational establishment success.
Only one of them emitted the aura of a foundational cultivator.
Fang Xing plucked it out lightly, swept it with his divine sense, and couldn't help but smile, "You're seeking me out? It seems there's room for discussion, otherwise, we would've just started fighting directly..."
"What a pity, I was looking forward to witnessing the combat power of a fake Golden Core cultivator."
Outside the Cave Abode.
The door to the cave abode rumbled open.
Fang Xing emerged, clad in a silver robe, his face as handsome as jade, and his eyes as dark as lacquer. He exuded the aura of a Foundation Establishment cultivator as he strode out nonchalantly.
His main body followed closely behind, appearing like an ordinary martial artist.
"Indeed, he's a Foundation Establishment elder!"
"Judging by his youthful appearance, he must have cultivated some kind of youth preservation technique..."
A group of Qi Refining cultivators bowed respectfully, offering their congratulations. "Congratulations, Senior, on your successful Foundation Establishment. May you enjoy longevity from now on..."
"Hmm, a reward for you all!"
Fang Xing pretended to be generous as his main body casually took out some low-grade spirit stones and tossed them out.
"Senior is so generous!"
The late-stage Qi Refining cultivators were one thing, but the early and middle-stage ones were overjoyed, collecting the spirit stones while praising him nonstop.
At this moment, Fang Xing's gaze landed on the only Foundation Establishment cultivator present.
Judging by his fluctuating spiritual power, he might even be beyond the early stage.
"Fellow Daoist Fang!"
Elder Min approached, offering a polite bow before turning his curious gaze towards Fang Xing's main body.
He had initially thought that Fang Xing's main body was a guardian of some sort, merely concealing his aura.
But now, even facing him directly, he still felt that the man was an ordinary mortal with no spiritual power!
This ability to conceal one's aura was truly astonishing.
"And who might this be?"
Fang Xing feigned confusion.
"Senior Fang, this is Elder Min Yixing, a law enforcer under the City Lord's Manor and a highly respected figure here in Ziyu City," Wang, the manager, quickly introduced.
"I see. Thank you, Fellow Daoist Min, for your protection." Fang Xing was well aware that the so-called protection was a joke, but he accepted it with a smile, not wanting to offend the man.
"It's quite noisy here. How about we retire to my abode for a chat?" Elder Min invited.
"I couldn't ask for more."
Fang Xing laughed heartily. The two men transformed into streams of light and soared into the sky, disappearing from the envious gazes of the Qi Refining cultivators.
...
Elder Min's abode was located on a small peak, and surprisingly, it possessed third-tier spiritual energy.
It was a delicately crafted, antique pavilion.
In front of the pavilion was a peculiar patch of grass. The grass blades were like swords, pointing straight towards the sky, with specks of golden light flickering like fireflies among them.
"This is... Sword Grass?"
Fang Xing couldn't help but exclaim, "This grass is the main ingredient for refining a Sword Pool, perfect for tempering flying swords."
"Haha, it seems you're also a sword cultivator, Fellow Daoist."
Elder Min led Fang Xing to the second floor of the pavilion and personally brewed a pot of tea. "This is my collection, 'Thousand Cliffs Competing for Beauty.' Please, have a taste."
"I assume you didn't invite me here just for tea, Fellow Daoist Min?" Fang Xing hinted.
"Indeed. May I ask, Fellow Daoist, what is your relation to the massacre of the Zhou family?" Elder Min asked, his eyes fixed on Fang Xing's main body.
Fang Xing's main body smiled faintly and sat down. "I did it."
"Why?" Elder Min furrowed his brows.
"My nephew went to their shop to refine Foundation Establishment Pills, and that old ghost Zhou deceived him. So, I killed them all," Fang Xing shrugged.
"I see. Then the Zhou family deserved their fate. Our Ziyu City values honesty in business, and we abhor those who bully customers..." Elder Min nodded, seemingly believing his words.
"By the way, I forgot to inform you... The Zhou family of Ziqing Pond was recently exterminated by bandits, and their name has been wiped from this land," Elder Min added.
Upon hearing this, Fang Xing fell silent.
If he hadn't killed the Zhou family elder, they might still be living peacefully.
However, given another chance, he would undoubtedly make the same choice without hesitation.
"I don't know if you and your nephew have any plans to establish a cultivation site. If so... I can arrange for you to rent Ziqing Pond. What do you say?" Elder Min suddenly offered.
"Ziqing Pond, a place for cultivation?"
Fang Xing fell into deep thought.
Indeed, after the clone's Foundation Establishment, they needed a second-tier spiritual land for further cultivation.
But at the same time, he was shocked by the heartlessness of the cultivators in this world: 'The Zhou family elder's connections abandoned him after his death, especially after I achieved Foundation Establishment. Now they want to collaborate with me instead...'
This made Fang Xing feel the impermanence of life.
'But this is probably a test, isn't it?'
After thinking it through, he replied with a light laugh, "I have no intention of establishing a sect. As long as I have a second-tier cave abode in Ziyu City for cultivation, that's enough for me..."
"I see. My apologies for the misunderstanding."
Elder Min took a sip of the spirit tea, his expression unreadable.
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
