Chapter 28: "Heavenly Mandate Decree": Bestowed with the Heavenly Mandate Foundation

Chapter 28: "Heavenly Mandate Decree": Bestowed with the Heavenly Mandate Foundation

No one knew how much time had passed.

Logically, the sky should have brightened long ago, but the dark clouds showed no signs of dispersing; instead, they grew denser, blurring the distinction between day and night. Fat Dragon gradually lost his sense of time under this perpetual gloom.

The rain, however, remained absent despite the heavy atmosphere.

Fat Dragon's legs began to tremble.

"Oh, my!"

Fat Dragon's eyes were red-rimmed, and his face was contorted with grief. Deep within his eyes, anxiety brewed as he continuously placed spirit stones into the storage bag in his embrace. He had lost count of how many spirit stones he had collected.

All he knew was that his storage bag was now full, and he had even taken several more bags from Chen Qiu's embrace, as one bag was not enough to contain them all.

Initially, he had been thrilled.

With so many spirit stones, they could make a name for themselves in this unfamiliar world! But as the spirit stones piled up, he began to feel a sense of dread. Once this news spread, he and Chen Qiu would likely become public enemies overnight. It was enough; he didn't need this many. His appetite couldn't handle such a feast.

Chen Qiu, however, remained cross-legged in his original position, maintaining the same posture. No one knew how long he had been in this state. Initially, he had killed all the Face Spiders around him, but now he had run out of demons to slay and enhance his cultivation progress. He was about to change locations.

But who could have predicted this?

Perhaps due to the dramatic change in the sky, a massive swarm of Face Spiders rushed towards him from the other side of the canyon, as if they were fleeing for their lives. This horde of Face Spiders acted like fuel, providing him with tremendous assistance.

Thanks to this, he could remain in the same spot without needing to relocate.

Initially, each failed Foundation Establishment attempt due to his body's discomfort would result in him spitting blood. But after adapting, he no longer needed to expel blood during failures. Perhaps it was due to the numerous failed attempts, but he now felt a slight dizziness in his head.

Just as he once again reached the perfection of Qi Condensation and prepared to fail at Foundation Establishment again, a faint and ethereal voice suddenly sounded in his ear:

"Heavenly Mandate Decree": The Heavenly Mandate senses that within a hundred li radius of Fufeng City in the Great Xia Nation, there is a mortal with unwavering determination, who has continuously failed in his Foundation Establishment attempts nine hundred and ninety-nine times, yet remains unyielding in his pursuit!

Such perseverance puts all living beings to shame.

Bestowed upon him is the 'Heavenly Mandate Foundation', may all living beings take this as an example.

This ethereal decree resonated across the skies of the Great Xia Nation, causing countless people to look up in awe, carefully listening to the words of the Heavenly Mandate Decree. Many stood rooted in shock, their faces filled with disbelief, evidently struggling to comprehend.

However, these people were not admiring the mortal's perseverance.

Instead, they were bewildered, wondering if breaking through the Foundation Establishment Stage was that difficult? Could one fail nine hundred and ninety-nine consecutive attempts?

Logically, the more times one fails at Foundation Establishment, the narrower their Dao Foundation would become, indicating a reduced capacity for absorbing spiritual energy. They dared not imagine what the width of the Dao Foundation would be after failing nine hundred times.

Perhaps releasing a single Yellow Rank Inferior Spell would deplete all the spiritual energy within the Dao Foundation?

It was even possible that this Yellow Rank Inferior Spell might not be cast at all.

But who would have thought that this person would coincidentally benefit from this disaster and obtain the "Heavenly Mandate Foundation"? Upon seeing these four words, many in the Great Xia Nation gazed jealously towards Fufeng City.

If they had known that failing nine hundred and ninety-nine times at Foundation Establishment would grant the Heavenly Mandate Foundation, they would have done it long ago. Some Qi Condensation cultivators also began to ponder whether there was still such a reward after failing nine hundred and ninety-nine times.

The "Heavenly Mandate Foundation," as the name suggests, is a Dao Foundation built upon the foundation of the Heavenly Mandate.

It can only be obtained in extremely rare and special circumstances and only when one is about to break through to the Foundation Establishment Stage. Since the establishment of the Great Xia Nation, only a handful have possessed the Heavenly Mandate Foundation, and all of them were exceptional geniuses among geniuses. The last well-known recipient was a Sword Cultivator, but he had already passed away.

The benefits of the Heavenly Mandate Foundation are straightforward and powerful.

It provides an extremely solid foundation.

Whether it's the speed of absorbing spiritual energy or the sturdiness of the Dao Foundation during battles, it surpasses ordinary Foundation Establishment by several times. Moreover, if one manages to break through to the Golden Core Realm, the Golden Core formed on the Heavenly Mandate Foundation will be far superior to ordinary Golden Cores.

Another significant advantage is that the Heavenly Mandate Foundation can absorb spiritual energy even without the need to circulate one's cultivation art. Although the absorption rate is slightly slower, it's as if your Dao Foundation is constantly turning, absorbing spiritual energy and enhancing your cultivation progress, even while you sleep, eat, or relieve yourself.

It's like having a production tool.

After hearing the Heavenly Mandate Decree, Chen Qiu discovered that the surrounding spiritual energy began to uncontrollably surge into his body without him circulating his cultivation art. The spiritual energy rapidly filled his meridians.

In an instant, his meridians were saturated, and as he observed his inner state, his Dao Foundation rapidly solidified.

In the blink of an eye, he succeeded in Foundation Establishment.

A hundred and ten li wide and one hundred li tall Dao Foundation was rooted in his Dantian, the entire foundation was white jade-like, with faint golden glimmers rippling across its surface. This unassuming golden glimmer made the entire foundation appear extraordinary.

Engraved on the foundation's surface were the names of the entries he possessed.

When Chen Qiu entered the Foundation Establishment stage, he didn't have a "Foundation Establishment Pill" to enhance the quality and success rate, nor did he have any Celestial Materials to aid him. Logically, he should have just been an ordinary one-hundred li foundation.

However, he had an entry that slightly improved the quality of his foundation, which increased its width to one hundred and ten li.

At this moment, the foundation was slowly rotating, attempting to absorb spiritual energy from the outside world.

But after turning for a while, not a trace of spiritual energy was absorbed.

Chen Qiu, now at the Foundation Establishment stage, could already release spiritual energy from his body, unleashing the full power of his Yellow Rank Inferior Spirit Artifact. He could cast spells and sense the richness of external spiritual energy.

In his perception, the canyon depths were devoid of any spiritual energy, like a desert, dry and barren.

Chen Qiu slowly opened his eyes and saw Fat Dragon standing anxiously beside him, his face filled with worry.

"My goodness, you're finally awake!" Fat Dragon's voice trembled, and his hands shook as he handed over seven or eight storage bags to Chen Qiu, "All the spirit stones are here. I didn't count them, but there are definitely more than twenty thousand. What do we do next?"

"If anyone finds out about this, our souls will be extracted!"

"This is the first time I've felt spirit stones burn my hands."

Chen Qiu took the storage bags and tucked them into his robe, feeling the strength of his Foundation Establishment stage as he stretched his limbs. For the first time in this world, he felt a hint of confidence. A smile spread across his face.

Although he hadn't counted the spirit stones carefully, he knew exactly how many there were.

29,970 spirit stones, if nothing unexpected happened.

At this moment, he could channel spiritual energy into his Yellow Rank Inferior Spirit Artifact, the "Heaven Slayer" longsword, unleashing its full power.

His foundation width was currently one hundred and ten li.

The demons he had slain before entering the Foundation Establishment stage weren't included in this calculation; otherwise, his foundation would be at least several thousand li wide by now.

Next, he only needed to do two things:

First, purchase a spell that he could maximize the power of, preferably one from the Celestial Path Secret Realm, which would allow him to master it directly. Then, buy more talismans, communication stones, medicinal pills, and other supplementary items to ensure his survival and enhance his combat power.

Second, expand the width of his Dao Foundation as much as possible, allowing it to contain more spiritual energy.

With this, he would truly have a voice in this world, or at least the right to survive.

"Thunder Summoning Art" could only draw down a bolt of lightning from the heavens to strike enemies. Using this Yellow Rank Medium spell at the first layer of the Foundation Establishment stage would nearly deplete half of his spiritual energy. But if his foundation contained enough spiritual energy...

Then it wouldn't just be about summoning lightning.

It would be "Hundred Mile Thunder Punishment," "Instant Strike," and "Head Showdown"!

Chen Qiu steadied his nerves and, as agreed, took out a low-rank talisman from his robe, infusing it with spiritual energy to activate it. Instantly, a scarlet beam shot straight up from the canyon depths into the sky!

This was a low-rank talisman he had purchased from the Ask Heaven Market for just one tael of silver. He bought ten of them at the Zhao Family Commerce, as they were the best option for sending messages when he couldn't afford a communication stone.

When the two were brought back to the edge of the canyon's sky crack by the bearded bulwark, the scholar, sitting cross-legged on the ground, looked at them with a complex expression. After a long while, he rasped, "Chen Young Master, what were you two doing down there?"

"Wasn't the mortal who failed to establish his foundation 999 times near Fufeng City mentioned in the Heavenly Mandate Decree you, Chen Young Master?"

"This place is naturally lacking in spiritual energy, and the spiritual energy within dozens of li around has been sucked dry by the canyon below. The commotion is no less than that of breaking through the Golden Core stage."

He suddenly felt that Chen Young Master's claim of being the young master of a reclusive clan from outside the Great Xia Empire might not have been a lie.

To create such a commotion, it could only be either breaking through the Golden Core stage or the operation of a cultivation technique to absorb spiritual energy.

For a cultivation technique to create such a disturbance, it had to be at least a Profound Rank Superior Art, a legendary existence only mentioned in historical records. He had never heard of anyone in the Great Xia Empire possessing such a technique.

This level of existence wasn't something an ordinary mortal could attain, even with opportunity. If not for the deep heritage of a large family, the odds of a Qi Condensation stage mortal obtaining such a technique were no better than randomly acquiring a Rainbow Entry during their first Qi Condensation stage.

Oh, but Chen Young Master was no longer a Qi Condensation stage mortal.

He was now at the first layer of the Foundation Establishment stage.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end