Chapter 32: "In Turbulent Times, Many Sons Bring Much Blessing"

Chapter 32: "In Turbulent Times, Many Sons Bring Much Blessing"

After giving some trivial matters to the two scholar brothers, Chen Qiu returned to the Beast District, Area 8 of the Ask Heaven Market. He once again purchased a large number of demons, and just like last time, he instructed the shopkeeper to severely injure them before sending them to a certain inn.

Although his strength was already sufficient to deal with these Qi Condensation Stage demons, he preferred to minimize the trouble for himself.

Spending less than 200 spirit stones, Chen Qiu and his companion sat in a room at an inn, watching the shopkeeper's face filled with suppressed laughter as he continuously delivered large quantities of demons.

They filled up three entire rooms.

"Yes."

Chen Qiu sat in a wooden chair, pouring himself a cup of cooling tea, and glanced at the plump dragon beside him, saying indifferently, "Why are you spacing out? To help you break through your cultivation, it only took less than 200 spirit stones. It's a great deal."

Indeed.

Breaking through the Qi Condensation Stage was this simple. As long as you could find a large gathering of Qi Condensation Stage demons and had the strength to kill them or enough spirit stones to purchase severely injured demons, advancing to the Foundation Establishment Stage in a single day was a piece of cake.

However, neither of these options had anything to do with ordinary people.

Forget about someone like Plump Dragon, who needed 200 spirit stones to break through from the seventh layer of the Qi Condensation Stage to the Foundation Establishment Stage. Even Chen Qiu, who required 30 spirit stones to advance from the third layer to the seventh layer of the Qi Condensation Stage, was a sum that most Qi Condensation Stage cultivators couldn't afford.

Many Qi Condensation Stage cultivators were quite poor.

Or perhaps the logic should be reversed.

It wasn't that the Qi Condensation Stage was poor, but rather, cultivators who remained at this stage were often impoverished. Those with some savings would have already advanced to the Foundation Establishment Stage, as only then would they truly step into the threshold of cultivation.

As long as you had 300 spirit stones, you could advance from the first layer of the Qi Condensation Stage to the first layer of the Foundation Establishment Stage in a single day.

Breaking through the Qi Condensation Stage was this simple.

After advancing to the Foundation Establishment Stage, cultivation progress would become much slower. At this point, killing Qi Condensation Stage demons would no longer increase cultivation progress, and mature Foundation Establishment Stage demons were rarely sold. Demons of this cultivation level couldn't be mass-bred by humans and could only be found in the wild.

Not only were they difficult to kill, but even if one was slain, the cultivation progress gained would be minimal, which was the most headache-inducing aspect.

During this stage, the mainstream methods for cultivation advancement primarily relied on two approaches.

The first method involved possessing a sufficiently good art and finding a place with abundant spiritual energy, where one could continuously cultivate the art in seclusion, seeking a breakthrough.

The second method was to rely heavily on medicinal pills.

For instance, his Heavenly Mandate Foundation had been automatically rotating for most of the day since last night, yet his cultivation progress hadn't increased at all, and even the spiritual energy within his body wasn't fully replenished.

After advancing to the Foundation Establishment Stage, his dantian was only half-filled with spiritual energy, and it hadn't been completely replenished yet.

"Alright, alright."

Chen Qiu was a bit tired of watching Plump Dragon's grateful expression, so he waved his hand and said, "Let's get started. Don't waste any more time."

Soon—

The room fell into a noisy silence.

Plump Dragon held a butcher knife in his hand, and with each snap, he dispatched a demon.

Chen Qiu sat cross-legged on the bed, holding a spirit stone, absorbing the spiritual energy within.

Finally.

After an hour had passed.

When Chen Qiu opened his eyes again, the room was in disarray, and Plump Dragon was nowhere to be seen. Chen Qiu frowned and looked down at the bed, where several shattered spirit stones lay. He had just consumed three spirit stones to fully replenish the spiritual energy in his dantian.

It wasn't that he had consumed too much.

Rather, his absorption speed was too slow.

It took him a full hour to absorb all the spiritual energy from those three spirit stones.

His current Foundation Establishment was a hundred and ten li wide and a hundred li tall, supported by the Heavenly Mandate Foundation. Even with this boost, his absorption speed remained slow, indicating that his current Foundation Establishment couldn't hold too much spiritual energy.

After attending the auction tonight and hunting demons tomorrow, he planned to increase the width of his Foundation Establishment to several hundred li or even a thousand li.

In other words, each time he replenished the spiritual energy in his dantian, it would take nearly ten hours?

What if it were ten thousand li or a hundred thousand li in the future?

Would it take a month to fill his dantian with spiritual energy? That was more than enough time for his mortal enemy to exterminate his entire clan three or four times over!

"This won't do."

Chen Qiu shook his head and muttered, "I need to find a better art."

The strength of the Heavenly Mandate Foundation was closely tied to the quality of the art. If the art was inferior, the Heavenly Mandate Foundation wouldn't be able to exert its full potential. His current art was merely a Yellow Rank Intermediate Art, which wasn't sufficient for his needs.

He took out the list of items for auction from his pocket and carefully scanned it again. Indeed, on the last page, he spotted an art up for auction.

Foundation Establishment Stage Supreme Art: Seven Lights Revealed.

In fact, it was a Yellow Rank Supreme Art. The terms 'Heaven, Earth, Profound, and Yellow' were semi-slang used in the cultivation world to classify techniques, treasures, and pills. Officially, they were categorized as—

Qi Condensation Stage, Foundation Establishment Stage, Golden Core Stage, and so on.

The Supreme-grade Art for the Foundation Establishment Stage is the most suitable Art for Foundation Establishment Cultivators. It is the strongest Art among all Foundation Establishment Arts, and it can even be used without issue during the Golden Core Period.

Aside from this, there was another item on the auction list that he had to obtain.

The Intermediate-rank Spell, "Thunder Summoning Art," was a perfect match for his "Focus Power" Entry. This Spell was extremely compatible with him.

In fact, this Spell was considered a common one, and it could be purchased at the Zhao Family Commerce's shop for a low price of two Spirit Stones. With some haggling, it might even be possible to get it for just one Spirit Stone, as it was a replicated version with minimal costs. If you had some connections, finding a friend who cultivated this Spell and asking for a free replication might not be an issue.

However, the "Thunder Summoning Art" at the auction was a product of the Celestial Path Secret Realm, and upon learning it, one would immediately attain the Great Proficiency Realm. It was, without a doubt, extraordinary and not an ordinary item.

Additionally, there were two Intermediate-rank "Celestial Path Rewind Talismans" on the auction list, suitable for use during the Foundation Establishment Stage. These were also items he needed. Many of the items up for auction were things he desired—all of them were excellent.

It was only through the shopkeeper that he learned about the "Celestial Path Rewind Talismans." One could only use two of these Talismans per major realm. He had already used two Inferior-rank "Celestial Path Rewind Talismans" during the Qi Condensation Stage. After acquiring this Intermediate-rank "Celestial Path Rewind Talisman," if the three randomly obtained Entries during his Foundation Establishment Stage's minor realm breakthrough were all good, he could take them all.

Just as Chen Qiu sat cross-legged on his bed, studying the auction list and contemplating his plans for the next few days, he saw Fat Dragon enter with a grim expression.

The uncontrolled leakage of his Foundation Establishment Stage aura indicated that his cultivation realm was still unstable after the recent breakthrough.

"Congratulations."

Chen Qiu put away the auction list he had been holding, got up, and walked to the table. He poured himself a cup of cooling tea and, with a smile, said to Fat Dragon, "How does it feel to be in the Foundation Establishment Stage? Why the long face? Could it be that all three randomly obtained Entries were trash?"

"Yeah."

Fat Dragon sat down on a wooden chair with a bitter expression, picked up the cooling tea pot, and started chugging the tea. He had already struggled with his initial Entry, and just when he had come to terms with it, he had high hopes for the Triple Choice Entry during the Foundation Establishment Stage.

However, it seemed like Heaven was playing a cruel joke on him.

Thinking about the three Entries he had randomly obtained upon breaking through to the Foundation Establishment Stage, he felt an overwhelming urge to bash his head against the wall!!!

"Cultivation level surge, officially entering the first layer of the Foundation Establishment Stage."

"Please choose one of the following three random Entries within ten breaths."

1:

"Entry Name": Emperor of Hell's Decree.

"Entry Rank": Gray.

"Entry Effect": You will definitely die in one year, but you will absolutely not die within that year.

2:

"Entry Name": Early Great Achievement.

"Entry Rank": Gray.

"Entry Effect": The progress you gain from cultivation will be ten times faster, and you will not encounter any bottlenecks. However, you will only live until the age of 25, and there is no way to extend your lifespan through any means.

3:

"Entry Name": Hundred Hits Hundred Hits.

"Entry Rank": White.

"Entry Effect": The female of the same race who shares a bed with you will definitely become pregnant afterward.

"I'm 24 this year, and in thirty days, it will be my birthday, and I'll officially turn 25."

Fat Dragon's face was almost despairing as he said with a trembling voice, "If I choose the first Entry, I'll die next year. If I choose the second Entry, I'll die in thirty days when I turn 25. Do I even have a choice with these three Entries?"

"Only the third Entry won't lead to death, but what use is that Entry!!!"

"I came here to cultivate immortality!!!"

"Calm down."

Chen Qiu's expression was complicated as he patted Fat Dragon's shoulder. He wanted to console him but didn't know where to start. After a while, he finally mustered the courage to speak, "Maybe there's a Pink Entry where the more children you have, the stronger you become?"

"I've already thought of a name for that Pink Entry—'Many Sons Much Blessing'."

"And there are other ways to obtain Entries, like through the Celestial Path Secret Realm and auctions. There's still hope in the future."

"This time, just consider it as picking up an Entry for free. Calm down and don't rush."

"Things will get better."

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end