Chapter 99: Meeting the White-Robed Again

Wang Ping's appetite, nurtured by the Spirit Realm's spiritual energy, is somewhat picky, so he doesn't fancy the spiritual energy here.

But those Qi Refining cultivator wanderers, upon entering here, burst into tears, greedily absorbing the rich spiritual energy in the air.

Wang Ping silently observed all this; if not for the silver stone gate, he estimated he wouldn't even have a chance to enter the ruins.

Therefore, his greatest secret must never be exposed; even if he became a Nascent Soul True Lord or a Void Merging cultivator with great divine abilities, this remains true.

In his heart, Wang Ping once again secretly warned himself that he must definitely protect the secret of the silver stone gate.

Here there is a flight-ban formation, so flying is impossible; Wang Ping is unfamiliar with this place, and finding Tie Lanshan and the others would likely require considerable effort.

But that was before; now! Wang Ping flipped his palm, and a formation disk appeared in his hand—this is the formation disk that Tie Lanshan had refined for him back then, capable of short-range sensing and transmitting information.

However, under the influence of the great prohibitive formation here, it is practically scrap; nevertheless, this formation disk was personally refined by Tie Lanshan, containing his aura, although after ten years this aura has grown very faint.

Wang Ping, however, was not worried at all, and softly called out, 'Xiao Xue, be good!'

Bai Xue, hearing Wang Ping's voice, slowly flew out from the collar at his neck.

In its juvenile stage it cannot speak, and even upon reaching maturity it still would not be able to speak, but this does not prevent Xiao Xue from understanding Wang Ping's meaning.

Bai Xue flapped its snow-white wings and landed on the formation disk; its little head gave a barely perceptible nod, then it flew into the air, turned three circles, and suddenly flew off in a certain direction.

A smile appeared at the corner of Wang Ping's mouth; Bai Xue, after ten years of his feeding, could already achieve a heart-to-heart understanding with him.

After storing Bai Xue away, he rushed wildly in that direction.

Along the way, the Qi Refining cultivators he encountered all made way for him.

Thus he proceeded unimpeded into the inner region; after entering here, Wang Ping dared not continue his reckless, frantic dashing.

The outer region is a plain where no mountains can be seen, but once one enters the inner region, many mountains come into view, standing here.

It seems as if the outer and inner regions are two different worlds.

Each mountain is extremely towering, with formation light flickering on its surface; even Wang Ping would not dare to recklessly probe with his divine sense.

In terms of number, these mountains are not as many as those of the Azure Moon Sect, but in terms of grandeur and expansiveness, they far surpass those of the Azure Moon Sect.

Wang Ping secretly praised, 'No wonder it is the power that has unified the Western Droop, with a Nascent Soul True Lord holding the fort.'

Such vigor, even after thirteen hundred years, has not dissipated.

Gazing at the mountains before him, Wang Ping again had Bai Xue confirm a direction, only to discover that after entering here, Bai Xue was flying about in confusion.

'Eh! A tracking butterfly!'

Three figures appeared from behind Wang Ping's left; looking at his direction, it was obvious they, too, had come from outside.

'Fellow Daoist, I never expected you to possess a tracking butterfly that has vanished from the cultivation world for nearly ten thousand years; I wonder if you would part with it—I am willing to offer a five-pattern treasure in exchange for this butterfly!'

Turning around, Wang Ping saw the newcomer; his heart shook—it was this person, still dressed in a white robe as before, and the two female cultivators behind him had actually broken through to Foundation Establishment, each holding a sword and a blade.

It was almost exactly as it had been back in Phantom Moon City; the only difference was that the sword and blade instruments they held had become sword and blade treasures.

After not seeing him for many years, he had actually come here too; suppressing his surprise, Wang Ping coldly said:

'Not for sale!'

'You really won't reconsider? Know that five-pattern treasures are rare in the cultivation world!'

'Hahaha! Young Master Duo Bao, if you said this to other cultivators, they might agree, but facing this person before you, a five-pattern treasure is nothing!'

A bold, coarse voice came from another direction; Wang Ping narrowed his eyes, sizing up the speaker.

That cultivator obviously practiced a secret technique to restrain his aura, but Wang Ping's divine sense was overwhelming; he still vaguely sensed that this middle-aged cultivator speaking boldly ahead was a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator.

This surprised him somewhat, for late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators are absolutely uncommon in the cultivation world.

After breaking through the Foundation Establishment stage, he had a slight understanding of this realm.

When Qi Refining cultivators enter the Foundation Establishment stage, their spiritual power turns to liquid, and their demand for heavenly and earthly spiritual energy becomes greater and higher.

Don't just look at the lifespan extension after breaking through Foundation Establishment; correspondingly, the difficulty of breaking through a minor stage also increases accordingly.

When Qi Refining cultivators condense their spiritual power into liquid, basically a hundred strands of spiritual power are needed to form a drop of spiritual liquid.

Once fully entered the Foundation Establishment stage, one's own spiritual liquid amounts to roughly sixty to a hundred drops, meaning the condensed heavenly and earthly spiritual power is between six thousand and ten thousand strands.

Fortunately, the process of spiritual power turning to liquid is extremely fast, basically allowing one drop per day.

But that alone is not enough; one must again absorb spiritual power to stabilize the spiritual liquid above sixty drops in order to firmly establish one's footing in Foundation Establishment.

But to condense more than three thousand strands of spiritual power in a hundred days—that is thirty drops of spiritual liquid—even a heavenly spiritual root cannot achieve that.

However, on the path of cultivation, every drink and morsel has its fixed measure.

In the world, cultivators on the path of Qi Refining great completion endure however many times of resistance; during the spiritual power-to-liquid process, they will have that many times the cultivation speed, plus the Foundation Establishment pill's triple-speed cultivation effect, and the spiritual vein's bonus.

Basically, as long as one endured sixty times the resistance during the Qi Refining great completion stage, they would basically have no worries regarding spiritual power—except for low-grade spiritual roots; Wang Ping is an exception.

But this is merely the minimum; like when Wang Ping broke through, he condensed a hundred and sixty drops of spiritual liquid.

This exceeds that of ordinary cultivators by nearly three times.

But upon entering the Foundation Establishment stage, cultivation speed plummets, basically increasing only fivefold over the base speed of one's spiritual root.

For example, a high-grade spiritual root can condense four strands of spiritual power per month; after breaking through Foundation Establishment, one can condense twenty strands per month.

But to break through to mid-Foundation Establishment, one must at least reach two hundred drops of spiritual liquid, i. e., twenty thousand strands of spiritual power.

Most cultivators' spiritual liquid amounts at breakthrough are around eighty drops.

That is to say, reaching the peak of early Foundation Establishment requires one hundred twenty drops of spiritual liquid, or twelve thousand strands of spiritual power.

Taking a high-grade spiritual root as an example, during Foundation Establishment one can refine twenty strands per month; a second-grade spiritual vein adds roughly thirty percent, and a strong cultivation method adds thirty percent increase—this increase is calculated based on twenty strands of spiritual power.

Foundation Establishment-stage pills are even rarer; we will not count them for now.

Thus calculated, a high-grade spiritual root Foundation Establishment cultivator can condense thirty-two strands of spiritual power per month; therefore, breaking through from early to mid-Foundation Establishment takes about thirty-one years of full-force cultivation.

Compared to Foundation Establishment cultivators who possess over a hundred years and can still extend their lifespan, this amount of time is still acceptable.

But next, breaking through from mid- to late-Foundation Establishment, that terrifying number drives most Foundation Establishment cultivators to despair!

One thousand drops! A fivefold gap.

That is, one hundred thousand strands of spiritual power; a high-grade spiritual root requires two hundred sixty years.

As for the 129,600 strands of spiritual power of Foundation Establishment Great Perfection, there's no need to even think about it.

Hehe!

The path of immortality is arduous, and that's precisely why wealth, companions, and blessed lands can all increase cultivation speed, but how could ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators possibly possess all of them?

To tell you the truth, the Way of Immortal Cultivation places primary importance on talent; the realm that a top-grade spiritual root requires over two hundred years to break through, while a heavenly-grade spiritual root, under the same conditions, needs only sixty-five years to advance from mid-Foundation Establishment to late-Foundation Establishment.

But does a heavenly spiritual root not have the support of a fourth-grade spirit vein? Does it not have the aid of elixirs for cultivation? Does it not have top-tier, even supreme techniques to accelerate cultivation speed!

Of course there is!

This is the cruel truth of the world of immortal cultivation.

There has never been an example in the world of immortal cultivation of a low-grade spiritual root becoming a Golden Core; the reason lies here.

If Wang Ping had not risked his life on the path of Qi Condensation Great Perfection, even if he successfully broke through to Foundation Establishment and possessed the spiritual energy of the Spirit Realm to aid his cultivation, a low-grade spiritual root would give him hardly any chance at all to cultivate into a Golden Core.