Chapter 91: Foundation Establishment!

"You brat! You brat!"

"Deceiving others is far too much! Indeed, it's far too much!"

The Cao Family Senior Elder, already over one hundred and fifty years old, even considering the maximum lifespan of one hundred and eighty years for a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator, is already of extreme age, and his end is not far off.

In a place like Nanshan Fang, his strength and seniority are top‑tier; he is accustomed to being respected, and no one dares to defy him.

Even Cao Hao, the rising star of the Cao Family whose strength surpasses his, still must consult him on many matters first.

Now, he is being mocked and ridiculed by a junior at the Ninth Layer of Qi Refining, almost as if being slapped in the face! The Senior Elder's inner fury is easy to imagine.

Seeing Cao Hao return, he raged, "Patriarch, why did you agree to this Xiao Zhangqing? Who does he think he is? I don't believe that even if we eliminate him, the Luoxia Sect would do anything to our Cao Family. Now the protectors of Nanshan Fang are us, the Cao Family! Not the Luoxia Sect, let alone Lingfu Pavilion!"

"Senior Elder, calm your anger," Cao Hao sighed, "Xiao Zhangqing is not worth the trouble. But speaking calmly, can our Nanshan Fang guards operate without his Second‑rank Talisman Script?"

The Senior Elder, still angry, said: "Then capture this kid, lock him up, make him a Symbol Master puppet, force him to draw talismans every day, otherwise he'll die! I wonder how hard his bones are—does he dare not draw? He's only a Second‑rank Talisman Master, won't live beyond one hundred and twenty years. Does he truly consider himself a Foundation Establishment cultivator?"

After saying that, he himself thought the plan wasn't very workable.

He then sneered, "When the war is about to end, he'll have a good show! If some escaped Evil Cultivators slip into Nanshan Fang and kill a few people, that wouldn't be surprising, would it?"

Cao Hao understood his own Senior Elder's meaning.

That's all future talk; for now, don't think that far ahead.

Being able to repel Evil Cultivators and keep Nanshan Fang safe and sound is what they must do.

……

……

Three days later.

Jia Yi Cave.

Inside the cultivation chamber, Xiao Zhangqing early instructed the Lin sisters, ordering them not to leave anywhere during this time, and to stay in the cave to guard his protective formation.

At the same time, Xiao Zhangqing bestowed Lin Ziyu with a dozen or so Second‑rank Talisman Scripts, both offensive and defensive.

Not long ago, Lin Ziyu's cultivation had already broken through to the Seventh Layer of Qi Refining; in the late stage of Qi Refining, she can wield Second‑rank offensive talismans with ease, without any mishap.

As for Lin Zixi, whose cultivation remains at the Sixth Layer of Qi Refining, Xiao Zhangqing gave her mainly Second‑rank defensive talismans, while the offensive talismans are First‑rank premium.

Having these two sisters guard his formation, even if petty troublemakers appear during his breakthrough, they will be sufficient to handle them.

Moreover.

Breaking through the Foundation Establishment Realm requires a fairly long period, perhaps ten days to half a month.

But the final gateway that triggers heavenly and earthly phenomena will not take long.

【27】 "Almost done."

Three days later.

Xiao Zhangqing felt his essence, spirit, and mind had all reached their peak; his mood shifted from the initial excitement, apprehension, and slight unease to calmness, no longer pondering the future, focusing solely on the present.

"Founding the road's foundation, leaving a name in the Cultivation World, from today onward!"

As soon as the thought moved, the massive magical energy within Xiao Zhangqing began to surge, like a fish leaping over the dragon gate, charging fiercely toward the bottleneck that had trapped him.

Boom! An invisible vibrating force spread through his whole body; as the magical energy circulated more freely, Xiao Zhangqing's body began to change—his entire body tingled, his skin heated as if burned by fire, and his qi and blood surged with the magic.

Foundation Establishment is not merely a breakthrough of magical energy and Soul Transformation.

First, the flesh must also change!

After breaking through the Foundation Establishment Realm, the lifespan directly increases by a full cycle of sixty years, and the flesh naturally evolves in all aspects—strength, aging rate, and so on all improve.

If explained with Xiao Zhangqing's knowledge from his previous life, it is a leap in the level of life‑gene hierarchy, even the cells undergo changes!

"So painful..."

Xiao Zhangqing felt the pain.

The flushing of qi and blood at first was only a superficial numbness, like taking a shower with water that's a bit too hot, but as time passed, unnoticed day and night, it penetrated the meridians and even the bone marrow, producing a feeling as if being roasted on a fire.

At such times, most cultivators with ordinary spiritual roots—mid‑grade or high‑grade—choose to take a Foundation Pill to alleviate the side effects and pain of the breakthrough.

This is also why the Foundation must be completed before the age of sixty.

Because beyond sixty, bodily functions decline, making even the first flesh‑purification stage hard to complete.

Xiao Zhangqing's Foundation Pill lay beside him, ready for him to take at any time.

But Xiao Zhangqing kept his eyes shut; though his face showed pain, he gritted his teeth and persisted, with no intention of taking the Foundation Pill.

Buzz— Xiao Zhangqing's mighty magical energy, far surpassing that of ordinary cultivators, enveloped his whole body; during this painful scorching, it felt like streams of cool water flowing slowly over him, steadied his mind and prevented him from going berserk.

Another two days passed.

At a certain moment, Xiao Zhangqing suddenly felt his flesh relax, as if transcendent and purified after the washing; he realized that without taking the Foundation Pill, he had already successfully passed the first stage of the foundation.

Although he is not a body‑refining cultivator, at this moment he felt his flesh's strength had increased greatly.

Cultivators of the Qi Refining Realm, though they possess magical energy, without dedicated body‑refining techniques their flesh remains not much different from ordinary mortals.

Even a Qi Refining cultivator, if careless and lacking a protective robe, can be killed by a martial arts master from the Mortal World with a simple iron sword.

But Foundation Establishment cultivators differ; even without dedicated body‑refining, their flesh strength can block ordinary mortal swords.

There is no lingering pleasure in the flesh‑purification.

Next comes the most crucial step of foundation—magical energy metamorphosis!

This is also the hurdle that stalls countless Qi Refining cultivators.

Even high‑grade spiritual root cultivators basically must take a Foundation Pill to breakthrough.

Because this step requires compressing one's gaseous magical energy into a qualitatively changed liquid form—concentrated countless times.

This is also the fundamental difference between Foundation Establishment and Qi Refining cultivators.

The essential upgrade of magical energy allows one to easily overwhelm Qi Refining cultivators in spellcasting, artifact handling, and so on.

Any cultivator who completes the foundation will know exactly how vast the gap between Foundation Establishment and Qi Refining realms is.

Foundation Establishment is the base of the Dao's foundation; only by truly entering the Foundation Establishment Realm can one be said to step onto the path of cultivation, thereafter the immortal way remains evergreen, wholly distinct from mortals.

Glancing at the quietly placed Foundation Pill beside him, Xiao Zhangqing did not reach for it, closed his eyes, and continued the breakthrough.

The metamorphosis of magical power is the hardest for other cultivators, but for him—whose magical foundation is immensely strong, already compressed to the limit and only one step away from liquefaction—it is not that difficult.

This is the benefit of the Earth Spirit Root.

If he could advance further and become the legendary Heaven Spirit Root, Xiao Zhangqing suspects that breaking through the Foundation Establishment might be like ordinary cultivators breaking through the Late Stage of Lian Qi—there is no real threshold, and a casual retreat would naturally cause his magical power to metamorphose.

Buzz! Like a whale sucking water, the spiritual power in the training chamber was wildly churned, rushing toward Xiao Zhangqing. At that moment his body seemed like a bottomless pit, able to contain any amount of spiritual power.

Even the two sister guardians outside clearly sensed the surrounding spiritual energy thinning, being siphoned away.

At this point, the importance of the cave residence became evident.

To establish a foundation in Nanshan Fang, one must break through in a type‑A sized cave residence, or in a high‑rank type‑B cave residence.

Cave residences at the back have insufficient spiritual vein grades, lacking the spiritual energy needed for breakthrough! "Does breaking through the Foundation Establishment really require this much spiritual energy?"

Lin Zixi looked toward the training chamber with some nervousness.

Now it is wartime; the spiritual energy grade of the top‑tier type‑A cave residence has been slightly lowered, but it is still above second tier, nearly second‑tier middle grade. Yet the lord's breakthrough still feels a bit short on spiritual energy! "It will definitely succeed!"

Lin Ziyu nodded firmly, appearing very certain, but the veins in her tightly clenched hands were about to show, and her strained cheeks and clenched lips betrayed her.

How could one not worry?

No matter how extraordinary the lord's talent or how impressive his battle record, he is still a low‑grade spiritual root; how difficult can Foundation Establishment be?

Fortunately, Miss Mu of the Mu family delivered a Foundation Establishment Pill; otherwise the two of them would have been even more nervous.

…

The ferocious Heaven‑and‑Earth spiritual power surged wildly into his body, the shock making it hard to control, but under the restraint of his sufficiently massive magical power, he gradually held on and adapted.

If one possessed a middle‑grade or upper‑grade spiritual root, whose magical power was not pure and strong enough, at this moment they would likely lose control and would need the aid of a Foundation Establishment Pill; otherwise, under such violent shock, a minor injury would damage the spiritual vein and set back cultivation, a severe one would cost one's life.

"It seems… I don't need the Foundation Establishment Pill at all!"

The situation is far better than Xiao Zhangqing had expected!

His magical power is not only pure and strong, but his Soul Transformation is the strongest! With the Divine Sense boost from the Prison Dragon Bracelet, his current Soul Transformation strength already rivals that of a mid‑stage Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Not to mention Earth Spirit Root cultivators; even Heaven Spirit Root cultivators in the Qi Refining Realm are less than half of Xiao Zhangqing! Though Divine Sense cannot replace the effect of magical power, it helps Xiao Zhangqing wield his magic more efficiently, making breakthroughs twice as effective.

Thus time passed slowly.

Unwittingly, the fifth day arrived.

Suddenly, Xiao Zhangqing's spirit jolted; when his normally massive magical power gathered in his dantian, it had been mist‑like, but at this moment it began to form droplets of "rain" that fell.

Spring wind turns to rain!

One drop, two drops, three drops…

In a short while, a spiritual energy vortex formed above Xiao Zhangqing's dantian, continuously drawing magical power there for conversion.

Thus Xiao Zhangqing's speed of absorbing Heaven‑and‑Earth spiritual energy increased.

At this stage of Foundation Establishment, most of it is completed, and the hardest hurdle has already been successfully passed.

(End of Chapter)