Chapter 73: Death and Starting Over Again

"One who establishes the foundation constructs a great Dao immortal base, tempering the colored body to refine away mortal substance; with the six senses void and tranquil, one refines form into qi until the five qi bow to the origin and the three yangs gather at the crown. When the work is complete, form is forgotten, the fetal immortal transforms of its own accord, yin is exhausted and yang becomes pure, a body exists beyond the body—only then can one shed mortality and ascend as an immortal, transcend the mundane and enter sainthood, taking one's place among the ranks of immortals and bidding farewell to the vulgar world."

Inside the cave dwelling, Lu Yang sat cross-legged on a rush mat, silently comprehending.

"This step of Foundation Establishment is described differently by various cultivation methods, but regardless of which one, when reduced to practice, the steps are actually not much different."

That is, using one's own true qi as a base to lift up the sea of consciousness and ascend through refined form.

For example, the method he cultivated, the Nine Transformations Dragon Art, could refine the Third Grade true qi 'True Dragon Fiend' upon reaching perfection.

The further advanced Foundation Establishment method, the Ten Thousand Chariots Dragon-Riding Ascension Treasure Scroll, explicitly detailed how to use the True Dragon Fiend to complete the ascension of refined form.

Here one could see the importance of true qi grade.

If the true qi grade was insufficient, one would either be unable to lift the sea of consciousness, or run out of strength and qi halfway through the ascension, crashing down with a thunderous roar, resulting in death without a burial place.

The entire process of Foundation Establishment was precisely such a path of ascension.

And the endpoint of this path of ascension was the 'Foundation Establishment Realm'.

Seeing this, Lu Yang could not help but exclaim in astonishment: "Foundation Establishment Realm, Foundation Establishment Realm—so it does not refer to a realm, but to a place!"

Even so, ascension was only the first step.

Once a cultivator lifted the sea of consciousness and completely ascended into the Foundation Establishment Realm, they had to begin forging their own immortal base to ensure they could remain within the Foundation Establishment Realm.

This was another major hurdle.

Even if ordinary cultivators completed the step of ascension, most had exhausted their own foundations, resulting in barely managing to create a tottering immortal base.

The result was an unstable immortal base that could not withstand the pressure of the Foundation Establishment Realm, collapsing with a crash.

Failure in ascension might still leave hope for survival, but if the immortal base was destroyed, the cultivator themselves would certainly die; Luo Wuya had likely fallen at this very stage.

It must be known that when a cultivator ascended to the Foundation Establishment Realm and began forging their immortal base, besides requiring a solid foundation of cultivation base, countless demonic thoughts would spontaneously arise within them; if their Dao heart was not firm and their mind wandered like a monkey or galloped like a horse, they would inevitably be influenced by these demonic thoughts, and even with the deepest foundation, it would be of no avail.

"Truly, every step is arduous."

After sorting out the process of breaking through to Foundation Establishment, Lu Yang firmly committed the contents, secret formulas, and various critical points of the Ten Thousand Chariots Dragon-Riding Ascension Treasure Scroll to memory.

Immediately afterward, he took out the Ascension Token and placed it in his palm to circulate and transform.

The next second, the Ascension Token turned into a streak of flowing light that flew into his sea of consciousness, illuminating his heart with perfect clarity, while his entire body felt as if it were floating like an immortal.

Closing his eyes, Lu Yang immediately entered meditation.

Within his dantian, a strand of true qi manifested, growing scale-wood, scales and claws, teeth, whiskers and hair, until finally it transformed into a lifelike true dragon.

Boom!

With a single thunderous roar, this true dragon departed from the dantian, traveled upward through the Ren and Du meridians, passed the Crimson Palace, entered the Purple Mansion, and went straight to the depths of the sea of consciousness!

Immediately, Lu Yang felt brilliant heavenly light burst forth before his eyes; the true qi that had previously been so vast it seemed inexhaustible now poured out like a floodgate opening, transforming into an indescribable tremendous force that pushed his sea of consciousness to rise gradually toward the heights!

"Fortunately, I have this Ascension Token."

Lu Yang's mind remained clear; lifting the sea of consciousness to ascend into the void was no easy task, and originally there should have been nine layers of heavenly passes blocking the way, each breakthrough inevitably consuming great vitality.

However, with the empowerment of the Ascension Token bestowed by Daoist Yinshan, all gates of the nine layers of heavenly passes swung wide open, making his path of ascension completely unobstructed.

Moreover, more importantly, he was not beginning his ascension from the very bottom.

"Because I have cultivated the 'Saint Thief,' I already possess a certain status, so strictly speaking, I am actually beginning my ascension from mid-air."

The distance of ascension was therefore shortened by a small segment.

Do not look down on just a small segment; in reality, it could very well be the final straw that breaks the camel's back, saving Lu Yang an unknown amount of effort and energy.

The Saint Thief and the Ascension Token each resolved one type of tribulation on Lu Yang's path of ascension, while the Third Grade 'True Dragon Fiend' provided him with a sufficiently deep foundation, so he did not need to worry about exhausting his true qi halfway through the flight, but could proceed step by step, ascending all the way into the Foundation Establishment Realm.

Thus, an unknown amount of time passed.

Lu Yang only felt the brilliant heavenly light before his eyes gradually dim, as if passing through a region, until a boundless expanse of land appeared within his field of vision.

Lowering his head, Lu Yang unexpectedly saw himself.

Besides that, he also saw Yinshan, he saw the Chusheng Sect, he saw mountains and rivers, the sun and moon, and the myriad busy beings toiling for their livelihoods.

Or rather—the mortal world.

He had seen this scene once before; at Skeleton Mountain, Daoist Yinshan had shown him a great battle between Foundation Establishment True Persons, and the景象 had been exactly like this.

However, at that time his true spirit was still benighted, and he could not clearly see the appearance of the Foundation Establishment True Person, only perceiving the externally released dharma light; if he had the chance to see it again, he should be able to see more clearly, and indeed, at this very moment he could see a human figure sitting cross-legged in the northwest, closest to him.

That was Daoist Yinshan.

The immortal base beneath him was a black great mountain; although it stretched for ten thousand li, within the boundless and edgeless Foundation Establishment Realm it was nonetheless minute to the extreme.

At the same time, Daoist Yinshan seemed to have noticed him as well.

The next second, a voice drifted over:

"Focus your mind; do not let your thoughts wander."

The voice was like clear spring water tinkling, pouring down and instantly washing away Lu Yang's emotions, only then did he realize with a start: "Demonic thoughts have invaded, stirring up my stray thoughts!?"

Thinking of this, Lu Yang dared not be negligent any longer and immediately directed his attention to the Foundation Establishment Realm. Now the effects of the Saint Thief, the Ascension Token, and the Third Grade true qi had all been exerted to their utmost; from here on, he could only rely on himself. Lu Yang reined in his true qi step by step and began constructing his immortal base.

However, very soon, he discovered a problem.

"Not enough true qi."

That momentary lapse of concentration had caused his true qi to be wasted by thirty percent out of thin air, making an already scarce supply even worse, to the point where it was difficult to continue.

Helpless, Lu Yang could only reduce the scale of his immortal base.

The size of an immortal base often corresponded to a Foundation Establishment True Person's potential, cultivation base, and strength of magic power; by reducing the scale, he was sacrificing his future prospects in exchange for breakthrough.

Thus he kept cutting down until it was half the original scale, at which point the true qi was barely sufficient.

But the next second, Lu Yang saw the Daoist Yinshan beside him suddenly rise to his feet, stride boldly toward him, and emit a chilling, sinister冷笑: "Heh heh heh."

"Good, good, the immortal base has been established."

"My efforts to assist you were not in vain; now the magic treasure in my hand lacks an immortal base to complete it. Junior Brother Lu, you have truly lived up to my expectations; you are excellent material!"

Before the words had even faded, Daoist Yinshan reached out his hand!

A familiar sensation, familiar terror; Lu Yang had personally witnessed Daoist Yinshan act, and the power the other displayed now was exactly the same as in his memories.

Wait, exactly the same?

"No!"

Lu Yang suddenly woke up; in his memories, Daoist Yinshan had been dealing with the Yun family patriarch; why would he need such a grand display to deal with him? A single glance would have sufficed.

This was fake!

The next second, Lu Yang's vision blurred; when he looked again, the demonic thoughts had dispersed, and Daoist Yinshan was still sitting cross-legged in his original spot, merely emitting a sigh of regret:

"Pity, junior brother."

Lu Yang responded by lowering his head, only to see that the immortal base he had just painstakingly crafted, because he had been influenced by demonic thoughts for an instant, was now riddled with holes.

Seeing this, Lu Yang could only smile helplessly: "Alas..."

Rumble-rumble-rumble!

Before his words had faded, the sound of the shattering immortal base echoed throughout the Foundation Establishment Realm, even triggering changes in the heavenly phenomena outside; the wind howled mournfully, like the sound of heaven weeping.

While firmly committing this experience to memory, Lu Yang silently recited in his heart:

"Book of Hundred Lives!"

(End of Chapter)