Chapter 72: Foundation Establishment! (Seeking Subscriptions! Monthly Votes!)

In total, he opened the furnace to refine elixir twelve times.

He failed seven times and succeeded five times.

Among the successes, three furnaces yielded one pill each, one furnace yielded two pills, and the last furnace yielded two pills plus a defective pill.

From the twelve monster beast inner pellets, he obtained a total of seven 'Foundation Establishment Pills' and one defective 'Foundation Establishment Pill'.

Such a success rate would be acceptable for any alchemist.

Indeed, this amount of pills obtained is rather bleak.

If anyone were to hire Yunhe, such an alchemist, to refine Foundation Establishment Pills, they'd probably lose even their underwear.

If a true alchemy master opened the furnace twelve times in a row, they'd expect to produce twenty-four pills, which would be considered few.

But this is, after all, his first time refining Foundation Establishment Pills; obtaining such a result already leaves him quite satisfied.

Yunhe, lazily lying on the bed in his cave dwelling, lightly calculates with his fingers.

"Unknowingly, nine months have passed while refining elixir."

Just counting his three- to seven-day rest after each furnace, that already adds up to over two months, which isn't slow.

"I still need two months before I turn forty."

Looking at the jade bottle in his hand, Yunhe is startled and dazed.

Such a passage of time let him deeply realize that cultivation knows no years.

"Before sixty is the optimal time for Foundation Establishment; after sixty, a cultivator's qi and blood start to deplete, and the success rate of Foundation Establishment drops sharply."

He still has twenty years until sixty, which is enough.

"Forget about foundation establishment for now; just get a good sleep."

The nine-month elixir refining greatly consumes the mind and spirit.

Yunhe can only restrain the impulse to immediately take the Foundation Establishment Pill, and strive to calm his inner excitement and agitation.

He fell asleep.

It lasted seven days.

After waking, Yunhe still did not rush to take the Foundation Establishment Pill, but instead devoted himself wholeheartedly to training, re-familiarizing himself with the cultivation base that had lain idle for nearly a year.

Half a month later.

Only then did he awaken from meditation.

"If establishing a foundation, it's best to choose a place that is both safe and rich in spiritual qi. Is there any place more suitable than the Qingzong Sect?"

Now he has been in the Qingzong Sect for over ten years.

Even longer than his stay in the River Stream Market.

Although he joined midway as a menial disciple, in these years in the Qingzong Sect he has been law-abiding, willing to work and endure hardship, doing everything a disciple should.

Of course, he also gained many benefits from the Qingzong Sect, whether spiritual veins or various cultivation manuals and interesting anecdotes.

He has gone from being a lone cultivator to becoming a barely qualified sect disciple.

"Who knows, after completing the breakthrough he might even manage to snag a petty official post."

Yunhe half-jokingly thought.

His expression tightened and became solemn.

"Foundation establishment at forty is neither early nor outstanding. True sect geniuses attempt foundation establishment before thirty; I can only be considered to have had a minor opportunity, not even a fortuitous encounter."

If a sect higher-up constantly covets disciples' fortuitous encounters, such a sect lasting long would be strange.

That widely circulated tale in the cultivation world of 'hundred-day foundation establishment' is probably just a joke.

"As for the 'Foundation Establishment Pill', not all cultivators rely on it to break through foundation establishment. I only need to say I obtained some auxiliary spiritual objects for foundation establishment, which likely cannot be verified. Or saying I obtained a defective pill is also not impossible."

Cultivators who achieve natural foundation establishment in the cultivation world are not nonexistent, although the success rate is extremely low and the mortality rate extremely high, and most are elderly cultivators making a desperate effort, but that does not mean no one succeeds.

According to Yunhe's knowledge, there is more than one person in the Qingzong Sect who ultimately succeeded in foundation establishment through natural means, often mentioned in lectures as 'those with a very firm will to seek the Dao'.

Actually, after all is said.

As long as foundation establishment succeeds, then all problems cease to be problems.

Even if there really are one or two ill-intentioned individuals in the sect, what could move them would only be spiritual objects that break through the mid-to-late bottleneck of foundation establishment or even the bottleneck of the Golden Core stage.

With increased cultivation base, one's perspective naturally differs.

"My qi and blood are abundant, comparable to a late-stage First Stage body cultivator; my cultivation base is round and full, perfectly unified; my divine sense can rival half of an early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, and I have seven Foundation Establishment Pills at my side! If I cannot succeed, who in this world could?"

At this moment, Yunhe's whole body exudes confidence.

Absolute confidence!

When confidence rises to its peak.

Good fortune arrives with a sincere heart.

Immediately without the slightest hesitation, he took out one Foundation Establishment Pill and stuffed it into his mouth.

As the elixir entered his stomach, its medicinal power took effect.

He only felt a surging spiritual power burst forth from his dantian, instantly rushing into his limbs and bones.

He immediately circulated the Gold Water Element Classic, began to wildly absorb the spiritual qi of heaven and earth, and launched an assault upon that 'pass' in the darkness!

"Mmm——!!"

The three major passes of foundation establishment.

The first pass, the qi and blood pass!

Inner spiritual power draws heavenly and earthly spiritual qi, continuously entering the body from all sides, washing over the body again and again.

Yunhe only felt as if a terrifying hammer were striking him like a lump of iron, repeatedly striking, striking again.

His skin showed cracks, streaks of bright red seeping through, mixed with unknown impurities, flowing out of the body.

Tendon-changing and marrow-washing!

Second gate, the Power Gate!

Heaven and earth spiritual qi enters the body.

A portion is absorbed and integrated by the circulation of the Gold Water Element Classic technique into his already full power.

For a moment, his already full power continued to expand, stretching Yunhe's meridians with a sudden ache.

Meridians and bones are constantly being stretched to the point of rupture.

Yet, thanks to the Blood-Vitality Gate, they quickly recover, forming a tug-of-war.

Third gate, the Spiritual Sense Gate!

Skipped.

After who knows how many days, under this 'torment', Yunhe gradually felt the internal movement and stillness trending toward calm.

The surging qi-blood movement and stillness lessened.

The excessively full spiritual qi in the meridians, unable to break through the threshold for a long time, the quantity insufficient to cause a qualitative change, also slowly dissipated.

This is the biggest problem for inferior spiritual roots when attempting Foundation Establishment: the speed of spiritual power absorption cannot meet the demand for qualitative change of spiritual power.

First attempt to impact Foundation Establishment.

Failure.

Without the restorative medicinal power of the Foundation Establishment Pill, such a failed Foundation Establishment impact would leave injury or disability as the best possible outcome.

Normally, a cultivator whose Foundation Establishment attempt fails needs to sit in meditation for dozens of days, using the medicinal power of the Foundation Establishment Pill to restore himself, while slowly stabilizing his condition to avoid aftereffects.

But Yunhe suddenly opened his eyes, his bloodshot eyes filled with such determination.

His confidence not only undiminished, but even greater!

He hesitated not a moment, took out a second Foundation Establishment Pill, and swallowed it.

For a moment.

The gradually calming tug-of-war resumed, and became even more intense.

But likewise.

His body grew ever stronger under the scourge of surging spiritual power, and the additional power drawn in also tended toward mist.

Third one!

Yunhe became ruthless.

He understood his spiritual roots were lacking, which is why he prepared so many Foundation Establishment Pills.

True cultivation geniuses face no bottleneck in breaking through Foundation Establishment; even those slightly inferior can succeed with just one pill.

His talent is inferior to others', so he will rely on quantity and number of attempts.

Until the fifth Foundation Establishment Pill entered his stomach.

Yunhe finally felt his spiritual power had reached its extreme, and his spiritual sense began to slowly grow.

The function of spiritual sense in the Spiritual Sense Gate thus became evident.

He had already condensed his spiritual sense, which is his greatest advantage compared to other cultivators.

"Condense for me!"

With the aid of his spiritual sense, the spiritual power in his body, which had nearly vaporized and reached the critical value, seemed to be struck by an invisible hand, crossing a threshold.

In the dantian qi sea, the extremely rich blue and gold spiritual power was compressed to the extreme.

Drip—!

As if the sound of water droplets falling, transmitted from the spiritual sense to the mind.

In the next instant.

All the overflowing spiritual power within the body fell like raindrops.

One drop, two drops.

At the same time, his body seemed to become the center of a vortex, with vast amounts of spiritual qi continuously pouring in, forming a spiritual power vortex.

"Foundation Establishment stage, achieved!"

From now on, he is no longer a mortal!

The Qingzong Sect has abundant spiritual qi; subtle changes are imperceptible to ordinary disciples.

However, Foundation Establishment cultivators in training can more or less perceive some subtle changes.

"Huh?"

Qingzong Sect Sect Master Kong Zhibo awoke from meditation, gazing toward the direction of the disciples' rented abode, a smile appearing on his face.

"Which disciple succeeded in Foundation Establishment again?"

With a flick of his sleeve, he arrived outside the door in the blink of an eye; a moment later, he stood outside Yunhe's abode.

"Sect Master!"

"Sect Master!"

Several disciples responsible for overseeing the abode, seeing Sect Master Kong Zhibo drifting down, were somewhat startled, and all rose to salute.

"Hmm."

Kong Zhibo stood with hands behind his back, a gentle smile, and slightly nodded.

Just as the disciples wondered why the Sect Master had suddenly appeared, another person arrived.

It was the Steward of the Clerks' Pavilion, Cao Guozheng, who was also in charge of cultivation abode affairs.

"Hahaha——Sect Master Senior Brother, I don't know which junior brother succeeded in Foundation Establishment this time?"

"Foundation Establishment?"

Hearing Cao Guozheng's words, the few disciples who were about to salute looked utterly startled.

Gazing at the tightly shut abode, they opened their mouths but didn't know what to say.

What showed through tightly was a deep envy.

Foundation Establishment stage—how many disciples dream of it as their goal.

Facing Cao Guozheng's question, Kong Zhibo smiled and said:

"I also don't know."

Speaking, he summoned a disciple.

He took it to register the rental ledger and quickly found the name and identity.

But when he saw the identity information on the ledger, even though he was usually unflappable in handling matters, he couldn't help but reveal a hint of astonishment.

Seeing this, Cao Guozheng looked at the ledger with some surprise.

"Menial Disciple, Yunhe?"

The two instinctively glanced at each other.

Each had guessed who it might be.

But what flashed in their minds were those exceptionally talented inner-door disciples, and even some outstanding ordinary disciples, which they had also speculated about.

But they never imagined that this time's Foundation Establishment breakthrough would be a menial disciple!

"Who is Yunhe?"

Kong Zhibo had this question arise in his mind.

Seeing his doubt, Cao Guozheng said:

"Sect Leader Senior Brother, this person was actually personally recruited by you into the sect."

"Oh?"

Immediately, Cao Guozheng briefly recounted Yunhe's admission and the matters concerning Qian Dajiang and others.

Only then did Kong Zhibo realize.

"So it's this person."

It's no wonder he doesn't remember Yunhe; as a sect leader, he has too many daily affairs to spare time for a menial disciple.

He asked calmly:

"Cao Junior Brother, how is this Yun Junior Brother?"

Hearing this, Cao Guozheng's expression turned serious.

After a brief pondering, he related what he knew about Yunhe.

As the Menial Office Steward, he should be the Foundation Establishment cultivator who has had the most contact with Yunhe in the entire Qingzong Sect.

Upon joining, he was at the late stage of Qi Refining, and for decades he wholeheartedly raised bees, never slackening in his diligence.

He even participated in vermin control tasks, making a certain contribution to the sect.

Though not outstanding, he at least had no misconduct; his contribution was respectable, truly deserving the word 'diligent'.

After listening,

"In that case, this Yun Junior Brother must be a diligent practitioner devoted to the Dao."

After thinking for a long time, Kong Zhibo also couldn't find a suitable word.

"Exactly." Cao Guozheng agreed.

But they also knew Yunhe must have had some opportunity; otherwise, relying solely on beekeeping, how could he afford the resources needed to reach Foundation Establishment?

After all, whether opportunity, chance, or miraculous encounter, they are manifestations of ability.

Otherwise, encountering a miraculous encounter but lacking the ability to seize it, or even to notice it, would be useless.

And the sect values talent and ability above all.

"Now we have a new example of one whose resolve to seek the Dao is exceptionally firm, which we can share with the fellow disciples." Sun Zhibo said half-jokingly.

Cao Guozheng was speechless with laughter, then immediately turned serious.

"Here they come."

Kong Zhibo nodded.

Just as Yunhe stepped out of the cave abode, seeing the two standing outside, he froze.

Hearing the word 'disciple,' Kong Zhibo's smile unconsciously grew a bit richer.

Unconscious forms of address and behavior better reveal one's heart.

At least for now, this person's heart leans toward the sect.

Kong Zhibo and Cao Guozheng both returned the bow solemnly.

"Yun Junior Brother, having achieved Foundation Establishment, you should observe the etiquette among fellow disciples."

"Fellow-disciple etiquette?"

In the cultivation world, seniority is emphasized, but cultivation rank transcends seniority; his breakthrough to Foundation Establishment completely changes his status.

In the cultivation world, seniority is observed, but Cultivation Base transcends seniority; his breakthrough to Foundation Establishment makes his status entirely different.

"Yunhe, greetings, Sect Leader Senior Brother, Cao Senior Brother."

"Excellent, excellent."

The sect has produced another Foundation Establishment cultivator; as Sect Leader, Kong Zhibo naturally feels genuine joy.

"Disciple respectfully congratulates Uncle-master on successful Foundation Establishment!"

On another side, the disciples guarding the cave abode, seeing this, also hurried forward to offer salutations and congratulations.

On the other side, several disciples guarding the cave dwelling, seeing this, hurried forward to salute and congratulate.

Upon hearing this, Yunhe felt somewhat amused in his heart.

When he came to rent the cave abode, seeing a few people he still had to perform salutations and call 'Senior Brother'.

When he came to rent the cave abode, seeing a few people he still had to perform salutations and call 'Senior Brother'.

Now stepping out of the cave dwelling, one's seniority directly rises a notch, becoming an elder, becoming an uncle-master.

However

"The feeling is still pretty good."

(End of chapter)