Chapter 632: Mid-stage

Under the moonlight.

In a temporarily excavated Cave Abode within the barren mountains.

After Aaron finished contemplating his cultivation technique, he suddenly felt a whim, so he sat cross-legged and circulated the "Mingyu Art."

Within his body, the Foundation Establishment Dharma Power Essence Qi flowed like a clear spring, gurgling as it moved, while the bones throughout his body emitted a crystalline Light.

Following this, the eleventh level of the technique was successfully broken through, entering the twelfth level realm representing the Foundation Establishment Mid-stage!

"This bottleneck... was broken through so easily?"

"I had originally planned to slowly wear it down for dozens or even a hundred years..."

"In reality... the so-called aptitude of a Three Spirit Roots cultivator is not bad, it just means they have a chance at Foundation Establishment..."

"Besides that... although my divine ability specializes in Refining Spirit bones, my bones are strong, and my physical strength is also rising rapidly... I have reached the point where I can crush a Martial Master of Transformation Energy with brute force alone, without using any martial arts... Practicing martial arts is truly a dead end."

And after one failure, even a Dual Spirit Root cultivator often finds it difficult to re-cultivate back and launch another assault!

Breaking through to the mid-stage in secret after thirty-some years is not considered very fast, and Aaron does not mind exposing a little something.

"This Second-tier Jade Bone is now comparable in strength to an ordinary Low-grade Magical Artifact... In other words, with my body refining at this stage, even if I stand there without defending and let a Qi Refining cultivator manipulate a Magic Tool to attack, those Magic Tools would very likely get stuck in my bones? Unable to cause a fatal wound?"

Aaron looked at his palms and applied a little force, hearing the crackling sound of his joints popping.

"Exactly."

"However, this is only a theoretical perfect model; most Three Spirit Roots cultivators, without the help of better Spirit Veins and Spirit Pills, basically spend their whole lives spinning in the Foundation Establishment stage, unable to cultivate to the perfection realm, with no hope of Golden Core in their lifetime!"

"My situation is a bit better; I will definitely be able to cultivate to perfection, it is just the Golden Core barrier..."

"But I would be a fool to try and catch a Magic Tool with my bare body..."

A Golden Core Ancestor is enough to occupy a country, establish a Golden Core sect, and pass it down for thousands of years!

This is the dream of all bottom-tier cultivators!

Feeling the undisguised Dharma Power on Aaron, which was far stronger than his own, Shen Qingchen said in surprise.

【Skill: Second-tier Jade Bone (300/1000)】

The only exception is the Heavenly Spirit Root cultivator.

"To tell you the truth... actually, I have always been hiding my strength." Aaron answered with a heavy expression.

A truly unlucky one might even suffer a Backlash from the technique and pass away.

If he had actually spent these few hundred years devoted to researching the Taoism of martial arts, perhaps he could have even grasped the basics of Spirit Martial Arts.

"What I need to find is not a pill to increase the probability of breakthrough, but a life-saving pill... one that can guarantee I won't die if the Golden Core attempt fails!"

"That woman is awake?"

"Now that the technique is in hand, I should start considering the matter of Golden Core..."

According to what Aaron has inquired about and read in classics over these years.

As for the Foundation Establishment Late Stage?

It could also be that he obtained a follow-up technique and gained some insight after contemplation...

"After Foundation Establishment, the aptitude of Three Spirit Roots is a bit low..."

Furthermore, after another Blood War, the key was killing the enemy, and his thoughts were clear...

"Actually, this matter has some follow-up trouble."

"In fact, your uncle has long since broken through in secret, but people fear fame like pigs fear being fat, so I have been hiding my cultivation... This time, encountering a Demon cultivator and seeing you injured... I had no choice but to expose my strength and lead you out of the encirclement!"

"Eh? Uncle Yu, you are actually a mid-stage cultivator?"

No... it is that even Golden Core Cultivators will shamelessly take action to accumulate heritage for their sects and families!

Aaron respectfully declines to participate in such a fiercely competitive Blood War swamp.

"With the experience of Foundation Establishment... after I reach the Foundation Establishment Late Stage, I can start making preparations... I don't really need to fight for those Spirit Medicines that can increase the chance of Golden Core!"

But the input and output were not proportional, so Aaron did not spend any more effort on this path, and the progress naturally stagnated.

Using one truth to cover up a bigger truth—he was already very skilled at this.

Aaron checked it over and could not help but feel quite satisfied.

At this moment, he also realized that he had been stuck at the bottleneck for some years.

"According to the plan during Foundation Establishment, find enough life-saving and healing Spirit Medicine... then keep trying; if once doesn't work, try twice; if twice doesn't work, try three times; if three times doesn't work, try four times... isn't that just Golden Core? It is only a matter of familiarity... I will succeed eventually."

Of course, severe damage to the Essence Qi, regression of the technique realm... and even shortening of one's lifespan are unavoidable.

Aaron had finished thinking when he suddenly felt a sound outside the seclusion room.

Even if there is leisure time from cultivation, wouldn't it be better to go and discuss the Taoism with those female cultivators who are proficient in the Spring Chirp Technique?

Why bother practicing martial arts?

"Hmm... this breakthrough increased my Dharma Power by a full thirty percent compared to before!"

Aaron glanced at the Attribute Panel:

【Realm: Foundation Establishment Mid-stage】

One can imagine that even if a Spirit Medicine could only increase the chance of Golden Core by one or half a percent, those Foundation Establishment cultivators would break their heads for it!

It opened its big eyes and let out a few "yi-ya" sounds in turtle language.

【Technique: Mingyu Art 12th Level (1/2000)】

"Uncle Yu!"

"The technique broke through, and the Jade Bone broke through along with it."

"Even if the technique falls back to the Qi Refining stage... an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator would just die of old age, but I won't!"

"According to my estimation, a Three Spirit Roots cultivator who is devoted to the Great Taoism and cultivates on a Spirit Vein like Sanshan Peak, without any bottlenecks, would take about one hundred and fifty years to cultivate to the perfection of Foundation Establishment and have one chance at Golden Core..."

They are even rarer, and they start planning for the Golden Core matter, not easily entangled by the trivial matters of sects and forces.

Golden Core!

And perhaps, besides bitter cultivation, coming out for a walk is beneficial for one's state of mind...

Aaron shook his sleeves and stood up, taking Xiaoqing to another part of the Cave Abode.

At this moment, if Aaron were to combine this with the Black Sun Demon Fire, he would have the confidence to fight even a Foundation Establishment Late Stage cultivator!

"Finally, I have a bit of a sense of security... of course, there are still those few Golden Core Ancestors pressing down on my head..."

Even cultivators with Different Spirit Roots, such as Wind Spirit Root or Lightning Spirit Root, are still stuck by the Golden Core bottleneck until they wish they were dead.

"Let's go, let's go see them!"

Aaron never felt that he would be unable to cultivate to the perfection of the Foundation Establishment stage, so he had to start preparing in advance.

He raised his hand and cast a strand of Dharma Power, causing the Forbidden Technique to reveal a path, and a basin-sized Longevity Turtle slowly crawled in; it was naturally Xiaoqing.

In short, it might have been the result of various factors combined that caused him to naturally break through the bottleneck and step into the Foundation Establishment Mid-stage!

In a situation where there are only a few Golden Core combat powers in the Lin and Wu nations, the Foundation Establishment Mid-stage is already a middle-to-high level that cannot be ignored.

Shen Qingchen was sitting on the stone bed regulating her breath; seeing Aaron come over, she immediately stood up and bowed: "Many thanks to Uncle Yu for the rescue. What exactly happened afterward?"

"Cultivation... how could one not encounter bottlenecks?"

Of course, as the master, Aaron could communicate through the Blood Contract and roughly understand what it wanted to express.

Regarding the Golden Core stage, the mortality rate of cultivators decreases somewhat; it is not the case that failure to form a Golden Core inevitably leads to death.

Aaron looked grave: "As for Fellow Daoist Zhong? Fellow Daoist should have seen it too; he unfortunately perished at the hands of the Demon Cultivator!"

"Elder Zhong..." Shen Qingchen could not help but fall silent.

(End of this chapter)