Chapter 9: Foundation Establishment Form

The four words 'Start Cultivating' were like a magic spell.

Wu Tie seemed as if he had been injected with chicken blood, held his neck high, stepped out, strode forward at a run, and actually reached the position Old Tie mentioned in just a short quarter of an hour.

All the way rolling and crawling, he fell who knows how many times, his whole body smeared with mud and moss, and even covered with countless spider webs, dirty and disheveled like a mud monkey. Wu Tie placed Old Tie on a dirt mound, braced his hands on his knees, panting as he looked at him.

"You little brat... did you get injected with chicken blood? Running this fast?" Old Tie gave a heh: "I don't know, which white..."

He gave a dry laugh, Old Tie's gloomy red eyes rolled: "Who said you can't cultivate? You're not missing an arm or a leg... The problem is, even if you were missing an arm or a leg, how could you not cultivate?"

"I, I... my father taught me the Breaking Heaven Fist, but I..." Wu Tie panted, stammering: "I... simply can't complete a set of punches. My body is too weak..."

Old Tie's eyes flashed with red light, countless extremely fine, invisible-to-the-naked-eye rays swept quickly over Wu Tie's body.

"Go ahead and hit, let's see." Old Tie said dryly.

Wu Tie glanced at Old Tie, gritted his teeth, took a deep breath, straightened his waist. He spread his legs, one fist forward, one fist backward, assuming a stern martial stance.

"Hey, ha!"

"Hey, ha!"

Wu Tie shouted loudly, steadily performing the Wu Family's Foundation Establishment Secret Fist, the Breaking Heaven Fist.

When Wu Tie threw the first punch, his muscles all over twitched suddenly, and Old Tie let out a cold snort.

When Wu Tie threw the second punch, the veins under his skin bulged violently, and Old Tie gave two consecutive cold snorts.

When the third punch was thrown, Old Tie's eyes blazed with Blood Light, and he spoke in a lofty tone: "Enough, I understand now—this so-called Breaking Heaven Fist demands extremely high physical fitness... each punch you throw is equivalent to self-harm."

"Keke" laughed a few times, Old Tie said: "What idiot created this move? But..."

The Blood Light in his eyes dimmed, Old Tie fell silent for a moment, then murmured: "Perhaps this is also the correct choice. But whether it's correct or not has nothing to do with me, Grandpa; strategic analysis was never my job."

Blood Light suddenly flared, Old Tie's eye sockets spewed out a large sheet of Blood Light, which turned into a light curtain several meters wide beside Wu Tie.

Within the light curtain appeared a figure clad in fully enclosed white tight armor, the armor shining like white crystal. A soft, melodious female voice suddenly rang out: "Foundation Establishment Form, First Form, begin!"

That figure moved extremely slowly, slowly parting the legs, extending the arms, slightly turning sideways, assuming a small-amplitude movement.

Wu Tie stared in shock at the light curtain, at the figure within it.

He was even more startled by that soft, melodious female voice.

Here there were only him and Old Tie, the two of them; this female voice was clearly not Old Tie's.

"What is this?" Wu Tie exclaimed.

"What are you spacing out for? Follow along." Old Tie snorted impatiently: "Pouring heart and blood, pouring heart and blood... Hurry up and follow along, Grandpa is straining."

"Straining"?

Wu Tie looked at Old Tie's deathly pale, seemingly timeless skull face, stuck out his tongue: "Foundation Establishment Form—its name isn't the least bit mighty!"

Old Tie's eyes blazed with Blood Light: "Grandpa could call this set of things the 'God-Slaying, Immortal-Slaughtering, Heaven-Shattering Great Devil Fist,' or also the 'Primordial Shattering, Chaos-Collapsing Great Divine Ability'... interesting, huh?"

"I'll give you a lesson, kid... the name doesn't matter, it's the substance that counts!"

"Second lesson... you're not allowed to doubt Grandpa; if you doubt, you'll get beaten!"

"Pa!" With a sound, a blue light flashed on one of Old Tie's rows of grim white big teeth, a thin bolt of electricity lashed fiercely at Wu Tie's thigh. His flesh twitched all over, as if pricked by countless fine needles; Wu Tie cried out in pain and plopped down onto the ground.

"Foundation Establishment Form, First Form, begin!" Old Tie barked dryly.

Wu Tie looked at the figure in the light curtain, staggered to his feet, and assumed the exact same movement.

There was none of the pain of swinging the Breaking Heaven Fist, where his bones and muscles felt like they were filled with lead, as if being torn apart, nor the violent, surging, uncontrollable scorching force erupting from his five viscera and six bowels.

When Wu Tie secretly cultivated in the Wu Family training ground, this scorching force surging from his five viscera and six bowels had several times caused him to spit blood.

Wu Tie assumed the First Form of the Foundation Establishment Form; he heard several places in his body where tendons were being stretched with a 'ge-ge' crisp sound, felt a few bones shift slightly, and the muscles on his arms felt a bit sore, numb, and quite pleasant.

Holding that strange posture with the figure for a minute, the figure's lower half remained still while the upper half smoothly shifted pose, the two arms opening slightly backward like a bird's wings.

"Foundation Establishment Form, Second Form, begin!"

Wu Tie closely followed the figure's changing movements, hearing the faint sounds of tendons near his shoulders and neck, and could feel several muscles on his back becoming itchy, numb, and slightly warm.

"Foundation Establishment Form, Third Form, begin!"

Form after form changed, the movements slow and gentle; that soft, melodious female voice had a mysterious charm, unconsciously Wu Tie's movements became especially natural and harmonious, and his breathing rate also unconsciously changed.

With each inhale and exhale, Wu Tie seemed to absorb some strange substance from the air and expel some useless waste from his body.

Drop after drop of sweat continually seeped from his pores, the sweat carrying a faint fishy odor.

When he reached the Eighteenth Form, Wu Tie was drenched in sweat like rain, his skin flushed, white vapor rose straight from his head. He squinted, dazed, his body went limp, and he actually just sat there on the ground and fell asleep with a 'hoo-hoo'.

After sleeping who knows how long, as he proceeded, a blind rat about a foot long collapsed beside Wu Tie.

This blind rat has extremely poor vision, almost blind, feeding on various mushrooms and moss in caves, and grows quite plump. After wolfing it down raw, Wu Tie felt his whole body filled with energy.

His condition had never been this good; Wu Tie even felt a sense of being completely renewed throughout his body.

"Hold onto Grandpa, get your direction, and walk forward!" Old Tie shouted: "Listen up, pay attention to your breathing rhythm, one-two-one... one-two-one... one-two-one... march in step!"

Wu Tie picked up Old Tie and strode toward the direction Old Tie had indicated.

Having just taken a few steps, his foot slipped; Wu Tie slapped the ground with a 'pa,' flinging Old Tie seven or eight steps away.

Wu Tie silently climbed to his feet, ran to Old Tie, picked him up again, and continued striding forward.

Forward, forward, forward...

In this strange realm, the circular basin in the center spans a thousand li; outside the basin lie vast expanses of sandy stone desert. The basin is shaped like a sea bowl, and under Old Tie's guidance, Wu Tie continually advanced toward the basin's center.

Ahead, the red light gradually brightened, and the surrounding temperature gradually rose.

The moss on the ground gradually thickened, clusters of large mushrooms also increased in number. Those with many branches, vegetation Wu Tie had never seen before also grew more numerous, forming dense woods in many places.

"This is a fern!" Wu Tie said while carrying Old Tie forward; when resting he would practice the Foundation Establishment Form. While traveling, whenever he encountered something he didn't recognize, Old Tie would teach him the names and traits of these plants.

"These ferns are all mutant species, able to grow relying on this bit of heat and light from the lava." Old Tie shot a red ray from his eyes, sweeping over a fern: "This is an edible fern... remember its appearance and characteristics; sometimes it can save a life!"

"Which fern is edible, which fern is deadly poisonous, which fern can paralyze a person, which fern can actually self-destruct to kill..."

"Which mushroom is delicious, which mushroom is lethal if eaten, which mushroom has poisonous snakes and spiders living beneath it, which mushroom is most favored by those little bugs..."

Which poisonous snake has the deadliest venom, which poisonous snake is the fastest, which poisonous snake has the strongest constriction, which poisonous snake can spray venom to injure people……

Lao Tie is completely a huge treasure trove of knowledge, and Wu Tie draws all kinds of knowledge from him bit by bit.

"You understand even more than Master." That day, Wu Tie finally broke through the eighteenth form of the Foundation Establishment form; after completing the eighteenth form, he did not fall asleep, but instead smoothly proceeded to the twenty-seventh form before his whole body heated up, went limp and weak, and he sat down on the ground.

"Although he was tired and sat down, his spirits were good, and Wu Tie did not fall asleep."

"He looked at Lao Tie and sincerely admired him."

"Nonsense, Grandpa I……" Lao Tie's eyes flashed red, his tone turning low: "Professional."

"What professional?" Wu Tie curiously looked at Lao Tie.

These days, accompanying Lao Tie, wandering through this vast wonderland, learning much new knowledge from him each day, the gloom in Wu Tie's heart has already dissipated somewhat.

The hatred of his father and elder brother was buried deep in his heart, and the two bloody characters for "revenge" were carved into his mind; Wu Tie's words and deeds have somewhat returned to the normal bearing of a youth.

"Professional……healing the wounded and saving the dying." Lao Tie's tone turned a bit strange: "Grandpa I……am the ninth-generation medical-protection type Ancient Divine Weapon of Bian Que!"

Wu Tie stared blankly at Lao Tie.

He simply couldn't understand what Lao Tie said.

"Bian Que, you don't know him?" Lao Tie's eyes flashed with Blood Light.

Wu Tie shook his head.

"Ancient Divine Weapon……you should have heard of the fame of the Ancient Divine Weapon." Lao Tie gave a cold snort.

"I haven't heard of it." Wu Tie honestly shook his head again.

"Grandpa I like honest children……come, stand up, Foundation Establishment form, first form, begin!" A flash of electricity passed over Lao Tie's two rows of big teeth, fine electric arcs struck Wu Tie's belly, making him cry "ow ow" as he jumped up.

"No, not the first form of Foundation Establishment, but rather, start running, boy!"

"With hot blood and a belly full of passion, run! Let me see how your training over the past few days has paid off!"

"Start running, run around me, yes, start running……happy running, boy!"

A thin layer of electricity enveloped Lao Tie, and countless fine electric arcs fiercely struck Wu Tie's body.

Wu Tie cried "ow ow" in pain, stumbling as he ran wildly around the mound where Lao Tie stood. The electric arcs continually struck his body, causing his muscles and organs to spasm and tremble from the tiny current stimulation.

The electricity emitted by Lao Tie carried a strange vital energy, and Wu Tie's bodily functions were slowly increasing.

Bit by bit, strand by strand, the more he ran the more energetic he became, the more he ran the more strength he gained; Wu Tie panted heavily, his breath faintly carrying a hint of fishy odor.

After running wildly for nearly an hour, Wu Tie never imagined he could run nonstop for so long.

Finally, exhausted to the point of collapse, he suddenly collapsed onto the ground.

A venomous snake as thick as a bowl's mouth suddenly burst from a clump of ferns, bared its fangs, and lunged to bite Wu Tie.

A flash of red light passed, the snake's head vanished, its body shattered into over a hundred segments, which clattered onto Wu Tie's body with a crackle.

"Hurry up and eat your fill, then move on!" Lao Tie gave a stiff laugh: "You've got great potential, boy; it looks like we can reach our destination several days early. Hurry up, eat your fill and drink your fill, then move on!"

Wu Tie grabbed a piece of snake meat and tore at it with big bites.

Over the past two days, he has witnessed Lao Tie's methods; the gruesome state of this snake holds no surprise for him.

Move forward, train in the Foundation Establishment form, run, scream from being struck by electric arcs, eat and drink to one's fill, then move forward……

"We've arrived, right here, right below!" After more than ten days, Lao Tie suddenly shouted, telling Wu Tie to set him down.

Wu Tie's clothes were completely in rags, his waist merely wrapped with a few large fern leaves, barely covering his body. Once as weak as a bean sprout, in these short ten-odd days his body had become noticeably more upright, with a thin layer of muscle visible on his chest, arms, and legs.

"There's nothing here." After setting Lao Tie down, Wu Tie looked around in all directions.

This place is near the center of the basin, still about a hundred li from the exact center.

The ground is fertile soil, covered with a thick layer of moss; all around are huge mushroom clusters, with bunches of ferns growing everywhere; in the shadows of the mushrooms and ferns, countless gleaming green eyes appear and disappear.

Spiders, venomous snakes, lizards, and other unique cave-dwelling creatures……

"Lao Tie, there's nothing here." Wu Tie instinctively moved closer to Lao Tie.

"Of course there's something here, you just can't see it." Lao Tie laughed: "Boy, start working hard; it's right under your feet, precisely, one and a half meters ahead of your right toe."

"Dig a pit, dig down, work hard, boy!"

"Grandpa I can let you cultivate……you have already begun cultivating the Foundation Establishment form."

"But the Foundation Establishment form has a serious problem." Lao Tie gave a dry laugh.

"What problem?" Wu Tie hurriedly asked.

He wants to take revenge, he wants to find the enemies who attacked the Wu family and take revenge, he must cultivate, for only cultivation can bring strength.

He originally could not cultivate; the Foundation Establishment form is his only hope, and it must have no problems!

"The Foundation Establishment form is too gentle. Gentleness means low efficiency, so progress is very slow."

"You are already eleven; perhaps you would need twenty years to complete Foundation Establishment, which is far too slow."

"Down here, there is something that can speed up your cultivation." Lao Tie's pupils shot out red light, and at the spot he mentioned he drew a circle two meters in diameter.

Wu Tie jumped over without a word and began digging into the ground with both hands.

Lao Tie said nothing as he watched Wu Tie, watching him dig out clumps of earth and stones with his hands, continually throwing the dirt and rocks far away.