Chapter 141: Passing the Three Passes

On the day he underwent Foundation Establishment, Song Qingming also experienced a series of perilous situations.

At the very beginning, following the Foundation Establishment steps he was aware of, he first utilized the Marrow-Cleansing Pill in his possession to temper his physical body.

Although this step was somewhat painful, the overall process went quite smoothly. The ten-plus consecutive days of tempering bones and refining marrow were indeed difficult to endure, but having cultivated the Dao for many years, Song Qingming had already experienced this level of physical agony several times before.

A spiritual pill like the Marrow-Cleansing Pill only has the best tempering effect on a cultivator's body the first time it is consumed; taking it again later is basically ineffective. An average cultivator will only consume one such spiritual pill in their entire lifetime.

After tempering his body, Song Qingming did not delay. Once he had adjusted his magic power to its optimal state, he began the first formal step of Foundation Establishment.

For a cultivator, the first step of Foundation Establishment is to wash the marrow and change the tendons using the magic power within the body through the meridians. Although this is similar in function to refining the Marrow-Cleansing Pill, the process and the results are not the same.

The Marrow-Cleansing Pill only helps a cultivator temper their own bone marrow through the power of the pill, achieving the effect of increasing the cultivator's physical strength from within. However, the Foundation Establishment step of washing marrow and changing tendons requires the cultivator to permeate all their magic power into the tiny meridians and blood vessels throughout their limbs and bones. Not only the bone marrow, but every inch of flesh and blood in the cultivator's body will undergo a thorough cleansing.

Only after passing this step will the cultivator's physical body undergo a qualitative leap, thereby reaching the physical level possessed only by Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Although Xu Cheng Ziyan had warned him beforehand that washing marrow and changing tendons would be very uncomfortable, Song Qingming had not expected the process to be so agonizing, as if he were enduring a long period of torture.

The process of washing marrow and changing tendons was not only extremely painful but also incredibly slow, taking at least half a month to complete. Every inch of flesh and blood permeated by the magic power felt as if it were being constantly scraped and gnawed. Before long, Song Qingming's entire body was involuntarily covered in beads of sweat the size of beans due to the pain.

In the cultivation world, at least sixty percent of cultivators who fail to break through to Foundation Establishment fall at this first step. This pass is not only extremely difficult but also very dangerous; a single moment of carelessness can easily damage one's own physical body.

A few days later, Song Qingming, who had only just cleansed less than a quarter of his body, already felt he could no longer hold on. He immediately consumed the Foundation Establishment Pill he had prepared long ago.

After the pill entered his body, its medicinal power took effect quickly. In an instant, Song Qingming felt a trace of warmth spread from his dantian, which immediately alleviated a bit of the pain. The vast spiritual energy contained within the Foundation Establishment Pill also helped him accelerate the speed of his body's cleansing. It was not until more than ten days later, when Song Qingming's body was slowly covered in a layer of excess substances refined out from his flesh, that this step of washing marrow and changing tendons finally concluded.

Fortunately, Song Qingming had previously consumed the Marrow-Cleansing Pill, which had already strengthened his physical body, and with the help of the Foundation Establishment Pill to give him a push, he managed to pass the first pass of Foundation Establishment without any major mishaps.

However, when he reached the second pass, the step of condensing Qi, he was not so fortunate.

Condensing Qi means gathering all the magic power within the cultivator's body into the dantian and, through constant contraction, condensing the magic power from its original gaseous state into a liquid state. Once a cultivator passes this step, they have half a foot already stepped into the Foundation Establishment realm.

Based on his own summaries and the experience imparted by Xu Cheng Ziyan, Song Qingming tried several times in succession but failed to succeed. It was not until the medicinal power of the first Foundation Establishment Pill was completely exhausted that he had only just touched upon the method.

Fortunately, Song Qingming had already passed the most difficult first step of washing marrow and changing tendons. Although the pass of condensing Qi was also very prone to failure, with the protection of the Foundation Establishment Pill, it basically would not damage the cultivator's own dantian.

Song Qingming, having experienced one failure, did not lose heart. After re-polishing his magic power, and relying on the slight feeling he had already grasped, he decisively consumed the second Foundation Establishment Pill.

With a certain amount of experience, Song Qingming finally did not disappoint himself this time. He successfully completed this second pass, successfully condensing the vast magic power in his dantian into a liquefied state.

When he reached the third pass of Foundation Establishment, tempering the soul, it was surprisingly smooth, contrary to Song Qingming's expectations.

This pass mainly strengthens the soul within the cultivator. Perhaps because Song Qingming had practiced the Soul-Tempering Art, his soul was already relatively strong. When Song Qingming reached this pass, although he spent quite some time tempering his soul, he basically did not encounter any major bottlenecks and smoothly elevated his soul to the Foundation Establishment realm.

He had not expected that practicing soul cultivation techniques would actually be of some help to Foundation Establishment; this was somewhat beyond Song Qingming's expectations.

Although practicing soul cultivation techniques is not easy, it is useful for Foundation Establishment after all. Song Qingming was somewhat puzzled, "Why are there still so few people in the cultivation world who practice soul cultivation techniques?"

However, after he came out of seclusion and had a discussion with Xu Cheng Ziyan, he quickly understood. The most difficult part of Foundation Establishment for a cultivator is the first two passes; very few people fall at the third pass during Foundation Establishment. For an average Qi Mount Mount Lianhua cultivator, spending too much time practicing soul cultivation techniques is really not as good as putting that energy into gathering resources for Foundation Establishment.

After nearly a year, Song Qingming, through stumbling and fumbling, finally succeeded in Foundation Establishment without any major mishaps.

It had already been three years since he left home and came to the Xiaoyao Sect. Now that he had successfully achieved Foundation Establishment, Song Qingming naturally felt very urgent to share this good news with the Song family members thousands of miles away.

After exchanging Foundation Establishment insights with Xu Cheng Ziyan for a few days, Song Qingming also prepared to leave the Xiaoyao Sect.

After bidding farewell to Xu Cheng Ziyan, Song Qingming returned to his cave dwelling in Yangshan Fang. After packing his belongings and returning the rented cave dwelling, Song Qingming immediately set off to return to Qinghe County.

When leaving the Xiaoyao Sect, Xu Cheng Ziyan unexpectedly made a request to Song Qingming, asking him to bring her another Beauty-Returning Pill the next time he came, saying it was a gift for a close friend.

Song Qingming happened to have two left on him, so he simply gave them both to her. In any case, this item was of no use to him, and he had intended to give it away anyway. He had not expected Xu Cheng Ziyan to be so happy when seeing Song Qingming take out the Beauty-Returning Pill, which left Song Qingming almost unable to make heads or tails of it; he did not know whether she truly liked or disliked the item.

After Foundation Establishment, the first thing Song Qingming learned was the art of sword flight. The journey from the Xiaoyao Sect to Qinghe County was several thousand miles, which was just right for him to put it to use.

During these years at the Xiaoyao Sect, Song Qingming had also followed Xu Cheng Ziyan to experience flying through the air several times. He had always yearned for this supernatural ability to fly and escape that only high-tier cultivators could use. Now, he had finally achieved this wish and could roam the world between heaven and earth on his own.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 142 =====