Chapter 422: A Century of Enlightenment, Foundation Establishment Level Ten

"Young friends, hehehehe…"

"Welcome to participate in the once-in-a-century Grand Competition!"

"I, Tainian Mountain, am greatly pleased!"

He Wen asked kindly, looking at the crowd.

The crowd glared aggressively at the two Holy Masters.

He Wen continued: "On Tainian Mountain, there is a famed array known as the Time Array!"

"And now, all of you are within this Time Array!"

"The flow of time here differs slightly from the outside world—time moves more than twice as fast!"

"You were told ten years of teachings—that's ten years in the outside world!"

"In reality, within this Time Array, it has been roughly twenty-seven years!"

"Enough of this chatter, old man won't bore you further!"

"The future of the world belongs to you—may you all grow into greatness soon!"

"Now, the teaching begins!"

Boom…

He Wen did not delay—he finished speaking, sat cross-legged immediately, clasped his hands before his chest, and from his body countless Dao patterns erupted like a flood of runes.

As if beams of light shot forth from him.

These Dao runes fell upon the heads of all like tidal waves.

Everyone quickly closed their eyes and meditated, extending their Dao roots outward.

Of course, some had no Dao roots at all—this enlightenment was not kind to them.

He Pingsheng's Dao root also extended outward.

He sensed the Dao of this realm: the Five Elements, Yin and Yang, and Space.

The most abundant were the Five Elements Dao, followed by Space Dao.

You may choose whichever you wish.

Whoever wishes to contemplate any of them may do so.

Boom…

Before He Pingsheng began his contemplation, another Tainian Patriarch had already begun teaching.

Countless Dao runes erupted from his body.

Again, Five Elements Dao and Time Dao.

At this moment, He Pingsheng finally understood—the two Holy Masters were not teaching with their mouths.

He Pingsheng swallowed a pill directly into his mouth: Mingwu Pill.

And it was a top-grade Mingwu Pill.

He Pingsheng's spiritual sense swept the surroundings—he found most had already taken Mingwu Pills.

Some were upper-grade, some middle-grade.

Some were top-grade.

Clearly, none were fools—everyone had prepared in advance.

After swallowing the Mingwu Pill, He Pingsheng swallowed another top-grade 【Juyuan Pill】.

Others needed only enlightenment, not cultivation advancement—most here were already at Foundation Establishment Level Twelve.

But He Pingsheng needed to advance his cultivation.

His 【Five Elements Mixed One Scripture】 activated automatically, silently, requiring no focus from him.

He only needed to comprehend the Dao of this realm.

Simultaneously, he split off a thread of spiritual sense to contemplate the 【Tianyue Divine Array】.

Three tasks at once.

More accurately, two tasks at once.

Because the 【Five Elements Mixed One Scripture】 required no effort—it operated on its own.

He Pingsheng discarded all other Dao patterns and focused solely on Space Dao.

…

One day, two days, three days!

One year, two years, three years!

In the blink of an eye, five years passed.

After five years, He Pingsheng's cultivation broke through to the next level—from Foundation Establishment Level Six to Level Seven.

Six years later, he broke through to Level Eight.

Fifteen years later, He Pingsheng's cultivation reached Foundation Establishment Level Ten.

Level Ten.

After reaching Level Ten, his 【Five Elements Mixed One Scripture】 ceased its operation.

Because… he hit a bottleneck!

Yes—he could not break through.

Sigh…

Hitting a bottleneck is the most helpless thing.

Especially a Foundation Establishment bottleneck.

Foundation Establishment cultivators have only one heavenly treasure to break through this bottleneck: the Tan Chen Fruit.

The Tan Chen Fruit was no concern—he could obtain it easily, having helped the imperial house secure second place.

But the key question: after consuming the Tan Chen Fruit and breaking through to Level Eleven, how would he break the next bottleneck?

How?

Difficult!

Headache!

Forget it—for now, continue enlightenment!

He Pingsheng calculated—he had already spent twenty-six years in enlightenment here.

Only one year remained.

After another year of closed-eye meditation and contemplation of Space Dao, the two Holy Masters ceased their teachings.

Countless Dao patterns retracted into their bodies.

"Enough!" He Wen smiled, waving his withered arm: "Ten years of teaching is over—you may leave!"

With that, their figures vanished instantly.

The crowd emerged from the Time Array.

Outside, they asked—indeed, only ten years had passed.

It felt like a dream of millet.

"Congratulations, Brother He!" Many offered their felicitations.

"Congratulations! Level Ten!"

"Brother He has reached Foundation Establishment Level Ten—his combat power must be far stronger now!"

"Naturally—since ancient times, the top Foundation Establishment cultivator was never earned by chance!"

Facing these congratulations, He Pingsheng bowed politely, expression calm.

In truth, over these years of listening to teachings, he had not merely broken through four levels.

Breaking through was only one part.

The second: he had meditated for twenty-seven years—but don't forget, he swallowed a top-grade Mingwu Pill—one pill equals four times normal enlightenment. Twenty-seven years equals one hundred and eight.

A century of enlightenment, all focused on Space Dao.

Additionally, after twenty-seven years of array contemplation, He Pingsheng believed he could now set up a fourth-rank array.

Whether he could actually do it—he'd test later.

"It's over!"

Liang Huaqiu looked at He Pingsheng and asked: "Brother He, what are your plans now?"

He Pingsheng thought a moment, then said: "Let's return to the Liang capital first."

Liang Huaqiu beamed with joy: "Good… let's go together!"

After the Nine Kingdoms Grand Competition, participants were theoretically free to go their separate ways.

Some would even remain on Tainian Mountain to undergo Tribulation Crossing for Nascent Soul.

Once one reaches Nascent Soul, one can truly roam the cultivation world unchallenged.

Most had no need to return to Liang with Zhenyu aboard the great ship.

Liang Huaqiu's greatest fear was that He Pingsheng would not return with them.

Fortunately, He Pingsheng chose to return to the capital.

In truth, He Pingsheng had his reasons for returning.

Before the teachings began, he had warned Long Yuan to send his master, senior brothers, and senior sisters to the Liang capital.

He didn't know if they had arrived yet.

So he wanted to go see.

If not, then we'll have to consider going to Qi State to rescue them.

"Younger brother…" Wang Dun walked over and greeted He Pingsheng.

"Honestly, I could have gone with you to Qi State to save them, but… you know, I have no good impression of Grand Void Gate!"

"Besides… when I first started, I nearly died on your Xiuzhu Peak!"

"Sorry, I won't help you!"

"The mountains are high and the roads long—brothers, we'll meet again!"

"Alright!" He Pingsheng clapped Wang Dun on the shoulder: "Good brother, see you again!"