Chapter 35: 【But Someone Is Anxious, A Close Call】 (Seeking recommendation votes)

Lu Chengtong had just entered the seventh layer of the Qi Refining realm not long ago; his cultivation was stable, and he could continue to refine Qi and breathe, moving forward steadily.

Now, in the herb garden, he continuously obtained spirit fruits through the 【Spring Breeze Turns to Rain】 supernatural power, took time to refine them into Gathering Qi Pills, and then used the pills to assist his cultivation; his progress speed was not inferior to that of a superior-talent dual Spirit Root cultivator who did not use spirit stones for cultivation.

This kind of cultivation speed was all bought by burning money; let alone an individual rogue cultivator, even a Foundation Establishment family would not let a disciple with mediocre talent consume spirit stones like this.

Daily meditation, alchemy, and organizing the herb garden—days passed one by one.

Time flies like an arrow; in the blink of an eye, ten years had passed.

Now, Lu Chengtong was already fifty-three years old, and his cultivation had broken through to the ninth layer of the Qi Refining realm half a year ago.

Past fifty, reaching the ninth layer of the Qi Refining realm—he had never thought of such a cultivation speed before obtaining the Treasure Mirror.

His talent was very poor, and it had cost a huge amount of spirit pills and spirit stones to have such a cultivation level.

And those geniuses in the sect, like Chen Sanqing and his ilk, were already Foundation Establishment cultivators, called True Persons, and had become True Cultivators.

The Fetal Breath realm and Qi Refining realm were only the introductory levels of the path of cultivation and could not be considered truly initiated; only after Foundation Establishment could one be considered to have entered the hall, and when walking outside, one could call oneself an immortal cultivator.

Lu Chengtong had no intention of comparing himself with others; he just hated that his cultivation was low, that he could not act freely to avenge his grievances, and that he still needed to continue to endure.

Over the past ten years, although he had spent most of his time in bitter cultivation, he had not been completely oblivious to the outside world.

He had been paying attention to Chen Sanqing and the others, and had even entrusted people to inquire about Zhao Shanyue.

Chen Sanqing was worthy of his Heavenly Spirit Root talent; ten years ago he was at the seventh layer of the Qi Refining realm, and now he was already at the third layer of the Foundation Establishment realm, reaching the peak of the early Foundation Establishment stage.

He reached Foundation Establishment at the age of twenty, and in the seven years since, he had broken through two small levels in a row.

If it weren't for the need to polish his Sword Intent, he feared that these levels of the Foundation Establishment realm would definitely not be obstacles for him; he would have long since gone smoothly all the way to perfection.

Jia Gusheng and Yan Jiaojiao had also succeeded in Foundation Establishment; the former reached Foundation Establishment two years ago, and the latter only succeeded this year.

In any case, they all succeeded in Foundation Establishment before the age of thirty; such speed was definitely far beyond that of more than ninety-nine percent of cultivators.

Seeing them grow rapidly, Lu Chengtong was very happy; he wished these people would reach Golden Core quickly, and then together launch an attack on Zhao Yongcheng, killing this number one enemy of the Lu family.

But he also understood that high Spirit Root talent just meant faster Foundation Establishment speed.

The matter of forming a Golden Core was a hundred times more dangerous; he did not know how many of them could succeed, and even if some could, it was not something that could be seen in the next ten or twenty years.

For himself, it was even more difficult.

He had only just entered the ninth layer of the Qi Refining realm this year; to reach the perfection of the Qi Refining realm, he would need at least four or five more years, and to break through to Foundation Establishment, he would have to endure another four or five years to consolidate his foundation before he could try.

That would be another ten years of time.

He could not rush; everything could not be rushed.

He was not in a hurry, but someone was!

After Lu Chengtong modified his memory, Hou Zhao began to refine pills frantically to earn spirit stones; this continued for a year. One year later, he used spirit stones and pills to practice, and in half a year, he entered the seventh layer of the Qi Refining realm, and two years later, he reached the eighth layer of the Qi Refining realm.

Two years ago, he reached the ninth layer of the Qi Refining realm, and now he was likely preparing for Foundation Establishment.

Hou Zhao's talent was not bad, with superior Fire-type three Spirit Roots, much better than Lu Chengtong's talent; if he were not anxious or impatient, he had a great hope of reaching Foundation Establishment before the age of eighty.

He was only fifty-five years old this year; rushing into Foundation Establishment, he feared there would be great risks.

Lu Chengtong had been investigating the mystery of Lu Chengqin's death during this time, but this matter was too secretive, and he had found almost nothing.

He could not risk investigating deeply and could only pin his hopes on Hou Zhao.

Therefore, he did not want Hou Zhao to have any accidents.

On this day, there happened to be an opportunity to meet.

After completing a Baiyuan Fruit transaction, Lu Chengtong spoke up:

"I observe that Brother Hou's spirit Qi is vast; presumably, you are already at the perfection of the Qi Refining realm. I wonder when Brother Hou plans to break through and become a Foundation Establishment True Person?"

Hou Zhao did not hide his cultivation aura; he wanted to show himself to gain the sect's attention so that he could obtain a certain amount of power to investigate the cause of Lu Chengqin's death.

Hearing this, he answered with a smile:

"I plan to try to break through within the next two months."

Lu Chengtong said in surprise:

"Has Brother Hou already purchased a superior Foundation Establishment Pill? You must know that the quality of the Dao Foundation affects subsequent cultivation and is the root of forming a Golden Core; one must not be careless!"

"I have my own calculations in my heart and will not joke with my own future. Many thanks to Brother Cheng for your concern; I have already purchased a superior Foundation Establishment Pill, and I have to thank Brother Cheng for the low-priced spirit herbs you gave me. If I become an inner disciple, I will definitely not forget Brother Cheng's kindness."

Hou Zhao said so, looking quite confident.

Seeing this, Lu Chengtong knew that persuasion was useless, so he sought another way and said:

"If that is the case, then I must congratulate you in advance, Brother, on building your Dao Foundation and officially stepping onto the path of immortal cultivation! I wonder if you have found a guardian? When breaking through, it is best to have a guardian by your side to prevent interference."

Hou Zhao had never heard of such a saying and asked back:

"Oh? I hadn't considered that. I wonder if Brother has time to guard me?"

Lu Chengtong said with a smile:

"Haha! I have exactly that intention. To tell you the truth, Brother, I just want to see what Foundation Establishment is like."

The two of them made the agreement just like that.

Just a month and a half later, Hou Zhao could no longer endure.

He summoned Lu Chengtong, set up the Spirit-Gathering Array, and after adjusting his breath for half an hour, he began to break through.

After taking the Foundation Establishment Pill, his already prominent Fire Spirit Root became even more active; four furnaces of fire were specially lit around him to help create a fire-spirit atmosphere. With fire as the root, fire generates earth, earth generates metal, metal generates water, water generates wood, and wood generates fire.

In this cycle, the five elements are perfected, the Great Heavenly Cycle is circulated, and the Spirit Root is transformed into a Dao Foundation.

The Fire Spirit Root is irritable, and Hou Zhao was even more anxious now; feelings of hatred and anger surged into his heart for a moment, immediately causing the spirit Qi around his body to riot. The originally stable Foundation Establishment process became like a small boat encountering a stormy sea, drifting and unstable.

Lu Chengtong immediately sensed that something was wrong and hurriedly used the 【Spring Breeze Turns to Rain】 supernatural power.

This supernatural power had "Wood-Water" attributes, which was just right to cool him down.

During the breakthrough, Hou Zhao only felt a sense of coolness and warmth surge into his heart, making the fire that was burning wantonly in his heart become more orderly; he could not detect what was going on.

Finally, the Dao Foundation was formed, the spirit Qi converged, and Hou Zhao opened his eyes.

Lu Chengtong let out a breath and said joyfully:

"Brother Hou, congratulations! You scared me just now; your spirit Qi suddenly rioted. I don't know what method you used to calm it down again, but fortunately, it was a close call, and you have passed this tribulation today! Haha, today is a great joy; Brother, you must get me some fine spirit tea to treat me!"

Hou Zhao felt his Foundation Establishment cultivation and was also happy in his heart. He raised his hand and said generously:

"What tea to drink? Let's go, let's go to the market, to the Juanxian Lou; there will be plenty of spirit wine!"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 36 =====