72: Chapter 72 Foundation Building

Half a month later, your group safely returned to Bailu City.

You no longer allowed yourself to be distracted by the metal veins; all opportunities had to make way for the improvement of your cultivation, and everything would be replanned after breaking through to the foundation establishment.

Three days later, after adjusting your physical state to its peak, you stood before a stone door.

"Qian'er, have you really thought this through?"

Bai Shouzhuo wore a look of worry.

After all, when you first entered the city and displayed the peak Qi Condensation cultivation, your excuse was the xuanyuan immortal-ascending fruit. Once you broke through to the foundation establishment, there was an extremely high probability that it would trigger the heavenly tribulation that only Core Formation cultivators needed to face.

Moreover, the heavenly tribulation triggered by breaking through cultivation could only be weathered by oneself. If one borrowed others' help, the power of the heavenly tribulation would multiply several times over, and backslash was inevitable.

That meant once encountered during the foundation establishment breakthrough, there was basically no possibility of survival.

"Mm, the lifespan of Qi Condensation is too short. I want to accompany you for longer."

Your words this time were filled with genuine affection, completely blocking back all the words he had piled up in his stomach to refute you.

"Sigh~ Forget it."

Bai Shouzhuo tried to speak several times, but looking at your firm gaze, he could only shake his head helplessly.

Then, he gently stroked the storage bag at his waist and took out a jade bottle. It contained half a bottle of silver-blue liquid, within which electric light faintly flowed.

"This is the Tribulation Dew. Consuming it can stabilize your heart meridian when the heavenly tribulation descends and reduce the deterrence of the thunder might on your divine soul. With your cultivation at the perfection of the first stage of Body Refining, your physical body is not weaker than ordinary foundation establishment cultivators, and you might just fight for that glimmer of survival."

"Thank you, Husband~"

Your gaze darkened slightly, but your fingertips revealed not the slightest ripple. After steadily receiving the jade bottle, the next instant it fell into your system space.

Only then did you reveal a gentle smile from the bottom of your heart.

Tribulation Dew, the absolute top-tier among Tier 3 spiritual items!

Not only could this item help cultivators transcend tribulations, but it could also enhance a cultivator's perception of the thunder attribute between heaven and earth. It was truly an exceptional treasure for practicing thunder spells.

As expected, cultivators with more experience know how to cherish people!

At this thought, you blinked at Bai Shouzhuo.

"Wait for me to come out of seclusion, oh~"

You immediately turned around and hurried into the secret room.

"Rumble!"

The stone door fell, and the shyness on your face vanished completely in an instant.

Taking a deep breath, you sat cross-legged on the futon in the center of the secret room, holding a foundation establishment pill in your palm.

The medicinal pill was semi-transparent throughout, azure-green in color, with cloud patterns faintly flowing on its surface. Inside, a wisp of silver-white mist coiled like a roaming dragon, which was precisely a strand of innate qi sealed within.

You no longer hesitated and swallowed it in one gulp.

As soon as the foundation establishment pill entered your mouth, it turned into a warm spiritual current that poured straight into your dantian. In an instant, the meridians throughout your body connected smoothly like a frozen spring river thawing, and they began to crazily absorb the surrounding spiritual qi.

Seeing this, you waved your hand without hesitation, taking out a large amount of spirit stones that directly covered the entire secret room.

In the battle of the Hundred Cities Martial Arts Tournament, your harvest was extremely bountiful. In terms of spirit stones alone, you gained more than 700,000 low-grade spirit stones, over 5,000 middle-grade spirit stones, and 200 high-grade spirit stones.

This was even after you actively gave up a portion of your interest-gained harvest for your own safety.

After the spiritual qi was replenished, your whale-like swallowing became even faster.

After the massive spiritual power poured into your body, instead of rushing straight into the dantian like before, it surged toward your limbs, bones, and the extraordinary meridians. At the same time, the medicinal efficacy within the foundation establishment pill was gradually dissolving within your dantian.

The acquired qi receded like a tide, while the innate qi quietly sprouted from the depths of your dantian, gradually sweeping through your entire body.

The three barriers of foundation establishment—essence, qi, and spirit—corresponded precisely to body refining, qi condensation, and divine sense.

Although your current physique was already comparable to ordinary foundation establishment cultivators, it had not yet undergone the baptism of innate qi.

However, no matter how strong your tendons and bones were, without the innate qi running through your whole body, it was like a tall building without a foundation. Even with thousands of catties of strength, it would ultimately be difficult to carry the thickness of thousands of spiritual powers, and even harder to bear the weight of the Dao path.

Qi cultivators defy fate, and body cultivators defy the physical body. Although the two are different paths, they also complement each other.

The stronger a cultivator's physique, the more stable and vast the "inner heaven and earth" formed during the foundation establishment breakthrough would be. The opening of the "inner heaven and earth" was also the biggest difference between body cultivators and law cultivators.

Therefore, the physical body of a qi cultivator after successfully establishing their foundation was also known as the "Dao body".

Yet everything has a price.

After a wave of warmth came a bone-deep, unforgettable pain. Every inch of your meridians and flesh was being purified by the innate qi, scraping across your entire body like thousands of blades dismembering you.

The veins on your temples bulged, and cold sweat like a fine curtain of pearls drenched your clothes. Yet you still gritted your teeth to maintain the posture of the five centers facing the sky, retracting all your divine thoughts inward and constantly adjusting your bodily state.

This process was destined to be long and perilous.

...

At a certain moment one year later, you in the secret room slowly opened your eyes. Azure light seemed to flow at the bottom of your eyes, and your gaze was clear and calm.

Looking within yourself, the meridians in your body seemed to be wrapped in a layer of silver radiance. While glowing brilliantly, they appeared even more resilient, and the breath between your internal organs was as long and endless as a flowing river.

Most importantly, your original dantian seemed to have formed a separate space within which acquired spiritual qi and innate qi were distinctly separated, yet intertwined with each other.

After every cycle, this "inner heaven and earth" would quietly grow by a fraction.

The most perilous body barrier was safely passed, and the "Dao body" was formed. What remained was to guide the spiritual power into the "inner heaven and earth", accumulate reserves, and liquefy the spiritual qi.

You slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air and looked around. The mountain-like pile of spirit stones had long since turned into grayish-white powder.

There was not the slightest trace of heartache on your face. You calmly waved your hand, and another batch of spirit stones poured out from the storage bag, their glowing light illuminating the stone room.

As long as you could achieve foundation establishment, any price could be paid.

You closed your eyes once more, and your body, like a glutton, began to whale-swallow the surrounding spiritual power once again...

Springs went and autumns came; the secret room in the back mountain of the City Lord's Mansion had been closed for a full three years.

"Dad, will Sister Qianqian really be alright?"

The girl in the pink skirt looked anxiously toward the direction of the back mountain.

"Ordinary Qi Condensation cultivators need to spend about a year in seclusion to break through to the foundation establishment."

Bai Shouzhuo stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze calm, but the hands in his sleeves were already clenched into fists.

"Qian'er's foundation is much stronger than ordinary Qi Condensation cultivators. If... if she didn't trigger the heavenly tribulation, it should take about three years."

"But..."

Just as Bai Youyou was about to continue speaking, a wildly arrogant laughter came from the back mountain.

"Ahahaha! This seat has succeeded!!!"

The next moment, an azure light pierced through the air like a sword, shooting straight into the clouds.

That azure light was extremely fast, shuttling back and forth in mid-air like an arrow leaving the bow, sweeping horizontally and vertically at will.

"Qian'er."

The call from below made the figure in mid-air pause slightly, and then it swooped down rapidly toward the ground, stopping abruptly within a zhang of the ground in the blink of an eye.

The azure light dissipated, turning into a slender figure.

At this moment, you were barefoot in the void, your clothes fluttering, spiritual charm circulating around your body, displaying a transcendent posture in every gesture.

The Foundation Establishment Realm was achieved!