147: Zhang Chuancheng

Within the pillar of light, there was another world entirely.

Han Yi's feet did not step on solid ground; instead, he was suspended within a viscous, pulp-like green spiritual liquid.

This was no ordinary stream of water. This blessed grotto-heaven had been sealed for a thousand years, and during that time, the High Grade Rank Three "Green Vine Ancestral Root" had breathed in and out day and night, compressing the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi to its absolute limit, transforming it into this vegetation essence.

Every drop of the spiritual liquid that touched his skin felt like countless tiny drills, frantically boring into his body through his pores.

Pain.

A heart-wrenching, lung-splitting pain.

Han Yi's Meridians, originally withered from his flight, were instantly stretched as taut as bowstrings by this violent power, letting out a mournful cry under the unbearable burden.

"Green Wood Spirit Body, since you have entered my sect, you shall inherit my Dao."

An ancient voice, yet one imbued with endless majesty, exploded directly in the depths of his Sea of Consciousness.

Han Yi forced open his eyes, which were stinging from the spiritual light.

He saw the green seed suspended in the center of the light pillar disintegrating at a speed visible to the naked eye. It transformed into countless complex and obscure dark-green runes that rushed into his brow like a rainstorm, brooking no refusal.

There was no gentle preaching or explanation; there was only a simple and brutal empowerment.

Han Yi felt as if a mountain had been stuffed into his mind, and the massive flow of information instantly drowned his reason.

Soft Silk Entwining Heart Canon.

Five large ancient seal characters, carrying a cold and lingering Dao charm, were deeply imprinted upon his Divine Soul.

This was not the righteous Cultivation Technique of an orthodox Daoist sect, nor was it a bloodthirsty evil art of the Demonic Path.

Using the Divine Soul as silk and the human heart as a cocoon, it unraveled the silk to peel the cocoon, controlling the seven emotions and six sensory pleasures.

"What an overbearing technique!"

Han Yi gritted his teeth as streaks of black blood seeped from his seven orifices—a sign that the Impurities within his body were being forcibly expelled.

He had no time to contemplate the mysteries of the Cultivation Technique because, at this moment, the vegetation essence filling the grotto-heaven had found an outlet and began its final baptism of him.

The natural chasm and Bottleneck that originally stood between Qi Refining Perfection and the Foundation Establishment Stage was as fragile as window paper before this vast energy accumulated over a thousand years.

Crack.

A crisp sound echoed from deep within his Dantian.

The gaseous spiritual power vortex began to collapse and compress, finally transforming into the first drop of crystal-clear green true essence.

Then came the second drop, the third... the originally parched Dantian was transformed in an instant into a shimmering spiritual lake.

Rumble!

The bones throughout Han Yi's body crackled and boomed. His turbid Mortal bones were shattered inch by inch under the calcination of spiritual fire, then rapidly reorganized under the nourishment of the vegetation's vitality.

The newly born bones took on a faint jade-like color, with naturally formed wood grains faintly visible upon them.

But this was not the end.

Foundation Establishment: the casting of the foundation of the Great Dao.

The most critical step was to condense the immortal foundation.

Han Yi held his breath and focused his mind. Following the methods of the Soft Silk Entwining Heart Canon, he guided the newly born true essence in his Dantian to continuously interweave and construct in the center of the spiritual lake.

It was not the green lotus or ancient tree typical of ordinary wood-attribute Cultivators.

Above his Dantian, countless green spiritual threads slowly wound together, finally condensing into an ancient-looking... balance scale that exuded a strange beauty.

Both ends of the scale were empty, but the beam was a green vine covered in thorns, and the base was a slowly beating wooden heart.

immortal foundation—[Heart-Capturing Balance].

Once this foundation was formed, it could weigh the hearts of men.

Anyone with a weak will or who felt fear toward the wielder would have their Divine Soul invisibly suppressed by this scale, losing heart before the battle even began. If their cultivation was inferior to Han Yi's, the Heart-Capturing Balance could even directly snatch away their Three Ethereal Souls and Seven Corporeal Spirits.

"Is this... the Foundation Establishment Stage?"

Han Yi slowly opened his eyes.

In the depths of his originally pitch-black pupils, there was now a deep green light, like two bottomless ancient wells. A single glance was enough to make one's mind waver.

He raised his hand, and within his palm, a green spiritual thread as thin as a gossamer quietly emerged.

This spiritual thread seemed weak and powerless, yet with a mere thought, it easily sliced through the space before him, leaving a pitch-black rift that could not heal for a long time.

Strong.

Unprecedentedly strong.

This fulfilling sense of possessing power made Han Yi want to let out a long howl.

But he held back.

His gaze fell upon the green Jade Slip that had fallen along with the Legacy.

As his fingertips rubbed the warm jade, Han Yi's eyes gradually turned cold.

It was too coincidental.

The soul-fixing wooden talisman that had saved his life at the critical moment, and this Legacy site that just happened to require a Green Wood Spirit Body to open.

Everything was like a meticulously woven net.

And he was the insect being driven into the net.

No matter who you are, and no matter what your schemes are.

Since you've let me survive and allowed me to obtain this blade,

Then the direction of this chess game will not be up to you anymore.

But before that.

Han Yi turned around, his gaze piercing through the layers of spiritual light to look at the tightly closed stone door.

"There are some accounts that need to be settled first."

...Outside the stone door.

The air was filled with a nauseating stench of rot and burning.

The once magnificent green lotus stone door was now covered in a thick layer of blackish-red slime.

That was the "Bone-Melting Soul-Consuming Liquid" that Scholar Zhang had prepared by mixing eighty-one types of highly toxic corpse water with his own essence blood. It was specifically used to defile spiritual objects and break Restrictions.

"Faster! Even faster!"

Scholar Zhang's hair was disheveled, his eyes were bloodshot, and he looked like a madman.

The Corpse-Controlling Banner in his hand shook frantically. He did not even hesitate to burn the Origin of the fierce ghosts he had nurtured in the banner for many years, turning it into rolling Yin fire to sear the stone door.

He was afraid.

From the moment Han Yi entered the stone door, a strong premonition of death had been looming over him.

A descendant with the Green Wood Spirit Body receiving the ancestor's Legacy—what did that mean?

It meant that a massive threat was rapidly growing behind that door.

"I must break open this door before he completely assimilates the Legacy!"

Scholar Zhang bit the tip of his tongue and spat a mouthful of essence blood onto the stone door.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle.

The green light on the surface of the stone door dimmed rapidly under the toxic erosion. The hard rock began to soften, dripping down like candle wax.

"It's working!"

A light of wild joy erupted in Scholar Zhang's eyes.

He could feel the Restriction behind the door collapsing.

"Han Yi, you brat! Even if you've reached Foundation Establishment, so what? You've just broken through, your Realm is unstable, and you might not even be able to cast a few Spells!"

Scholar Zhang grinned hideously as he pulled a pitch-black dagger from his Storage Pouch, which shimmered with a ghostly blue toxic light.

"I have been immersed in the Foundation Establishment Stage for ten years, and I've killed nearly ten Foundation Establishment Loose Cultivators! Today, I will skin you alive, pull out your tendons, and refine you into my most perfect corpse puppet!"

Just as he was about to deliver the final blow to the stone door.

Buzz.

A soft hum suddenly rang out in the empty stone hall.

It sounded like a zither string being plucked.

Immediately after.

The stone door, which was already riddled with holes and teetering on the verge of collapse from the corrosion, suddenly stopped trembling.

The nauseating blackish-red slime on it instantly evaporated like melting snow under a scorching sun.

An extremely dense green light projected out from the cracks in the stone door.

This light was not blinding; instead, it was as soft as water.

But in Scholar Zhang's eyes, this was a life-claiming summons from the King of Hell.

"This... this is..."

Scholar Zhang's pupils contracted violently, and his body froze in place.

A terrifying pressure passed through the stone door like a heavy hammer, slamming hard against his chest.

Thump!

Scholar Zhang let out a muffled groan and staggered back several steps, his face instantly turning pale.

This Aura... it was not just the Early Foundation Establishment Stage.

That level of condensation, that strange fluctuation that seemed able to directly pierce through the flesh and suppress the Divine Soul, was even several points more powerful than his own Middle Foundation Establishment Stage!

"How is it possible... how could it be so fast?!"

Scholar Zhang's voice trembled, and he almost lost his grip on the dagger.

From the time Han Yi entered until now, it had only been a short two hours.

When ordinary Cultivators established their foundation, who didn't need to go into seclusion for months or even years?

This was no mere Legacy; this was clearly the creation of a god!

Rumble.

The heavy stone door slowly opened inward under Scholar Zhang's despairing gaze.

There was no earth-shattering explosion, nor any aggressive roars.

There was only a clear breeze.

The wind was mixed with a faint fragrance of vegetation and a trace of... chill that seeped into the marrow.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

The sound of footsteps echoed clearly in the deathly silent stone hall.

A slender figure slowly emerged from the light and shadow behind the door.

Han Yi's clothes had long since turned to ash during his Breakthrough. Now, he wore a long robe condensed from green Spiritual Qi that fluttered without any wind.

Within three feet of his body, countless green spiritual threads as thin as gossamer slowly drifted and interwove in the air like living tentacles.

With every step he took, a patch of lush green moss would grow on the rock beneath his feet, only to quickly wither and turn to ash.

Life, death, prosperity, and decay—all within a single thought.

Han Yi stopped walking and slightly raised his head.

Those eyes, shimmering with a faint green light, crossed the ten-zhang distance and landed calmly on Scholar Zhang.

There was no anger, no hatred.

There was only the indifference one would have when looking at a dead man.

"Fellow Daoist Zhang."

Han Yi's voice was very soft, yet it drilled clearly into Scholar Zhang's eardrums, causing his heart to shrink violently as if it were being gripped tightly by an invisible giant hand.

"You've waited a long time."