63: Breakthrough Foundation Building

In the secret chamber, you began to take inventory of the contents of Hall Master Jiang He's Storage Pouch.

The more you counted, the more you struggled to suppress the excitement in your heart—

There were a total of 32,500 Spirit Stones.

One jade stone tablet containing the Yin Yang Five Elements Art Cultivation Technique.

One Spiritual Artifact, the xuanling sword.

One Spiritual Artifact, a xuanling shield.

One Concealment Hood.

Two light evasion talismans.

One flying Spiritual Artifact, a flowing cloud boat.

Three foundation establishment pills.

Seven bottles of Condensing Liquid Pills.

Six bottles of qi gathering pills.

One piece of blood red stone!

One box of ice crystal snow pears!

One bottle of grain dispelling pills.

And over one hundred other congratulatory gifts, mostly supplies worth around one hundred Spirit Stones each.

You knew that the Condensing Liquid Pills were for Foundation Establishment Cultivators, and you couldn't use them yet.

You started sorting and categorizing, packing up what you couldn't use—preparing to let Zhong Linger place them in the Jiang Clan Merchant House for sale.

You were very clear that the most important thing now was to convert resources into your own strength—among them, the qi gathering pills were the most useful to you.

Finally, you took out that jade stone tablet for the Yin Yang Five Elements Art.

As the jade stone tablet appeared, the two-meter-tall jade stele stood firmly on the ground.

Engraved upon it was the content of the Yin Yang Five Elements Art Cultivation Technique—

Yin and Yang complement each other, the Five Elements harmonize, Dao Companion Cultivates together, jointly seeking the Great Dao...

Using a female Cultivator as a cauldron to steal her Origin to supplement one's own body...

Must seek a female Cultivator with Five Elements Spiritual Roots, preferably one whose Primordial Yin is still intact...

When palms are pressed together, circulate the Vein Stealing Hand; invisible Qi needles emerge from the fingertips, piercing the opponent's vital points...

During intercourse, a Yin and Yang vortex appears above the roof, secretly plundering the surrounding Spiritual Qi and the female Cultivator's body...

The one being harvested suffers a drop in Realm, making future progress nearly impossible for her entire Lifespan...

After reading it, you were overjoyed: "Not bad, what a great Cultivation Technique! It suits me perfectly!"

Next, you began to Cultivate in peace, leaving the management of the Jiang Clan Merchant House and the Jiang Residence entirely to Zhong Linger.

In the twenty-first year,

You finally achieved a Breakthrough to the sixth layer of Qi Refining.

The Illusionary Form Technique also reached the fourth layer.

However, Zhong Linger had already successfully achieved Foundation Establishment; her talent truly made you envious.

Over these years, besides Cultivating and having arguments with her, you basically did nothing else.

Both the Jiang Residence and the Jiang Clan Merchant House were managed meticulously by Zhong Linger.

You secretly praised in your heart: This girl is truly a virtuous helper!

You suddenly realized your own advantage—useless at doing things, but very good at finding capable people to work for you.

You finally found your true position—the hands-off manager.

The Jiang Clan Merchant House's income had been good over the years, allowing you, a Qi Refining Cultivator, to never worry about resources, so you lived quite comfortably.

However, although the Merchant House's income was high, two major expenditures made you very unhappy—

The first: The East District Tax Office took eighty percent.

The second: The Money Gang Leader, Immortal Master Yu Long, took another fifty percent.

This meant that for every 100,000 Spirit Stones earned, you first paid 80,000 to the Tax Office, and then had to split the remaining 20,000, giving 10,000 to Immortal Master Yu Long, leaving only 10,000 for yourself.

But there was nothing to be done—you couldn't afford to offend the East District Tax Office.

You had inquired about Immortal Master Yu Long; he was a Golden Core mighty figure, and you dared not risk offending him for the time being.

Since this Spirit Stone income was essentially free money, you didn't dwell on it too much.

In the thirty-first year,

You Cultivated to the seventh layer of Qi Refining.

The Illusionary Form Technique also broke through to the fifth layer.

This time you switched to cultivating the Yin Yang Five Elements Art, and the speed seemed to have increased slightly.

During this period, you successively harvested and supplemented ten female Cultivators, all of whom were the former concubines in the Jiang Residence.

In the fortieth year,

Relying on the Yin Yang Five Elements Art, you successfully advanced to the eighth layer of Qi Refining—which was the Peak of the Middle Stage of Qi Refining.

You knew—Qi Refining had twelve layers in total, and only the thirteenth layer constituted Great Perfection.

This time you let loose and harvested all the remaining concubines in the Jiang Residence in rotation.

Indeed, the Cultivation speed seemed to have increased much faster again.

Furthermore, your Illusionary Form Technique also reached the sixth layer—

Now you could alter your appearance from the inside out, including your aura and voice; Cultivators of the same Realm could not see through it at all.

Because you had avoided holding any banquets over the years, many people found it strange.

Some even speculated that you might already be dead, as almost no one had seen you appear.

You also had to occasionally come out to handle things, spreading rumors that you were in secluded death-fasting, which gradually dispelled everyone's doubts.

In the ninetieth year,

You finally Cultivated to Qi Refining Great Perfection.

Your Illusionary Form Technique also reached Perfection.

Now when you cast the Illusionary Form Technique, it was like completely transforming into another person, even the aura of your cultivation could be identical.

Even someone a major Realm above you could not detect it without careful probing.

In the secret chamber, you prepared to begin the charge toward Foundation Establishment.

You worried about insufficient Spiritual Qi, so you prepared ten thousand Spirit Stones and ten foundation establishment pills.

foundation establishment pills were not rare items in Tianshu City; although the price was not low, they could be bought as long as you had enough Spirit Stones.

You began the Breakthrough—

But after one hour, all ten foundation establishment pills were consumed, yet you failed to achieve Breakthrough.

One year later, you continued to stabilize your Realm, feeling that you had reached the extreme of Qi Refining Perfection and could not advance further, so you decided to attempt Foundation Establishment again.

This time you prepared thirty foundation establishment pills.

An hour passed, and you failed again.

You became furious, and the secret chamber trembled slightly from the shock.

"What exactly is wrong? Why do I always feel like I'm just short of something?" you muttered to yourself.

You began to carefully recall the details of the two failures.

After studying for over three hours, you were still completely clueless.

"Why is breaking through to Foundation Establishment harder than writing a doctoral dissertation?" Your mood was heavy.

At this moment, you remembered Zhong Linger—she only used three foundation establishment pills and succeeded on the first try.

That evening, you specifically went to ask her for advice.

After hearing your question, she smiled slightly:

"You are Cultivating the Yin Yang Five Elements Art, and the female Cultivators you harvested have different Spiritual Qi attributes..."

"This makes the Spiritual Qi inside your body both complex and violent. Your body and Meridians have difficulty bearing and processing such complex and surging Spiritual Qi in a short time."

"The Qi Refining Stage is meant for tempering the Foundation and purifying one's magical power. You must first focus on thoroughly refining all this external Spiritual Qi into your own."

You opened your eyes wide and couldn't help but ask, "Doesn't practicing this Cultivation Technique bring more harm than good then?"

Zhong Linger laughed, "Not necessarily. When you normally circulate a standard Cultivation Technique, doesn't one cycle take an hour?"

"But with the Yin Yang Five Elements Art, it only takes half an hour, right?"

"If you cultivated normally to Qi Refining Perfection, it might still take over ten years, as it gets harder the further you go. This Cultivation Technique saves you over ten years of time."

"Next, you only need to spend one or two years completely refining the Spiritual Qi. Overall, you are still profiting."

"Don't underestimate these ten-plus years; some people are nearing the end of their Lifespan, and they are short of just these few years," she added seriously.

With her explanation, you finally understood what was happening. So, you returned to the secret chamber and began secluded cultivation once more.