30: Chapter 30 Foundation Building Failure

In the deepest quiet room beneath Hidden Dragon Manor.

The Second-Rank Spirit Gathering Array was operating at full capacity, forcibly draining the spirit energy from the entire First-Rank Low-Grade spirit vein until it was nearly parched.

The spirit energy within the quiet room was so dense that it had condensed into wisps of white mist.

Su Yu sat cross-legged in the center of the white mist, his breathing long and steady, his true essence at the Ninth Layer of Qi Refining polished to the absolute pinnacle of perfection, seamless and flawless.

His essence, energy, and spirit had all reached their peak.

He opened his eyes and calmly opened the sandalwood jade box before him.

Without the slightest hesitation, Su Yu pinched the genuine foundation establishment pill, covered in fine pill patterns, between two fingers and placed it into his mouth.

The moment the pill entered his abdomen, there was none of the violent, heart-burning, bone-scraping sensation he had imagined.

Instead, it felt like a warm yet boundless ocean that suddenly dissolved deep within his dantian.

The medicinal power of the genuine foundation establishment pill was pure to the extreme.

It not only provided an immeasurably vast amount of spirit energy but also contained a trace of profound laws capable of cleansing the marrow and helping one reshape their Dao Foundation.

Su Yu's heart was as still as stagnant water.

He guided this vast medicinal power with extreme precision, without even a single error, circulating it according to the foundation establishment route of the Green Wood Longevity Art.

The first step: sink the Qi into the dantian and condense the gas into liquid.

It went extremely smoothly.

Under the pressure of the foundation establishment pill's massive medicinal power, the originally gaseous true essence of the Qi Refining Stage began to rapidly convert into a liquid state.

As long as all the true essence throughout his body was converted into liquid foundation establishment true essence, and then used to reshape his meridians, he could forge his Dao Foundation.

However, just as the transformation reached the most critical second step.

The extremely cruel reality descended without warning.

The density and quality of liquid true essence were far beyond what gaseous spirit energy could compare to.

When the first drop of liquid true essence flowed from the dantian into Su Yu's narrow and obscure meridians.

"Crack."

An extremely dangerous, subtle tearing sound rang out within Su Yu's body.

His meridians could not withstand it.

It was like trying to force a stream that had been dry for years, only as wide as a hair, to contain a galaxy pouring down from the nine heavens.

No matter how sublime and miraculous Su Yu's control over spirit energy was.

No matter how rock-solid his state of mind was, or how perfected his martial arts techniques were.

The absolute limit of his hardware had, at this moment, become a cold and insurmountable iron wall.

Ninth-Grade Poor Talent.

The width and resilience of this body's meridians were already at the absolute limit when enduring the gaseous spirit energy of the Ninth Level of Qi Refining.

Now, facing the onslaught of liquid true essence that was a hundred times heavier.

Even with the nourishment of the genuine foundation establishment pill, it was of no use at all.

"Pfft, pfft, pfft—"

Extremely dense tearing sounds rang out one after another throughout his limbs and bones.

Intense pain drowned Su Yu's consciousness like a tide, and large beads of blood began to ooze from the pores on his skin, staining his plain robe crimson.

His meridians were on the verge of shattering completely.

If he were to continue forcing it, the best outcome would be to end up like Su Hao, forcibly condensing a broken Dao Foundation filled with cracks, living a life worse than death.

And the worst outcome would be to explode and die on the spot.

In this split second of life and death.

Su Yu did not harbor a shred of arrogance or obsession about his fate being in his own hands, nor did he lose his reason amidst the intense pain.

The extreme calmness of someone who had held a high position in his past life allowed him to make a decision instantly.

Cut off the tail to survive.

Su Yu bit his tongue hard, forcibly cutting off the circulation route of the Green Wood Longevity Art.

He even voluntarily abandoned all the remaining medicinal power of that incredibly precious genuine foundation establishment pill, allowing it to dissipate into his limbs and bones, and then vanish into the world through his pores.

"Pfft!"

The cultivation technique reversed, and the spirit energy collapsed.

Su Yu spat out a mouthful of blood, his body struck as if by lightning, and he collapsed heavily onto the meditation cushion.

The white mist in the quiet room gradually dissipated.

The air was filled with a pungent smell of blood, as well as the regrettable lingering fragrance of the foundation establishment pill after it had dissipated.

For a long time.

Su Yu slowly straightened his body, raised his slightly trembling hand, and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.

His originally jet-black hair, due to this forced breakthrough attempt and the subsequent reversal of his cultivation, had suffered a severe loss of blood and energy, and was now more than half white.

He lowered his head and looked at his palms, which were stained with blood and had veins bulging.

The trace of liquid true essence that had just condensed within him had completely dissipated, and his cultivation had even dropped slightly, returning to the state of just entering the Ninth Level of Qi Refining.

The breakthrough had failed.

This genuine foundation establishment pill, which could have caused countless cultivators in the Qi Refining Stage to kill each other until rivers of blood flowed, had been completely wasted by him just like that.

However, facing this painful failure, this outcome that was enough to make anyone despair and collapse.

There was not a shred of impotent rage or a trace of resentment toward the unfairness of fate on Su Yu's face.

In the quiet room, it was so silent that one could hear a pin drop.

Suddenly, a low chuckle escaped Su Yu's throat.

Immediately after, the laughter grew louder and louder, echoing continuously in the empty stone room.

"Hahaha..."

"So, this is what a 9th Grade Spiritual Root is."

Su Yu leaned against the cold stone wall and laughed out loud.

He laughed with extreme relief, his laughter incomparably clear and insightful.

He had once thought that with the foundation of having lived two lifetimes, with his meticulous schemes, and with the heaven-sent genuine foundation establishment pill, he might be able to break the iron laws of this world.

But reality had told him with extreme honesty.

Without spiritual root aptitude, it simply wouldn't work.

Even if you held a heaven-defying opportunity in your hands, even if your Comprehension Ability was heaven-reaching, this mortal body's capacity could not hold this fortune that transcended the mundane.

If it were an ordinary cultivator, they would likely have already had their Dao heart collapse and fallen into demonic obsession by now.

But Su Yu did not.

Having lived for over a hundred years, he understood better than anyone what it meant to "know when to advance and when to retreat."

In his past life, as a Mortal without spiritual roots, he had walked the path of martial arts to its end, so he could die with a smile.

In this life, holding the most trashy Ninth-Grade Poor Talent, he had managed to reach the peak of the Qi Refining Stage in this remote Black Wind Valley, relying solely on calculations and opportunities.

He had even personally slaughtered a high-and-mighty Foundation Establishment cultivator.

"What the heavens do not grant, I, Su Yu, will no longer force."

Su Yu slowly stood up and straightened his blood-stained lapels.

The moment he said these words.

His heart, which was already deep as an abyss, seemed to have completely shed an invisible shackle.

This was a kind of perfection that came from thoroughly seeing through karma and accepting oneself.

It was a true clarity.

Since there was no hope for Foundation Establishment in this life, he would no longer strive for that ethereal longevity.

He would leave his remaining years to the villa, to the propagation of his bloodline.

Being a local king comfortably in this hundred-mile territory, waiting quietly for the next reincarnation—why not?

Su Yu brushed the dust off his cuffs, his expression returning to calm once again.

He was in no hurry to leave seclusion.

Since the breakthrough had failed, he still needed some time to recuperate his damaged meridians.