71: Foundation Building Power

Foundation Establishment.

The beginning of cultivation.

Inside Zhou Yan's Dantian, a speck of faint light rotated, absorbing everything and gradually forming a vortex.

Its movement grew faster, his mind more focused, until it finally transformed into the first drop of True Essence liquid, falling like morning dew into a bottomless abyss, establishing the Foundation.

This liquid was not water, but the condensation of the Dao. This Foundation was not earth, but the root of existence.

The liquid flowed back, cleansing the physical body. It wasn't just washing away filth, but the fusion and erosion of form and substance, shedding the shell of ignorance to forge a body of clarity. Light reflected between the flesh and internal organs, clear inside and out like glazed glass.

All movement returned to a single point between the eyebrows, entering the silent Sea of Consciousness. The spirit condensed like a primordial star, illuminating the void.

With a single thought, he woke; everything was suddenly connected. Divine Sense was born from self-reflection, like a lamp and an eye.

The completion of the Foundation was not the end, but the beginning of the mutual generation of being and non-being. The gates to the inner Universe were first opened; every breath was in harmony with the profound.

Zhou Yan closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When his chest and abdomen were full, he slowly exhaled a breath of clear white air.

That air was pure and stainless, vanishing with a light swirl in the air. Along with it, the last trace of fatigue on his brow dissipated, leaving him refreshed.

To him, Foundation Establishment felt like a long time had passed, but in reality, all of this happened in an instant.

"Gulp."

Someone swallowed hard, breaking the dead silence. Immediately after, a cry of alarm exploded.

"Foundation Establishment! It's a Foundation Establishment expert!"

"He... he is actually a Foundation Establishment expert! Quick, retreat!"

It was unclear which side panicked first, but the leaders of the three factions shouted at their men simultaneously, trying to stabilize the situation.

"Don't let him fool you!"

"He is clearly just at Qi Refining Perfection. Foundation Establishment takes a long time; how could someone Breakthrough so quickly?"

"It must be some kind of illusion!"

"Right! It's a Spell effect; it's all fake!"

These words indeed slowed the commotion among the crowd.

But the three leaders knew better. Zhou Yan's Divine Sense had already been born, and that breath of clear air confirmed that his Dao Foundation was solid. He was a genuine Foundation Establishment Cultivator.

But if they couldn't even keep their teams steady now, they, as the leaders, would surely be the first to die.

Zhou Yan was in top condition and didn't expose their "performance," merely watching them with a smile.

Silence fell again, but it was entirely different from before.

Before, everyone was immersed in the shock of Zhou Yan's sudden Breakthrough, feeling as if time had flown by.

Now, every second seemed stretched by fear, making days feel like years.

"Bang."

Zhou Yan raised his hand in the shape of a pistol and whispered. The three factions and their leaders all took a step back in fear.

"Didn't you say you weren't afraid?"

Zhou Yan shook his head and took a step forward. As he advanced, the crowd retreated, like mice being toyed with by a cat.

Ah Da knew things were bad and stopped holding back. He quietly pulled out a silver flying dagger wrapped in blood-light and sent a voice transmission.

"You two, stop hiding your trump cards! Since we dare to do this for a living, who doesn't have a hidden ace? If we don't join forces, we'll all die!"

Both the masked leader and the old man received the transmission. The old man replied through gritted teeth.

"If I burn my blood essence and prepare for a moment, I can briefly match a Foundation Establishment expert!"

The Masked Man added, "I have a secret technique that can temporarily trap a Foundation Establishment Cultivator. If someone creates an opportunity for me, I can buy you some time."

Ah Da supplemented in a low voice, "This person was definitely at Qi Refining before; he must have gained enlightenment and broken through in a moment of crisis. Although his Foundation is stable, he has only just entered Foundation Establishment. My trump card can still wound him!"

Seeing the three of them openly using voice transmissions, Zhou Yan helplessly turned on "Voice-to-Text."

Their thoughts were laid out before him like a public chat.

"Honestly, they don't even know how to be discreet with voice transmissions; it's just teasing my curiosity. They even delivered the strategy right to me, making me lose any sense of accomplishment."

He calmly called up his panel.

【Zhou Yan】

【Rank: Early Stage Foundation Establishment Level 2 (0/10000)】

Zhou Yan stroked his chin and pondered.

If he killed all these people, he wondered if it could help him rush to Level 3 and reach the Peak of Early Stage Foundation Establishment?

But on second thought, killing them like this would be a waste. They were different from the monsters in Langqi Village; these were all genuine Qi Refining Cultivators.

The three of them plotted for a moment. Seeing that Zhou Yan hadn't moved, they relaxed slightly and felt a bit lucky.

Seizing the opportunity, the old man raised his voice to stabilize morale.

"Everyone, don't panic! He must have used a secret technique to temporarily reach Foundation Establishment; he might not be that strong! If we swarm him, he won't be able to kill us all!"

Ah Da and the Masked Man quickly agreed. Among their subordinates, some of the fear began to fade, and their Battle Intent reignited.

"Right! We have more people, what's there to fear!"

"He's just a fake Foundation Establishment!"

"Kill him and take his treasures!"

The crowd incited themselves; the three temporary teams actually felt like they were "forming a party to fight a boss."

"For wealth and glory—charge!"

"For our families, for the future—this battle must be won!"

"Victory! Victory!"

The slogans were deafening as a group of people charged forward bravely, but halfway through, they realized something was wrong.

Turning around, the main force was still shrinking back. Those who had shouted the loudest and incited the most hadn't stepped forward; only the new recruits had charged most eagerly.

"I... you guys... ugh!"

One of them was about to turn back and curse when he was suddenly pinned to the ground by a powerful pressure, unable to move an inch.

"It's... it's Divine Sense pressure!" someone in the back cried out in shock, "How is it possible? Isn't he a fake Foundation Establishment?"

"Could he really have established his Foundation... To be this fast, could it be 'Enlightenment Foundation Establishment'?"

The Masked Man's team was the first to collapse. Although they were numerous, their quality was uneven. Most had only heard of "Enlightenment Foundation Establishment." Seeing Zhou Yan's Divine Might, they lost all will to fight and only wanted to flee.

However, the chaos in front and the suppressed Cultivators made the whole scene a mess.

"Hah—ah!"

The old man roared, his blood essence surging and leaking out as mist, eventually condensing into a pulsating flesh egg.

Seeing the old man act, Ah Da and the Masked Man no longer held back. Ah Da's face turned pale as he sacrificed the silver flying dagger, piercing directly toward Zhou Yan's Dantian.

The Masked Man's eyes rolled back as a spiritual shock shot toward Zhou Yan's Sea of Consciousness. The crowd behind, seeing their leaders go all out, seemed ignited as well, preparing to fight for survival.

"Kill him!"

"If you don't fight, you can't survive!"

Swish.

Time acceleration: 5x.

In Zhou Yan's eyes, the noisy crowd suddenly moved in slow motion.

Having entered Foundation Establishment, activating time acceleration again was a completely different experience. Facing these Qi Refining Cultivators, he didn't even need a high multiplier to easily "freeze" them in place.

Zhou Yan walked forward leisurely, tilting his head slightly to easily avoid the spiritual shock as if stepping over a threshold. He then strolled to the silver flying dagger and examined the familiar blade.

【Silver Edge (Rank 2)】

He took out the Rank 1 Silver Edge dropped by his young cousin from his backpack and compared them carefully with his Divine Sense.

Although the refining techniques were slightly different, it was clear they were of the same model, except Ah Da's was made of better materials and was more powerful.

"Jiang Hongyue mentioned in Hanning that the Miechen and Hehuan Demonic Sects were supporting these small families..."

"The 'Flying Immortal Art' and Silver Edge are likely related to the demonic sects; I just don't know which one specifically."

"After Zhou Yan broke through to Foundation Establishment, the Rank 1 'Flying Immortal Art' dropped by Zhou Pi reached its limit and can no longer burn blood essence for experience."

"But Zhou Yan had flipped through the original 'Flying Immortal Art' manual found on Zhou Pi, and it clearly has subsequent content."

"It seems I'll have to ask this fellow properly about the origin of Silver Edge and the follow-up Cultivation Techniques of the 'Flying Immortal Art'."

With a sweep of his Divine Sense, Zhou Yan easily erased the weak mark etched with blood essence on the Silver Edge, replaced it with his own Divine Sense mark, and casually stuffed it into his backpack.

After finishing all this, he slowly walked in front of the three men.

Looking at their comical expressions—cautious, smirking, or wide-eyed—Zhou Yan smiled slightly.

In his heart, he was already planning to perform a "minor surgery" on them.