45: Chapter 45: This wave is a complete transformation.

It hurt.

It hurt like hell.

Jiang Ning felt as if she had been thrown into a rock crusher; just as she was finished being crushed, someone had used shoddy glue to force her back together. That force bored into the crevices of her bones, even more lethal than being slashed by a spatial rift in a mine in her previous life.

She gritted her teeth so hard that her mouth was filled with the metallic taste of blood, but she didn't make a single sound.

Having grown accustomed to working like a dog at the Qingyun Sect, she knew clearly in her heart: crying out in pain was useless. No one would give you a second look; they would only think you were being dramatic and couldn't handle the work.

She didn't know how long she endured this suffering. It could have been the blink of an eye, or it could have been several days.

Just as her mind was barely functioning and she felt she was about to die right there, the force that felt like it would tear her apart suddenly withdrew.

Then came the pleasure.

The sensation was like a massive boulder she had carried for decades being suddenly lifted, or like jumping into cold water after being drenched in sweat on a stifling summer day.

She performed a brief internal inspection.

The sparse pool of liquid Qi that was originally in her Dantian was gone. In its place, a crystal-clear small stone hung in the center, looking almost solid. This was the "Dao Foundation." It wasn't large, but the power hidden within was more than ten times stronger than before.

Moreover, this power had become obedient. In the past, mobilizing Qi was like herding ducks—strenuous and disorganized; now, with just a thought, this energy acted as if it had eyes, striking exactly where she directed it.

As the "Dao Foundation" took shape, a warm current surged through her entire body.

All the messy impurities in her body—toxins accumulated from daily meals and dust inhaled from the air—were all forced out by this warm current.

A layer of pitch-black sludge soon coated her skin, smelling both fishy and foul.

Jiang Ning wrinkled her nose, almost gagging from her own stench.

She flicked her finger, and without even much effort, a wisp of Qi emerged. She wiped it casually over her body.

Cleansing Technique.

Back in the Qi Refinement Stage, she would have had to strain for a long time to do this, but now it was as easy as blinking.

A gust of wind swept by, and the sludge on her body vanished instantly. Her skin became clean and white, not at all like someone who had been staying in the desert; it even had a faint, jade-like luster.

Her body felt incredibly light, as if she could soar into the sky with just a little effort.

Her hearing also became frighteningly sharp. From several kilometers away, she could clearly hear Chief Engineer Wang Heshan and the others arguing in the command post. Looking up out the window, she could even see the craters on the moon vividly.

It was done.

Foundation Establishment Stage.

The watershed between mortals and cultivators had finally been crossed.

At this moment, the system in her mind that had been playing dead finally showed some activity.

[Ding! Congratulations to the host for successfully breaking through to the Foundation Establishment Stage!]

[Detected that the host has completed the preliminary groundwork for the "Kuafu Project" and resolved the Huanyu Group crisis. Beginning settlement...]

[Project Name: 'Kuafu' No. 1 Oasis Foundation.]

[Rating: National Strategic Level. Obstacles cleared, extraordinary power displayed.]

[Reward: 10,000 merit points.]

[Congratulations, mid-level permissions for the System Mall have been unlocked!]

[Newbie period ended, functions upgraded. Unlocked: "Compendium of Intermediate Arrays".]

[Current Balance: 10,000 points.]

Ten thousand points!

Jiang Ning raised an eyebrow. This was a massive sum of money. She quickly pulled up the mall she hadn't visited in a long time to take a look.

The section that was previously grayed out was now all lit up.

["Compendium of Intermediate Arrays": One hundred and eight types of advanced arrays, including the Mountain Protection Array, Spirit Gathering Array, and Teleportation Array. Price: 10,000 points.]

["Illustrated Guide to Basic Psionic Weapons": Methods for making ten types of individual weapons such as psionic guns and shields. Price: 8,000 points.]

["foundation establishment pill" Formula (Incomplete): Increases the success rate of Foundation Establishment. Price: 15,000 points.]

Looking at these items, Jiang Ning's mental calculator was working overtime.

The array book was a necessity, especially the Mountain Protection Array; The Oasis would definitely need it later. But if she bought it, her pockets would immediately be cleaner than her face.

The foundation establishment pill formula was too expensive, and since she had already finished her foundation establishment, she didn't need it for now.

However, the weapon guide was somewhat interesting. Although she didn't like fighting and killing, as the Chief Consultant, she had to keep the construction site safe. If she could provide some self-defense gear for Director Zhao Lixin and the others, it would save a lot of worry.

But she wasn't in a hurry to splurge. merit points were hard to earn; they had to be spent where they counted most.

Closing the interface, she stood up and stretched. Her bones let out a series of crisp pops, and she felt she had more strength than she knew what to do with.

It was time to go out.

She pushed open the heavy door at the top of the tower; outside, the sky was just beginning to brighten.

Downstairs in the command post, Director Zhao Lixin, Chief Engineer Wang Heshan, and Chief Engineer Wang Jianguo were pacing around the sand table, each with a worried expression. Although Chairman Qian Boan had fallen, the mess he left behind remained, and the construction schedule had been delayed significantly.

"Director Zhao, this section of the pipe network installation won't be finished for at least a month. The materials simply can't keep up..." Chief Engineer Wang Jianguo pointed at the sand table, sighing.

"Urging them is useless. Huanyu Group had things locked down too tightly before; restarting the process will take time." Director Zhao Lixin rubbed his temples, the dark circles under his eyes making him look like a panda.

Just then, the door opened.

The three of them subconsciously looked up, and when they saw the person who entered, they all froze in place.

It was Jiang Ning.

But she felt different from the Jiang Ning of before.

She was still wearing those same dusty gray overalls, but on her, the vibe had completely changed. Her whole being looked incredibly "radiant," her skin so good it was unbelievable—a vitality that radiated from her very bones. Especially those eyes, dark and deep; with just a casual glance, these three men, who were used to giving orders, felt their hearts skip a beat and even forgot to breathe.

The old Jiang Ning was like an uncut piece of raw jade; now, the jade had been cut, and its brilliance could not be hidden.

"Chief... Chief Consultant?" Director Zhao Lixin was the first to recover, his tongue a bit tied, "You've... come out of seclusion?"

"Mm." Jiang Ning responded, walking a few steps to the edge of the sand table, "I just heard you shouting. Are the materials insufficient?"

After Foundation Establishment, her Divine Sense's range had expanded, and she had heard the whole matter from the top of the tower.

"Ah... yes." Chief Engineer Wang Jianguo felt a bit unable to stand tall in front of Jiang Ning, and his speech became cautious, "Huanyu Group held a monopoly before, and supply of key materials was cut off. It will take time to restore the supply."

"I see." Jiang Ning's face remained expressionless.

She looked down at the prototype of The Oasis on the sand table, then looked out the window at the boundless yellow sand.

When she reached Foundation Establishment just now, although the commotion was mostly suppressed by the Spirit Gathering Array, a tiny ripple of fluctuation had still leaked out. Like a pebble thrown into a calm lake, that ripple had penetrated the atmosphere and even reached much further away.

On the other side of the Earth.

In a deep mountain forest shrouded in mist, within an ancient manor that clearly had many years of history.

In the center of the ancestral hall, an old man with a white beard was sitting in meditation with his eyes closed. Suddenly, he snapped his eyes open, a sharp light flashing in his cloudy old eyes.

"This... this is Qi! Such a pure ripple of Qi!"

The old man stood up in shock, his face filled with disbelief.

"Someone, come quickly! Call my grandson, bring Dongfang Shuo to me!"