The sky grew darker and darker, with not a sliver of light visible, as boundless and endless black clouds spread across the wilderness overhead, and the howling wind in the ravine sounded like ghosts and deities roaring, capturing one's soul.
Though no raindrops were seen, the sense of impending rain could be felt.
"This weather..."
Fat Long, who was panting a bit, looked up at the sky and couldn't help but mutter softly, "This weather doesn't seem like it's about to storm normally. Under normal circumstances, if the black clouds have been accumulating for so long, it should have rained by now."
"Couldn't be some ancient demon emerging, could it?"
Fat Long's face changed slightly as he realized something and quickly spat three times in succession.
"Ptui, ptui, ptui!"
Chen Qiu glanced up, ignored Fat Long, and instead tightened his grip on the knife at the remaining Human Face Spiders around him, which he had frightened quite a bit. But being mindless Fierce Beasts, even though they clearly were facing death, they still charged towards him in the cold wind after letting out several sharp screams!
The slaughter began once again!
...
The Cultivation Progress from the eleventh level of Qi Refinement to Great Perfection wasn't much, and after about half an hour, Chen Qiu sensed something and practiced introspection.
Plenty of Spiritual Energy surged through the meridians in his body.
At this moment, his physical strength was far greater than when he was at the seventh level of the Qi Refinement Realm. He could probably beat ten Fat Longs at the same time. If the Huang Family's Seventh Elder appeared before him again, he wouldn't even need to summon a resentful spirit; he himself could defeat the elder!
Only...
He could faintly feel that the Spiritual Energy in his meridians was somewhat insufficient. He had broken through several small realms continuously tonight, and his meridians had indeed widened a lot, but he had not absorbed Spiritual Energy, which meant that although the container had expanded, nothing had been put inside.
He had to fill his meridians with Spiritual Energy, which would greatly increase his chance of successfully reaching Foundation Establishment.
With insufficient Spiritual Energy in the body, the failure rate of Foundation Establishment was very high.
But—
He was seeking failure.
"Hoo!"
After taking a deep breath, Chen Qiu sat down cross-legged on the spot, focusing all his attention inward, and started to operate his mental method to slowly gather the Spiritual Energy in his meridians toward his Dantian.
With the gathering of Spiritual Energy, the Tao Foundation platform gradually took shape above his Dantian, shifting from illusory to solid, and the name of his entry was slowly appearing upon the Tao Foundation.
Seeing that the Foundation Establishment process was already half done but the Spiritual Energy in his meridians was not enough to complete it, the Tao Foundation platform, which was about to solidify, instantly collapsed when no more Spiritual Energy flowed in.
Almost in an instant!
The aura of Cultivation on Chen Qiu's body began to plummet swiftly!
Qi Refinement Realm ninth level... Qi Refinement Realm sixth level... Qi Refinement Realm third level...
In merely the blink of an eye, Chen Qiu's Cultivation had fallen to the first level of the Qi Refinement Realm.
"Puh!"
The backlash from the failed Foundation Establishment caused Chen Qiu to spit out a mouthful of bright red blood with a taste of rust, splashing onto the grey-yellow rock ground in front of him.
"Brother Chen Qiu, are you alright?"
Fat Long, who was sitting by Chen Qiu's side to protect his Cultivation Path, saw this and was suddenly shocked, becoming somewhat panicked, "You weren't forcing your way into Foundation Establishment, were you? I thought you were just operating your mental method to recover your Spiritual Energy!"
"Brother, what's the rush? You were a mortal just yesterday, and now you want to force your way into Foundation Establishment?"
"There's no need to push yourself so hard!"
"And how did you suddenly drop to the first level of Qi Refinement? Even if Foundation Establishment failed, you shouldn't have dropped back to the first level of Qi Refinement Realm so quickly!"
"I'm fine."
Chen Qiu wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and carefully sensed his body's condition. There wasn't too much of an impact; the spurt of fresh blood was simply due to a sudden decrease in physical strength, which his body wasn't quite accustomed to, causing some capillaries to rupture as a result.
Afterward, he raised his head to look around.
Dozens of badly injured Human Face Spiders remained in the vicinity, all that was left of the local canyon's population. Originally, there must have been a group of them, now reduced to so few by his hand.
And these few dozen severely injured Human Face Spiders were deliberately spared by him, precisely for this moment.
He casually waved his hand, indicating for a resentful spirit of a Human Face Spider protecting his vicinity to rush forward and kill a badly wounded Human Face Spider. At the moment of the spider's death, Chen Qiu's Dantian overhead continuously burgeoned with panels enveloped in clouds and mist.
'Cultivation greatly increased...'
'Cultivation greatly increased...'
'...'
Merely by killing a Qi Refinement Realm level seven Human Face Spider, his cultivation soared like it was riding a rocket, instantly reaching the seventh level of the Qi Refinement Realm.
At the same time—
Spiritual energy began to gather abruptly in front of him, eventually forming eighteen Spirit Stones that fell from mid-air onto the ground.
"Not bad."
Sitting cross-legged on the spot, Chen Qiu looked sincerely happy as he watched the scene before him unfold, laughing more heartily than ever since his arrival. It meant that all his conjectures had succeeded; just give him enough time!
He could earn enough Spirit Stones to buy the entire Cultivation World!
And because of the white entry 'Never Discouraged,' the Cultivation Progress he gained from killing demon beasts after a failed Foundation Establishment was a hundred times faster. It was for this reason that he could reach the seventh level of the Qi Refinement Realm in an instant by killing a level seven demon beast while at the first level of the Qi Refinement Realm.
It's just that each small realm breakthrough only yielded Spirit Stones and did not offer him another chance to choose one of three entries.
That seemed normal, however, or else these entries should not simply be white entries.
...
"What is this..."
Fat Long looked on with a dumbfounded and incredulous expression at the dozen or so Spirit Stones appearing out of nowhere, as well as Chen Qiu's cultivation aura suddenly returning to seventh level of the Qi Refinement Realm in a flash, completely at a loss and feeling somewhat dazed.
"Just a little trick."
Chen Qiu was in quite a good mood and patted Fat Long's shoulder, laughing, "To me, you are a benefactor. Without you, I could not have embarked on the Cultivation Path yesterday. But from now on, I, Chen Qiu, will be your benefactor."
"As long as I live, you will never be captured by the Flower Offering Sect as a supplement like before."
"Unless I create my own Flower Offering Sect."
After making a casual jest at Fat Long, Chen Qiu was unwilling to dawdle further. The Cultivation Progress required for subsequent small realm advancements was much higher. He had to kill two more Human Face Spiders at the eighth level of the Qi Refinement Realm before he smoothly advanced to the Great Perfection of the Qi Refinement Realm.
Again, he obtained twelve Spirit Stones.
Thus, in less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, thirty Spirit Stones easily fell into his hands.
And the well-practiced Chen Qiu once again quickly attempted Foundation Establishment and failed swiftly again, plummeting back down to the first level of the Qi Refinement Realm before rapidly returning to the Great Perfection of the Qi Refinement Realm.
...
In Fat Long's view.
Chen Qiu's cultivation was like a roller coaster, dropping to the first level of the Qi Refinement Realm in the blink of an eye, then just as quickly returning to the Great Perfection of the Qi Refinement Realm, with an accompanying shower of Spirit Stones appearing all around him.
Spirit Stones kept materializing out of thin air, falling to the ground.
"Thud, thud, thud!"
Another thirty Spirit Stones appeared scattered out of nowhere and fell to the ground, with Fat Long who had already been waiting nearby swiftly pocketing these Spirit Stones into his Storage Bag, then looking up somewhat sheepishly at the sky above the canyon.
He was a little afraid of being discovered by those two brothers.
Although he did not understand what kind of trick Chen Qiu was pulling, one thing was certain—if Chen Qiu's method of endlessly creating Spirit Stones out of thin air spread, the two of them wouldn't live past three days.