I didn't know how much time had passed.
By all accounts, it should have been daylight already, but the dark clouds in the sky showed no sign of dispersing; instead, they thickened, and the perpetual twilight left Fat Long gradually losing his sense of time.
Yet, there was only the promise of rain without a single drop falling.
By this point, Fat Long's legs were already shaking.
"Motherfucker..."
Fat Long's eyes were red-rimmed and tearful, his face a picture of despair, with a deep unease in his eyes as he continuously stuffed Spirit Stones into the Storage Bag he held. He had lost count of how many he had put in.
All he knew was that his Storage Bags were all filled up, and he even had to take a few more from Chen Qiu's brothers' embrace; otherwise, there wouldn't be enough Storage Bags.
At first, he was excited.
So many Spirit Stones, enough for them to make a name for themselves in this strange world!
But... as the number of Spirit Stones grew, so did his fear. Once word got out, the two of them would probably become public enemies in an instant. There was such a thing as too much; his appetite couldn't handle so many.
...
Meanwhile, Chen Qiu remained sitting cross-legged, maintaining the same posture for who knows how long. He had already killed all the Human Face Spiders around him and had no demon beasts left to kill to improve his Cultivation Progress. He was ready to move to another location.
But who could have expected.
Perhaps due to the drastic changes in the sky, a large number of Human Face Spiders from deep within the gorge suddenly surged towards him, fleeing for their lives. These spiders were like fuel to his fire, providing him a tremendous boost.
Thanks to this, he could stay in the same place without having to move.
From initially vomiting blood after every failed Foundation Establishment due to discomfort, to later adapting so that failure no longer necessitated vomiting blood. Perhaps due to failing too many times, he felt somewhat dizzy.
Just when his Cultivation reached the peak of the Qi Refinement Great Perfection and he was ready to go through the motions of another failed Foundation Establishment attempt,
a wispy, ethereal voice suddenly reached his ears.
-
Heavenly Dao Decree: The Heavenly Dao has sensed, within a hundred miles of Fufeng City in Da Xia Country, that a mortal of iron will has persistently failed at Foundation Establishment 999 times yet continues his relentless efforts! Such perseverance is commendable.
He is bestowed with 'Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment' in the hope that all may follow his example.
-
This ephemeral voice from beyond the heavens echoed across the skies of Da Xia, causing countless people to look upward, listening intently to the Heavenly Dao Decree with puzzled faces, visibly shocked. Clearly, they had a hard time believing it.
However...
These people were not admiring the mortal's determination.
They were somewhat baffled, wondering is Foundation Establishment so difficult to break through that one could fail 999 times in succession?
Logically, the more one fails at Foundation Establishment, the narrower the Tao Foundation becomes, signifying that it can hold less Spiritual Energy. They didn't dare imagine what a Tao Foundation would look like after failing more than nine hundred times, if it weren't for the timely 'Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment'; probably, just using a low-grade Yellow Level Spell would completely deplete the Spiritual Energy in the Tao Foundation, if it could be released at all.
It was unexpected that by a stroke of misfortune, one would gain 'Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment'. Seeing these four characters, many in Da Xia Country cast envious glances toward Fufeng City.
If they had known that failing at Foundation Establishment 999 times would grant them Heavenly Dao Foundation, they would've tried it sooner. Now, some Qi Refinement Realm cultivators were also getting ideas, wondering if they too could receive this reward after 999 failed attempts.
'Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment', as the name implies, is a Tao Foundation built on the principles of the Heavenly Dao.
It's only obtainable under extremely rare and special circumstances and can only be acquired during the breakthrough to the Foundation Establishment Stage. Since the founding of Da Xia Country, very few had the Heavenly Dao Foundation. Without exception, those who had it were the anomalies among prodigies. The last famous cultivator to receive it was a Sword Cultivator, but he is already dead.
The benefits of the Heavenly Dao Foundation are simple and brutal.
The foundations are extremely stable.
Whether it's the speed of absorbing Spiritual Energy or the sturdiness of the Tao Foundation during battle, it's several times stronger than a regular Foundation. Moreover, if one can later break through to the Golden Core Stage, the Golden Core formed on the Heavenly Dao Foundation will be far superior to a regular Golden Core.
There's another immensely powerful benefit – the Heavenly Dao Foundation doesn't require one to run a mental method; it can rotate on its own to absorb Spiritual Energy. Although it's slower than running a mental method, this means that even while you're sleeping, relieving yourself, or eating, your Tao Foundation is rotating to absorb Spiritual Energy and improve your Cultivation Progress.
It's essentially a means of production.
...
When the Heavenly Dao Imperial Decree reached his ears, Chen Qiu discovered that the surrounding Spiritual Energy began to rush into his body uncontrollably. He wasn't even running a mental method, but the Spiritual Energy rapidly filled his meridians.
In the blink of an eye, they were full, and under his introspection, his Tao Foundation solidified quickly.
In the blink of an eye.
Foundation Establishment was successful.
A Tao Foundation that was one hundred and ten centimeters wide and one hundred centimeters tall rooted itself atop his Dantian. The whole Tao Foundation was white jade in appearance, with faint golden Liu Guang flowing over its surface. It was this unremarkable golden Liu Guang that made the entire Tao Foundation look extraordinary.
The names of the entries he possessed were neatly engraved on the surface of the Tao Foundation.
He hadn't prepared any Foundation Establishment Pills that could enhance the quality and success rate of Foundation Establishment, nor had he prepared any heavenly materials or earthly treasures. Logically speaking, his should have been a standard centimeter Tao Foundation.
But because he possessed an entry that could slightly enhance Foundation Establishment quality, his Tao Foundation's width reached one hundred and ten centimeters.
At this moment, the Tao Foundation was slowly rotating, trying to draw in the Spiritual Energy from the outside world.
But...
After turning for quite a while, it didn't draw in a trace of Spiritual Energy.
Mr. Chen, whose Cultivation had reached the Foundation Establishment Stage, was already able to release Spiritual Energy from his body. He could now fully utilize the power of a Yellow Level low-grade Spiritual Treasure, use Spells, and also sense the richness of the Spiritual Energy in the outside world.
However, under his senses, the deep valley at this moment seemed to be completely devoid of Spiritual Energy.
It was like a desert of Spiritual Energy, and an extremely barren one at that.
When Mr. Chen slowly opened his eyes he saw Fat Long standing anxiously nearby, fidgeting restlessly.
"My goodness, you're finally awake,"
Fat Long's voice trembled slightly; his hands shaking as he handed over seven or eight Storage Bags to Mr. Chen, "The Spirit Stones are all here. I didn't count them carefully, but there must be more than twenty thousand. What should we do next?"
"If people find out about this, both our Divine Souls could be extracted by others!"
"This is the first time I've seen someone think Spirit Stones are hot potatoes."
Mr. Chen took the Storage Bags and tucked them all into his bosom. He got up and stretched his limbs to feel the strength brought by the first level of the Foundation Establishment Stage. For the first time in this world, he felt a slight sense of security and then couldn't help but smile.
Although he didn't count them carefully, he was clear about how many Spirit Stones there were.
29,970 Spirit Stones, if nothing unexpected happened.
At this moment, he could now channel Spiritual Energy into the "Heaven Slaying" Spiritual Treasure long saber in his hand, unleashing the full power of this Spiritual Treasure.
The width of his Tao Foundation currently stood at one hundred and ten centimeters.
The demon beasts he had killed before Foundation Establishment weren't included; otherwise, it would have been at least several thousand centimeters by now.
Next, he only needed to do two things—
Buy a Spell to maximize his power, preferably one produced from the Heavenly Dao Secret Realm so that mastering it would be instantly successful. Then, purchase more supplementary items like talismans, Sound Transmission Stones, Pills, and so forth that could save his life and enhance his combat strength.
Secondly, he needed to expand the width of his Tao Foundation as much as possible.
To allow his Tao Foundation to contain more Spiritual Energy.
In that way, he would genuinely possess a certain degree of influence in this world, or in other words... the right to live standing up.
...
The "Thunder Summoning Technique" could only summon a bolt of Thunder from the Nine Heavens to attack the enemy. Using this mid-grade Yellow Level Spell at the first level of Foundation Establishment would often nearly deplete more than half of the Spiritual Energy in the body. But, if the Spiritual Energy in his Tao Foundation was abundant enough.
Then it wouldn't just be any Thunder Summoning Technique.
It would be... "Hundred-mile Thunder Punishment," "Zero-Frame Strike," "Instant Kill on Exposure"!
Having settled his mind, Mr. Chen, as previously agreed, took out a low-level talisman from his bosom. Upon channeling Spiritual Energy into it, a streak of red light shot from the depths of the valley straight into the sky!
He had purchased this low-level talisman in the market at Heaven's Inquiry Town. It was very cheap, costing only one tael of silver. He had casually bought ten of them at Zhao's Shop when he couldn't afford a Sound Transmission Stone, and under those circumstances, it was a better choice for communicating information.
When the two of them were retrieved by the bearded burly man and brought back to the edge of the crevice above the valley.
The scholar sitting cross-legged on the ground looked at the two with a complex expression and after a long while, asked hoarsely, "Mr. Chen, what were you doing down there?"
"Is Mr. Chen the same person mentioned in the Heavenly Dao Decree, the mortal near Fufeng City who failed Foundation Establishment nine hundred ninety-nine times?"
"The Spiritual Energy here is already sparse, and all the Spiritual Energy within tens of miles has been absorbed by the valley below you. The commotion you've caused is no smaller than someone breaking through to the Golden Core Stage."
He suddenly felt that Mr. Chen's claim to be the Young Master of some hidden clan outside of Da Xia Country might not have been a lie.
To cause such a commotion, one must either be breaking through to the Golden Core Stage or must be using a mental method to draw in Spiritual Energy.
A mental method capable of causing such a scene would have to be at least of the high-grade Xuan level. He had never heard of anyone in Da Xia Country possessing such a method; they were the stuff of legends recorded in history books.
Such an existence isn't something a mere mortal could come across by chance. If it wasn't for the deep heritage passed down by a great family, the chances of a Qi Refinement Realm mortal possessing such a thing would be hardly better than the chance of getting a Seven-colored entry on the first random entry in the Qi Refinement Realm.
Oh, he's not a Qi Refinement Realm mortal.
Mr. Chen is now at the first level of the Foundation Establishment Stage.