For other cultivators beginning their breakthrough to the Foundation Establishment stage, this step is considered extremely difficult.
The spiritual energy within the body of a cultivator at the peak of Qi Condensation is still quite vast.
Normally, manipulating the flow of spiritual energy and absorbing ambient energy to replenish one's own reserves is a completely different experience compared to gathering all available spiritual energy into the Dantian.
The former simply involves guiding the energy along the meridians in a continuous cycle.
The latter, however, requires meticulously drawing every trace of usable spiritual energy into the Dantian.
The workload between these two processes is vastly different.
One follows the natural flow, while the other demands absolute precision.
However, He Song possessed the Dantian Settling Technique, a secret method that increases the success rate of breaking through to Foundation Establishment, making this step relatively easier for him.
After attempting to slowly gather his spiritual energy into the Dantian and realizing it was too slow and mentally exhausting, which would hinder the subsequent compression process, He Song decisively activated the Dantian Settling Technique.
With a thought, the technique took effect.
He Song immediately felt the spiritual energy within his body rushing toward his Dantian.
Whether it was the energy flowing through his meridians or the energy stored in his limbs, everything seemed to be summoned, flooding into his Dantian.
In a short time, He Song felt all the spiritual energy in his body had been gathered into his Dantian.
At the same time, he also felt his body rapidly weaken.
A cultivator's body may seem strong, but that strength is largely due to the protective effects of spiritual energy.
Once all the spiritual energy is drawn into the Dantian, the body's strength diminishes to nearly that of an ordinary person.
Though slightly more resilient than a normal human's, it feels exceptionally weak compared to a cultivator's usual state.
"It seems I need to learn a body cultivation technique after reaching Foundation Establishment," He Song thought to himself, feeling the weakness in his body.
If he had already mastered a body cultivation technique, this situation wouldn't have occurred.
In case of extreme circumstances in the future, learning such a technique might even save his life.
For the sake of his survival, He Song resolved to seek out a body cultivation technique after breaking through to Foundation Establishment, ensuring that even if his spiritual energy was depleted, he wouldn't be left defenseless.
After reflecting on this, He Song sensed that all the spiritual energy in his body had been successfully gathered and secured within his Dantian.
With a thought, six small jade bottles appeared before him.
Opening them one by one, a rich fragrance wafted out from the bottles.
He Song only needed to take a whiff to feel a surge of strength coursing through his body.
He was inwardly astonished.
"No wonder they're called Foundation Establishment Pills. Their potency is truly formidable."
But now was not the time to dwell on that.
Having gathered all his spiritual energy into the Dantian, the next step was to consume the Foundation Establishment Pills.
These pills would assist him in compressing the gathered spiritual energy as much as possible.
With six pills at his disposal, the compression process would undoubtedly be much easier.
Six Foundation Establishment Pills!
For ordinary cultivators, having just one pill would already instill great confidence in their attempt to break through.
Although a single pill only marginally increases the success rate, it is enough to drive rogue cultivators to madness.
For rogue cultivators, obtaining one Foundation Establishment Pill is already a stroke of immense luck.
For sect disciples or family heirs, possessing one pill along with guidance from senior cultivators' experiences is considered excellent resources.
But for He Song?
Foundation Establishment Pills?
Six of them!
Guidance on breaking through?
He had read extensively, even receiving personal instruction from two True Persons.
On top of that, he possessed the Dantian Settling Technique, a secret method that further increased his chances of success.
With all these advantages, He Song, who was now sitting atop a mountain peak preparing to break through to Foundation Establishment, did not believe he would fail.
Opening his mouth, he swallowed one of the pills.
Immediately, he felt a powerful medicinal force envelop his Dantian.
Aside from the portion aiding in compressing the spiritual energy in his Dantian, another portion spread throughout his limbs and around the Dantian.
This second portion did not assist in compression but would activate only if the breakthrough failed, protecting He Song from dying due to a backlash of chaotic energy.
Realizing the pill contained two distinct medicinal forces, He Song wasted no time and swallowed the remaining five pills.
Instantly, waves of potent medicinal energy surged through his body, causing a rush of heat to flood his mind.
With six Foundation Establishment Pills now in his system, the medicinal energy around his Dantian had become almost tangible.
He Song could easily sense its supportive effects.
The Dantian Settling Technique had already been used.
And six Foundation Establishment Pills had been consumed.
It was now time to attempt the breakthrough to Foundation Establishment!
A determined glint flashed in He Song's eyes.
With a wave of his hand, countless glittering spirit stones appeared around him.
Under the sunlight, the spirit stones arranged around him shimmered brilliantly, giving him the illusion of being inside a spirit stone mine.
Even after this preparation, He Song still felt something was lacking.
After some thought, he placed all the remaining spirit stones in his possession around himself as well.
Though unsure whether surrounding himself with spirit stones would increase his chances of success, he reasoned that since placing spirit stones nearby had helped during his previous breakthroughs to the middle and late stages of Qi Condensation, it should logically apply here as well.
Other cultivators couldn't afford to place tens of thousands of spirit stones around themselves—it was a matter of wealth.
But He Song wasn't poor.
He could certainly afford to try.
Once satisfied with the sudden spike in ambient spiritual energy concentration, He Song finally closed his eyes and began the attempt to break through.
Closing his eyes, He Song immediately focused on his Dantian.
The tightly constrained spiritual energy within awaited his compression.
The overwhelming medicinal force from the Foundation Establishment Pills was also ready to assist him.
Now, with a mere thought, the spiritual energy tightly bound within his Dantian would begin its first compression.
After calming his mind, He Song initiated the compression.
With the aid of the immense medicinal force within his body, He Song quickly began his first attempt at compressing the spiritual energy.
During the first compression, he pushed the energy to its absolute limit.
Once he felt he could compress it no further, he firmly restrained the compressed spiritual energy and began gathering strength for the next attempt.
When he felt sufficiently prepared, he proceeded with the second compression.
This method had been first proposed by Meng Guan and tested twice by Wei Fan.
It was the most effective way to compress the spiritual energy within the Dantian.
Even other True Persons from the Earth Sect used similar methods when breaking through to Foundation Establishment.
While reading through the insights of past True Persons in the library, He Song had encountered this method frequently.
With the wisdom of those who came before him, there was no need for him to experiment with other approaches.
Moreover, both Wei Fan and Meng Guan had already validated the effectiveness of this method.
Thus, He Song had no reason to hesitate.
After completing the first and second compressions, he quickly began gathering strength again, preparing for the third compression.
According to Meng Guan and Wei Fan's descriptions, compressing the spiritual energy within the Dantian required multiple attempts before the first trace of magical power could emerge.
There was a specific limit to the number of compressions.
If it exceeded ten, the attempt would fail.
If it fell below ten, the attempt would succeed.
Take Meng Guan, for example.
He had succeeded in producing the first trace of magical power during his tenth compression.
Had that trace not emerged on the tenth attempt, his breakthrough would have failed, leaving him as just another ordinary cultivator.
As for Wei Fan, his experience provided He Song with a more comprehensive understanding.
During his first attempt at breaking through, Wei Fan had compressed the spiritual energy in his Dantian ten times.
Unfortunately, he failed to produce the first trace of magical power on the tenth compression, resulting in failure.
Wei Fan's first attempt at breaking through thus ended in defeat.
However, during his second attempt two years later, Wei Fan succeeded after only nine compressions, feeling the emergence of the first trace of magical power.
By channeling this trace of magical power to convert the remaining spiritual energy in his body, his second breakthrough attempt succeeded.
Comparing the two instances, He Song understood that the rule of "ten compressions" held true.
In other words, as long as He Song could produce the first trace of magical power within ten compressions, his breakthrough would succeed.
(End of Chapter)