Chapter 210 - 203: Foundation Establishment (2)
In the northern part of Yunyang Market, near the main Spirit Vein, there was a Seclusion Chamber specifically prepared for Cultivators to break through to Foundation Establishment.
This Seclusion Chamber was managed by the Primordial Yang Sect and was open to the public, charging by the day. The Spiritual Qi concentration was more than twice as high as in other locations within the market, and the room was equipped with a basic Spirit Gathering Array and sound-isolating Restrictions to block out external disturbances during a breakthrough.
The cost was not low. Fifty Spirit Stones a day, which covered the Spiritual Power consumption of the Spirit Gathering Array and the maintenance of the Restrictions.
The Ji family was footing the bill. Ji Huaiyuan had prepaid for ten days—five hundred Spirit Stones.
Li Yuan put away the Token and went over that same afternoon.
The Seclusion Chamber was at the end of a quiet alley in the northern part of the market. Two disciples of the Primordial Yang Sect stood guard at the alley’s entrance. After checking his Token, they let him pass.
At the end of the alley was a heavy stone door, its frame carved with dense Restriction Spirit Patterns. Li Yuan placed the Token into a recess next to the doorframe. The Spirit Patterns flashed, and the stone door slowly slid open to the sides.
Inside was a stone chamber, roughly thirty feet on each side.
The stone walls, floor, and ceiling were all built from a special type of rock mined from Spirit Stone veins, which naturally possessed the ability to gather Spiritual Qi. The Array Foundation Stones of a Spirit Gathering Array were embedded in the four walls. The Array was active, continuously pulling in the surrounding Spiritual Qi.
The Spiritual Qi concentration was extremely high.
It was nearly three times higher than in the courtyard Li Yuan was renting, and even denser than the depths of the Ghost Mist Forest.
A meditation cushion was placed in the very center of the stone chamber.
After Li Yuan stepped inside, the stone door closed behind him.
The sound-isolating Restriction activated. All noise from the outside was completely cut off, leaving the chamber so quiet that only Li Yuan’s own breathing could be heard.
Li Yuan sat down cross-legged on the cushion.
He first regulated his breathing.
He circulated the Spirit-Introducing Skill for three full cycles, bringing his body’s Spiritual Power and Qi Blood to their optimal state. Thanks to the harmony of Spiritual Power Attributes from the Great Perfection of his Hundred Veins Returning to Origin Skill, the five different attributes of Spiritual Power coexisted peacefully within his meridians, without a hint of conflict.
He performed a round of tempering with his Soul Condensation Skill, condensing his Divine Soul to its most compact state.
He ran through his Iron Wall Body Refining Skill once, confirming that every part of his physical body was at its peak.
Everything was ready.
Li Yuan retrieved the Breaking Element Pill from his storage pouch.
A faint cyan luster swirled in his palm, and fine golden lines faintly shimmered on the pill’s surface.
With a thought, he unequipped the Hundred Veins Returning to Origin Skill.
He equipped the Breaking Element Pill.
[Equip Successful]
[Entry Acquired: Breaking Element Foundation Establishment (Blue)]
The blue entry took effect.
Three effects activated simultaneously.
Increased the probability of a successful Foundation Establishment breakthrough by thirty percent. Reduced the backlash from a failed breakthrough by thirty percent, with no damage to one’s foundation. Made Spiritual Power more refined and increased its flow speed by fifty percent.
The third effect could be felt immediately.
The Spiritual Power in his Dantian felt as if it had been filtered, each strand becoming purer and more refined. The speed at which it flowed through his meridians suddenly increased by half, changing the rhythm of its circulation from a steady current to a rushing torrent.
Li Yuan didn’t hesitate. He closed his eyes and focused all his attention on his Dantian.
The core of Foundation Establishment was the qualitative transformation of Spiritual Power—condensing it from a gaseous to a liquid state to form the prototype of a Golden Core.
The first step: compression.
Compress all the Spiritual Power in the Dantian toward its center.
His total amount of Spiritual Power at the Great Perfection of the Qi Refining Stage was enormous. The permanent entries for Spiritual Essence Expansion and Spiritual Power Condensation had pushed both its capacity and density far beyond others at his level. All of this Spiritual Power had to be compressed into a single, minuscule point at the center of his Dantian.
Li Yuan began to compress.
The foundation provided by his Great Perfection in the Spirit-Introducing Skill allowed for precise control over his Spiritual Power. The Spiritual Power pulled away from the walls of his Dantian and gathered toward the center, as if an invisible hand were squeezing a ball of cotton from all sides.
The Spiritual Power continued to compress. The distance from the Dantian’s walls to the center shrank bit by bit, and its density rose sharply.
The permanent entry for Pure Spiritual Power meant there were no impurities in his Spiritual Power, preventing any uneven stress during compression.
The permanent entry for Spiritual Power Condensation meant his Spiritual Power was already extremely dense, giving him a much higher starting point for compression than an ordinary Cultivator.
The blue entry for Breaking Element Foundation Establishment made his Spiritual Power more refined and increased its flow speed by fifty percent—this meant that adjustments during compression were faster, as were corrections for any deviations.
Everything was proceeding smoothly.
The second step: condensation.
The Spiritual Power had been compressed into an area the size of a fist. Its density had reached the limit for a gaseous state; any further pressure would be beyond what a gas could contain.
This was the most critical step.
The transformation of Spiritual Power from a gas to a liquid.
It was not an instantaneous process, but a gradual one. Under extreme density, the Spiritual Power began to undergo a spontaneous qualitative transformation, gradually condensing from a diffuse gas into a dense liquid.
Like water vapor condensing into droplets as it cools.
The permanent entry for Sanguine Quenching was also secretly at work. The kill bonuses he had accumulated were converted in this moment into a subtle but definite force, pushing the Spiritual Power toward its liquid transformation.
The Spiritual Power began to condense.
From the very center of the compressed region, the first drop of liquid Spiritual Power formed.
It was an extremely small drop, like a water bead the size of a speck of dust suspended in the center of his Dantian.
But the appearance of this single drop meant the qualitative transformation had begun.
The liquid Spiritual Power was like a seed, beginning to attract the surrounding gaseous Spiritual Power to gather and condense around it. One drop became two, two became four, and four became eight.
The rate of condensation grew faster and faster.
The gaseous Spiritual Power at the edges of his Dantian was drawn inward, liquefying layer by layer around the core. It was like a pool of water freezing from the center, the sheet of ice expanding outward in all directions.
The Spirit Gathering Array in the chamber continuously drew in external Spiritual Qi to replenish what was being consumed.
Time passed, bit by bit.
The amount of liquid Spiritual Power in his Dantian grew, while the gaseous Spiritual Power dwindled.
When the very last wisp of gaseous Spiritual Power condensed into liquid, a sphere of liquid Spiritual Power the size of a thumb pad floated in the center of his Dantian.
The pale cyan liquid slowly rotated within his Dantian, its surface traced with extremely fine golden patterns.
The prototype of a Golden Core.
It was not a true Golden Core; a true Golden Core could only be condensed at the Golden Core Stage. This was merely the foundation of the Foundation Establishment Stage—a liquid core of Spiritual Power around which all his other Spiritual Power would revolve.
The third step: stabilization.
Reconnect the liquid Spiritual Power core with the meridians throughout the body.
During the Qi Refining Stage, Spiritual Power was gaseous and flowed through the meridians like a current of air. After Foundation Establishment, Spiritual Power became liquid, and its circulation was completely different. The meridians needed to adapt to this new form of Spiritual Power, and the load-bearing capacity of the meridian walls had to increase in sync.
This step depended on the foundation of his physical body.
The muscles and bones tempered by the Great Success of his Iron Wall Body Refining Skill, the Qi Blood foundation laid by two mortal cultivation techniques at Great Perfection, the enhanced meridian resilience from his Scale Armor and Iron Membrane entries—all of his accumulated efforts came into play at this very moment.
The liquid Spiritual Power surged from his Dantian and flowed slowly along his meridians.
The meridian walls trembled slightly under the scouring force of the liquid Spiritual Power, then stabilized. Their capacity was sufficient; there were no signs of cracks or collapse.
The complete network of meridians opened by the Great Success of his Microelement Meridian Introduction Skill allowed the liquid Spiritual Power to travel through every single meridian, including the finest, deepest terminal micro-meridians.
The harmony of Spiritual Power Attributes from the Great Perfection of his Hundred Veins Returning to Origin Skill allowed the five attributes within the liquid Spiritual Power to coexist peacefully, without a hint of conflict.
The liquid Spiritual Power completed one full cycle, flowing back into the Dantian from all the body’s meridians.
It was stable.
Li Yuan opened his eyes.
The concentration of Spiritual Qi in the chamber was now significantly lower—a massive amount of external Spiritual Qi had been consumed during the breakthrough. The Spirit Gathering Array was still running, slowly drawing the Spiritual Qi back in.
Li Yuan looked down at his hands.
They didn’t look any different than they did during his Qi Refining Stage. His skin was the same skin, his fingers the same fingers.
But inside, everything had changed.
In the center of his Dantian, a core of pale cyan liquid Spiritual Power spun quietly. Spiritual Power now flowed through his meridians in a liquid form, its density several times that of his gaseous Spiritual Power during the Qi Refining Stage.
His total Spiritual Power had skyrocketed.
The carrying capacity of his meridians had jumped to a new level.
His Divine Soul had been fortified by the shockwave of Spiritual Power from the Foundation Establishment, becoming even more substantial.
His perceptive range had expanded dramatically. Aura Inscription, Spiritual Sense Enhancement, Stealth Acuity—all of his perception-based permanent entries were boosted to a new level, empowered by his Foundation Establishment-level Divine Soul and Spiritual Power.
Foundation Establishment was a success.