plumnovel Chapter 126 Late Foundation Establishment Stage
Chapter 126 Late Foundation Establishment Stage
Chapter 126 Late Foundation Establishment Stage
Taibai Island.
Hiding in his own cave, Fang Qing felt much more at ease and silently began to review the events:
The Azure Bird Clan is incredibly cunning. They first sent out half-demons—no matter where they are, these hybrids are always low-level cannon fodder, perfect for attrition—which further prompted the Shangyong Sect to acquire a large number of [Zhenshui] spiritual items to set up a powerful defensive formation.
Then they specially invited the powerful cultivator Wei Yue, who was able to counter the Zhen Shui formation, and easily broke the great formation.
..
This is definitely not something that happened after suffering a huge loss and then calling for reinforcements; it was something that was prepared long ago.
No wonder the great victory at the front suddenly turned into a crushing defeat—I don't think we can hold onto Beixuan County—
Well, I've already given away my whereabouts and attracted the attention of those Ming princes and concubines anyway.
Next, I will focus on cultivating here and then go to settle my karmic debts.
He took out a communication talisman, summoned Xiang Dahu, bestowed upon him a spiritual pill and a few spiritual artifacts that he could not use, and then put the other party in charge of Taibai Island before entering a deep seclusion.
Foundation Establishment cultivators can already live on air and dew, and can abstain from grains for extended periods.
Once a breakthrough is achieved through seclusion, it could take years or even decades.
Several years later.
Inside the cave, a thick layer of ash had accumulated on the ground.
Inside the training room.
Fang Qing's body was covered in a mixture of gold and bronze, which suddenly transformed into Sanskrit characters, spreading all over his body like a magnificent cassock.
In the corner, there was a large jar containing "Diamond Ghee," but now only a thin layer of the bottom remained inside.
"Second-tier mid-grade body refinement, successful!"
He looked at his hands, feeling the terrifying power contained within them, and couldn't help but show a satisfied expression.
"Moreover, the 'Horse-Headed Vajra Protector's Divine Power' is a dual cultivation of spirit and body; now my divine sense can extend ninety feet outward!"
Cultivators strive for the perfect balance of the three elements: essence, energy, and spirit.
Now his physique and spiritual awareness are strong, which is of a certain help to his cultivation of magical power.
Of course, the biggest help comes from the continuous supply of genuine Shuiyuan Dan (a type of medicinal pill).
After the Water Essence Pill was used up, more medicinal herbs were obtained from the secret realm.
Those medicinal herbs grew on fourth-order spiritual veins, many of them hundreds or even thousands of years old, and were full of spiritual energy.
Fang Qing then used various pill formulas to find auxiliary ingredients in ancient Shu or here to refine pills that enhanced his magical power, allowing his cultivation progress to be described as rapid as a thousand miles a day.
At this moment, within his dantian, beneath the "Tide-Rising Pearl," fifty drops of dark blue magical power condensed into a single mass, emitting unfathomable fluctuations.
"The power of a mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator has already reached its peak."
Fang Qing sensed the existence of a bottleneck.
That is the helplessness of not being able to break through the upper limit of magic power no matter how many magic power-enhancing pills one consumes or how one cultivates.
"Average aptitude is just like this—one bottleneck after another."
Countless cultivators of my aptitude, even those who manage to break through to the Foundation Establishment stage, are mostly trapped in the early Foundation Establishment stage—and very few manage to break through to the middle stage.
"When I broke through to the mid-stage, I had the advantage of being an alchemist with abundant resources—if I were to break through to the late-stage, everyone would suspect that I had some special talent."
However, it doesn't seem to matter much. Even if they know I have a great opportunity, so what? Even if a Core Formation Ancestor comes, can he take it away?
Fang Qing was filled with pride and also quite moved: "The people here are so kind and honest—much better than that wretched place!"
He sat cross-legged, adjusted his condition to its best, and then patted his storage bag, taking out a second-grade high-level barrier-breaking pill that he had refined several years ago.
This elixir emitted a purple glow and had three exquisite elixir patterns on its surface.
Fang Qing remained silent for a moment, then swallowed the pill directly.
Whoosh!
The Breakthrough Pill melts upon entering the abdomen, forming a cloud of purple mist containing some primordial liquid, which flows into the dantian and condenses in the dark blue lake.
A scorching sensation instantly arose, the dark blue lake boiled, and the power of the "Azure Sea Technique" surged wildly, circulating through all the meridians of the body, circulating the energy throughout the body.
Above the cave, strands of spiritual energy gathered, making the already near-third-tier spiritual energy seem even more concentrated, reaching the true third-tier level.
Outside the cave, Xiang Dahu held the array flag and watched this scene without any panic.
Fang Qing had already given instructions, and the breakthrough to the late Foundation Establishment stage only caused a slight fluctuation in spiritual energy, which was much less noticeable than the spiritual energy vortex during the Foundation Establishment stage, so it wouldn't attract much attention.
Refining elixirs and cultivating powerful spells can both cause fluctuations in spiritual energy.
Most importantly, even if all the disciples on the island rebelled under Bei Lingxu's leadership, they still wouldn't be able to defeat Xiang Dahu, who had mastered a second-tier superior island-protecting formation!
"This breakthrough—has been somewhat difficult."
Feeling his own magical power surging, he repeatedly tried to break through the bottleneck, but always fell short by just a little bit. Fang Qing's heart stirred.
After all, the magical power was cultivated through continuous consumption of elixirs—even with the "Dao Sheng Pearl" constantly purifying and removing the elixir toxins from the magical power, it was still somewhat superficial.
Fortunately, I have a strong physique and powerful spiritual sense—according to the annotations left by Ancestor Bihai, I can still use secret techniques to forcefully break through the barrier!
Fang Qing formed a strange hand seal, his divine sense shifting and changing like a commander, carrying a large amount of magical power as he launched a final attack.
Click!
Suddenly, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth trembled.
He covered his lower abdomen, and a trace of crimson appeared at the corner of his mouth.
A surge of magical power far exceeding that of the mid-Foundation Establishment stage emanated from Fang Qing's body.
If one were to look inward with one's divine sense at this moment, one would see the fifty-first drop of liquid magical power taking shape in the dantian.
Even all the liquid magic was condensing, and it seemed to be forming a ball.
Late stage of Foundation Establishment, done!
"Judging by the time, I'm sixty-two years old this year, already in the late Foundation Establishment stage—my cultivation speed is only slightly slower than that of a Heavenly Spiritual Root, right? I also have a lot to do with the thousand-year-old spiritual herbs in the secret realm—if I continue to advance diligently, I might even be able to form my Core around the age of one hundred?"
According to the commentary on the "Azure Sea Technique" by the Azure Sea Immortal, it is best for Foundation Establishment cultivators to break through to Core Formation before the age of 150; otherwise, their essence, energy, and spirit will become weak, and their success rate will plummet.
If one can successfully form a core before the age of 120, then one will be a seed for the Nascent Soul stage.
At this moment, my strength is definitely not just a drop more liquid mana than someone at the peak of the mid-stage Foundation Establishment realm.
Breaking through to the late stage of Foundation Establishment not only unlocks the upper limit of power, but also increases the power of every drop of liquid mana, by at least several times!
Both the quantity and quality of their magical power have increased—no wonder late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators are called "Great Cultivators" within the Foundation Establishment period—without relying on any external aids, their own magical power alone is enough to crush early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators—and even easily annihilate them.
Fang Qing examined his own divine sense and discovered that after breaking through to the late stage of Foundation Establishment, his divine sense instantly exceeded one hundred feet!
"As expected—a breakthrough in cultivation will also bring feedback to the divine sense and physical body, greatly enhancing the divine sense and cleansing the marrow of the body—"
"Of course, the most crucial point isn't that! The Tide-Rising Pearl is, after all, activated by one's own magical power; the stronger one's own magical power—the greater the power this external core can unleash!"
With a thought, Fang Qing activated his outer core.
A surge of magical power far exceeding that of the Foundation Establishment stage emerged from his body, steadily rising—until he reached the early Core Formation stage.
"The external alchemy power I can currently unleash isn't that of a newly formed early-stage Core Formation cultivator—it's more like that of a Core Formation early-stage cultivator who has cultivated for some time and whose magical power has stabilized, right?"
And—there are also two magical treasures and three talisman treasures—”
Fang Qing let out a long breath: "It's time to deal with things over there, otherwise I'll have to hide everywhere, which is very inconvenient."
"But—to be absolutely sure, we still need an insurance policy."
Whoosh!
Upon breaking through to the late stage of Foundation Establishment, Fang Qing did not celebrate wildly, nor did he secretly go to brothels to listen to music.
He rode the Core Formation Light, traveling at breakneck speed, and arrived at Jade Island in just a few days.
When passing through Dahua Fishing Village, I deliberately paused for a few breaths to scan it with my divine sense.
Old Cha's house was already dilapidated and looked like a haunted house.
It is said that when this person learned of Cha Zhu's death, he was so heartbroken that he cried out in anguish and died.
He didn't have much affection for Old Man Cha; he was just a passerby in his long life.
The transactions back then were mutually beneficial, and even if the other party had some ulterior motives, what did they ultimately gain?
"The path to immortality is long and arduous—"
With some inexplicable thoughts, Fang Qing stopped outside the Seven Profound Azure Waves Formation of the Azure Sea Sect.
Not long after, a gap appeared in the great formation, and a figure in pure white flew out; it was Qin Ruxue.
"Congratulations, young master, on breaking through to the late stage of Foundation Establishment."
Qin Ruxue smiled and took out another storage bag: "The sect didn't originally have any reserves of third-tier formations—"
Fortunately, we later destroyed Tianxin Linked Island and the Zhong family, dismantling their third-tier grand formation, which was then used as sect treasures—as the master of the formation island, I was barely able to obtain one set for research, but I was forbidden from taking it out of the sect.
But it's clear that under Fang Qing's will, the sect rules are practically meaningless to Qin Ruxue.
"This formation was set up by the Zhong family of Taibai back then. I have tried my best to repair it. If there were no third-tier spiritual veins, and it was powered entirely by spirit stones, it could barely reach the quasi-third tier level. It is called the Profound Ice Sky Curtain Formation. How to operate it and quickly set it up is all here."
Qin Ruxue then presented another jade slip.
Fang Qing took it, scanned it with his divine sense, and nodded slightly: "You've also reached the peak of the early Foundation Establishment stage. When do you plan to break through to the middle stage?"
"I barely managed to establish my foundation after taking three Foundation Establishment Pills—the sect only values my array formation skills and doesn't have high hopes for my path to immortality."
Qin Ruxue mentioned this with a hint of bitterness: "Now the sect is also cultivating other array masters with even better aptitude—sooner or later they will replace my position."
The issue of aptitude is a hurdle that all cultivators cannot avoid.
It is said that after reaching the Core Formation stage, those with less than exceptional aptitude will find it difficult to significantly advance their cultivation, which can at least allow those with inferior aptitude to close the gap somewhat.
But those with inferior aptitude will find it difficult to even establish their foundation, let alone form their core.
"Now, the merit points I've accumulated are almost enough to exchange for a Small Breakthrough Pill."
'
Qin Ruxue smiled.
"You should use your sect contribution points to exchange for more pills to improve your mana. I have a Lesser Breakthrough Pill here. It's a low-grade one, but it just means more toxicity. It will just take a few more years of hard work after you break through."
Fang Qing took out a jade bottle and tossed it to Qin Ruxue, who was immediately filled with gratitude.
He had important matters to attend to, so he didn't discuss the path of dual cultivation of form and emptiness with Qin Ruxue anymore, and instead left Jade Island directly.
Whoosh!
As Fang Qing sped away, he considered: "With this near-third-tier Profound Ice Sky Curtain Array, I have a reasonable guarantee. I can try my luck against the White Bone Path."