Finally, as the last moments drew near, the Foundation Establishment Incense gradually burned down to its end.

"After so many preparations, is it ultimately still going to end in failure?" Yuan Ming slowly opened his eyes, murmuring with an unwilling tone.

No sooner had he spoken than he couldn't help but take a deep breath.

At that moment, as the flame on the Foundation Establishment Incense extinguished, the yin and yang pattern on the Stealing Heaven Tripod suddenly lit up with brilliance. The thick white mist surrounding Yuan Ming immediately parted into two streams, curling backward and flowing into his nostrils.

Yuan Ming felt a searing sensation travel down his throat and into his chest and abdomen before finally settling into his Dantian.

The next instant, as if thunder had ignited Earth Fire, the mana bubbling within Yuan Ming's Dantian finally broke through the restraints and underwent a qualitative change.

Masses of mana began to condense and shrink continuously, as if completing some miraculous extraction, until they coalesced into droplets of gleaming transparent liquid, accumulating in the Dantian.

"Drip, drip"

Yuan Ming first heard the sound of two water droplets, followed by the overwhelming roar of a strong wind that engulfed his ears.

All he felt was his eardrums swelling, as his entire body became enveloped in powerful strands of nature's Primordial Qi; every pore in his body seemed to expand, greedily sucking in the converging Spiritual Energy.

"Is this the sensation of Condensed Liquid Foundation Establishment?"

Yuan Ming felt his entire being dazed, as if he had drunk a large jar of rich wine, basking in a feeling of bliss.

At this moment, his body was like a self-operating Puppet, almost managing on its own to complete the absorption of nature's spiritual energy, channeling it into the Dantian, refining and extracting it into liquid, and gathering it into that small pond.

After an indeterminable amount of time, Yuan Ming's Dantian finally conveyed a feeling of fullness and saturation. The state of automatically absorbing nature's spiritual energy gradually ceased, and Yuan Ming's Divine Sense returned to normal.

Reluctantly waking from that transcendent state, he eagerly checked his Dantian and found that all stored mana had condensed into a liquid state, forming a lake shimmering with rippling water.

In terms of the total volume of mana, it had increased more than threefold compared to his Qi Refinement period, and as for the purity of the mana, it was even more incomparable.

In fact, having completed the Foundation Establishment with the Qi Refining Thirteen Layers of Cultivation, Yuan Ming's mana was not only purer than that of a common cultivator at the same level, but the quantity was also at least half more.

This gave him an inherent advantage when facing other cultivators at the early stage of Foundation Establishment.

Meanwhile, Yuan Ming felt that his Divine Power, just as Xi Ying had said, had increased by almost half.

By the time he finished his Breathing Control and emerged from seclusion, it was already the morning of the third day.

Yuan Ming, feeling refreshed, pushed open the door to the quiet room to see Immortal Xuanhua sitting on a stone bench in the courtyard with his back toward him.

His shoulders were slightly slouched, looking somewhat dispirited.

Yuan Ming had an idea of what had happened and guessed that the other had likely failed at Foundation Establishment.

The Foundation Establishment was a major barrier on the path of Cultivation and it was common for most people to fail. If not for the Stealing Heaven Tripod bolstering the effects of the Foundation Establishment Incense, whether he could have succeeded remained an uncertainty.

Perceiving footsteps from behind, Immortal Xuanhua turned his head to look.

Seeing that Yuan Ming's face was composed, without any discernible joy or sorrow, he instinctively thought Yuan Ming had failed as well.

"Fellow Daoist Yuan, Foundation Establishment is never easy. Although I managed to refine the Foundation Establishment Incense, I couldn't guarantee a foolproof outcome. Don't take it too hard. We can find more materials in the future and continue refining," Immortal Xuanhua consoled him first.

"About that... Fellow Daoist Xuanhua, I succeeded in Foundation Establishment," Yuan Ming coughed lightly and said.

Immortal Xuanhua was taken aback, staring at Yuan Ming with eyes wide in disbelief.

Seeing him fall silent, Yuan Ming had to take the initiative to say, "Not to hide it from you, it was after three attempts that I finally succeeded."

He purposefully added an extra attempt to emphasize the difficulty of his Foundation Establishment.

To his surprise, Immortal Xuanhua's face took on a bitter expression, "This was my third time as well."

"Your third time? What about the previous two?" Yuan Ming asked, puzzled.

"The Foundation Establishment Pills obtained by spending all my wealth ended in failure. My talents are simply too poor, and my luck... even worse," Immortal Xuanhua said helplessly.

After saying that, he forced a smile and added, "At least you, Fellow Daoist Yuan, have succeeded. That alone proves the Foundation Establishment Incense I refined is not flawed. With this skill, I won't have to worry about going hungry in the future."

"Indeed, that's true," Yuan Ming responded, only able to reply with an embarrassed smile.

"Fellow Daoist Yuan... I should call you Senior Yuan now. What plans do you have for the future?" Immortal Xuanhua asked.

"There's no need for that between us," Yuan Ming said with a chuckle.

"On the path of Cultivation, the mighty are revered. Being one level higher in Cultivation makes one a senior, that's the common sense," Immortal Xuanhua was unusually serious.

"No, we should still address each other as Fellow Daoists. I'm planning to begin my journey soon and will travel alone." Yuan Ming said.

"That's good. I also plan to leave Xuanhua Temple and go on a travel to seek my fortune." Immortal Xuanhua nodded.

"Fellow Daoist Xuanhua, where do you plan to go?" Yuan Ming asked.

"I will visit the Southern Border, Southern Domain, and perhaps I will also go to the South Sea Islands. It is said that many overseas Loose Cultivators reside there, along with a production of unique spiritual materials not found in the Southern Border or Central Plains. Among them are many ores that are useful for incense making," said Immortal Xuanhua, his eyes shining with longing.

"Take care on your travels. I wouldn't have succeeded in Foundation Establishment without your help, Fellow Daoist Xuanhua. Even with my Four Spirit Roots, I managed to succeed, so do not lose heart."

Had Yuan Ming not procured the materials, it would have been impossible for him to make the Foundation Establishment Spirit Incense and to have helped him out of trouble. Speaking of gratitude, it was actually Yuan Ming who was owed more.

After a long moment of contemplation, he took out a blue-colored book and handed it to Yuan Ming.

Yuan Ming looked intently and realized it was the very secret book of Incense Making treasured by Immortal Xuanhua, which surprised him greatly.

"Fellow Daoist Xuanhua, what is this for?" Yuan Ming blurted out.

"Senior Yuan, you have better aptitudes than I do and enough talent for making Spirit Incense. Now that you've succeeded in Foundation Establishment, you also have a longer lifespan than me, and hence, more time to delve into this skill. I don't want the day to come when I perish, and have this secret technique lost to the world. Therefore, I hope you can make good use of this book and truly bring the art of making Spirit Incense to greater heights," said Immortal Xuanhua earnestly.

For a moment, Yuan Ming was at a loss for words.

"Take it, don't let my hopes go to waste," Immortal Xuanhua urged, as he pushed the book into Yuan Ming's hands.

"I will certainly live up to your expectations," said Yuan Ming, holding his fist in a salute, and responded gravely.

After that, Immortal Xuanhua seemed to have unraveled some knot in his heart, insisting that Yuan Ming treat him to a good meal, vowing not to return until drunk.

Thus, Yuan Ming summoned his Green Cloud Crane, and together with the old Immortal Xuanhua, they headed to a nearby State City. There they found an ordinary restaurant and even booked a private room…

Two days later, Yuan Ming bid his farewell and continued on his journey home, heading northwards.

As he had said, Immortal Xuanhua left Xuanhua Temple and went south.

Seven to eight days later,

Riding his crane and soaring through the sky, Yuan Ming, now after his Foundation Establishment, had a completely different mindset from when he first came to Yue Country. He leisurely held the secret book gifted by Immortal Xuanhua, perusing it without pause.

The record of various Spirit Incense with different effects within the book dazzled him, and he couldn't help itching to try his hand at refining some himself.

As he passed through a small workshop on his journey, Yuan Ming also took the opportunity to purchase some materials. Afterward, he proceeded unhurriedly down the road, refining some uniquely effective Spirit Incense along the way, stopping at scenic spots to stay for a few days.

In addition to the seductive scent, Fog Incense, and Beast Attraction Incense that he accidentally made before, he also refined some Qingxuan Incense and Soul Calming Incense to aid in meditative cultivation, as well as Nourishing Body Incense with certain healing properties.

The book also contained incense recipes with special effects, like the Foundation Establishment Incense, but they required more exacting materials and craftsmanship, which Yuan Ming couldn't manage at the time.

Two months later.

In the middle of Yue Country, a small city built near the intersection of two rivers.

Wearing a green robe and holding the edge of his hat, Yuan Ming looked up at the not-so-tall city gate and read the name on the plaque: "Hekou Town."

"It seems the source of the epidemic is right here," Yuan Ming sighed softly, looking towards the gate.

He saw that the two large vermilion gates were half-open, with no soldiers at guard, and only spotted a dirty, emaciated old man, barely alive, leaning against the base of the wall.

Yuan Ming approached to check on the old man, who was already at death's door.

He shook his head, took out an elixir, and tried to put it into the old man's mouth to revive him, but the other party lacked even the strength to open his mouth. Even forcing it open, Yuan Ming feared the old man didn't have the power to chew.

The old man's eyes were lifeless, his expression indifferent, clearly having lost all desire to live.

Helpless, Yuan Ming put the elixir away and walked past the man, entering the city.

He had arrived near Hekou Town three days earlier and discovered that a widespread epidemic had broken out in several nearby market towns and villages.

Yuan Ming didn't ignore the situation, instead, he took action and helped clear the surrounding epidemic.

But after inquiring, he learned that the epidemic first broke out in the now-abandoned "Hekou Town," with the earliest and most severe cases.

The other market towns had initially offered help, but upon realizing they could not contain it, they eventually had to give up, reluctantly.

The unassisted Hekou Town was left to deteriorate, leading to the death of the majority of its population, with the survivors merely waiting for death, devoid of hope.

The local officials were powerless to intervene, and no Cultivation Sect had offered assistance. Yuan Ming, unable to bear it, decided to visit.

Had he not seen it, it might have been different, but having seen it, he wanted to help these mortals; otherwise, he might have struggled to overcome his conscience.

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