Chapter 17: The True Aptitude

In the Sacred Land of Lingxu, with the new disciples one after another stepping onto the path of cultivation, even the mountain peaks had become lively and bustling.

Compared to the older disciples, the new ones were brimming with enthusiasm, constantly exchanging resources and cultivating diligently.

It seemed that, in the eyes of these newcomers, stepping onto the path of cultivation meant ascending toward higher realms.

Unfortunately, such a sight appeared laughable to those senior disciples who had wasted more than a decade due to their mediocre aptitude.

To step onto the path of cultivation was easy, but to make further progress thereafter was unimaginably difficult.

To put it bluntly, ordinary disciples of the Sacred Land of Lingxu were nothing more than expendable material.

How difficult was Foundation Establishment! And Golden Core was even more unreachable.

Although the Sacred Land had accepted many disciples, most of them merely lingered in the Qi Refinement Realm.

Once one truly came to understand it, the difference between people was as great as the difference between a man and a dog.

They might have entered the path and cultivated arduously, yet those born with Heavenly Spiritual Roots or superior spiritual aptitudes were already building their Foundations the moment they entered.

Indeed, while ordinary disciples struggled through Qi Refinement, those with exceptional talents began their cultivation by charging straight into Foundation Establishment.

However, with the arrival of these new disciples, the Sacred Land of Lingxu did gain a renewed sense of vitality.

Those who used to be called “Junior Brother” were finally being addressed as “Senior Brother.”

Various initiation ceremonies and disciple tournaments were being held one after another.

Of course, such events had nothing to do with the personally chosen disciples; when they entered, they were already assaulting the Foundation Establishment stage.

Outside the Cultivation Method Pavilion of the Sacred Land of Lingxu.

As one of the disciples’ favorite gathering spots, all sorts of news circulated here.

“Have you heard? Senior Brother Yuan from the previous generation successfully transcended his tribulation some time ago and has now achieved the Golden Core Realm. He even obtained a rank fruit!”

“Senior Brother Yuan has only cultivated for a little over ten years, hasn’t he? Since he’s already at Golden Core, then reaching Nascent Soul within a hundred years seems certain!”

“In comparison, I think that new disciple who climbed to the top of the Heart-Questioning Steps might be even more promising…”

The disciples exchanged cultivation experiences while gossiping idly from time to time.

“The Hundred Days are almost up. Do you think anyone from this batch can complete the Hundred-Day Foundation?”

“Fang Mochen of Cloudsky Peak — I heard from disciples of that peak that he’s already at the tenth level of Qi Refinement and is about to reach Foundation Establishment.”

“As for that one from Heaven’s Gate Peak, there hasn’t been any news.”

Li Tianchen held a jade slip copied from the Cultivation Method Pavilion, listening to these disciples speak with such hope about Li Tianwei, and couldn’t help but smirk.

“Hundred-Day Foundation? How could a False Spiritual Root possibly accomplish that?”

Li Tianchen sneered.

He himself possessed a superior dual Fire-Wood Root, and even with the guidance of the Remnant Soul in the Ring who had once reached the Out-of-Body stage, and with the endless supply of pills and spiritual herbs from Woodbeard Peak, he was only at the eighth level of Qi Refinement.

Reaching the ninth level of Qi Refinement within a hundred days was already remarkable.

“It seems I can only condense a postnatal Dao Foundation.”

Li Tianchen sighed softly.

While Li Tianchen, who knew Li Tianwei’s background well, thought little of him, at that moment, the one most anxious within Heaven’s Gate Peak was Bai Muxu.

Since the day he barged onto the peak, the strange condition surrounding Li Tianwei’s entire body had not ceased.

It was as if, because of that incident, Li Tianwei’s realm had stagnated at the fifth level of Qi Refinement, not advancing an inch further.

“What in the world is going on?”

Bai Muxu paced anxiously within his cave abode.

Who could have imagined that the famed “Galaxy Sword Immortal” of the cultivation world would be in such a state?

It was no wonder Bai Muxu was worried.

Even as a mighty cultivator of the Spirit Transformation Realm, he could not comprehend Li Tianwei’s bizarre condition.

What troubled him most was that ever since he intruded upon Li Tianwei’s cultivation atop the peak, the latter had ceased progressing, as though Bai Muxu himself was to blame.

No wonder he was so restless.

Bai Muxu had placed high hopes on Li Tianwei.

The Sacred Land of Lingxu had stood for thousands of years, yet only three people had ever ascended the Heart-Questioning Steps.

If such a prodigy were to wither under his tutelage, regret would not be enough to describe it.

“Ten days left. How could anyone go from the fifth level of Qi Refinement to Foundation Establishment in just ten days! How could that be possible?”

Sensing the aura from the peak of Heaven’s Gate, Bai Muxu could only sigh.

“Let’s hope so…”

Bai Muxu murmured.

Yet at that moment, he seemed to sense something.

His expression shifted from frustration to sudden excitement as he raised his head to look toward the summit.

At that instant, Li Tianwei — who had been stagnant for so long — suddenly had his aura begin to surge violently.

“The Undying Body of the Sacrificial Dao…”

At the summit of Heaven’s Gate Peak, after enduring all these days, Li Tianwei finally began to move — not just his body, but even his aura was rising continuously.

During this period, perhaps only Li Tianwei himself knew what he had gone through.

Under the explosion of various secret techniques, Li Tianwei had completely burned everything within him — even his own vitality.

Yet due to the terrifying constitution of the Undying Body of the Sacrificial Dao, the side effects of these secret techniques did not kill him.

To recover, Li Tianwei consumed large amounts of Fasting Pills and countless healing treasures.

After all this time, he had completely recovered — or rather, gone beyond mere recovery.

By relying on those secret techniques and the doubled power of the Undying Body of the Sacrificial Dao, he had caught a glimpse of a higher realm.

Now, he had finally comprehended that realm.

Li Tianwei already had the feeling that he could step into the Foundation Establishment stage at any moment.

He had thus emerged from his meditative comprehension.

Counting the days, ninety had already passed; only ten remained.

Within those ten days, not only must he establish his Foundation, but he must build an Unsurpassed Dao Foundation.

“Come then! Let the world witness my true aptitude!”

Li Tianwei let out a cold humph as his aura burst forth, no longer suppressed, surging higher and higher.

Boom——

Li Tianwei felt his spiritual platform tremble.

The spiritual energy he had repressed for so many days, his deep self-realization, and his complete revision of the Heaven-Origin Dao Foundation Method — all erupted at once.

If someone else were to see Li Tianwei’s modified version of the Heaven-Origin Dao Foundation Method now, they would realize it had become completely unrecognizable, covered in strange symbols and densely packed formulas.

Even Li Tianwei himself had forgotten how many things he had added.

After all, he possessed the knowledge of two worlds, and all he did was merge them together.

Of course, the knowledge from his other world took up the majority, and through their fusion, Li Tianwei felt he had reached a wondrous state.

It was efficient, effective — Foundation Establishment was within reach.

“Fission Qi-Guiding Method.”

Li Tianwei guided the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, making the streams of energy collide, react, and merge.

As the aura grew more and more powerful, he operated his modified Heaven-Origin Dao Foundation Method, absorbing all of it completely.

Through this sustained process, Li Tianwei’s body had already adapted to the explosive power of the Five-Colored Fission Spiritual Energy.

Visibly, the wild and volatile energies of heaven and earth roared and detonated.

Soon, under his control, all of them were completely drawn in.

“Let’s begin!”

After absorbing them, Li Tianwei directed the spiritual energy toward his spiritual platform.

Crack!

Bang!

A series of crisp sounds echoed beside Li Tianwei’s ears.

Very soon, the spiritual energy within his body flowed like a great river, circulating through his entire being.

An extraordinary phenomenon burst forth in the sky above.

“Qi Refinement — sixth layer…”

As Li Tianwei inhaled and exhaled, his spiritual platform rumbled.

The fissioned spiritual energy poured into his spirit platform, then flowed toward his meridians and acupoints, unlocking his spiritual awareness.

Under such transformation, Li Tianwei could no longer suppress it; his divine sense expanded rapidly.

He continued to guide and drive it.

Soon, his spiritual platform rumbled once more.

“Qi Refinement — seventh layer…”

Continuous breakthroughs — to Li Tianwei, this was only natural.

Within Heaven’s Gate Peak, Bai Muxu sensed Li Tianwei’s awakening and was astonished to find that he had consecutively broken through two levels, and his aura was still rising.

At this moment, the Hundred-Day Foundation was within reach.

“It might truly be possible… Hundred-Day Foundation…”

Bai Muxu murmured, recalling the heavenly phenomena that had appeared when Li Tianwei first entered the Qi Refinement Realm and climbed the Heart-Questioning Steps.

No matter how he looked at it, Bai Muxu felt that if Li Tianwei succeeded in the Hundred-Day Foundation, then ascension would no longer be a dream.

Perhaps, through this, the Heavenly Gate might reopen, and the grand era of cultivation might return once again.

Bai Muxu clenched his fists tightly.

At this moment, he was even more nervous than he had been when he himself achieved the Hundred-Day Foundation.

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