Chapter 139: Chapter 139: Minor Completion in Early-stage Foundation Establishment?

The auction came to an end.

Gumu Sheng, who had won the Foundation Establishment Pill, and Cheng Yao both returned home to focus on their cultivation.

Li Ping did the same.

As he cultivated diligently, nothing eventful happened, and before he knew it, a year had passed.

On the last day of the year, it was once again time for the Friends Association’s annual year-end gathering.

Zhang Tie, Gumu Sheng, and the other members—four in total—gathered on Immortal Peach Mountain.

Li Ping’s Divine Sense swept over the four of them, and he quickly grasped their current conditions.

There wasn’t much to say about Zhang Tie. His aura was virtually unchanged from last year. Clearly, his focus over the past year had not been on cultivation.

In other words, after reaching Foundation Establishment, he had simply decided to coast.

As for Gumu Sheng, after winning the Foundation Establishment Pill at the previous auction, he had been impatient to attempt his own Foundation Establishment.

He had therefore been cultivating with exceptional diligence and had now reached the peak of the Qi Refining Ninth Level. Perhaps with another month or two of polishing, he could attempt to break through to Foundation Establishment.

Cheng Yao had broken through to the Qi Refining Ninth Level last year. Li Ping noted that her aura was significantly stronger than at last year’s gathering. In another year or two, she would likely reach the peak of the Qi Refining Ninth Level.

Bai Qing had broken through to the Qi Refining Seventh Level the year before last. After two years of arduous cultivation, he had now reached the peak of the seventh level and was on track to break through to the eighth level after the new year.

After assessing the cultivation progress of the four members, it was time to contribute to this year’s Foundation Establishment Fund.

Li Ping contributed three hundred, Zhang Tie one hundred, Gumu Sheng one hundred, and Cheng Yao and Bai Qing a total of sixty. The Foundation Establishment Fund, which had been completely depleted, was now back up to five hundred sixty Spirit Stones.

Since Gumu Sheng had already used the Foundation Establishment Fund once, Cheng Yao was next in line.

Li Ping put away the Storage Bag containing the Spirit Stones, then smiled at the four of them and invited them to take turns sharing their experiences from the past year, as well as any troubles they had encountered.

Zhang Tie was the first to speak. He was no longer the simple and honest young man he once was, but an impressive logistics Steward of the Immortal City, and his voice was firm and resonant.

He had spent the past year still busy learning administrative affairs, but he had finally found some time to study the art of Artifact Refining.

In addition, his twin concubines had each given birth to a child for him this year, and his wife, after having their first child, was pregnant again.

As he spoke of this, a look of hopeful longing appeared on Zhang Tie’s face.

Li Ping was speechless. At the rate Zhang Tie was having children, he would be a perfect match for a ’More Children, More Blessings’ system.

Unfortunately, he didn’t have one. He could only gamble on luck, hoping a genius with an Abnormal Spiritual Root or better would appear among his descendants.

Then, after reaching Core Formation, they could carry their old ancestor along.

After Zhang Tie came Gumu Sheng.

His experiences were unremarkable. In order to attempt Foundation Establishment sooner, he had closed his shop to focus solely on his arduous cultivation.

For him, whether or not he reopened his general store would depend on the outcome of his Foundation Establishment attempt.

If he succeeded, he would become a highly respected Foundation Establishment Cultivator and could take Fenglan Master as his master. Naturally, he would no longer need to care about a mere general store.

If he failed, he would likely have no choice but to reopen the store just to make a living.

Next was Cheng Yao.

She informed Li Ping and the others that she had quit her position at the Spirit Medicine Garden to focus on cultivation.

When Cheng Yao finished speaking, Zhang Tie simply smiled without a word.

Li Ping, however, couldn’t help but ask curiously if she had enough cultivation resources after quitting her job.

Cheng Yao openly revealed her relationship with Wang Xingwei and how she had decisively stepped in to help the Wang family recover their financial losses.

She was now effectively in charge of the Wang family’s finances, so she no longer lacked cultivation resources. It was only natural that she wouldn’t want to waste precious time working in the Spirit Medicine Garden.

Of course, due to the strict restrictions on bidders’ identities at the Immortal City’s Foundation Establishment Pill auction, she was still technically a Loose Cultivator. Aside from eating the Wang family’s food, using their resources, living in their home, and cultivating on their Spiritual Land, she had no official connection to the Wang family whatsoever.

And when Li Ping heard her describe how she had forced the Wang family to compensate the Loose Cultivators for their Spirit Stones, he was left dumbfounded.

He could only feel thankful that he hadn’t revealed his identity to demand his own Spirit Stones back from the Wang family, or else he would have had his "fourth sister" showing up at his door to collect a debt.

Last was Bai Qing. He was a calm and steady person and hadn’t stirred up nearly as much trouble as Cheng Yao.

Aside from using his skills as a Pharmacist to earn resources, he focused solely on cultivation, which was why his progress was so fast.

Not yet thirty years old, he was already on the verge of breaking through to the eighth level of Qi Refining.

...

Early the next morning, as the four were about to depart, Li Ping called Gumu Sheng over and, with a smile, handed him the Foundation Establishment Pill he had obtained from Yan Liming.

Before Gumu Sheng left, Li Ping encouraged him to prepare well and strive for a successful Foundation Establishment.

After Gumu Sheng had also departed, Li Ping stood in his courtyard, lost in thought.

After a long while, he remarked with a soft sigh, "To think it’s already been ten years since my Foundation Establishment!"

Li Ping had been forty years old the year he reached Foundation Establishment. Now, ten years later, he was over fifty.

At this age, a mortal would be considered to be "knowing the will of heaven," with one foot already in the grave.

However, compared to the long two-hundred-forty-year lifespan of a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, fifty years was only about a fifth of the way through.

At fifty years old, Li Ping the Foundation Establishment Cultivator was still a young man.

Over these ten years, because he cultivated the *Wetland Water Nourishing Skill*, he had perceived almost no cultivation bottlenecks. He simply accumulated Magical Power day after day. Compared to when he had just reached Foundation Establishment, his Magical Power was now at least thirty percent stronger.

Li Ping silently calculated, ’If the Foundation Establishment Stage had nine levels like the Qi Refining Stage, then after ten years of hard cultivation, my current realm would be about the Foundation Establishment Second Level.’

’But the Foundation Establishment Stage only has three major realms, so I should be at the minor completion of the Early-stage Foundation Establishment?’

’At this rate, I might be able to break through to the Mid-stage Foundation Establishment around age seventy, reach Perfect Foundation Establishment around one hundred fifty, and then attempt to break through to Core Formation.’

Li Ping was very satisfied with this cultivation speed.

Dai Sangyu had an Abnormal Spiritual Root, yet she only reached Perfect Foundation Establishment in her one hundred seventies.

As a cultivator with Three Spirit Roots, what reason did he have to be dissatisfied with a cultivation speed that surpassed someone with an Abnormal Spiritual Root?

Ultimately, although he couldn’t take Cultivation Elixirs to boost his progress, and his normal cultivation speed was slower than someone with an Abnormal Spiritual Root, the fact that he had no bottlenecks in his cultivation allowed him to leave them in the dust, saving an immeasurable amount of time.

’This is the true power of overtaking on a curve!’

"Time to get back to cultivating!"

...

「Luojing, Great Zhou.」

In a certain area of rental cave abodes catering to visiting cultivators, the Spiritual Qi above a Tier Two dwelling suddenly began to fluctuate violently. It then gathered rapidly, forming a vortex several dozen meters in diameter.

Any Cultivator could tell what was happening with just a single glance.

This was clearly the phenomenon caused by a Cultivator rapidly absorbing Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi during their breakthrough to Foundation Establishment.

However, the few Cultivators who happened to look up and see this scene merely spared it a single glance before looking away, unconcerned.

The Great Zhou was no backwater like the Western Wilderness. The quantity and quality of its Cultivators far surpassed that of the Western Wilderness.

While Foundation Establishment Cultivators weren’t exactly a dime a dozen, they were by no means a rare sight.

This was especially true in Luojing, the most preeminent Immortal City in the Great Zhou.

It was just a Foundation Establishment breakthrough, nothing special. Every day, some Cultivator or another was attempting it.

Several days passed. After absorbing enough Spiritual Qi, the massive vortex dissipated on its own, a faint rosy light flickering within it.

Clearly, the Cultivator’s breakthrough to Foundation Establishment had been a success.

Inside the cave abode, Teng Feng opened his eyes. The Spiritual Pressure of the Foundation Establishment Stage emanated from his body.

His eyes were filled with uncontrollable ecstasy. "I’ve succeeded in my Foundation Establishment."

The year Teng Feng fled the Western Wilderness, he had been twenty-seven years old, his Cultivation at only the Qi Refining Fifth Level. He originally thought he would be lucky just to succeed at Foundation Establishment around age forty, like his eldest brother.

He never expected to inexplicably encounter Nether Bone and then be just as inexplicably transported to the Great Zhou.

It had only taken him six years to go from the Qi Refining Fifth Level all the way to the Foundation Establishment Stage—that was almost one new level every year!

Succeeding at Foundation Establishment at a mere thirty-three years of age was simply incredible to him.

"It’s only Foundation Establishment. What’s there to be happy about? Until you form a Nascent Soul, you are nothing but an ant!" Just as Teng Feng was overcome with joy, Nether Bone’s cold, sinister voice echoed in his mind.

Hearing Nether Bone’s voice, Teng Feng hurriedly expressed his gratitude in his mind. "Elder, my successful Foundation Establishment is all thanks to the many resources you’ve given me."

Although he had always been wary of Nether Bone, he had to admit that if it weren’t for him, it would have been impossible to succeed at Foundation Establishment so quickly.

After all, the Foundation Establishment Pill required for the breakthrough, as well as the Pills and Spirit Stones needed for cultivation, had all been provided by Nether Bone.

"Enough. There’s no need for gratitude," the cold voice sounded in his mind again. "I am cultivating you in the hope that you will help me with a few matters once your cultivation has reached a sufficient level."

Teng Feng asked tentatively, "I wonder, what matters would Elder like my help with?"

But Nether Bone didn’t answer him, instead bringing up another matter. "I left two sets of resources at the ’Xian Feng Hang’ back in the day. The one you retrieved before was only for the Qi Refining Stage. Now that you’ve reached Foundation Establishment, you are qualified to retrieve the resources for the Foundation Establishment Stage. Heh heh... and the value of those resources is more than ten times that of the Qi Refining set."

"More than ten times?" Teng Feng was astonished.

Following Nether Bone’s instructions, he had collected a set of resources from the ’Xian Feng Hang’ that was worth at least ten thousand Spirit Stones. Most Foundation Establishment Cultivators probably didn’t even have that much wealth.

If the Foundation Establishment Stage resources were worth more than ten times the Qi Refining Stage ones, didn’t that mean they were valued at over one hundred thousand Spirit Stones?

Once he realized this, he couldn’t help but be amazed. He secretly began to speculate about Nether Bone’s identity. ’I originally thought Elder Ming Gu was a Core Formation Cultivator, but now it seems he’s more than that... or at least, not an ordinary one.’

Walking along the wide streets of Luojing, Teng Feng couldn’t help but think of his brothers, far away in the Western Wilderness. ’It’s been so long. Second Brother should have already attempted his Foundation Establishment by now. I wonder if he succeeded. And I wonder how Eldest Brother and the others are doing.’

In the years since he arrived in the Great Zhou, he had already inquired about the location of the Western Wilderness.

West of Anzhou State, the westernmost state of the Great Zhou, one had to cross the boundless Vast Sea to reach the Western Wilderness.

However, such a vast distance was impossible for a mere Foundation Establishment Cultivator like him to cross.

Only one day in the future, after he succeeded in Core Formation, would he be able to return to the Western Wilderness.

’Eldest Brother, Second Brother... I hope you’re all still alive by then,’ he thought to himself.

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