Successful Foundation Establishment

Two days later, having finally smoothed the chaotic spiritual energy rampaging within him, Song Wen opened his eyes. Without a moment's hesitation, he picked up another Heavenly Spirit Fruit.

Taking a deep breath, he swallowed it whole.

As soon as the Heavenly Spirit Fruit hit his stomach, the same violent Spirit Qi erupted like an untamed beast.

The surging spiritual energy was like a wild horse slipping its tether, charging recklessly through his limbs, bones, and every meridian in his body.

The sheer violence of the force began to tear fine fractures into his meridians, sending waves of agonizing pain ripping through him.

Tiny tears split open across Song Wen's skin. Crimson blood seeped from the wounds, quickly dyeing him crimson until he looked like a man forged of blood.

This time, Song Wen did not take any auxiliary spirit herbs. He gritted his teeth, endured the searing pain, and focused entirely on circulating the Corpse King Blood Refining Art.

As for whether the blood loss would drain his vital essence, it did not cross his mind.

The immense resources and bitter effort he had poured into cultivating the Corpse King Blood Refining Art and the Myriad Poisons Chaos Body finally showed their worth.

These two body-refining techniques had strengthened his skin, muscles, meridians, internal organs, and bones from the inside out. His physical resilience far surpassed that of an ordinary cultivator at Peak Qi Refining.

It was this formidable physique that kept his meridians and body from being blown apart by the savage energy of the Heavenly Spirit Fruit.

Under the guidance of the Corpse King Blood Refining Art, the wild spiritual energy was gradually tamed. It began to flow along his meridians, eventually pouring into his Dantian's sea of qi.

The spiritual energy gathering in his Dantian steadily grew, but it was still far from filling the space, let alone liquefying.

Sensing the fruit's energy beginning to wane, Song Wen steeled his resolve and swallowed a third Heavenly Spirit Fruit.

"Unh!"

Another wave of agonizing pain racked his body, forcing a low groan from his throat.

The violent Spirit Qi tore through his meridians once more.

With his prior experience, however, Song Wen handled it with far more grace. He steadily circulated the Corpse King Blood Refining Art, guiding the surging torrent within.

The boundless energy became like a roaring river, flowing through his meridians before draining into the Dantian.

The sea of qi swelled until it was completely full, unable to hold another shred of spiritual energy.

Yet a massive amount of unrefined energy remained in his meridians. Drawn by the Corpse King Blood Refining Art, it continued to pour into his Dantian without pause.

The excessive influx bloated his sea of qi, threatening to burst it open.

Still, Song Wen kept driving the energy inside. When the density within the Dantian reached a critical breaking point, the spiritual energy began to compress itself.

Drip.

A single drop of liquid spiritual energy manifested at the very center of his sea of qi.

Liquefaction of spiritual energy!

This was the definitive hallmark of the Foundation Establishment realm.

However, his breakthrough was not yet complete. The vast majority of the spiritual energy in his Dantian had yet to liquefy.

Song Wen continued to run the Corpse King Blood Refining Art, refining the remaining medicinal force of the Heavenly Spirit Fruit while his body greedily drew in the free-floating Spirit Qi of heaven and earth.

With a flick of his finger, a thousand Spirit Stones flew from his Storage Ring, embedding themselves into the slots of the Spirit Gathering Array.

The spiritual energy inside the cave abode spiked instantly. Song Wen continuously absorbed the incredibly dense mist.

One drop, two drops, three drops...

Liquid spiritual energy continuously condensed within his Dantian.

Half a month later, Song Wen opened his eyes, unable to conceal the joy in his gaze.

His Foundation Establishment was a success!

He was now a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

He was no longer a piece of chaff at the absolute bottom of the cultivation world.

Song Wen did not cease his cultivation immediately. He spent several hours regulating his breath, fully restraining his explosive aura before finally breaking his meditative posture and standing up.

He had been in secluded cultivation here for nearly twenty days. It was time to return to the sect.

Retrieving his array disk, he struck out several hand seals to deactivate and store the Spirit Gathering Array and the Qi-Concealing Spirit-Isolating Array. Then, he stepped out of the temporary cave.

Outside, the pseudo-Tier 2 bronze corpse stood frozen like a statue, maintaining its silent vigil.

After storing the corpse puppet and recalling his eight Black-armored Gu, Song Wen boarded his flying boat and soared toward the sect.

Through a brief communication with the Black-armored Gu, Song Wen learned that only two Qi Refining cultivators had happened to pass by during his seclusion. Neither had noticed the hidden cave on the cliffside.

This left him highly satisfied with the performance of the Qi-Concealing Spirit-Isolating Array.

For this breakthrough, he had consumed three Heavenly Spirit Fruits and five thousand Spirit Stones, leaving him with four fruits.

A few dozen miles outside the sect, Song Wen concealed his flying boat and proceeded on foot.

As he walked through the market town at the foot of the Corpse Demon Sect's mountain, he watched the passing disciples and rogue cultivators. Seeing that the vast majority were merely in the Qi Refining stage, a surge of pride welled up within him.

He was no longer an ant struggling at the bottom of the world.

But the moment his thoughts drifted back to the looming threat of Shi Shou, his good mood vanished without a trace.

The grand Dao was long and arduous. He had merely taken his first step off the valley floor; he still needed to forge ahead with absolute caution if he ever hoped to witness the view from the summit.

Song Wen soon noticed that the number of rogue cultivators in the market seemed unusually high. Just walking a short distance down the street, he spotted several Foundation Establishment rogue cultivators.

Normally, figures of such strength rarely loitered around a market town.

Cutting through the streets, Song Wen approached the stall area and immediately spotted Chen Yi at her usual spot.

In a relatively amicable mood, he walked over and greeted her.

"Junior Sister Chen, it has been a while. Have things been well?"

Catching sight of Song Wen, a bright smile lit up Chen Yi's face.

"Senior Brother Ji Yin! Where have you been lately? I haven't seen you in ages. I even sent you a transmission talisman, but you never replied."

Song Wen replied, "I was away on business and missed it. Did Junior Sister have something urgent to discuss?"

"No, nothing urgent," she said softly. "I've just been feeling a bit suffocated lately and wanted someone to talk to."

"Oh? I happen to be free right now. If something is weighing on you, you might as well speak of it. Bottling it up will only harm your cultivation over time."

Chen Yi opened her mouth as if to speak, but no sound came out. She hesitated, clearly torn.

After a long pause, she simply shook her head and sighed.

"It is nothing major, just some tedious trifles. They have already passed, and I have come to terms with them. There is no need to bring them up again."

Seeing that she wished to keep it to herself, Song Wen did not press her. He shifted the topic instead.

"How has the spirit grass business been? I notice many unfamiliar rogue cultivators in the market today. Surely your sales have improved?"

Chen Yi let out a bitter laugh.

"There are indeed far more cultivators around lately, but business has actually dropped."

"For some reason, these new rogue cultivators never buy spirit herbs. Instead, they are completely obsessed with talismans and magical artifacts."

"Lately, anyone selling talismans or artifacts has been making a fortune."

"That is rather peculiar," Song Wen murmured.

After chatting with Chen Yi for a short while longer, Song Wen took his leave and headed back toward his cave abode within the sect.

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