Chapter 17: No Ancients Before Me

'Celestial Dao Foundation Establishment Pill?'

Su Han suddenly felt that his Skill Tree's talent for naming things really wasn't that great.

'An elixir refined from the materials needed for Foundation Establishment using the Celestial Dao Foundation Establishment Method is just called a Celestial Dao Foundation Establishment Pill.'

'So if I changed the name of this Foundation Establishment Method to the Celestial Envy Foundation Establishment Method, would the pill I refine then become a Celestial Envy Foundation Establishment Pill?'

Picking up an elixir from the table, Su Han scrutinized it for a long time.

He looked at it, sniffed it, rubbed it, and gave it a lick.

After determining with the experience of an excellent Alchemy Master that there was nothing wrong with the elixir—or at least that it wouldn't kill him—Su Han flicked his wrist and tossed a Celestial Dao Foundation Establishment Pill into his mouth.

The elixir melted the moment it entered his mouth, and a clear, cool Elixir Liquid slid down his esophagus and into his stomach.

The instant the Elixir Liquid entered his body, a scorching heat rose from his stomach and gradually spread throughout his entire system.

Then, amidst the scorching heat, tendrils of icy coldness were born from nothing, emerging from the void.

The icy coldness rapidly overtook the heat. The scorching sensation, which had made him feel as if his entire body was about to ignite, gradually receded. Su Han felt as though he had been frozen to the extreme of absolute zero as a chill originating from the depths of his soul swiftly pervaded his body.

The alternation between cold and heat, like the dual cultivation of spirit and life-force, instantly released a portion of the latent potential hidden within Su Han's body.

Spurred on by this portion of potential, the Human Body Treasure began to open.

Seated cross-legged on the cattail hassock, Su Han followed the cultivation path recorded in the Celestial Dao Foundation Establishment Method to strengthen his Foundation Establishment.

First, a warm sensation arose from his heart as the Fire Essence took root there, transforming the fresh blood in its chambers. This blood, refined by the Fire Essence, then flowed out from the heart and circulated throughout his entire body, continuously strengthening Su Han's internal organs, extraordinary meridians, and all his acupoints.

As a faint layer of Fire Essence coated his heart, the Earth Essence fused with his spleen, the Metal Essence merged with his lungs, the Wood Essence found his liver, and the Sunflower Water Essence attached to his kidneys.

The five elements of the human body fused with the Five Elements Essence.

With the five elements generating one another, a grand cycle of Circulation gradually formed within Su Han's body.

In this cycle, Su Han's organs, flesh, bones, meridians, the outermost layer of his skin, and even his most microscopic cells were all substantially nourished and strengthened.

While the Five Elements Essence helped the body's five elements strengthen the Circulation, the Earth of the Four Extremes acted as a virtuous support, constantly solidifying his foundation and developing Su Han's own potential to the maximum, preventing the excessive strengthening from causing a deficit in his innate foundation.

The entire process lasted for a full hour.

An hour later, when all the changes within his body had ceased, Su Han rose from the hassock. With a slight shake of his right arm, a clear sonic boom rang out. The very air seemed to be compressed and torn apart by the movement.

Ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine jin.

Although he hadn't taken any measurements, the feeling of microscopic control over his body after being strengthened by the Celestial Dao Foundation Establishment Pill clearly told Su Han the maximum force his body could withstand, and also exert: ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine jin.

He was just one jin short of an immense force of one hundred thousand jin.

However, Su Han also knew that this single jin represented a gap as vast as the distance between heaven and earth.

According to his ancestral memories, Su Han knew that for tens of thousands of years, the greatest potential anyone in the Foundation Establishment Realm could develop—be they an ordinary Independent Cultivator or a disciple of a Major Sect—was a physical body capable of withstanding an immense force of ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine jin.

In fact, for most Independent Cultivators, possessing a physique with ten thousand jin of strength during the Foundation Establishment Stage was enough to support a breakthrough into the next realm.

Countless people in the past had tried to break through this limit.

But even with a gap of just one jin, in tens of thousands of years, no one had ever heard of anyone in the Foundation Establishment Realm developing their pure physical strength to one hundred thousand jin.

An existence even above the realm of Celestial Beings had once left behind this conclusion: although it was unknown how to strengthen one's Foundation Establishment power to one hundred thousand jin, it could be asserted that one hundred thousand jin was a bottleneck.

Once a Cultivator in the Foundation Establishment Stage could develop their physique to the immense force of one hundred thousand jin, that Cultivator, having broken the bottleneck of the "extreme of nine," would enter an entirely different plane of existence.

Perhaps two hundred thousand, perhaps three hundred thousand, or even four or five hundred thousand jin—none of these would be the limit for the physique of a Foundation Establishment Cultivator who had broken through this barrier.

'So... is the extreme of nine truly unbreakable?'

Looking at the eleven Foundation Establishment Pills remaining before him, Su Han refused to accept it.

'Besides, I'm the only one who can forcefully undergo Celestial Dao Foundation Establishment using the Heaven and Earth Melting Furnace as a core. No one else can even use these Celestial Dao Foundation Establishment Pills.'

'Letting eleven elixirs sit here is a waste anyway. I might as well try to break the limit.'

With that thought, Su Han picked up another Celestial Dao Foundation Establishment Pill and tossed it into his mouth. The elixir melted instantly and began a new round of strengthening on his body.

However, while circulating the Celestial Dao Foundation Establishment Method, he could clearly feel the Human Body Treasure being developed to a certain extent. But when half an hour had passed and the medicinal power of the Celestial Dao Foundation Establishment Pill was exhausted, Su Han tested his strength and found that his physical power was still stuck at ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine jin—the extreme of nine.

Refusing to give up, Su Han grabbed two more Foundation Establishment Pills, threw them into his mouth, and began another round of strengthening.

In less than an hour, the elixirs' medicinal power was depleted. He could intuitively feel himself improving, but his physical strength remained trapped at the extreme of nine, unable to advance even an inch.

At this point, Su Han finally understood why in the tens of thousands of years from ancient times to the present, no one had ever managed to surpass the bottleneck of the extreme of nine during the Foundation Establishment Stage.

It had only taken one Foundation Establishment Pill to develop his physical strength to ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine jin.

And yet, after using a total of four Celestial Dao Foundation Establishment Pills, Su Han still hadn't managed to break this extreme number.

For an ordinary person, this would be equivalent to spending four times the amount of time required for a normal Foundation Establishment and still being unable to break the bottleneck.

More than four times the time, more than four times the resources, and still no success in breaking the limit. With that much time and resources, a Cultivator would have enough to break through to a higher realm. Why would anyone waste time, energy, and resources chasing something like breaking a limit?

But Su Han was different.

First, his Foundation Establishment didn't require much time. The ancestral Celestial Dao Foundation Establishment Method only took one day, but after he refined the materials into elixirs, completing the Foundation Establishment took a mere two hours.

Second, he wasn't afraid of wasting resources. Letting the remaining Celestial Dao Foundation Establishment Pills go unused would be the real waste.

Third, a waste of energy?

Not a chance. Alchemy only required a thought, and Foundation Establishment just involved popping an elixir and meditating cross-legged. Where was the waste of energy in that?

With so many advantages, and after four Celestial Dao Foundation Establishment Pills had proven insufficient to break the limit, Su Han looked at the eight remaining pills on the table, gritted his teeth, and shoved all of them into his mouth at once.

The elixirs melted into Elixir Liquid in his mouth. The Yin-Yang Dual Flames spurred the dual cultivation of his spirit and life-force, and a wave of Potential Power far greater than before was unleashed.

Four hours. A full four hours later, the meditating Su Han opened his eyes, a hint of resignation in them.

Twelve Foundation Establishment Pills, twelve times the accumulation of a normal Foundation Establishment, and he still hadn't broken the seemingly impregnable barrier. It was enough to make one suspect that the true limit of strengthening in the Foundation Establishment Realm was ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine jin, with no possibility of advancing further.

And yet...

The potential being continuously unleashed within him, the clearly perceptible deepening of his accumulation—it all made Su Han unwilling to give up just yet.

"Refine Celestial Dao Foundation Establishment Pills."

After a flash of white light, twelve elixirs appeared on the table.

"Refine Celestial Dao Foundation Establishment Pills."

"Refine..."

Eleven times in a row he did this, until the Five Elements Essence was completely exhausted. Only a minuscule amount of the Earth of the Four Extremes remained, and the Yin-Yang Dual Flames in the Copper Vessel grew so dim they looked as if they could extinguish at any moment.

Looking at the eleven batches on the table—one hundred and thirty-two Celestial Dao Foundation Establishment Pills—Su Han gritted his teeth and swallowed an entire batch of elixirs in one go.

"BOOM!"

Immense medicinal power surged into his limbs and bones. Endless potential was unleashed, and it felt as though an invisible force was assaulting the formless barrier, allowing Su Han to see the possibility of breaking through the limit.

One batch, two batches, three batches.

Five batches, seven batches, nine batches.

Over a hundred Foundation Establishment Pills were swallowed one after another.

Just as the tenth batch of elixirs went down and Su Han felt like he was about to vomit from taking so many pills...

"DONG~"

A chime like that of a great bell from a massive mountain seemed to ripple through his soul, and Su Han felt his very spirit tremble.

In the next instant, a power that could split the heavens and part the earth surged forth from the depths of his soul and rushed into his limbs and bones.

The barrier—unseen and untouchable, yet real, which had constrained Su Han from breaking his limit—was like a stubborn child facing an adult before this power. It was shattered with devastating ease.

And under this power, the strength of Su Han's physique began to grow wildly.

One hundred thousand.

Two hundred thousand.

Three hundred thousand.

...

Seven hundred thousand.

Eight hundred thousand.

Nine hundred thousand.

In the blink of an eye, Su Han's physical strength reached the terrifying level of nine hundred thousand jin. With his physical power alone, even a Spirit Platform Realm Cultivator would be unable to withstand a single punch from him at close range.

"Hoo~"

When his physical strength stagnated at the nine-hundred-thousand mark, Su Han let out a long breath and opened his eyes.

Looking at the two remaining batches of twenty-four elixirs on the table, Su Han didn't hesitate, grabbing another one and popping it into his mouth.

After a few breaths, the medicinal power was exhausted, and Su Han's physical strength had increased by more than ten thousand jin.

He then popped them into his mouth one after another. After the seventeenth elixir went down, Su Han's physical strength reached nine hundred and ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine jin.

Swallowing the eighteenth elixir brought no increase in physical strength whatsoever. At this point, Su Han knew he had likely strengthened his physique to its absolute limit.

'Or rather... it's another, higher-level bottleneck, one I don't know if anyone will ever be able to break in the future.'

He tossed the remaining six elixirs into his mouth all at once. After feeling not the slightest change in his body, Su Han knew... his Foundation Establishment journey was now well and truly over.

Nine hundred and ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine jin—a terrifying, immense force, a full ten times greater than the normal limit of Foundation Establishment.

Terrifying power capable of killing even a peak Spirit Platform expert with a single punch in close combat.

This was the harvest Su Han had reaped after a full day of arduous effort.

An achievement unprecedented by any before him, and... he wondered if any would ever follow.