Chapter 72: Foundation Establishment!

Black Whale Sanctuary, Advanced Cave Residence.

This cave residence stood nestled in a mountain hollow, carved into the mountainside, spanning nearly a hundred feet in size. Within, there were formations for gathering spiritual energy and isolating aura. Upon entering, Shen Lian activated all the original formations within the cave, then rearranged his own Five Elements Primordial Array as well.

After a round of careful preparations, nearly half a day had passed. With a gentle swipe of his palm over the spiritual beast bracelet, Dahei leaped out instantly.

“Master…”

“There’s a contract between us. If the master falls, you won’t survive either. Do you understand?”

Dahei nodded.

Shen Lian lightly patted Dahei’s head, then took out a handful of Second Grade Heavenly Thunderfire Talismans, affixing them one by one to Dahei’s body.

“M…Master…I…I’m scared…”

“No need to fear. If something really happens, it’s over in a bang—it doesn’t hurt at all. Would your master lie to you?”

“…”

“Keep your fangs from fighting each other, alright? Don’t be afraid…”

“This is just a precaution. If—just if—someone barges into the cave, you throw the talismans out.”

Dahei huddled, aggrieved, in the corner of the cave residence, his two black eyes flashing repeatedly.

Shen Lian sat cross-legged at the center, beside the spring of spiritual energy, and sent his divine sense into his storage pouch.

He inspected the capital he’d accumulated over these three years.

A second-grade low-tier talisman array plate, inlaid with seventy-two second-grade talismans.

Also, when inheriting the second-grade talisman master, he’d received a set of Heavenly Thunderfire Sequences—one hundred and eight second-grade talismans in total. If all were activated without restraint, their power could rival the late Foundation Establishment stage.

Actually, the inheritance included a set of Nine-Nine Heavenly Thunder Arrays, requiring only eighty-one talismans, even stronger than the Thunderfire Sequence. But the true heavenly thunder liquid needed for the talismans was rare.

Shen Lian had considered that even if he obtained the heavenly thunder liquid, its explosive nature would be hard to control without advancing to Foundation Establishment.

These were all offensive measures, just in case.

The rest comprised his accumulated cultivation resources.

With a thought, several jade bottles and boxes flew out from the storage bracelet.

Eight Treasure Essence Pills, Sea Spirit Condensing Liquid, Qi Supplement Pills, Awakening Tea, Triple Meridian Protection Pills.

Though he lacked a Foundation Establishment Pill, Shen Lian was otherwise fully prepared.

If his Fire Spirit Root was perfected, cultivated a Golden Core method, and condensed a Five Elements Dao Foundation, but still couldn’t establish his foundation independently, then what was the point of cultivating immortality?

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Turn left when leaving, head to the mortal world, marry three thousand wives, start a clan, and directly switch to family cultivation.

Of course, despite this jest, Shen Lian had prepared the Triple Meridian Protection Pill.

This pill was extremely rare, unknown in the Black Whale City alchemy world, discovered only in his inherited recipes.

It was an upgraded version of the common meridian protection pill, specifically used to protect the heart meridian in case of Foundation Establishment failure, so the cultivator could recuperate and have another chance.

As for the Foundation Establishment Pill, it was simply unattainable. The Sea Spirit Sect had it, but the conditions to obtain one were too numerous, depending on when they’d be willing to provide it.

…

Once the spiritual gathering array was activated in the cave, dense mist-like spiritual energy enveloped Shen Lian, each breath stirring the spiritual mist.

Not rushing into seclusion, Shen Lian used his pill furnace as a kettle, brewing Awakening Tea.

For more than half a month, he took Eight Treasure Essence Pills and other elixirs daily.

Over the past two years, his spiritual power had reached the peak of Qi Condensation, with no further space for advancement—this regimen was to adjust his state of essence, energy, and spirit.

On this day.

Sitting cross-legged, Shen Lian suddenly opened his eyes.

“It’s time for Foundation Establishment!”

For a cultivator, Foundation Establishment had two checkpoints: divine sense and spiritual power.

A Foundation Establishment cultivator’s spiritual power becomes liquid; one must compress and transform gaseous energy into liquid, forming a sea within the dantian.

The divine sense checkpoint requires expanding one’s divine sense, deriving a sea of divine sense, similar to the dantian sea, serving as its storehouse.

Foundation Establishment is called the great cultivation because opening up the sea of divine sense is part of its significance.

For Qi Condensation cultivators, divine sense lacks a support point, remaining below a hundred feet and growing slowly.

But at Foundation Establishment, with the sea of divine sense opened, myriad wonders unfold within a square inch, becoming the accumulation site for divine sense.

Only then does divine sense enter a phase of rapid growth.

It’s said that only when divine sense reaches a hundred feet can one open the sea of divine sense.

For many Qi Condensation cultivators, this is difficult.

If, during the Foundation Establishment breakthrough, spiritual power advances but newly generated divine sense fails to extend beyond a hundred feet, unable to reach the threshold for opening the sea of divine sense, Foundation Establishment fails.

For Shen Lian, these two points weren’t difficult.

With Primordial Five Qi supplementing, he had enough for spiritual power’s transformation.

His divine sense was nearly two hundred and thirty feet, far surpassing Qi Condensation, not inferior to some cultivators of Foundation Establishment’s first or second layer.

Adjusting his posture, Shen Lian released his spiritual power.

Once unrestrained, the Five Elements spiritual power surged wildly within his body.

Turning his vision inward, Shen Lian activated his cultivation method, gathering the Five Elements spiritual power from dantian and acupoints, converging them upon the dantian.

Massive spiritual power accumulated within the dantian, causing turbulence; the Five Elements energies collided repeatedly, battering every corner.

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Shen Lian’s expression grew solemn as he began guiding the turbulent gaseous spiritual power within his dantian into liquid form.

With this guidance, the first drop of liquid spiritual power emerged.

Having established a good start, he continued to guide the spiritual power in his meridians and acupoints into his dantian, transforming the gaseous spiritual energy into liquid ceaselessly.

As time passed, part of the liquid spiritual power within the dantian began circulating through the meridians, directed by the cultivation method.

Previously, only gaseous spiritual power had passed through his meridians; now, as liquid spiritual power surged in for the first time, it was hard for the meridians to withstand.

Liquid spiritual power was much more violent, repeatedly striking every part of the meridians, pain blossoming throughout his body.

Yet, as the meridians were washed again and again by liquid spiritual power, they grew increasingly solid.

The first checkpoint of Foundation Establishment—the spiritual power checkpoint—was exactly this process.

A moment’s carelessness, and the meridians could rupture.

If spiritual power was insufficient to complete the circuit, unable to return to the dantian, then opening the dantian sea would remain an empty wish.

Sensing that most of the gaseous spiritual power in the dantian had liquefied, yet the liquid spiritual power circulating through the meridians hadn’t returned to the dantian, unable to complete the first liquid spiritual power cycle, Shen Lian directly mobilized the Primordial Five Qi.

Rumble!

The Primordial Five Qi, coiled at the positions of his five organs, surged into the dantian like five torrents, filling the emptied dantian.

An endless stream of liquid spiritual power poured into the meridians.

Soon, the liquid spiritual power that had completed a grand cycle through the meridians returned to the dantian, forming a complete circuit within his body.

The dantian remained filled with the energy derived from the Primordial Five Qi, continuously liquefying into spiritual power, gradually gathering into a small lake within the dantian—transforming into the core dantian sea, the center of spiritual power circulation.

Rumble!

Within the cave, the spiritual gathering array’s amassed energy formed a vortex several feet wide, pouring into Shen Lian’s body, replenishing the shortage after spiritual power’s advancement.

Meanwhile, as spiritual power coursed through his body, every inch was cleansed, impurities expelled from his pores.

…

Half a day later, the cave’s aura settled.

Another day passed.

Seated cross-legged on the meditation mat, Shen Lian trembled lightly, waves stirred between his flesh and blood, essence, energy, and spirit uniting, evolving into the power of divine sense, converging in his skull.

After half a day, a point of divine light flashed between his brows.

His compressed divine sense expanded, spreading out into a square inch, deriving a gentle current of divine sense—pure as spiritual liquid, pale gold as nectar.

With a single thought, ripples spread across the square inch of the sea of divine sense, extending outward like waves.

Two hundred feet…three hundred feet…four hundred feet…

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