Spirit-Transforming Inducement
The third kind of Foundation Establishment was the last mentioned in "The Great Dao of Cultivation: Foundation Establishment," and also the strongest.
This method required a cultivator not only to take a Foundation Establishment Pill when achieving Foundation Establishment, but also to refine a Tier 2 Spirit Item compatible with the attribute of their Cultivation Method while at the Ninth Layer of Qi Refinement.
A cultivator who practiced a Wood-Attribute Cultivation Method could refine a piece of Tier 2 Spirit Wood.
A cultivator who practiced a Fire-Attribute Cultivation Method could refine a Tier 2 fire seed.
Yang Tianyou practiced the Metal-Attribute Cultivation Method, Spirit-Shattering Instruction, so he needed to refine a piece of Metal-Attribute Spirit Gold or another kind of Spirit Material. Anything with the Metal Attribute would do.
After a cultivator finished refining the Spirit Item, both their Spiritual Power and physique would be affected, becoming more aligned with their original attribute. Simply put, it improved their physical aptitude and strengthened their Spiritual Power.
After breaking through, a cultivator who used this method would be thirty percent stronger than one who used the second method.
Do not underestimate that thirty percent. If the foundation or combat strength provided by the second kind of Foundation Establishment was ten, then the third kind was thirteen.
And every breakthrough to the next layer after Foundation Establishment would add another twenty to thirty percent to that existing foundation.
That meant a cultivator who used the second kind of Foundation Establishment would have a foundation or combat strength of thirteen at the Foundation Establishment Second Layer, and seventeen at the Foundation Establishment Third Layer.
A cultivator who used the third kind, however, would start at thirteen at the Foundation Establishment First Layer, and reach twenty-two at the Foundation Establishment Third Layer.
This gap would only grow wider later on. That was where the so-called ability to challenge opponents of higher levels came from.
Strength was never achieved in a single step. Only by continually deepening one's accumulated foundation and staying a little ahead of others at every step would one, as days and months piled up, discover that one had long since surpassed ninety-nine percent of people.
Powerful as the third Foundation Establishment method was, however, it required one crucial thing: the Spirit-Transforming Inducement!
Cultivators could draw in and expel Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi and refine Pills, but it was extremely difficult to refine a Spirit Item a whole tier above them into their bodies.
If anything went wrong, severe injury was the least of their worries. Dying on the spot was entirely normal.
But the Wisdom of living beings was boundless. Since Cultivators had devised this breakthrough method, they naturally had a corresponding means to use it: the Spirit-Transforming Inducement.
Spirit-Transforming Inducement was a general term. It could refer to a special Pill, Talisman, Formation, Law Artifact, or even a Secret Method or Spirit Cuisine.
Almost every Golden Core Force had its own Spirit-Transforming Inducement method, and the Dragon Valley Sect was naturally no exception.
Yang Tianyou had searched the Scripture Repository for half an hour before finding it. His next act was not to return home and cultivate, but to report the matter to the household head.
The Yang Household had never encountered such knowledge before and therefore did not understand the importance of Spirit-Transforming Inducement. As a member of the Lineage, Yang Tianyou needed to bring it to the Lineage's attention.
Sure enough, the household head, Yang Dangkai, took the matter seriously and immediately classified Spirit-Transforming Inducement as a special Golden Core Level text.
So the Old Ancestor and Fifth Granduncle used the second method to break through. I wonder if they'll have a chance to make up for it someday.
Standing on the Twin Blades, Yang Tianyou flew along as he thought.
There probably is a way. The world is vast and full of wonders. Even something as unbelievable as changing Spirit Roots exists, so rebuilding one's foundation should be possible too, right?
Yang Tianyou flew through Purple Moon Mountain at a leisurely pace and arrived at the residence of his fourth uncle, Yang Qiongqing.
"Tianyou, what Pills do you need refined this time?"
Yang Qiongqing smiled faintly as he looked at the most outstanding junior of the Lineage before him.
"I came for two reasons, Fourth Uncle. First, I wanted to ask you to refine some Pills for me. Second, I wanted your advice on how to absorb as much of the essence in this Savage Elephant Essence Blood as possible."
As he spoke, Yang Tianyou took out the Dark Moon Netherwolf's Inner Core, the Heavenly Wolf Flower, and the Savage Elephant Essence Blood in turn.
"Oh? A Heavenly Wolf Flower. You don't see those often. This spirit medicine can be paired with the Dark Moon Netherwolf's Inner Core to make a batch of Heavenly Wolf Pills. That Fengling of yours is in luck."
Yang Qiongqing picked up the Heavenly Wolf Flower and turned it over in his hands, smiling as he spoke.
"As for this Savage Wilderness Giant Elephant's Essence Blood, it is mild in nature, but it is Demon Beast Essence Blood after all, so there are bound to be some impurities left in it. Once I've refined it with Civil and Martial Fire for seven shichen, you can simply apply it to your body and absorb its essence."
"Thank you, Fourth Uncle!"
Yang Tianyou bowed respectfully.
"All right, all right. There's no need for such courtesies here. Are you going home first, or waiting here?"
Yang Qiongqing waved a hand and asked.
"I'll wait here. I can take the opportunity to watch your divinely skillful Alchemy."
Yang Tianyou grinned and paid him a compliment.
"You rascal, how do you keep getting slicker as you grow up?"
Yang Qiongqing laughed and scolded him, tapping his forehead with an index finger. His words were exactly the same as Yang Dangmo's.
And so Yang Tianyou watched from the side as Yang Qiongqing lit the furnace and refined the Pills. He watched for an entire day.
The next morning, Yang Qiongqing performed a set of Method Formulas, and the flames in the enormous seven-aperture Pill Furnace subsided. Four translucent, pale-black Spirit Pills in the furnace caught the eye.
"Are these Heavenly Wolf Pills?"
Yang Tianyou looked at the pitch-black Pills in the Pill Furnace and compared them with the Pills he usually took. Somewhat suspicious, he wondered if Fourth Uncle had messed up.
Seeing his expression, Yang Qiongqing flicked him on the forehead. "What are you thinking? The source energy in that Dark Moon Netherwolf's Inner Core was shadow. Of course they're that color."
"I see."
Understanding dawned on Yang Tianyou, and he grinned.
"All right, take all these things with you. I've already deducted the cost of the Alchemy from your Contribution Points, so you don't need to pay anything else."
With that, Yang Qiongqing made to see him out.
"Take care, Fourth Uncle. I'll be going. Oh, right, Fourth Uncle, I came across this Heaven's Edge Flower by chance. I hear it's quite rare, but I'm a rough sort and can't appreciate it, so I'll give it to you!"
Having said that, he left behind a beautiful blue-green and red flower, mounted the Twin Blades, and soared into the sky.
"That boy. The younger generation is truly formidable!"
Yang Qiongqing turned around, picked up the Heaven's Edge Flower, and held it to his nose for a gentle sniff as he sighed.
Yang Tianyou still did not return home. Instead, he visited his Fourth Sister, Yang Tianxue; Fifteenth Brother, Yang Tianwang; eldest brother, Yang Tianji; eleventh brother, Yang Tianxiang; and the others, leaving each of them a small gift.
After three years apart, the bonds between siblings needed plenty of tending too.
By the time he returned home, it was already dusk. As luck would have it, Fengling had also just come back from wandering outside, his mouth greasy all over. There was no telling where he had gone to play.
After a quick bite, Yang Tianyou called Fengling over. "These are Heavenly Wolf Pills. Remember to take one every half month. And don't skimp on these Spirit Items that replenish Essence, either. We have plenty of Spirit Stones, so eat your fill. Lastly, there's this Legacy Core."
"This was left by one of your Purple Moon Wolf predecessors. It contains some legacies unique to Purple Moon Wolves, and it'll do you a lot of good. Wait until you break through to First-Tier Superior-Grade before absorbing this Inner Core. Don't rush, understand?"
"Awoo..."
Fengling nodded, accepted the various resources Yang Tianyou handed him, and turned to leave the room.
He planned to go to the Wolf Pool to refine these resources. It had an environment suited to the Purple Moon Wolf Clan's Bloodline Metamorphosis.
Yang Tianyou did not stop him. After Fengling left, he entered the cultivation room, shut the door, and went into seclusion.
"Time to cultivate!"