Charging into Foundation Establishment

"Father was injured. Who did it?"

Lu Xuanji asked.

"We have some suspicions, but nothing certain! This time, your father and Sixth Aunt went out to buy a Foundation Establishment Pill for you, but many markets claimed they were out of stock. Some said they could provide one in ten years, others said one in twenty years." The Great Elder said, "On the road, your father and Sixth Aunt encountered Cultivation Bandits. I had prepared a Talisman Treasure for your father, one capable of severely wounding a Foundation Establishment Late Stage Cultivator. Yet that man still injured your father, stole more than twenty thousand spirit stones, and vanished."

"Some force is hostile to us and suppressing the Lu Clan. Not only is your Foundation Establishment Pill gone, but the clan's two Foundation Establishment Cultivators have also been severely wounded. They will need ten years of recuperation to recover, and we must spend over a thousand spirit stones on medicinal pills to treat them."

"Heavily wounded, but not killed. That man is clever."

A flicker of killing intent flashed through the Great Elder's eyes.

"Great Elder, is there some hidden meaning behind this?" Lu Xuanji asked humbly.

The Great Elder said, "Back then, our ancestor answered Danyang Sect's call and went to Tieling Pass to resist the invasion of demon beasts. He was wounded in that battle and passed away ahead of his time, drawing an attack from Ancestor Yan Yang. Danyang Sect's rescue came too late, and the Lu Clan suffered devastating losses, nearly facing extermination. Danyang Sect owes the Lu Clan a debt of gratitude.

"Now, if Lu Family cultivators were killed by Cultivation Bandits, Danyang Sect would have to spare no effort in tracking them down for the sake of its reputation. No matter how cleverly those Cultivation Bandits hid, how could they withstand Danyang Sect's investigation? Their True Faces would inevitably be exposed, and they would face pursuit or flee the Chu Kingdom!"

"But they merely heavily wounded our Lu Clan's two Foundation Establishment Cultivators without killing them. I cannot use that debt of gratitude over this."

The Great Elder was filled with melancholy.

That Cultivation Bandit had grasped the Lu Clan's weakness too precisely.

Wounding without killing seemed merciful, but in truth inflicted the greatest harm.

It was like a wounded soldier on the battlefield being more of a burden than a dead one. Could an army simply abandon its wounded?

It could not, because doing so would shake morale.

Likewise, if they had directly killed the Lu Clan's two Foundation Establishment Cultivators, they would have enraged the Lu Clan. Under the Lu Clan's retaliation, those hostile forces would also have suffered grievous losses.

But with them merely severely wounded and requiring ten years to recover, the Lu Clan could not justify spending that favor.

Likewise, during these ten years, the two severely wounded men would be unable to contribute to the clan. Instead, the clan would have to provide the two wounded with spiritual herbs, medicinal pills, and the like to nurse their injuries, spending a vast amount of spirit stones.

With one side gaining and the other losing, the Lu Clan suffered catastrophic losses, and was suppressed without anyone lifting a visible hand.

After returning to the Cave Mansion, he saw his father.

His father was recovering from his injuries. Lu Xuanji stepped forward and spoke with him for a while before leaving.

As he returned to the entrance of the Cave Mansion, he happened to encounter Ye Feixue.

"Brother, you have me."

Ye Feixue said.

She instinctively stepped forward, embraced Lu Xuanji, and comforted him.

Lu Xuanji did not refuse. Holding Ye Feixue, he murmured, "Father and Sixth Aunt went to buy a Foundation Establishment Pill for me, only to be severely wounded like this. Fortunately, their lives are not in danger. When a wall falls, everyone pushes it; when a drum breaks, ten thousand hammers strike it. They all want to prey upon a household with no heir, all want to watch the Lu Clan Fall Down, then gnaw on the Lu Clan's corpse and rise another step. But I refuse to let them have their way. I refuse to let their hearts rest easy. Not only will I live, I will live to reach Purple Mansion, to reach Golden Core."

"Brother, I believe in you."

Ye Feixue said firmly.

"Xiao Xue, if things become impossible, you may leave on your own." Lu Xuanji said. "The situation before us is very unfavorable. Someone is watching the Lu Clan. They may not be able to destroy the Lu Clan head-on, but they will trip us up, using all kinds of insidious methods to continually wear down the Lu Clan's strength."

"Brother, you have me," Ye Feixue said. "If Brother dies, I will not live alone either."

"Little girl, what foolish nonsense are you saying?" Lu Xuanji said. "This is for you."

He took several books from his storage bag and handed them to Ye Feixue.

There were dozens of books, containing various cultivation techniques, as well as books on alchemy, artifact refining, talisman crafting, formations, spiritual plants, puppetry, and more.

Method, Companion, Wealth, Land—the four essentials of cultivating immortality.

As the Lu Clan declined, its fine Spirit Mountains were gone, its wealth and spirit stones were gone, and even its Foundation Establishment Cultivators were three old men. Only a hundred thousand volumes of books remained, stored in his phone.

He selected from those hundred thousand books, choosing several dozen to give Ye Feixue.

After bidding Ye Feixue farewell, he entered the Cave Mansion.

Lu Xuanji sealed the Cave Mansion and began tempering his true qi. After polishing his true qi for a month, he planned to charge into the Foundation Establishment Realm.

He would no longer hope for a Foundation Establishment Pill.

Nor did he plan to keep waiting.

The Ye Family and Wu Family had both said they would each provide the Lu Clan with one Foundation Establishment Pill in ten years, but who knew whether unforeseen changes would arise by then?

He would charge into the Foundation Establishment Realm now. There was no need to wait.

Many Qi Refining Layer 9 cultivators, lacking Foundation Establishment Pills and unable to advance their cultivation, could only continually temper their true qi, hone their spells, and sharpen their combat techniques until their fighting skills reached perfection and their grasp of battle opportunities became extraordinarily keen.

That was the Qi Refining Layer 9 peak.

The difference between Qi Refining Layer 9 and the Qi Refining Layer 9 peak lay in combat techniques.

Yet such Qi Refining Layer 9 peaks were often in an awkward position.

No matter how brilliant a Qi Refining Layer 9 cultivator's combat skills were, upon encountering a Foundation Establishment Layer 1 cultivator, they would be defeated in a single blow.

Because after entering the Foundation Establishment Realm, the human body underwent Marrow Cleansing and Hair Shedding, vastly improving one's physique. The dantian's capacity more than doubled, while the quality of true qi likewise more than doubled.

One who had only just entered the Foundation Establishment Realm could still crush a Qi Refining Layer 9 cultivator.

Entering the Foundation Establishment Realm as early as possible offered greater value than merely honing combat techniques.

Drawing a deep breath, Lu Xuanji adjusted his state.

He recalled the past. It had already been forty-eight years since he had transmigrated into this world.

When he first arrived in this world, he had been uneasy, frightened, and anxious, but also somewhat delighted.

Because one could attain immortality here.

A thousand methods, an endless Great Dao—I asked only one question: could one attain immortality?

Only a method that granted immortality was a good method.

Yet soon afterward came the unease. He feared that he had no Spirit Root and would become a mortal; he also feared he had a Five Spirit Root, and that after cultivating bitterly for a lifetime, he would reach no more than Qi Refining Layer 3.

Fortunately, his luck was not bad.

He awakened a Triple Spirit Root, making him a genius within the clan.

Now, the moment to achieve Foundation Establishment had finally arrived.

Drawing a deep breath, he suppressed the restlessness in his heart, took out a stalk of thousand-year Nethergrass, and began his final preparations.

Thousand-year Nethergrass could increase the chance of Foundation Establishment.

Without a Foundation Establishment Pill, did that mean one could not achieve Foundation Establishment?

Of course not. Many cultivators lacked Foundation Establishment Pills and still successfully achieved Foundation Establishment.

Without Foundation Establishment Pills, there were still other medicinal pills or spiritual herbs that could increase the chance of Foundation Establishment.

The greatest effect of a Foundation Establishment Pill was not to help a cultivator achieve Foundation Establishment, but to provide a safety net—an insurance policy.

After a failed Foundation Establishment attempt, a Foundation Establishment Pill could preserve a cultivator's life.

But other spiritual herbs or medicinal pills could only increase the chance of Foundation Establishment; they could not preserve one's life after failure.