Foundation Establishment Chapter

Wang Ping let out a long breath as he looked at the Storage Bag in his hand from the meditation cushion before the Huai Tree.

The Storage Bag contained every material he needed for Foundation Establishment: Spirit Wood Saplings and Spirit Grass Seeds for gathering spiritual energy, as well as several hundred finished Spirit Wood pieces for constructing the formation.

There were even two of the most important Foundation Establishment Pills. The Foundation Establishment Pills of this world were not as miraculous as those in the novels from Wang Ping's previous life. The required materials could already be cultivated; it was simply a matter of luck during pill refinement, and refining even one usable pill depended even more on luck.

After putting away the Storage Bag, Wang Ping recalled the Returning Origin Art Foundation Establishment Chapter. As expected, a new panel appeared:

[Returning Origin Art (Foundation Establishment Chapter): Your body has completed Marrow Cleansing, and your compatibility with the spiritual energy between Heaven and Earth has reached its peak. You must now follow the Foundation Establishment Method and fill every opened Qi Sea within your body with spiritual energy without allowing it to leak. Your Spiritual Root is excellent. Practice Qi Refining for more than Three Hours each day, and you can reach completion in twenty years. (Progress 0/100, today's progress 0/Three Hours)]

[Note 1: The final step of Foundation Establishment is transforming the spiritual energy within your body into True Essence. During this process, you will consume five times your current spiritual energy reserves. Therefore, you must complete this step in an environment with sufficient spiritual energy concentration. Current environmental spiritual energy concentration (16/100), unqualified.]

[Note 2: During the process of transforming True Essence, there is a chance of triggering a Lightning Tribulation. It is recommended that you wear equipment capable of defending against Lightning Tribulation.]

[Note 3: When taking a Foundation Establishment Pill, make sure that the Pill Toxin in your body has been completely cleared.]

The panel's reminders were more or less what Wang Ping had expected. The data merely made them more straightforward and told him what he needed to do...

First was daily Qi Refining. There was definitely no way to skip this step unless he took pills, but even the Shangdan Sect could not afford that kind of expense.

Second was gathering spiritual energy. Daoist Yucheng had prepared for this long ago. He had Wang Ping clear the summit of Thousand Wood Mountain so that Spirit Wood and Spirit Grass could be planted there to gather spiritual energy during Foundation Establishment. With twenty years to gather it, they would surely meet the requirements!

Lastly came the Lightning Tribulation. Lightning Tribulations in this world were random. It was not a matter of being too powerful or anything like that—it was simply random. Some people encountered one, while others did not. There was no pattern whatsoever. Still, there was no need to worry too much. The Daoist Scripture Hall's best-selling goods were defensive items. He could just buy one when the time came.

So, what he needed to do now was plant a forest!

The first step was to take out the mature Spirit Wood and construct eight Spirit Gathering Towers according to the Eight Trigrams Orientation.

Once the simplest spiritual gathering formation was complete and the Spirit Wood and Spirit Grass had room to survive, the second step would be to scatter the Spirit Grass Seeds. Once the soil was filled with spiritual energy, he could plant the Spirit Wood.

Thus, they first had to launch a massive construction project on the mountaintop. Thousand Wood Temple now lacked nothing but manpower. In less than a month, eight Spirit Gathering Towers rose from the ground atop the mountain. Then Zhao Qing, who managed Internal Affairs, ordered a row of Rammed Earth City Walls built halfway up the mountain, enclosing the summit within them.

Wang Ping did not stop Zhao Qing's wild maneuver.

Following the guidance of the Return to Origin Cultivation Technique Foundation Establishment Chapter, he planted the Spirit Grass Seeds after a rainy day, then dug a Deep Well two meters wide according to the layout of Feng Shui.

By the time he finished all this, autumn had arrived. The weather was no longer suitable for planting Spirit Wood, but Wang Ping was not in a hurry. While maintaining his daily Qi Refining, he used the remaining finished Spirit Wood to renovate the small courtyard.

The following spring.

After Wang Ping planted the Spirit Wood Saplings, the spiritual energy concentration reached (28/100) the very next day. At the same time, news came from the Mountain Foot: the Old Emperor of the Xia Kingdom had abdicated in favor of the New Emperor, who changed the era name to Longyuan.

The sixth day of March.

After getting up in the morning, Wang Ping watered the Spirit Wood and Spirit Grass as usual. Once he had completed his daily Three Hours of Qi Refining, Daoist Yucheng brought two Young Disciples around ten years old to the small courtyard.

"Master!"

Wang Ping was the first to bow in salute.

"You've managed this place quite well."

After looking around, Daoist Yucheng beckoned Wang Ping closer, then pointed at the two delicate-looking Young Disciples beside him. "These are the two disciples I found for you."

"This..." Wang Ping was somewhat dumbfounded.

"The process of Foundation Establishment is dull and tedious. It is the perfect time to teach disciples. Believe me, while teaching them, you will surely come to understand certain principles."

"Besides, your garden is so large. Someone will need to help tend it."

Upon hearing this, Wang Ping turned his gaze to the two Young Disciples and circulated his spiritual energy. The spiritual energy around them was abundant, and their Spiritual Roots should be fairly good. They were the sort who had hope of reaching Foundation Establishment. Cultivating here, where spiritual energy was plentiful, perhaps they might even be able to cultivate secret arts.

"Fine, I'll take them." Understanding his Master's intentions, Wang Ping readily agreed.

"Come and kowtow. Next month, we'll find an auspicious day for you to formally take him as your Master." Daoist Yucheng called to the two Young Disciples.

"Disciples Liu Shuang and Yang Ziping pay respects to Master!"

The two stepped forward together and saluted. They knelt before the Huai Tree and took Wang Ping as their Master. Feeling an emotional fluctuation in Wang Ping's Spirit Sea that she had never sensed before, Yulian woke from her slumber and lay upon a branch of the Huai Tree, curiously watching the two Young Disciples.

Ah, no—that Liu Shuang was a girl. She was simply too young, and dressed in a Daoist robe besides, so it was impossible to tell.

"Also, you can use this time to learn some ordinary minor spells. When I was establishing my foundation back then, your grand-disciple threw me a whole pile of spell manuals without teaching me anything and simply told me to study them myself."

"I'm sorting them out now. I'll deliver them to you within a month at the latest."

Once Daoist Yucheng had finished explaining his arrangements, he left...

Teaching was an extremely painful task, especially when facing two children who had only just turned ten. Simply teaching them all the movements of the Evergreen Cultivation Technique, then correcting them, took several months before he even realized it.

When autumn arrived, Wang Ping's overall Foundation Establishment progress reached (3/100), while the density of spiritual energy rose to (30/100). His two disciples could finally practice the Evergreen Cultivation Technique on their own.

Of his two disciples, Liu Shuang was lively and could not settle down to study, but she was clever and learned quickly. Yang Ziping was quiet, but his mind was not particularly quick. Still, he listened very seriously whenever Wang Ping taught something; he was always just one step short when it came time to put it into practice.

One day.

After finishing his Qi Refining, Wang Ping practiced the Cloud Soaring Technique in the courtyard that was still being expanded. It was one of the spell manuals Daoist Yucheng had sent over. After two days of attempts, he could still only rise two zhang off the ground. It was not that his cultivation was insufficient, but that the cloud formed from spiritual energy was not light enough. This thing was truly not easy to control.

From atop the white cloud two zhang high, Wang Ping saw a Young Disciple running swiftly up the mountain.

Seeing this, Wang Ping immediately descended from the air.

Liu Shuang, whose eyes had long since begun shining, hurriedly asked, "Master, when will I be able to soar through the clouds?"

Hearing this, Wang Ping first glanced at Yang Ziping, who was still practicing the Evergreen Cultivation Technique, and admonished, "First, practice the Evergreen Cultivation Technique properly."

"Take me up to have a look..."

Yulian also came to join the excitement. She leaped from the eaves at the side onto Wang Ping, urging him within his Spirit Sea.

At this point, the Young Disciple had already reached the summit. He swiftly straightened his appearance, then walked to the courtyard with a letter held in both hands. After respectfully saluting, he said:

"Martial Uncle, there is a True Sun Sect Qi Practitioner named Feng Miao at the Mountain Foot. She says she is your friend and has something to discuss with you."

"Feng Miao?"

Wang Ping drew from his memories the image of a valiant female Daoist. Years of arduous cultivation had nearly made him forget the battle in Yuanning County.

"Yes, she is my friend. Invite her up..."