Zhou Xuanhao's closed-door attempt to achieve Foundation Establishment was a momentous matter for the entire Zhou Lineage.
By reckoning, no one in the Zhou Lineage had attempted Foundation Establishment for decades. The last Zhou cultivator to attempt it without taking a "Foundation Establishment Pill" had been an elder of the "Guang" generation more than fifty years ago.
Thus, after Zhou Xuanhao entered the seclusion chamber, not only did Zhou Yang and Lin Yuting remain outside without leaving for a moment to stand guard and protect him, but Zhou Xuantai and Zhou Xuanbin, the two Zhou Lineage elders, also temporarily set aside all their affairs and joined the guard detail.
There was good reason for their caution.
This was because during Foundation Establishment, not only could a cultivator's mana not stir in the slightest, but their mind and spirit could not be disturbed by any outside force either.
At such a time, no one even needed to directly attack the cultivator undergoing Foundation Establishment. So long as someone caused even the slightest disturbance outside the spirit vein at Haoyang Cave and agitated the spiritual energy within it, they might disrupt Zhou Xuanhao and cause his Foundation Establishment to fail outright.
Therefore, before attempting Foundation Establishment, cultivators would ensure the safety of their surroundings, have their closest and most trusted people stand guard outside the seclusion chamber, and only then dare to challenge the Foundation Establishment barrier without worry.
Generally speaking, a cultivator's attempt to reach the Foundation Establishment Realm had a time limit. At the shortest, it took one month; at the longest, three months. If there was still no news after three months, then failure was one hundred percent certain.
During the first month after Zhou Xuanhao entered seclusion, Zhou Yang and the others could still sit outside reading and meditating with calm expressions.
Yet when a month had passed without the slightest movement from within the seclusion chamber, Lin Yuting, Zhou Yang's mother, was the first to become unable to endure it any longer. Anxiety appeared on her face.
This was hardly surprising. According to the experience summarized by senior cultivators, the longer Foundation Establishment took, the lower the chance of success. After two months, even if one barely succeeded, it would leave behind lasting consequences that would hinder future cultivation.
"Father did not take a Foundation Establishment Pill, so it is only normal for his Foundation Establishment to take longer. Mother, you should have faith in him."
When Zhou Yang noticed the anxious look on his mother Lin Yuting's face, his lips moved slightly as he comforted her in an extremely soft voice.
"I..." Lin Yuting opened her mouth, but when she saw her son and the two younger clansmen looking at her, she immediately realized she had lost her composure. She hastily closed her mouth, silently recited the Heart-Clearing Art to restrain her anxious emotions, and nodded lightly to show that she understood.
However, when they had stood guard outside for fifty days and there was still no movement within, even Zhou Yang, who had always appeared calm, changed expression. Lin Yuting was in an even worse state.
"Rest easy. No movement is the best possible news. With Elder Brother Xuanhao's cultivation, even if his Foundation Establishment had failed, there should have been some sign. If you mother and son find this too difficult, you should step out and calm yourselves for now, lest you cause a disturbance and disrupt Elder Brother Xuanhao."
"Second Uncle is right. No movement is the best possible news!"
The voice transmission from his Second Uncle Zhou Xuantai jolted Zhou Yang's mind, instantly pulling him from his anxious state. He nodded repeatedly in agreement.
Then he rose and walked to his mother Lin Yuting, who was standing nearby with anxiety written all over her face. Grasping her hand tightly, he comforted her, "Mother, we must believe in Father. He will definitely succeed!"
"Son, Mother is so afraid—so afraid that I'll never see your father again!"
Lin Yuting tightly gripped her son's hand. Her beautiful face had already gone deathly pale, and her eyes were filled with terror.
She had always opposed Zhou Xuanhao's risky attempt at Foundation Establishment, and she had repeatedly urged her husband to abandon this dangerous idea. Yet the result was plain to see: she had failed to dissuade her husband, who wished to gamble everything on one desperate try.
Because of this, she had always been deeply pessimistic. As Zhou Xuanhao's seclusion dragged on, that pessimism grew ever stronger, nearly turning into despair.
"It won't happen. I believe Father will succeed. Mother, you must believe in Father too. He will not disappoint us!"
At this point, Zhou Yang could only comfort his mother with these words.
Though he also knew in his heart that after so long without any movement, Zhou Xuanhao's attempt at Foundation Establishment had clearly become utterly unrelated to the words "smooth sailing."
But to Lin Yuting, who was already nearing despair, his comforting words were like a lifesaving straw. Even knowing it might not help much, she still clutched it tightly as hope.
"That's right. My husband will not disappoint us. He has never disappointed Mother before, and he certainly won't this time!"
She murmured to herself, and the expression on her face slowly regained its calm.
Time slowly passed, and before long, more than two months had elapsed since Zhou Xuanhao entered the seclusion chamber.
By this point, even Zhou Xuantai and Zhou Xuanbin's expressions had grown grave.
In all these years, no one in the Zhou Lineage had ever succeeded after spending more than two months attempting the Foundation Establishment barrier. Could Zhou Xuanhao break this record?
Finally, on the sixty-seventh day after Zhou Xuanhao entered the seclusion chamber, a powerful surge of spiritual energy erupted from within the chamber, which had remained silent all this time.
"It's a Spiritual Energy Infusion! Is Elder Brother about to succeed?"
Zhou Xuantai had the deepest cultivation and was the first to sense the change in spiritual energy. His expression changed drastically as he rose from the ground and stared at the seclusion chamber in shock.
"It truly is a Spiritual Energy Infusion! This is the final trial of the Foundation Establishment barrier. So long as he endures the Spiritual Energy Infusion and subdues and refines the violent spiritual energy flooding into his body into Foundation Establishment True Essence, he will have achieved Foundation Establishment!"
Zhou Xuanbin also stood up. He looked solemnly toward the seclusion chamber, while intense envy flashed in his eyes.
That was the Foundation Establishment Realm!
It was a realm they had no hope of reaching in their lifetimes.
Once Zhou Xuanhao successfully achieved Foundation Establishment, it would not only mean that the Zhou Lineage would gain another Foundation Establishment Cultivator, but also that Zhou Xuanhao, the eldest cultivator of the "Xuan" generation, would become the one among their generation to live the longest.
And when he considered Zhou Yang, who likewise had a great chance of achieving Foundation Establishment in the future, jealousy even arose in Zhou Xuanbin's heart.
What an enviable family!
He glanced from the corner of his eye at Zhou Yang and Lin Yuting, mother and son, tightly embracing each other in celebration. Only he knew the bitterness in his heart.
"Mother, he succeeded! Father achieved Foundation Establishment!"
Zhou Yang tightly held his mother by the shoulders. The worry in his eyes had been swept away, replaced by wild joy across his face.
"Son, son, pinch Mother. I'm not dreaming, am I? Mother is so afraid this is all a dream!"
Lin Yuting also forcefully wrapped her arms around her son's shoulders. Her expression seemed both tearful and smiling, and her face was full of dazed disbelief.
It could only be said that the surprise had come too suddenly.
Who could have imagined that after more than two months, Zhou Xuanhao could still achieve Foundation Establishment without taking a "Foundation Establishment Pill"?
Such a thing would be a rare and extraordinary tale seen perhaps only once in several decades, not merely within the Zhou Lineage, but even across the entire Cultivation World of the Land of Extreme West.
Rumble!
On the third day after the Spiritual Energy Infusion appeared, the door to the seclusion chamber, which had remained shut for seventy days, was finally opened from within.
Then, beneath the wide-eyed gazes of Zhou Yang and the others outside, Zhou Xuanhao emerged from the chamber in a green robe, his face wreathed in smiles.
The former Zhou Xuanhao, nearing one hundred years old, had not only developed loose skin and wrinkles, but had also gone more than half gray, resembling an ordinary mortal past middle age.
But now that he had achieved Foundation Establishment, his greatly increased lifespan had restored both his hair and face to the appearance of a middle-aged man around forty.
Seeing him emerge with the appearance of a middle-aged man, both Zhou Yang, his son, and Lin Yuting, his wife, were briefly stunned.
"Father!"
"Husband!"
Looking at the smiling man walking toward them, Zhou Yang and Lin Yuting finally snapped out of their daze. They hurried forward and embraced him tightly.
"Fifth Brother, Eighth Sister, let's head out first. The Old Clan Leader and the Lineage are still waiting for our news!"
Zhou Xuantai watched Zhou Yang's family embracing one another and smiled faintly. He gave Zhou Xuanbin and Zhou Xuanyan a subtle look, and the three quietly withdrew from the stone chamber.
Zhou Xuanhao's successful Foundation Establishment was a joyous event worthy of celebration throughout the entire Zhou Lineage.
Upon receiving the news, the Old Clan Leader Zhou Minghan immediately flew over on his sword from Jade Spring Peak. He had to see it for himself before he could truly rest at ease.
"Xuantai and the others sent word that you took more than two months to achieve Foundation Establishment. To be honest, when this old man first saw that news, my first reaction was whether they had made a mistake. I even went out of my way to confirm it with that girl Yu'er before daring to believe it was true!"
After arriving at Haoyang Cave, the Old Clan Leader Zhou Minghan saw Zhou Xuanhao coming forward to greet him and immediately began recounting this amusing matter with a smile.
The aura of a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator around Zhou Xuanhao could not be faked. At first glance, the Old Clan Leader's final trace of worry completely vanished, which was why he was in the mood to tease this junior.
Zhou Xuanhao did not mind the elder's teasing. He merely chuckled and said, "Hehe, not only do you find it inconceivable, Old Clan Leader, even Xuanhao himself now feels that he was fortunate. If I had to choose again, I absolutely would not dare take such a risk!"
Hearing this answer, Zhou Minghan seemed to gain some insight. He could not help but sigh deeply. "Luck is also a kind of strength. Throughout our cultivators' lives of cultivation, we will always encounter all manner of opportunities. Some seize their opportunities and rise upon the wind, while others miss them and are buried from then on!"
Hearing this from the side, Zhou Yang's expression shifted as though he had gained some realization.
He thought of the "Foundation Establishment Assembly" the Old Clan Leader had once mentioned to him. After the Foundation Establishment Assembly, the Zhou Lineage would certainly empty its savings to purchase a "Foundation Establishment Pill."
If he could not break through to Qi Refining Layer Nine before then, would he not miss that opportunity?
At this thought, his heart tightened, and he suddenly felt an unprecedented sense of urgency.
He was now only one step away from Qi Refining Layer Nine. By rights, he still had plenty of time to break through at leisure.
But who could say whether some accident might arise before then?
What if—what if the date of that Foundation Establishment Assembly was suddenly moved forward?
"I have heard that many senior cultivators, after encountering bottlenecks, choose to travel and cultivate abroad to temper their minds and broaden their horizons. It seems that a trip to the marketplace is imperative. Perhaps my opportunity for a breakthrough lies there!"
As though he had sensed something, the expression on his face gradually relaxed.
Thanks to fellow readers Sword-Riding Wanderer, Addicted to Books, Looking Back Like a Dream, and several others for their 100 Qidian Coin rewards. There were as many as ten readers who sent rewards today—you are truly incredible! This book is now firmly ranked fourth on the New Book Ranking for xianxia, an excellent result I had never expected before. Originally, I had only hoped to stay in the top ten! Hahaha, it seems the previous chapter ended on a cliffhanger, and everyone got a little anxious—there were even several comments about it. So I posted this chapter early, and can also harvest the recommendation votes in your hands sooner, lest you become addicted to other books for a moment and cast them elsewhere.
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