Strange Space, Foundation Establishment Finally Achieved

Four supreme beings contended for hegemony, two of which roared madly, commanding all spirits to flatten this land and turn the territory into ashes of catastrophe.

Over a dozen Primordial Remnants led the charge, rampaging across the region, breaching the settlements of one race after another, wiping out great tribes one by one until the blood flowed like rivers.

The beast tide grew ever more massive as they surged toward the edge of the land, with more and more fierce birds and savage beasts from the great mountain ranges joining the fray along the way, creating a spectacular and hair-raising scene.

The fierce birds and savage beasts rioted, obeying the command to wash the ten directions in blood.

The land was in total chaos, filled with deafening roars as the savage beasts surged like a flood, slaughtering everything in their path.

It was a catastrophe that swept across the land; under the leadership of the Heaven-Swallowing Sparrow and that towering, heaven-defying beast, the mountains and rivers were stained red, and every tribe was annihilated.

Once-prosperous giant cities became ruins, and the vast plains suitable for life were now deathly silent, littered with broken bones and flowing with blood.

However, this had little to do with Stone Village; thanks to the presence of the Willow Deity, the people of Stone Village passed through this catastrophe safely.

It was unknown what supreme divine ability the Willow Deity had used to shift Stone Village to a magical and safe location.

This was a strange space, filled with a soft, glowing light, like the scene at dawn just before the sky turns white, with wisps of mist swirling about.

With safety guaranteed and his Qi Refining gradually reaching perfection, Bai Yixin began closed-door cultivation during these stable days, preparing to break through to the Foundation Establishment stage in one go.

"Dantian filled with Qi, Du and Ren meridians aligned. Guard against danger, follow the pulse's flow. Circulate the Great Cycle, body and spirit merge. Qi returns to the Dantian, the technique is perfected."

The Foundation Establishment stage involves opening the Spirit Sea in the early phase, establishing the Spirit Platform in the middle phase, and condensing the Spirit Cauldron in the late phase.

At this realm, one is basically considered a true cultivator; primarily, one's lifespan increases accordingly. A Qi Refining cultivator's lifespan is at most two hundred years, while a great Foundation Establishment cultivator's is five hundred years.

Ascending to the early Foundation Establishment stage forms a Spirit Sea in the Dantian, which significantly increases the speed of absorbing the surrounding spiritual energy into the body, forming the very foundation of cultivation.

Upon reaching the Foundation Establishment stage, a great cultivator can fly, burrow, call the wind, and summon rain through their own power, with their spell potency greatly enhanced; they can collapse small-scale mountains and even cause rivers to flow backward or crack the earth.

The reason Bai Yixin could fly and manipulate the elements while still in the Qi Refining stage was purely due to the unique characteristics of his cultivation technique.

Ascending to the middle Foundation Establishment stage involves the high-concentration liquefaction and compression of the spiritual energy in the Spirit Sea, condensing it into a solid form to eventually become a Spirit Platform of various grades. There are four grades of Spirit Platforms, with the first grade being the highest; through the Spirit Platform, one can continuously refine spiritual energy to make it purer, elevating the power of spells to a higher level.

Ascending to the late Foundation Establishment stage allows for the further condensation of a Spirit Cauldron of various grades, depending on the quality of the Spirit Platform established, the cultivation technique practiced, and one's own foundation. The Spirit Cauldron is divided into four levels: purple, red, cyan, and gray; it is the prerequisite for ascending to the Golden Core stage. The higher the grade of the Spirit Cauldron, the higher the quality of the Golden Core formed after surviving the Three-Nine Heavenly Tribulation.

Now, after another month of polishing his cultivation in seclusion, Bai Yixin finally grasped that fleeting opportunity for a breakthrough.

Bai Yixin's tightly closed eyes suddenly snapped open, overflowing with brilliant light.

The wisp of Heavenly Dao Qi that had been floating incongruously above his Dantian finally ceased its solitary drifting and, in an instant, merged into the mist within his Dantian.

An inexplicable aura erupted at this moment, filled with divinity, spreading like a tidal wave across the entire Stone Village, causing every villager to look toward the stone house where Bai Yixin resided in shock, immediately seeing a giant face appearing in the sky above the direction from which the aura originated.

That face... was none other than Bai Yixin's face.

"Is that Little White??!"

"What happened?"

"Why is Little White's face in the sky?"

The people of Stone Village discussed it in confusion, but under the old village chief's orders, no one approached the house where Bai Yixin was.

While the people of Stone Village were filled with complex emotions and shock, inside Bai Yixin's Dantian, the Heavenly Dao Qi fused with his spiritual energy, transforming into a golden cloud above the Dantian.

The golden cloud grew larger and larger until it reached a critical point, suddenly unleashing a torrential golden rain.

The golden raindrops quickly gathered into a small golden pool in the Dantian, which gradually turned into a lake, then a sea of clouds, continuing to grow until it filled the entire Dantian...

However, the Dantian was also expanding; once the Dantian could expand no further and the Spirit Sea filled it completely, it meant that... Bai Yixin had completed...

A perfect Dao foundation forged with the Heavenly Dao Qi!

His cultivation, his potential, and his lifespan surged in that instant; that feeling seemed to resonate with the true world outside this World of Refuge. What shocked Bai Yixin even more was that in this moment, he felt as if he could faintly perceive, far above the distant sky, that there was... another layer of firmament and heaven, a place filled with vicissitudes and ancient history!

The feeling vanished instantly, leaving Bai Yixin in doubt and wonder.

Was that...

The Three Thousand Provinces of the Upper Realm?

At the entrance of the village, the thick willow tree was rooted in the ground, its charred bark cracked, and its only remaining willow branch was no longer lush and dripping with vitality, but rather dim and lusterless.

Yet, when Bai Yixin broke through, the dim willow branch suddenly glowed faintly, though it made no other movement.

"Ah~~~!"

An invisible force blew open the door of the closed stone house, and Bai Yixin slowly walked out, stretching a long, satisfying stretch.

"Hmm... hmm? Everyone? Why are you all looking at me like that?" Bai Yixin asked, stunned, looking at the villagers who had surrounded his stone house from a hundred meters away.

"Brother Little White, your face appeared in the sky just now and scared us!" The four-year-old Little One, whose black-gem-like eyes were becoming increasingly spirited, looked as pretty and cute as a little girl.

"Hahaha... it was probably just the phenomenon caused by my breakthrough." Bai Yixin laughed; even he hadn't expected such a phenomenon to occur during his Foundation Establishment.

Just as Bai Yixin was laughing and joking with the group of children.

"Crack."

Suddenly, the firmament split open, and a ray of sunlight shone in, dispelling the gray mist, and the entire space instantly became much brighter.

"Crack."

It was as if a jade vase had shattered; the space trembled violently, flickering unsteadily before a low hum resonated, the grey mist vanished entirely, the chaos dissipated, and the light of day descended.

The sun was massive, hanging high in the sky. Though it was blinding, the crowd was ecstatic, constantly craning their necks to look up and cheering loudly; they had escaped their confinement and reappeared upon the earth.

"Mm! It seems my timing for coming out of seclusion was quite fortuitous!" Bai Yixin was also pleasantly surprised—a double blessing.

"Trapped for a month or two, I was already sick of it. Finally, I can leave the village to play!"