Target: Perfect Dao Foundation

The more Su Yun thought about it, the more excited he became, his gaze growing increasingly resolute.

There were still over two months until the sect grand competition.

For others, this might be a very short time, barely enough to struggle through half a level of progress.

But for him, breaking through to the ninth level of Qi Refining would be effortless.

Even if he were to rush straight to the tenth level of Qi Refining in one go, he would feel no pressure at all.

In the cultivation world, the ninth level of Qi Refining was the threshold for breaking through to the Foundation Establishment Realm.

The vast majority of cultivators would immediately begin preparing for Foundation Establishment once they reached the ninth level.

They would search for spiritual herbs, refine Foundation Establishment Pills, and enter seclusion to break through to the next realm.

Very few people were willing to continue stacking levels upward.

Qi Refining did not stop at nine levels.

Above the ninth level, there were the tenth, eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth levels.

The thirteenth level was the absolute limit of Qi Refining.

It meant polishing the physical body, meridians, dantian, and soul until they reached a state of peak perfection.

By breaking through to Foundation Establishment in the most perfect and full state, the resulting Dao foundation would be incomparably thick and solid.

The more stable the foundation laid in the early stages, the higher the cultivation ceiling in the later stages, the stronger the explosive power, and the greater the advantage in battles between peers.

If they both reached Foundation Establishment, and one person broke through at the ninth level while he broke through at the thirteenth, the gap in their later realms would only widen.

However, in the cultivation world, one could almost never see cultivators above the tenth level of Qi Refining.

There were three main, fatal thresholds.

First, the limitation of lifespan.

For Qi Refining cultivators, the golden age for Foundation Establishment was before the age of fifty.

Once they passed fifty, their vitality would decline, their meridians would harden, and the probability of a breakthrough would plummet off a cliff.

If they tried to break through at sixty, it was basically hopeless for the rest of their lives.

The vast majority of cultivators could not afford to wait.

Stacking one more level required several or even over a dozen more years of bitter cultivation.

Once they exceeded the time limit, they were completely finished.

Second, the terrifying demand for resources.

The further one went, the more the spiritual energy required for a breakthrough would skyrocket geometrically.

The spiritual energy required to break through from the ninth to the tenth level was more than the sum of the previous nine levels combined.

Ordinary cultivators simply could not afford it.

Third, the threshold of talent.

For those with ordinary or middle-grade spiritual roots, the capacity of their meridians was limited.

If they forcibly stacked their cultivation to the tenth level or higher, their meridians would be injured or ruptured by the spiritual energy, leaving behind lifelong hidden wounds—the losses would outweigh the gains.

Only those with high-grade or top-grade spiritual roots had the qualifications to attempt the tenth level and beyond.

Furthermore, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth was now thin, far inferior to the era ten thousand years ago.

Ten thousand years ago, spiritual energy was abundant, and opportunities were everywhere.

Tenth and eleventh-level Qi Refining cultivators were common.

Everyone wanted to break through to Foundation Establishment in their strongest state to forge the strongest Dao foundation.

Now, spiritual energy was depleted, and resources were scarce.

Being able to safely reach Foundation Establishment at the ninth level was already considered having decent talent.

Who would dare to gamble their life to stack levels?

There was also the most realistic problem.

Breaking through to Foundation Establishment from the ninth level of Qi Refining required a Foundation Establishment Pill.

Without a Foundation Establishment Pill, more than ninety-nine percent of cultivators would be stuck at the bottleneck for their entire lives.

Only a very small number of cultivators with high-grade spiritual roots had a chance to forcibly break through to Foundation Establishment without the aid of pills, by enduring the impact of heaven and earth's spiritual energy.

For ordinary cultivators, this was simply unrealistic.

Foundation Establishment was also divided into various grades: low-grade, middle-grade, high-grade, top-grade, and perfect Dao foundations.

If he was going to do it, he would aim for the most supreme, perfect Dao foundation!

Su Yun's eyes were sharp, his mind made up.

For these next two months, he would seclude himself in bitter cultivation.

First, he would steadily break through to the ninth level of Qi Refining.

Then, he would stack his progress all the way up, charging straight to the thirteenth level of Qi Refining!

He would participate in the sect's grand competition, secure a spot for the secret realm, and enter the Magneto Secret Realm to scavenge for resources.

When the day of his Foundation Establishment arrived.

He would forge a perfect Dao foundation with the strongest posture possible.

Time flowed by, and the sixth day arrived.

Su Yun remained fully immersed in his cultivation state, with spirit stones piled up like mountains all around him.

The dense spiritual energy condensed without dissipating, slowly circulating within the cramped secret chamber and transforming into a faint white mist.

Su Yun sat cross-legged in the very center of the spirit stone pile.

The Golden Spirit Art operated at a steady pace, cycling endlessly without a moment's rest.

A massive volume of spiritual energy surged madly into his body through every pore, mouth, and nose.

For the first five days, he had been polishing the foundation of the eighth level of Qi Refining.

He pushed his spiritual power, meridians, and dantian at the eighth level to their absolute perfection.

Until noon on the sixth day.

Hum—

A slight tremor suddenly emanated from the depths of his dantian.

The bottleneck that had been stuck at the eighth-level perfection began to loosen.

The countless saturated golden spiritual power instantly found an outlet for release.

The spiritual power, which had been circulating steadily, suddenly accelerated.

The torrent of spiritual power within his meridians surged several times over in an instant.

It scoured, compressed, tempered, and widened them.

Su Yun's consciousness was incredibly clear, and he could perceive every change within his body with precision.

He could feel his dantian's sea of energy expanding, widening, and thickening bit by bit.

The lake of spiritual power, which had been filled to its limit, expanded once more.

The stagnant barrier to his cultivation crumbled in response.

Crack.

The invisible barrier of his realm shattered.

Ninth level of Qi Refining, achieved!

In an instant, his entire body felt transparent and incredibly light.

A majestic power, far exceeding that of the eighth level, filled his limbs and bones.

His spiritual power reserves, physical strength, and spiritual perception all surged significantly in every aspect.

His divine sense's detection range expanded several times over.

Within a radius of a hundred feet, every rustle of the wind and every blade of grass was revealed in vivid detail.

The most intuitive change was the emergence of the opportunity for Foundation Establishment.

The moment he broke through to the ninth level, a layer of insight naturally appeared in his mind.

He could clearly sense the threshold of Foundation Establishment.

As long as he was willing.

He could stop accumulating spiritual power at any time, gather his aura, stabilize his dantian, and charge toward the Foundation Establishment realm.

For him now, Foundation Establishment was already within reach.

Ordinary cultivators, upon reaching this step, would have been ecstatic, immediately stopping to stabilize their realm and prepare for Foundation Establishment.

After all, for ninety percent of cultivators, the ninth level was the end of the road.

The sooner one reached Foundation Establishment, the safer it was, and the less lifespan was wasted.

But Su Yun felt no ripples in his heart; he was incredibly calm.

His goal was the thirteenth level of Qi Refining, the Great Perfection!

Su Yun suppressed the thought of Foundation Establishment, not pausing for even a fraction of a second.

The restless spiritual power from his recent breakthrough to the ninth level was forcibly pressed down and stabilized by him.

His cultivation realm was completely stabilized, without the slightest hint of instability.

Immediately after, he once again activated his frantic absorption mode.

His eyes remained tightly shut, his focus sinking into his dantian.

The Golden Spirit Art operated at full capacity, holding nothing back.

The spiritual energy in the entire room was instantly drained by a significant margin.

The piles of spirit stones on the floor flickered with frantic, luminous light.

Threads and wisps of pure spiritual energy were continuously stripped away, transforming into visible white currents that surged madly into Su Yun's body.

The spirit stones dimmed, lost their efficacy, and crumbled at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Under the continuous scouring of the massive influx of spiritual power, Su Yun's meridians were gradually stretched, widened, and tempered.

The meridians of an ordinary Qi Refining cultivator were thin, narrow, and possessed limited capacity.

Even for a Foundation Establishment cultivator, there were limits to meridian width and resilience.

But Su Yun was different.

The Heavenly Spirit Root itself possessed top-tier meridian aptitude.

Coupled with the continuous tempering from the Thousandfold Amplification and the unrestrained scouring of massive amounts of spirit stones, it was a different story.

In just one hour.

The width, resilience, and capacity of his meridians had undergone a complete transformation.

They had entirely surpassed the scope of a Qi Refining cultivator.

They were now comparable to the meridian foundation of an ordinary Foundation Establishment Early Stage cultivator!

Golden spiritual power surged and flowed through his wide meridians like a river entering the sea, smooth and unobstructed.

Scouring, polishing, and expanding.

The cycle repeated, endless and ceaseless.

If this were any ordinary cultivator.

Daring to absorb spiritual energy so violently and without restraint.

Their meridians would have long since been ruptured and shattered by the berserk spiritual power.

At best, they would suffer severe injuries and lose their cultivation entirely.

At worst, they would explode and die on the spot.

No one dared to cultivate like this.

It was nothing short of suicidal cultivation!

But Su Yun could handle it completely.

Others' limits were merely his starting point.

The cultivation methods others dared not touch were, to him, just the most routine way to grind levels.

Inside the secret chamber.

Spirit stones were constantly being discarded.

Spiritual energy was constantly being depleted, regenerating, and surging in.

Su Yun's aura grew increasingly thick and steady.