Jingyun Sect, Library Pavilion.
Lin Cheng sat upright with his eyes tightly shut.
The power of heaven and earth rippled in wave after wave. After a long while, he suddenly opened his eyes, and a dazzling glint flashed across them before vanishing.
"Almost there. Time to break through!"
He grabbed the various priceless treasures laid out before him. Any one of them could have stirred up a bloodbath across the entire continent, yet Lin Cheng gobbled them down by the handful like candy beans.
To enter the Xiantian realm, the most important thing was to comprehend the power of heaven and earth.
He had to draw spiritual energy into his body and transform his internal force into Xiantian qi.
But to achieve Foundation Establishment, he needed to compress his Xiantian qi further, transforming it from a gaseous state into a liquid one.
Before long, the violent Xiantian qi around Lin Cheng gradually settled. A profound air began to emanate from him, as if a treasured sword had been sheathed.
Or like still waters running deep.
"Step one, compressing the qi, complete!"
Lin Cheng found that what was an immensely difficult and even dangerous step for ordinary people had passed without him noticing the slightest anomaly.
Everything had fallen into place as naturally as water flowing into a channel.
He had no idea that ordinary Xiantian experts had far less resilient meridians and more fragile bodies than he did.
Compressing qi sounded easy, but in truth, it was like playing with fire and inviting disaster.
The qi of a Xiantian expert was incredibly domineering; a single strike could split mountains and shatter rocks. Compressing a large amount of it meant that the slightest mistake could end in the grisly fate of an exploding body.
What was more, Lin Cheng had the Eye of Truth-Breaking, a cheat that worked like divine sense. He had complete control over the flow of every strand of qi, leaving no possibility of the slightest disorder.
"Step two of Foundation Establishment: condense a Dao Seed!"
Lin Cheng carefully recalled Jingyun Sect's records on breaking through to Foundation Establishment. He didn't dare be careless; this was a matter of life and death.
If he failed, the backlash of the Great Dao would be no joke.
The Foundation Establishment realm was far stronger than the Xiantian realm. Aside from the higher quality of its qi, this was because of the Dao Seed. Condensing one would imbue his qi with the attributes of the Great Dao, multiplying its power!
Most people chose elements they encountered in daily life for their Dao Seed, such as earth, fire, water, and wind, or else blades, spears, swords, and halberds.
It was both easier to break through that way and powerful enough.
"What's going on?"
Lin Cheng had chosen the "lightning Dao Seed" he'd settled on earlier. It was cool and flashy, and he was just about to condense it when—
An unexpected change suddenly struck.
Lin Cheng abruptly lost control of his qi. Before he could panic, he realized the qi had begun circulating on its own along the meridians of the Nine Transformations of the True Spirit.
Streams of qi, as rich as jade nectar, converged in his dantian.
Ten Thousand Streams Return to Origin.
In the time it took to catch his breath, a nine-colored seed slowly took shape before Lin Cheng's amazed eyes. A hint of purple-gold shimmered within it, lending it an air of peerless nobility.
The moment the Dao Seed was born, the strange movement of his qi subsided, as if suppressed by a supreme Great Dao.
Looking at the astonishing Dao Seed within him, an unbelievable thought surfaced in Lin Cheng's mind. Could Dao Seeds be divided into ranks? This nine-colored Dao Seed of mine looks extraordinary. I wonder what rank it is?
He casually flipped through the records.
"Found it. Hmm? That can't be right."
"The records say Dao Seeds condensed during Foundation Establishment are indeed divided into three, six, and nine grades, distinguished by five-colored auspicious light. But the highest is only five colors, and it's known as 'Perfect Foundation Establishment.'" Lin Cheng thought he was seeing things, so he counted carefully again.
From one to nine.
Nine colors. No mistake.
And if he counted the faint purple-gold shimmer, that made ten.
Twice as many as Perfect Foundation Establishment.
"I won't dwell on it. It shouldn't be a bad thing."
As soon as Lin Cheng broke through, his foundation became incomparably solid. He didn't even need to stabilize his cultivation like other people.
As for his cultivation falling, or going mad from a cultivation deviation, those were even more far-fetched.
After the breakthrough, Lin Cheng carefully felt the changes within himself.
Suddenly, he lifted a foot.
The next second, something happened that nearly made everyone's eyes pop out of their sockets!
Lin Cheng found himself standing quietly in midair, as if on level ground.
Walking on air!
This was the privilege of a Foundation Establishment Venerable!
Each step crossed the void.
Lin Cheng frowned. Instead of the joy he'd expected, his face was full of displeasure. The qi consumption is way too fast. Even without fighting, just staying airborne like this for a few hours would drain all my qi.
If he flew a few thousand meters and suddenly ran out of qi—
Even a Foundation Establishment Venerable would fall to his death.
"And it's too slow, nowhere near as fast as running on the ground." After his initial excitement wore off, Lin Cheng lost interest.
Useless!
Aside from being good for showing off, it was practically worthless!
How disappointing!
Lin Cheng had no idea why Foundation Establishment Venerables were so powerful.
Aside from their own formidable strength, what they relied on was the ability to walk on air!
Other Foundation Establishment Venerables couldn't stay airborne for a few hours. Even a short while took a tremendous toll on them.
Even so, the Venerables were perfectly happy to use this ability, seeing it as a life-saving art.
Even if they could only walk on air for a short while, they became a force to be reckoned with in war. Especially against an army, they could attack from above; with a Foundation Establishment Venerable's terrifying qi, no matter how many enemies there were, they wouldn't be enough.
In battles against the foreign races, one Foundation Establishment Venerable stationed on the front lines was enough to strike fear into the hearts of a million enemy soldiers.
They wouldn't dare challenge him head-on.
"The Nine Transformations of the True Spirit has also broken through to its second transformation."
"I've got a new divine ability!"
Lin Cheng's smile returned, and his face brimmed with anticipation. "The first transformation's divine ability was the Eye of Truth-Breaking. This one is the Great Concealment Art. I wonder what the next one will be. If all nine divine abilities come together in the end, just imagine..."
The thought alone thrilled him!
The Eye of Truth-Breaking was only the first transformation's divine ability, yet it was already so powerful. Its might also grew as his cultivation increased.
"Great Concealment Art."
The next second, Lin Cheng's aura vanished. His form blurred, his features grew indistinct, and gray mist curled around him, lending him an air of mystery. "It perfectly conceals everything about me. Even someone several grades above me won't be able to see through to the truth. Not bad, not bad. From now on, I won't have to worry about exposing myself when I make a move. As expected of the system—whatever I need, it gives me!"
And there was more.
The gray mist also came with a defensive ability. Even if he stood there and let a Xiantian expert attack him, they probably wouldn't be able to hurt him at all.
Lin Cheng was satisfied.
Although this had used up a great many of the treasures he'd received from signing in, Lin Cheng didn't feel bad about it.
Treasures were external things. Strength was what mattered!
Lin Cheng had always kept that in mind.
"Hmm?"
"What's going on outside? Why is it so noisy?"
"Someone actually dared to sneak into Jingyun Sect?"
After breaking through to become a Foundation Establishment Venerable, Lin Cheng's divine sense through the Eye of Truth-Breaking had grown far stronger. Before, it could cover at most the interior of the Library Pavilion; now it covered more than half of Jingyun Sect!
Under his divine sense, everything in Jingyun Sect was laid bare.
At that moment, the Jingyun Bell rang eight times in succession, signaling a crisis that threatened the sect's destruction!
"The core of Jingyun Sect's spiritual vein has been stolen. The culprit is fleeing."
Lin Cheng furrowed his brow. Causing trouble in the middle of the night—will they let anyone cultivate in peace? "Let me see who's so bold. Two Ninth Grade Realm cultivators, not bad. So they're two little rats from the Blood-Oath Sect..."
Thinking of the Blood-Oath Sect's usual wicked deeds, Lin Cheng gave an unhappy snort. The next second, he vanished from where he stood, as ghostly as a phantom.
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