Foundation Establishment, Venerable Realm

Jingyun Sect, Library Pavilion.

Lin Cheng sat upright, his eyes tightly shut.

The power of heaven and earth rippled in layers around him. After a long while, he suddenly opened his eyes, a blinding flash of brilliance flickering and vanishing within them.

"It's about time. It's time to break through!"

He grabbed the various supreme treasures laid out before him—each one enough to stir up a bloody storm across the entire continent if revealed—and swallowed them down in handfuls as if they were nothing more than sugar beans.

To step into the Xiantian realm, the most important thing was to perceive the power of heaven and earth.

One must draw spiritual energy into the body and transform internal force into Xiantian true energy.

To achieve Foundation Establishment, however, one must further compress that Xiantian true energy, turning it from a gaseous state into a liquid one.

Before long, a change occurred.

The violent Xiantian true energy surrounding Lin Cheng gradually quieted, and his entire being began to exude a profound sense of stillness, as if a precious sword had been sheathed.

It was like deep water flowing silently.

"The first step, compressing true energy, is complete!"

Lin Cheng realized that this step, which was incredibly difficult and even life-threatening for ordinary people, had not caused him the slightest bit of trouble.

Everything felt as natural as water flowing into a channel.

He did not know that ordinary Xiantian experts lacked his resilient meridians and possessed far more fragile physical bodies.

Compressing true energy sounded easy, but in reality, it was like playing with fire.

The true energy of a Xiantian expert was tyrannical; a single strike could shatter mountains and split rocks. Compressing such a massive amount of energy, if one were even slightly careless, would result in the miserable end of exploding to death.

Not to mention, Lin Cheng possessed the "Eye of Truth-Breaking," a cheat-like tool akin to divine sense. Every flow of his true energy was under his absolute control, leaving no possibility of the slightest disorder.

"The second step of Foundation Establishment: condensing the Dao Seed!"

Lin Cheng carefully recalled the Jingyun Sect's records regarding Foundation Establishment breakthroughs, not daring to be the least bit careless. This was a matter of life and death.

Once he failed, the backlash of the Great Dao was nothing to trifle with.

"The Foundation Establishment realm is far stronger than the Xiantian realm. Beyond the higher quality of true energy, it is because of the existence of the Dao Seed. Condensing a Dao Seed allows one's true energy to carry the attributes of the Great Dao, multiplying its power!"

Most people chose common elements for their Dao Seed, such as earth, fire, water, wind, or perhaps blades, spears, swords, and halberds.

Not only was it easier to break through, but the power was also quite impressive.

"What is going on?"

Just as Lin Cheng had selected a "Thunder-type Dao Seed"—which he had decided on earlier because it was cool and flashy—and prepared to condense it, a sudden change occurred.

A mishap arose.

Lin Cheng suddenly discovered he had lost control over his true energy. Before he could even feel panic, he realized that this runaway energy was actually circulating on its own, following the cultivation path of the Nine Transformations of the True Spirit.

Streams of true energy, like liquid jade, converged into his Dantian.

Ten thousand rivers returned to their source.

Before long, under Lin Cheng's astonished gaze, a seed shimmering with nine colors slowly formed. Within the seed, a faint trace of purple-gold light permeated, appearing incomparably noble.

With the birth of the Dao Seed, the turbulence of his true energy instantly subsided, as if suppressed by a supreme Great Dao.

Looking at the miraculous Dao Seed within his body, an incredible thought surfaced in Lin Cheng's mind: "Could it be that Dao Seeds are also graded? This nine-colored seed of mine looks extraordinary; I wonder what grade it counts as?"

He flipped through the materials at hand.

"Found it. Hmm? That's not right."

"The records say that condensing a Dao Seed during Foundation Establishment is indeed divided into different ranks, distinguished by five-colored radiance, but the highest is only five colors, known as the 'Perfect Foundation Establishment'." Lin Cheng thought his eyes were playing tricks on him and counted again, carefully and meticulously.

He counted from one to nine.

Nine colors. No mistake there.

If one included that faint purple-gold hue, it was actually ten colors.

It was exactly double that of a Perfect Foundation Establishment.

"I won't think about it too much. It shouldn't be a bad thing."

Once Lin Cheng broke through, his foundation was incredibly solid; he didn't even need to consolidate his cultivation like others.

As for his cultivation regressing or suffering from Qi deviation, those were even more impossible fantasies.

After the breakthrough, Lin Cheng carefully experienced the changes in himself.

Suddenly, he lifted a foot.

The next second, something happened that nearly made eyes pop out of their sockets!

Lin Cheng discovered that he was standing quietly in the void, as if walking on flat ground.

Walking through the air!

This was the privilege of a Foundation Establishment Venerable!

Step by step, he traversed the void.

Lin Cheng frowned. Instead of the expected joy, his face was filled with displeasure. The true qi consumption is too fast, he thought. Even without fighting, just maintaining this mid-air stance would drain my true qi completely in a few hours.

If he were to fly several thousand meters and suddenly run out of true qi, even a Foundation Establishment master would fall to his death.

"Besides, the speed is too slow, far inferior to my running on the ground." After the novelty wore off, the initial excitement vanished.

It was a chicken rib—tasteless to eat but a pity to discard!

Aside from being useful for showing off, it was practically useless!

Disdain!

Yet, Lin Cheng did not know.

Why were Foundation Establishment masters powerful?

Beyond their own formidable strength, they relied on the ability to walk on air!

For other Foundation Establishment masters, let alone walking on air for several hours, even a short moment was a massive drain.

Even so, Foundation Establishment masters cherished it willingly, viewing it as a life-saving technique.

Even if it were only for a short moment, the ability to walk on air was a weapon of war, especially when facing large armies. By holding the high ground and relying on the terrifying true qi of a Foundation Establishment master, no number of soldiers would be enough to fight them.

In battles against alien races, a single Foundation Establishment master holding the line was enough to strike terror into a million-strong army.

They would not dare to challenge such an edge.

"The Nine Transformations of the True Spirit has also broken through to the second transformation."

"And there's a new divine ability!"

Lin Cheng's smile returned, his face full of anticipation. "The first transformation's ability was the Eye of Truth-Breaking, and this time the ability is the 'Great Concealment Art.' I wonder what comes next. If all nine divine abilities are gathered in the end, the scene will be..."

Just thinking about it made him excited!

The Eye of Truth-Breaking was only the first transformation's ability, yet it was already so powerful, and its potency increased along with his cultivation level.

"Great Concealment Art."

The next second, Lin Cheng's aura vanished, his figure became hazy, and his features blurred. His body was shrouded in gray mist, adding a touch of mystery. "It perfectly hides everything about me. Even those several levels above me wouldn't be able to see through the truth. Not bad, not bad. In the future, I won't have to worry about being exposed when I strike. As expected of the system, it provides exactly what I need!"

Furthermore, the gray mist came with its own defensive properties. Even if he stood there and let a Xiantian expert bombard him, he feared not a single hair would be harmed.

Lin Cheng was satisfied.

Although this breakthrough had exhausted a large number of sign-in treasures, Lin Cheng felt no heartache.

Treasures were merely external objects; strength was the foundation!

This was a point Lin Cheng always kept in mind.

"Hm?"

"What is happening outside? Why is it so chaotic?"

"Someone actually dares to sneak into the Jingyun Sect?"

Having broken through to the Foundation Establishment stage, the divine sense function of Lin Cheng's Eye of Truth-Breaking had become far more powerful. Previously, it could at most cover the interior of the Library Pavilion, but now it directly blanketed more than half of the Jingyun Sect!

Under the coverage of his divine sense, everything in the Jingyun Sect was revealed in minute detail.

At this very moment, the Jingyun Bell rang eight times, signifying a crisis of sect annihilation!

"The Jingyun Sect's spiritual vein core has been stolen, and the culprits are fleeing."

Lin Cheng's brows knit together. Causing trouble in the middle of the night—did they not want to let him cultivate in peace? "Let me see who is so bold. Two Ninth-Grade experts, not bad strength. So, it's two little rats from the Blood-Oath Sect..."

Thinking of how the Blood-Oath Sect was usually filled with evildoers, Lin Cheng let out a cold, displeased snort. The next second, he vanished from the spot like a ghost.