Foundation Establishment

"So, what about our scavenging business...?"

Someone asked tentatively in a low voice.

"Business my ass!"

Gray Bro snapped irritably.

"Go back and find the boss. This business is impossible to keep doing!"

"Got it! Got it!" Everyone nodded frantically, not daring to voice a single objection.

Gray Bro took another breath and stared toward Huimin Residential Compound in the distance, his heart still pounding.

What rotten luck. Why did they have to run into that monster?

Luckily, he had reacted quickly and hadn't taken things too far. Otherwise, whether he could have made it out alive today would have been anyone's guess.

On Lin Yun's side, the group found a hidden abandoned storefront to settle down in and began sorting out the loot.

According to the rules they had agreed on beforehand, Lin Yun had dealt the main damage to the Black-Belly Scaled Snake, so all of its materials belonged to him. As for the remaining Swift Mantis and Bone-Cracking Centipede materials, Lin Yun had contributed the most and claimed sixty percent, while the remaining forty percent was split among Bearded Man and the other seven hunters.

Bearded Man fiddled with an abacus for quite a while before looking up with a smile. "Brother Lin, the intact skin, venom gland, fangs, and gallbladder of the Black-Belly Scaled Snake should fetch at least three hundred thousand if sold through official channels in the safe zone. As for the centipede and mantis materials, your sixty percent should be worth around seven hundred thousand. That puts your earnings from this trip at over a million!"

Lin Yun nodded and quickly calculated the total in his mind.

Including the spoils from killing Ghost, as well as the money he had accumulated from scattered hunting over the past five days, even after deducting the five hundred thousand principal he owed Su Nianhe, his savings had safely surpassed one million.

He knew full well that profits like those from a nest-level haul were rare opportunities.

On an ordinary day of hunting, earning one or two hundred thousand was already decent. Making over a million in a single fight like today had purely been a lucky chance to come to someone's rescue. It was not something that could happen every day.

"Now that everything's been divided, let's part ways here."

Lin Yun carefully packed away his share of the materials and looked up at Bearded Man and the others.

"Thank you for helping out earlier."

"You're too polite, Brother Lin!" Bearded Man quickly waved his hands. "Without you, we wouldn't even have gotten a sip of the soup. If there's ever anything you need from us in District 33, just say the word!"

After exchanging a few more pleasantries, they went their separate ways.

With a backpack stuffed full of materials, Lin Yun turned and headed toward the temporary outpost.

For the next twenty days, Lin Yun continued hunting.

With the boost from the top-tier first-rank Gale Battle Boots, the power of Wind-Treading Step increased by thirty percent. His movements became ever lighter and more agile as he darted through the ruined buildings, so fast that even Shadow Cats, known for their speed, could not catch his trail.

After being honed through day after day of real combat, Vajra Fist also quietly broke through to the major mastery realm.

His punches were heavy and fierce, their force held tightly within. Even Rockback Beasts could not withstand a single blow.

He could take down ordinary first-rank mutated beasts within three punches.

Even first-rank peak mutated beasts could be reliably defeated within a dozen moves once he figured out their weaknesses.

Across the northwestern region of District 33, almost no mutated beast below the second rank could stop him.

On the rare occasions when he was unlucky enough to encounter a second-rank mutated beast patrolling its territory, he could still escape with the Gale Battle Boots and Wind-Treading Step.

Every evening, he returned to the outpost on time and sold that day's materials to Boss Chen.

Boss Chen's prices became increasingly fair. When he came across rare materials in excellent condition, he would even raise the price on his own initiative. Sometimes, he would set aside scarce high-grade healing potions and compressed rations for Lin Yun in advance.

Before long, everyone at the outpost knew that there was a young expert named Lin Yun. Despite his age, his combat strength was astonishing. Even members of the Black Tiger Gang would go around him when they saw him.

No one dared set their sights on him anymore. Even the most vicious veteran hunters at the outpost would take the initiative to nod and greet him when they saw him.

A steady stream of mutated beast materials was converted into cash, then transformed into pure vitality and blood through the system.

After twenty days, Lin Yun's vitality and blood value rose steadily before finally stopping at 99 points.

Peak Martial Apprentice realm.

He only needed to break through the shackles to enter the Martial Artist realm.

That evening, Lin Yun leaned against the window on the second floor of the outpost, looking down at the savings displayed on his system panel.

After setting aside the five hundred and twenty thousand in principal and interest that he had to repay Su Nianhe, there were still a full 2.6 million in his account.

2.6 million was enough for an ordinary family in Azure City to live out the rest of their lives without worrying about food or clothing.

Even ordinary martial artists who had spent years scraping by in the fallen zones might not be able to save that much in a lifetime.

Yet as Lin Yun looked at the number, his brow furrowed slightly.

Not enough.

Far from enough.

He knew very well that breaking from Martial Apprentice to Martial Artist had never been as simple as letting nature take its course.

To break through, one had to undergo foundation establishment.

And the grade of one's foundation establishment directly determined a martial artist's future cultivation limit.

There were four grades of foundation establishment: ordinary, outstanding, perfect, and ultimate.

The higher the grade, the more refined one's vitality and blood would be after breaking through, and the greater the difference in combat strength among those at the same realm. More importantly, it directly determined the number of times one could enter the "limit-breaking" state.

Limit-breaking was a method Martial Artists used to burn their own foundation and unleash combat strength beyond their limits. It was a martial artist's final trump card in a life-or-death crisis.

A Martial Artist with ordinary foundation establishment had only two chances to break the limit in their lifetime.

The first use would damage their cultivation foundation, while the second would directly burn away their lifespan. It was not something they dared use lightly unless driven into a desperate situation.

Outstanding foundation establishment granted three uses. The first came with no cost, the second damaged the foundation, and the third burned lifespan.

Perfect foundation establishment allowed nine uses. The first seven came without side effects, and only the last two damaged one's very foundation.

As for the legendary ultimate foundation establishment, there was no limit to the number of times one could break the limit. The only cost was a period of weakness afterward.

For most martial artists, achieving outstanding foundation establishment was already considered a rare accomplishment.

Even the children of great families, after pouring in all their family's resources, could usually only strive for perfect foundation establishment.

Ultimate foundation establishment, on the other hand, existed only in the legends surrounding the top prodigies of the ten great academies. Not a single one had appeared in all of Azure City over the past decade.

The basic cultivation method Lin Yun currently practiced was a low-grade Yellow-tier technique uniformly issued by Azure City Martial High School.

If he followed the usual path to break through, he could at most barely achieve ordinary foundation establishment.

Someone else might have been satisfied with that.

Ordinary foundation establishment was enough to secure a stable job in Azure City and live without worrying about food or clothing.

But Lin Yun could not accept that.

He was going to Imperial Capital First Martial Academy.

It was where the talents of the entire Dragon Nation gathered.

A local strongman's son like Wang Dalong could throw his weight around in Azure City, but in the Imperial Capital, he would not even rank among the notable ones.

The true heirs of powerful families started out with Heaven-tier basic cultivation methods and began preparing for perfect foundation establishment early on.

Some top prodigies, like Su Nianhe, would surely be aiming for ultimate foundation establishment with the Su family's resources.

If he stood on the same field as those people with nothing but ordinary foundation establishment, he would lose at the starting line.

Lin Yun's gaze hardened.

With the system at his side, why should he be inferior to anyone else?

If he was going to do it, he would do it perfectly.

He was determined to achieve ultimate foundation establishment.

But the requirements for ultimate foundation establishment were terrifyingly high.

First, one needed at least a low-grade Heaven-tier basic cultivation method.

That technique alone had a market price of over five million Dragon Nation dollars, and it might not even be available in a small place like Azure City.

Second, one needed ultimate foundation establishment resources to match the Heaven-tier technique, such as foundation establishment spirit liquid, marrow-cleansing treasures, mutated beast materials...

Adding it all up, without at least five million Dragon Nation dollars as a foundation, there was no point even thinking about it.

Ten million.

Looking at the 2.6 million in his account, Lin Yun was still short by a full three quarters.

He still had to keep working hard!