Power Over Life and Death, Shade Beneath a Foundation (5,000 Words)

After returning to his cave abode.

Fang Shu sat cross-legged atop the ritual altar, turning over Long Gu's words from today again and again in his mind, comparing them against Huai Liangxing's notes as he pondered them.

After sorting through it repeatedly, he felt that although Long Gu's words today might have concealed some purpose, her claim that she "would not make a move against him before he established his foundation" should be genuine!

Fang Shu said to himself, "With that assurance, it is enough!"

As for anything more, that could wait until the day he truly established his foundation.

After all, compared with many disciples in the temple, such terms were already exceedingly generous. At the very least, Long Gu would not obstruct his foundation establishment, much less make things difficult for him at every turn.

According to Huai Liangxing's notes, some of the temple's foundation-establishing immortal elders treated foundation establishment like a carrot, dangling it before their disciples day after day, yet never teaching the true wondrous methods of foundation establishment or explaining its crucial points. They simply watched as their disciples squandered their years away.

To glean even the slightest bit of experience from such people, even disciples who had completed the Sixth Calamity had to acknowledge fathers and mothers, serve as slaves and maids, and come running at every call.

A master like Long Gu, who might instead lend Fang Shu a hand when he established his foundation because she would "have need of Fang Shu" in the future, was already rare and precious.

What Fang Shu needed to do now was find every possible way to tread steadily through each step before foundation establishment, guarding against any mishap or hidden danger.

Thinking of this, he suddenly realized something.

Fortunately, there had been countless predecessors like