Zhang Sanfeng Establishes His Foundation

Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre world.

Clouds and mist curled through the air like silken threads, winding between the Seventy-Two Peaks of Wudang.

Atop the Golden Summit, the Purple Cloud Palace stood in solemn majesty.

Zhang Sanfeng sat cross-legged at the cliff's edge before the Purple Cloud Palace, contemplating the scroll of the True Exposition of Tai Chi Creation in his mind.

He had lived for a hundred years, seen too many storms, and endured too much life and death.

In his youth, he had secretly learned martial arts at Shaolin Temple. In middle age, he had founded the Wudang Sect. In his later years, he had secluded himself to comprehend the Dao and created the Tai Chi Fist and Tai Chi Sword.

He had believed he had seen through all things in the world, believed that the pinnacle of martial arts was the unity of man and heaven.

That was until he joined the chat group and encountered true Immortals.

A scroll of the True Exposition of Tai Chi Creation!

It made him understand that beyond the ultimate realm of martial arts, there was still immortality!

With the two wisps of innate qi bestowed by the "Immortal," he felt that he had already touched the threshold of the Foundation Establishment Stage!

"Yin-Yang is the Dao of heaven and earth, the framework of all things, the father and mother of transformation, the origin of life and death, and the abode of divine brilliance."

Yin-Yang.

He had contemplated those two words for his entire life.

When he created the Tai Chi Fist, he spoke of Yin-Yang giving rise to one another, of hardness and softness complementing each other. When he created the Tai Chi Sword, he spoke of using stillness to counter movement, of striking after the opponent but arriving first.

Now, he understood even more clearly the vastness of the Dao of Yin-Yang!

He was merely an ephemeral creature peering at the heavens.

True Yin-Yang was life and death, cause and effect, the operating laws of heaven, earth, and all things, and the differentiation of the Great Dao's origin.

Yin-Yang gave rise to change, and change gave rise to all things...

A flash of inspiration struck Zhang Sanfeng's mind, as though he had grasped something.

He closed his eyes, and the true qi within him began circulating according to the method described in the True Exposition of Tai Chi Creation.

More than ninety years of true qi began undergoing a qualitative transformation at that moment. The true qi that had once been gentle as water seemed to be "ignited," beginning to sublimate and evolve!

Zhang Sanfeng opened his eyes, a glint of brilliance flashing through them.

The next moment—

Buzz!

The aura around him suddenly changed!

Within his dantian.

The two energies of Yin and Yang no longer merely intertwined.

They took form!

One black and one white, two streams of qi slowly revolved like a Taiji Diagram.

At the center of the Taiji Diagram, a tiny gleam quietly emerged.

Boom—

An invisible roar exploded within his body!

Zhang Sanfeng's aura suddenly soared!

The spiritual energy of heaven and earth seemed to be drawn by some force, surging toward him madly!

The clouds churned, and the mountain wind swept backward.

Across the Seventy-Two Peaks of Wudang, countless disciples suddenly raised their heads.

"What's happening?!"

"The heavens are changing...?!"

A long while later.

Zhang Sanfeng's robes, which had been billowing around him, slowly settled. He became once more the unassuming old man he usually appeared to be.

Yet all traces of age had vanished from between his brows. His white hair had regained its vitality, and he looked like a man in his thirties.

"A hundred days to establish the foundation, and today it is finally complete!"

Zhang Sanfeng slowly exhaled a breath of stale air.

The breath suddenly expanded upon meeting the wind. It first resembled a dragon, then transformed into clouds, instantly covering the sky above the Golden Summit. Countless woodcutters and pilgrims below the mountain fell to their knees in worship, believing that an Immortal had revealed himself.

This breath was no ordinary mortal breath, but the impurities and lingering decay he had accumulated over a century of mortal martial practice.

Deep within his dantian, the immense mass of Tai Chi true qi had transformed into a slowly spinning vortex of spiritual power.

One black and one white, the Yin-Yang energies intertwined and coexisted like two swimming fish. At the very center of the vortex, a brilliant point of starlight radiated vigorous life.

This was the sign of the Foundation Establishment Stage—qi condensed into a vortex, the Dao foundation forever secured.

Through his divine sense, he could feel that his aged state had entirely vanished, and his skin faintly shone with a lustrous glow.

He lowered his head and looked at his hands. The palms that had once been covered in age spots and shriveled like dead wood had become as smooth and warm as fine jade, with faint streams of light flowing beneath the skin.

Foundation Establishment, Foundation Establishment—the forging of one's Dao foundation.

Upon reaching this step, one began to cross the divide between mortal and Immortal.

The end of mortal martial arts was no more than prolonged life and sharper senses.

True cultivation and Foundation Establishment, however, was a leap in the level of life itself.

With a thought from Zhang Sanfeng, his divine sense spread outward like a vast canopy.

Everything within ten miles appeared in perfect detail.

He could "see" a young Daoist ten miles away awkwardly sweeping fallen leaves. He could "hear" every impact of the stream striking rocks in a more distant mountain ravine. He could even "sense" the arrangement of every grain of dust within the rock beneath his feet.

"So this is divine sense..."

Zhang Sanfeng murmured, a flicker of understanding passing through his eyes.

When he had practiced martial arts in the past, he had emphasized "watching in all directions and listening in every direction." That had been passive perception.

But now, his divine sense was like an invisible net, actively shrouding heaven and earth. All things lay within its web.

"To enter the Dao through martial arts truly is wondrous."

Zhang Sanfeng smiled faintly, his voice carrying a trace of unconcealed shock.

He slowly rose to his feet.

With only a gentle step, his entire body stood suspended in midair.

Suddenly, Zhang Sanfeng's expression changed sharply.

Within his divine sense, he saw his third disciple, Yu Daiyan!

Yu Daiyan reeked of blood, and deathly qi coiled around his head.

His eldest disciple, Song Yuanqiao, was also rushing over with his qi raised. Before he arrived, his voice came first!

"Master!"

"Yuanqiao, there is no need to say more."

There was urgency in Zhang Sanfeng's calm voice as he transmitted it directly into Song Yuanqiao's ears. "Daiyan is in trouble! Quickly, follow me down the mountain!"

Song Yuanqiao froze. Before he could understand how his master knew, Zhang Sanfeng swept his sleeve, and Song Yuanqiao was carried aloft like a drifting white cloud, shooting directly toward the foot of the mountain.

"Th-This is Cloud Ladder Crossing? No, when did Master's lightness skill reach such a realm? He can actually ride the wind while carrying me?!" Song Yuanqiao was utterly shocked.

At the foot of Mount Wudang, upon the official road.

The atmosphere was so oppressive that it was suffocating.

Zhang Cuishan's face was filled with grief and fury. In his arms, he held a man drenched in blood—it was Yu Daiyan.

Yu Daiyan's eyes were tightly shut, his face gray as paper. His limbs hung limply, clearly showing that his life force was nearly extinguished.

Du Dajin of the Dragon Gate Escort Agency knelt nearby, trembling and not daring to utter a word.

"Third Brother! Third Brother, wake up!"

Zhang Cuishan's voice was hoarse, tears streaming uncontrollably down his face. "Who was it? Who did this to you? Who crushed every inch of your limbs and bones!"

Just as Zhang Cuishan was drowning in grief, a clear voice seemed to descend from the ninth heavens, instantly drowning out the howling mountain wind.

"Fifth Brother, do not panic. Master is here!"

Zhang Cuishan abruptly looked up and saw the clouds and mist part.

A figure in white descended through the air, moving at an inconceivable speed. In the blink of an eye, he landed before them.

"Master!" Zhang Cuishan seemed to have found salvation. He dropped to his knees with a thud. "Please save Third Brother!"

Zhang Sanfeng said nothing. He looked at the disciple in Zhang Cuishan's arms, who had once been so valiant and heroic.

Now, Yu Daiyan was like a rag doll at the mercy of others. For the first time, tangible fury ignited in Zhang Sanfeng's eyes.

Zhang Sanfeng extended his right hand and gently placed it on Yu Daiyan's wrist.

Had it been his former self, facing such grave injuries—every meridian severed and every bone shattered—he could likely only have barely preserved a thread of life.

He would also have needed to go to the Western Regions for Black Jade Intermittent Paste, just as in the original story.

But at this moment, his Foundation Establishment divine sense instantly entered Yu Daiyan's body.

"What ruthless methods! What vicious finger force!"

Zhang Sanfeng snorted coldly inwardly.

He could clearly "see" that Yu Daiyan's bones had all been shattered, while his meridians had been mangled beyond repair by an overbearing Vajra finger force.

A sinister palm force also lingered around his heart meridian, constantly eroding his last remaining vitality.

It was precisely A-San, the villain from the Vajra Sect of Shaolin in the Western Regions, who had used the Great Vajra Finger to crush every bone in Daiyan's body in order to force him to reveal the whereabouts of the Dragon Slaying Saber!

An unconcealable trace of self-reproach and pain flashed through Zhang Sanfeng's eyes.

After joining the chat group and learning part of Fate, he had clearly sent Daiyan a letter in advance, specifically warning him to act carefully. He had even named "A-San" outright and told him to remain on guard.

Yet fate toyed with men. The calamity that was meant to come had come in the end.

Daiyan had still become embroiled in this conflict of the martial world in order to uphold justice, suffering such a tragic fate.

"Daiyan, your master arrived too late."

Zhang Sanfeng sighed inwardly, but the state of mind of the Foundation Establishment Stage allowed him to quickly pull himself free from his guilt. In its place came absolute calm and control.

Since the tragedy had already occurred, then he would reverse heaven and earth!