Breakthrough to Foundation Establishment

Ahead, a Forest loomed into view, black and dense.

The Forest was vast, stretching beyond sight. Its trees stood tall and thick, like a host of silent giants in the night.

Zhou Qi did not hesitate. Leading his horse, he walked in.

It was even darker within the Forest.

Moonlight was blocked by the branches and leaves, with only scattered patches of light falling below. Dead leaves carpeted the ground, soft beneath his feet, rustling faintly with each step.

Zhou Qi led the horse deeper, one step at a time.

After walking for roughly two incense sticks' time, he found a rocky hill.

The hill was not tall, only three or four zhang high. Its base curved inward, forming a natural shallow cave.

There was a small clearing before the cave, and at the edge of the clearing grew a tree as thick as a bowl's rim.

Zhou Qi stopped and surveyed the surroundings.

The location was concealed, with the rocky hill at his back and only one direction from which anyone could approach.

If someone pursued him, he would spot them at once.

He tied the horse to that tree, then took dry rations and a waterskin from its back.

Then he gathered dead branches and built a fire at the foot of the rocky hill.

The firelight illuminated the small clearing and drove back the darkness around it. Zhou Qi sat beside the flames and finally let out a breath.

Only now did he have time to think.

No, not think.

To look at that Foundation Establishment Method.

He took two items from his robes: a small porcelain bottle and two thin booklets.

The small porcelain bottle contained the antidote to the Soul-Splitting Pill.

Zhou Qi picked up the antidote first and pulled out the stopper.

Inside was a milky-white pill that gave off a faint medicinal fragrance. Just smelling it made his mind clear.

Without hesitation, he tipped it straight into his mouth.

The pill melted as soon as it entered his mouth, turning into a warm liquid that slid down his throat.

Zhou Qi braced himself, waiting for the immense medicinal power to rampage through his body.

But... that was it.

There was no sensation at all.

No pain, no itch, not even a ripple of spiritual energy.

Zhou Qi froze for a moment. That simple?

Just as he was about to pick up the Foundation Establishment Method, a violent cramp suddenly twisted through his abdomen.

The pain came fast and fierce, as if countless claws were raking at his insides.

Zhou Qi's expression changed as he clutched his stomach.

Ignoring everything else, he staggered behind a nearby thicket and squatted down.

One second later, and he would have shit himself.

A full tea's time passed.

Zhou Qi rose while supporting himself against a tree, his face somewhat pale.

He looked back. Under the moonlight, countless tiny worms were slowly wriggling through that pile of excrement.

Black ones, red ones, and several that glimmered with an eerie green.

They were packed together so densely that it made his scalp go numb.

A wave of foul stench hit him head-on.

Zhou Qi's stomach churned, and he nearly threw up.

He took several deep breaths to suppress the urge to vomit, then kicked over some dirt and buried the pile tightly.

Don't disgust anyone else.

Returning to the fire, he sat cross-legged and sank his consciousness into his dantian.

The Soul-Splitting Worm larvae that had once been lodged deep in his meridians like thorns had vanished completely.

In their place was crystal clarity.

Zhou Qi opened his eyes and slowly exhaled.

The boulder that had weighed on his heart for a month had finally hit the ground.

He picked up the Foundation Establishment Method: Part One and opened to the first page.

The system panel instantly appeared:

[New method detected: Foundation Establishment Method: Part One]

[Current proficiency: 0/50000]

[Reaching mastery allows breakthrough to Foundation Establishment, Third-Layer Peak]

[Usable proficiency balance detected. Use it?]

[Current proficiency balance: 34668]

Zhou Qi stared at that number and fell silent for a moment.

34668.

This was what he had accumulated through a month of unwavering daily cultivation.

A thought stirred in his heart. [Use]

At that instant, a warm current appeared out of nowhere.

It did not surge from his dantian. Instead, it appeared directly throughout his limbs and bones, as though someone had lit a fire inside him.

The current grew hotter and stronger, then began pouring madly into his meridians.

Zhou Qi clenched his teeth, cold sweat seeping across his forehead.

He had experienced this feeling before. When he had gone from the Sixth Layer of Qi Refinement to the Ninth Layer, his meridians had likewise been stretched to the point of breaking.

But this time was even fiercer.

That hot current was like floodwaters after a dam burst, charging recklessly through his meridians and battering the unopened vital gates again and again.

Qi Refining to Foundation Establishment was a qualitative transformation.

The Qi Refinement Realm cultivated a breath of spiritual energy; the Foundation Establishment Realm cultivated one's very foundation.

Meridians, bones, flesh, blood—everything had to be reforged.

Zhou Qi trembled all over, veins bulging.

Yet he endured it without making a sound.

Half an hour later.

The hot current gradually subsided before vanishing completely.

Zhou Qi opened his eyes. A sharp gleam seemed to flash through the depths of his pupils.

He summoned the system panel:

[Current cultivation: Foundation Establishment Method: Part One]

[Proficiency: 34668/50000]

[Current realm: Foundation Establishment, Second Layer, Late Stage]

[Spiritual power: 10 (cultivation efficiency affected: 100%)]

[Today's cultivation: 180 minutes]

[Proficiency balance: 0]

Foundation Establishment, Second Layer, Late Stage.

Zhou Qi got to his feet and lightly stretched his body.

His bones crackled softly. Spiritual power flowed through him like a great river, more than ten times stronger than it had been at the Ninth Layer of Qi Refinement.

He walked to that Qingling Tree, drew a deep breath, and threw a punch.

Army-Breaking Fist.

The punch wind was fierce. Its force left his body, condensing in the air into a visible wave of air.

"Bang!"

A fist-sized crater was punched directly into the trunk three meters away.

Wood chips flew everywhere. The entire tree shook violently, and its leaves rained down in a rustling shower.

Zhou Qi withdrew his fist, his gaze deepening.

Foundation Establishment, Second Layer, Late Stage.

With this strength, he could already swagger through Lin'an City sideways.

Even against Yao Qing, he was confident he could easily keep him in the palm of his hand.

But Jin Tie...

A trace of wariness flashed through Zhou Qi's eyes. That old dog was at the Foundation Establishment, Sixth Layer.

They were four minor realms apart, and the other man was a steward of the Marquis Residence. His cultivation methods and martial techniques could not possibly be poor.

He could not beat him.

But now that he had achieved Foundation Establishment, the world was his to roam.

As long as he escaped the bounds of Blackstone City and hid in Yongjing or Western Profound City beside Blackstone City, Jin Tie would have a hard time finding him.

Western Profound City was similar to Blackstone City. Put simply, it was also a provincial capital, like Shijiazhuang in Hebei or Jinan in Shandong.

Zhou Qi withdrew his thoughts and returned to sit by the fire.

The night was deep.

From time to time, wolf howls and tiger roars echoed through the Forest, along with strange chirping sounds, as though some Demonic Beasts were active in the night.

But Zhou Qi was no longer afraid in the slightest.

At Foundation Establishment, Second Layer, ordinary Demonic Beasts were no match for him at all.

He did not even feel sleepy.

He took out the second booklet from his robes: Mountains and Rivers Sword Seal.

He opened it.

The system panel appeared:

[New martial technique detected: Mountains and Rivers Sword Seal: Fragment]

[Grade: Upper Profound Rank]

[Proficiency: 0/10000]

[Effect upon reaching mastery: Use the heart as a sword. Sword Qi +60%, armor penetration +50%, attack range +50%]

[Note: The first part is "all things may become swords." This is the latter part. Beginning cultivation from a broken section is extremely difficult. It may be cultivated independently, but its power falls short of the complete version.]

Zhou Qi was stunned.

A fragment?

He carefully flipped through the booklet. The more he read, the tighter his brow furrowed.

This Mountains and Rivers Sword Seal contained only the latter part.

Use the heart as a sword.

There should have been another volume before it: all things may become swords.

Only by combining the two volumes could one obtain the complete martial technique. At that point, it should be more than merely Upper Profound Rank.

But the fragment could still be cultivated; it was simply extraordinarily difficult.

No wonder the Yang Family passed it down only to the family head. An ordinary person who obtained this fragment might never even enter the gate in an entire lifetime.

Zhou Qi looked at the proficiency on the system panel, and a smile curled across his lips.

No matter. The system would make its move.

One point of proficiency per minute—ten thousand points was merely eighty hours.

Following the method written in the booklet, he began trying to cultivate it.

One hour later.

Zhou Qi slowly finished his cultivation.

On the system panel, the proficiency of Mountains and Rivers Sword Seal had stopped at 123/10000.

He had barely entered the gate.

He raised his right hand. With a thought, a faint Sword Qi condensed at his fingertips.

The Sword Qi was very weak, only an inch long, flickering faintly at his fingertips.

Zhou Qi nodded in satisfaction.

The fragment truly was difficult to cultivate. Ordinary people might need a year and a half to even enter the gate, yet he had done it in just one hour.

That was the power of the system.

The night wind swept past, carrying several fallen leaves with it.

Zhou Qi looked up at the sky. The moon had already tilted westward. In another two or three hours, dawn would arrive.

Time to rest.

He still had to continue his journey tomorrow.

He added several dead branches to the fire, then leaned against the rocky hill and closed his eyes. Yet his mind was still considering the road ahead.

Blackstone City was the Champion Marquis's territory. The Marquis Residence's influence extended across five thousand li in every direction.

This place was the Qingling Mountains not far from Lin'an City. He should currently be at the foot of the mountains. At his present speed, even if he rode day and night, it would take at least seven or eight days to escape.

Jin Tie was the second chief steward of the Marquis Residence. If he threw his full strength into the pursuit, he would certainly mobilize forces from all sides. Across the entire region, no faction would dare disobey the Marquis Residence.

He needed to keep changing routes and avoid contact with people as much as possible.

And he could not take the official roads. He needed to stick to side paths and mountain forests as much as possible.