Heavenly Dao Edict: Bestowed with Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment

Who knew how much time had passed.

By all reason, dawn should have broken long ago, yet the black clouds overhead showed no sign of dispersing. Instead, they grew denser still. With the sky locked in an endless twilight where day and night could not be told apart, Fat Dragon gradually lost all sense of time.

Yet there was still only the promise of rain, not a single raindrop in sight.

By now, Fat Dragon's legs were already trembling.

"Mother of—"

Fat Dragon's eyes were red-rimmed, his face stricken with grief, deep unease filling his gaze as he kept stuffing Spirit Stones into the storage pouch against his chest, one after another. He had long since lost count of how many he had packed away.

He only knew that every storage pouch on him was already full. He had even taken several storage pouches from Brother Chen Qiu's robes; otherwise, they would not have had enough pouches to hold them all.

At first, he had been thrilled.

With this many Spirit Stones, they would have more than enough to carve out a place for themselves in this unfamiliar world!

But... as the Spirit Stones piled higher and higher, until there were so many that fear began to set in, he realized that if word of this got out, the two of them would instantly become public enemies. Enough was enough. They truly did not need this many. His stomach could not swallow such a feast.

Meanwhile, Chen Qiu remained seated cross-legged where he was, maintaining that posture for who knew how long. He had already killed every Human-Faced Spider nearby. With no more demonic beasts to kill and increase his cultivation progress, he had been preparing to change locations.

But who could have expected it?

Perhaps because the heavens had changed so drastically, a huge swarm of Human-Faced Spiders came flooding out from the other side of the depths of the canyon, fleeing for their lives. This batch of Human-Faced Spiders was like fuel, giving him immense help.

Thanks to that, he could remain here without needing to relocate.

At first, every failed Foundation Establishment attempt made him cough blood due to the discomfort in his body. Later, after adapting to it, he no longer needed to cough blood when his Foundation Establishment failed. Still, perhaps because he had failed too many times, his head felt a little dizzy.

Just as his cultivation once again reached Qi Refining Great Perfection, and he was preparing to make another practiced attempt at failing his Foundation Establishment—

A misty, illusory voice suddenly sounded beside his ears.

"Heavenly Dao Edict": The Heavenly Dao has sensed that within a hundred li of Windward City, Great Xia Kingdom, an ordinary man of unyielding iron bones has suffered nine hundred and ninety-nine consecutive failures at Foundation Establishment, yet still charges forward, indomitable and unyielding, to break through into Foundation Establishment!

Such perseverance puts all living beings to shame.

He is bestowed with 'Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment.' Let all living beings take this as their example.

This ethereal voice from beyond the heavens rang out across the skies of the entire Great Xia Kingdom. Countless people raised their heads toward the sky, listening carefully to the Heavenly Dao Edict in bewilderment. Many stood frozen in place, their faces filled with shock, clearly unable to believe it.

However—

These people were not admiring that ordinary man's perseverance.

They were simply dumbfounded. Was Foundation Establishment really that difficult to break through? Someone could fail nine hundred and ninety-nine times in a row?

Logically speaking, the more times one failed at Foundation Establishment, the narrower one's Dao Foundation would become. That meant the Dao Foundation could contain less spiritual energy. They did not dare imagine just how narrow a Dao Foundation that had failed over nine hundred times would be, if not for the timely Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment.

Perhaps casting a Yellow Grade, Lower Class spell would directly drain every last bit of spiritual energy from the Dao Foundation?

It might not even be possible to cast that Yellow Grade, Lower Class spell at all.

Yet he had truly turned disaster into fortune and obtained "Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment." At the sight of those four words, quite a few people in Great Xia Kingdom cast somewhat jealous looks toward Windward City.

Had they known that failing Foundation Establishment nine hundred and ninety-nine times would earn them Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment, they would have gone long ago. Some Qi Refining Realm cultivators also began to stir with thoughts. Would the reward still be available if they failed Foundation Establishment nine hundred and ninety-nine times now?

"Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment," as its name implied, was a Dao Foundation built with the Heavenly Dao as its foundation.

It could only be obtained under extremely rare special circumstances, and only when breaking through to the Foundation Establishment Realm. Since the founding of Great Xia Kingdom, those who possessed Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment were few and far between. Yet every one of them had been a monster among monsters. The last famous person to obtain Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment seemed to have been a sword cultivator, though he was already dead.

The benefits of Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment were extremely simple and brutal.

Its foundation was incomparably stable.

Whether it was the speed at which it absorbed spiritual energy or the toughness of the Dao Foundation in battle, it surpassed ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators severalfold. Moreover, if one could later break through to the Golden Core Realm, the Golden Core condensed atop a Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment would also be far stronger than an ordinary Golden Core.

There was another immensely powerful benefit: Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment did not need one to circulate a cultivation method. It could rotate its own Dao Foundation and absorb spiritual energy. Though it was slower than circulating a cultivation method, this meant that even while sleeping, shitting, or eating, one's Dao Foundation would continue rotating, absorbing spiritual energy and increasing cultivation progress.

It was practically a means of production.

After the Heavenly Dao Edict sounded by his ears, Chen Qiu discovered that the spiritual energy around him had begun rushing uncontrollably into his body. He had not circulated his cultivation method at all, yet spiritual energy continued rapidly filling his meridians.

In almost an instant, his meridians were completely filled. Then, under his inner vision, his Dao Foundation rapidly solidified.

In the blink of an eye—

Foundation Establishment succeeded.

A Dao Foundation one hundred and ten li wide and one hundred li high took root in his dantian just like that. The entire Dao Foundation resembled white jade, with faint streams of golden radiance flowing across its surface. It was precisely this inconspicuous golden sheen that made the entire Dao Foundation look anything but ordinary.

The names of every trait he possessed were also inscribed neatly across the Dao Foundation's surface.

When establishing his foundation, he had not prepared any Foundation Establishment Pill that could improve its quality and success rate, nor had he prepared any heavenly treasures. By all reason, he should have had only the most ordinary hundred-li Dao Foundation.

Yet because he possessed a trait that could slightly improve the quality of his Foundation Establishment, the width of his Dao Foundation had become one hundred and ten li.

At this moment, the Dao Foundation was slowly rotating, attempting to absorb spiritual energy from the outside world.

But—

After rotating for quite a while, it had not absorbed even a trace of spiritual energy.

Having reached the Foundation Establishment Realm, Chen Qiu could now release spiritual energy beyond his body. He could fully unleash the might of a Yellow Grade, Lower Class spirit treasure, use spells, and sense the density of spiritual energy in the outside world.

Yet by his perception, there was not a shred of spiritual energy in the depths of this canyon.

It was like a spiritual-energy desert, and an exceptionally barren one at that.

When Chen Qiu slowly opened his eyes, he saw Fat Dragon standing anxiously at the side, unable to sit or stand still.

"My mother, you're finally awake."

Fat Dragon's voice trembled as he handed seven or eight storage pouches to Chen Qiu with shaking hands. "The Spirit Stones are all here. I didn't count them carefully, but there have to be more than twenty thousand. What do we do next?"

"If anyone finds out, they'll rip out both our souls!"

"This is the first time I've ever seen someone think Spirit Stones were too hot to hold."

Chen Qiu accepted the storage pouches and tucked all of them into his robes. Rising to his feet, he stretched his limbs and felt the strength brought by the first layer of the Foundation Establishment Realm. For the first time in this world, he felt the faintest trace of confidence. Then he could not help but break into a grin.

Though he had not counted them carefully, he knew how many Spirit Stones there were.

Twenty-nine thousand, nine hundred and seventy Spirit Stones, if nothing unexpected had happened.

At this moment, he could already pour spiritual energy into the Heaven-Slayer spirit treasure saber in his hand and unleash the weapon's full power.

The width of his Dao Foundation was currently one hundred and ten li.

The demonic beasts he had killed before Foundation Establishment had not been counted in it. Otherwise, it would be at least several thousand li wide by now.

Next, he only needed to do two things—

Buy, if possible, a spell whose full power he could unleash. It would be best if it came from the Heavenly Dao Secret Realm, so that he would directly reach Major Accomplishment upon learning it. Then he would purchase more talismans, transmission stones, pills, and other accompanying items that could save his life and strengthen his combat power.

The second was to widen his Dao Foundation as much as possible.

To allow his Dao Foundation to hold more spiritual energy.

Then, he would truly possess a certain degree of say in this world—or rather, the right to remain standing while he lived.

The Lightning-Channeling Art could only draw down a bolt of lightning from above the nine heavens to attack an enemy. A first-layer Foundation Establishment cultivator using this Yellow Grade, Middle Class spell would generally exhaust more than half the spiritual energy in his body. But if his Dao Foundation could contain enough spiritual energy—

Then it would no longer be some Lightning-Channeling Art.

It would be "Hundred-Li Lightning Punishment," "Zero-Frame Strike," "Instant Death the Moment You Show Your Face"!

Steadying his mind, Chen Qiu followed their prior agreement. He took a low-grade talisman from his robes and activated it by pouring in spiritual energy. Immediately, a scarlet beam shot straight up from the depths of the canyon into the sky!

This was a type of low-grade talisman he had bought at Heaven-Question Market. It was very cheap, costing only one tael of silver. He had casually bought ten from the Zhao Family Store. Back when they could not afford transmission stones, this had been a better choice for passing information.

When the bearded brawny man brought the two of them back to the edge of the crack above the canyon—

The scholar sitting cross-legged on the ground looked at them with a complicated expression. After a long while, he finally said hoarsely, "Young Master Chen, what exactly were you two doing down there?"

"The ordinary man near Windward City who failed Foundation Establishment nine hundred and ninety-nine times in the Heavenly Dao Edict... that wasn't Young Master Chen, was it?"

"This place already has sparse spiritual energy to begin with. The spiritual energy within dozens of li around here was completely sucked dry by the canyon below. This commotion was no smaller than someone breaking through to the Golden Core Realm."

He suddenly felt that Chen Qiu's claim of being the young master of some reclusive lineage outside Great Xia Kingdom might not have been a lie.

To cause such a huge disturbance, if it was not someone breaking through to the Golden Core Realm, then it could only be someone circulating a cultivation method to absorb spiritual energy.

For a cultivation method to cause such a phenomenon, it had to be at least a Profound Grade, Upper Class Cultivation Method. He had never heard of anyone in Great Xia Kingdom possessing a cultivation method of that level. It was a legendary thing recorded in the history books.

An existence of that level was not something an ordinary man who happened upon an opportunity could touch. If it was not for the deep foundations passed down by a great lineage, the odds of a Qi Refining Realm ordinary man possessing such a thing were scarcely higher than obtaining a seven-colored trait directly from his first random trait in the Qi Refining Realm.

Oh, no—not a Qi Refining Realm ordinary man.

Young Master Chen was now at the first layer of the Foundation Establishment Realm.