Foundation Establishment Extreme Realm

Over the next two days, Qin Yuan lived quite comfortably on Fifth Peak.

Chen Tianyu had been punished with confinement for self-reflection. Though Enforcement Elder Chen Changqing was unwilling to accept it, constrained by Elder Xu's authority and his own grandson's wrongdoing, he did not dare trouble Qin Yuan again.

The other disciples held this newly promoted Direct Disciple in even greater awe—after all, Qin Yuan had instantly defeated Chen Tianyu, who was at the seventh layer of Foundation Establishment, with only the eighth layer of Foundation Establishment. Such strength had already exceeded the bounds of their understanding.

Taking this opportunity, Qin Yuan carefully learned the rules of the Direct Disciple Grand Competition.

The so-called Direct Disciple Grand Competition was, in truth, an important assessment for the allocation of resources among the Nine Peaks of the Xuan Yuan Sect.

Once every three years, each peak sent a Direct Disciple to lead ten Inner Sect disciples into a secret realm controlled by the sect, the "Xuan Yuan Small Realm," to compete for its riches.

The rules were simple and brutal: eliminate disciples from the other peaks and gather the heavenly treasures and earthly rarities within the secret realm.

In the end, the peaks were ranked according to the number of disciples they eliminated and the total value of the resources they obtained. The higher-ranked peaks would receive greater resource quotas for the next three years.

"In the last competition, our Fifth Peak came in ninth—dead last." An Inner Sect disciple named Zhou De looked dejected as he explained to Qin Yuan. "Our resource quota was cut by twenty percent, and many junior brothers and sisters had their cultivation affected."

"With Senior Brother Qin here this time, we'll definitely turn things around!" Another burly disciple named Zhao Tiezhu waved his fist, his face brimming with excitement. He was one of the few Inner Sect disciples of Fifth Peak at the fourth layer of Foundation Establishment. Straightforward by nature, he worshipped Qin Yuan immensely.

Qin Yuan said nothing, merely committing this information to memory.

Over these two days, aside from familiarizing himself with Fifth Peak's affairs, he spent all his remaining time cultivating.

The system still held forty years of cultivation for him, and with the twenty years he extracted each day, he pressed against his realm continuously for two days.

With the assistance of the Xuan Yuan Token, his cultivation rose at an astonishing speed:

By the evening of the second day, he had reached the ninth layer of Foundation Establishment.

By the morning of the third day, he had reached the tenth layer of Foundation Establishment.

By the night of the third day, Qin Yuan sat cross-legged in Listening Bamboo Garden, preparing for one final breakthrough.

Moonlight flowed like water, spilling across the courtyard.

Qin Yuan took out the bottle of Core Condensing Pills Elder Xu had given him and swallowed three.

The pills melted upon entering his mouth, transforming into a torrent of pure spiritual power that surged into his dantian. At the same time, a thought stirred in his mind:

"Extract twenty years of cultivation for today."

Boom—!!!

The familiar searing torrent erupted from the depths of his dantian once more. It merged with the pills' spiritual power, becoming raging waves that slammed fiercely against the barrier of the tenth layer of Foundation Establishment!

This breakthrough was exceptionally difficult.

The tenth layer of Foundation Establishment was already the peak of Foundation Establishment in common knowledge. Beyond it lay the formation of a golden core and entry into the true threshold of immortal cultivation.

This barrier was as solid as a boulder. Ordinary cultivators needed decades of arduous cultivation just to wear open the slightest crack.

Yet under the double impact of the twenty years of cultivation infused by the system and the Core Condensing Pills, cracks began to appear in that seemingly indestructible barrier.

Crack... crack...

Faint cracking sounds rang out within his body.

Qin Yuan gritted his teeth and guided all his spiritual power, battering that crack again and again.

Every impact brought tearing pain to the meridians throughout his body, but he remained utterly still.

He did not know how much time had passed.

It seemed like a hundred years, yet also like a single instant.

Rumble—!!!

A thunderous boom resounded in his mind, and the barrier of the tenth layer of Foundation Establishment shattered completely!

But the golden core he had expected did not form.

In its place came a wondrous sense of "emptiness"—as though he had climbed to a mountain summit, only to discover a broader sky beyond it.

His spiritual power did not transform into a golden core. Instead, it continued to compress, condense, and sublimate within the sea of qi in his dantian. The liquid spiritual power began to give off a faint golden sheen, every drop containing vast energy far beyond what it had before. The sea of qi itself expanded, from two zhang across to three, four, five...

In the end, the sea of qi settled at seven zhang across. All his spiritual power had turned pale gold, rippling within his dantian like a golden lake.

Qin Yuan opened his eyes.

A flash of golden light glinted in his eyes before fading back into unfathomable depth.

He slowly raised his right hand, spread his five fingers, then gently clenched them into a fist. A faint series of crackles rang through the air—the sound of pure force compressing the air.

The Foundation Establishment extreme realm.

Not the "pseudo-extreme realm" of the Qi Refining Stage, but the true Foundation Establishment extreme realm—something that existed only in legends, rarely seen in all eternity!

Qin Yuan could clearly feel that he was now at least three times stronger than he had been at the peak of the tenth layer of Foundation Establishment!

The total amount of his spiritual power, its purity, the strength of his body, the range of his Spiritual Sense... all of it had risen across the board!

What delighted him even more was his Spiritual Sense!

Originally, the Spiritual Sense of a Foundation Establishment cultivator could at most be projected outward to scout and perceive the surrounding environment. But now, not only had its range exploded to a thousand zhang, it had also gained all manner of wondrous abilities—

With a thought, his Spiritual Sense extended in fine, threadlike strands. Silently, he "saw" Zhao Tiezhu in the neighboring courtyard, sleeping soundly and snoring like thunder.

Farther away, Zhou Ming studied a cultivation jade slip beneath a lamp, his expression focused. Farther still, the operational paths of Fifth Peak's mountain-protecting grand formation appeared in flawless detail within his Spiritual Sense.

He could even "hear" every tremble of bamboo leaves stirred by the wind and "smell" the faint breath of earthworms turning over in the soil deep in the night.

This was not Spiritual Sense strength that a Foundation Establishment cultivator should possess at all!

This had already... touched the threshold of the Golden Core Realm!

"Just as I thought," Qin Yuan murmured, "the Foundation Establishment extreme realm is not merely a realm. It is an all-around sublimation."

Feeling the surging power within his body, a smile curved across his lips.

Tomorrow's Direct Disciple Grand Competition would be interesting.

On the morning of the fourth day, at the main peak plaza of the Xuan Yuan Sect.

When Qin Yuan arrived with the ten Inner Sect disciples of Fifth Peak, quite a few people had already gathered in the plaza.

Looking around, most were from middling peaks like Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Peak. They had arrived early and gathered together in quiet conversation, their gazes occasionally sweeping toward the entrance of the plaza. Clearly, they were waiting for those truly powerful peaks to appear.

"Senior Brother Qin, over there is Sixth Peak. Their leader is Direct Disciple Zhang Hai, at the eighth layer of Foundation Establishment." Zhou De introduced them quietly from the side. "As for Seventh Peak... oh, Seventh Peak hasn't arrived yet. Eighth Peak and Tenth Peak are here as well. Their strength is about the same as our Fifth Peak's—they're all at the bottom."

Qin Yuan nodded, his gaze sweeping over the plaza.

Just as Zhou Ming had said, the disciples from the various peaks present were mostly between the fourth and eighth layers of Foundation Establishment. Most Direct Disciples were at the seventh or eighth layer of Foundation Establishment as well. The occasional one or two at the ninth layer of Foundation Establishment were already the focus of everyone's attention.

"Looks like the powerful peaks are rather proud. They like to make their entrance last." Zhao Tiezhu curled his lip.

No sooner had he spoken than a commotion arose at the entrance to the plaza.

A group of people walked in.