White Bones

The entrance to White Bone Cave was like the maw of some gigantic beast, gaping blackly from the mountainside.

A chill wind poured backward from within, carrying the stench of rotting earth and a deeper, subtler sound, like bones scraping against stone.

Qin Yuan stood three zhang from the entrance, the iron sword in his hand already drawn.

His Spiritual Sense probed into the cave, but after extending merely ten zhang, it was blocked by dense yin energy—thick as substance and carrying a freezing chill that corroded Spiritual Sense.

Faint howls drifted from the depths of the cave, neither human nor beast, as though something were twisting and struggling in agony.

An ordinary Qi Refining Stage disciple would likely have been frightened back by that yin energy before even entering the cave.

Qin Yuan merely frowned. He took an Amulet of Warding from his robes and pasted it onto his chest. The talisman emitted a faint warm glow, dispersing the encroaching yin energy by several inches. Sword in hand, he stepped into the cave.

Darkness swallowed him in an instant.

The cave was broader than he had imagined. Its vaulted ceiling rose roughly three zhang high, while the stone walls on both sides were covered in some dark-green moss that gave off a faint phosphorescent glow.

By that dim light, he could see scattered bones on the ground—human ones and beast ones alike, most broken and incomplete.

The farther he went, the heavier the yin energy became.

The glow of the Amulet of Warding was compressed to within three chi of his body. Black vapors constantly churned at the edge of the light, making sizzling, corrosive sounds.

Qin Yuan's breathing was especially clear within the silent cave. Every step crushed shattered bones beneath his feet, producing a teeth-grating crack.

After walking for about half a li, a fork appeared ahead.

A heavy smell of blood came from the left passage, while faint dripping sounds came from the right.

After a brief inspection, Qin Yuan chose the left, where the blood scent was thicker—Yin Fiend Crystals usually formed where yin energy and blood energy converged.

This passage was narrower, barely wide enough for one person to pass through. The stone walls were slick, and viscous liquid trickled down them. Whether it was water or something else was impossible to tell.

The bloody stench was so thick it seemed almost tangible, burrowing into his nostrils and stirring instinctive fear.

Qin Yuan did not slow.

After another hundred steps, the passage suddenly opened into a natural cavern.

At the center of the cavern was a pool of blood. Its water was dark red and viscous, with bubbles occasionally rising to the surface. When they burst, the foul stench they released made Qin Yuan knit his brows tightly.

Several fresh corpses lay scattered around the edge of the blood pool. Judging from their clothing, they were all disciples of Xuan Yuan Sect. The most recent corpse had been dead for no more than three days.

Utmost terror had frozen on their faces, their eyes bulging so wide they seemed ready to split apart.

And directly above the blood pool floated three black crystals the size of fists, dark-red patterns flowing across their surfaces—Yin Fiend Crystals.

The mission objective was right before him.

But Qin Yuan did not immediately approach. His gaze fell into the depths of the blood pool, where something was slowly writhing. His Spiritual Sense could not penetrate the pool, yet he could sense an icy aura far beyond the Qi Refining Stage awakening within.

"First, I need to break through."

Qin Yuan retreated to the edge of the cavern and found a relatively dry stone platform to sit cross-legged upon. He took three Mid-grade Spirit Crystals from his storage bag and held them in his hand—not for cultivation, but to set up a simple warning formation.

Then he closed his eyes, letting his consciousness sink into his body.

[Would you like to extract today's twenty years of cultivation?]

"Extract."

Boom—!!!

This impact was more violent than any before it!

If the influx of ten years of cultivation before had been like a rushing river, then this was a tsunami pouring backward!

Twenty years of pure cultivation transformed into a blazing torrent, erupting from the deepest part of his dantian and instantly smashing through the "ultimate realm" barrier of the Thirteenth Layer of Qi Cultivation!

Qin Yuan's entire body shuddered violently. Fine beads of blood seeped from the surface of his skin, signs that his meridians were being torn apart by the berserk Spiritual Energy. Yet he did not panic. Instead, he circulated the Qi Guiding Art with all his strength—no, at this moment, the route through which the Spiritual Energy surged inside him had already changed on its own, flowing along a deeper, more mysterious path.

Foundation Establishment was the first true chasm on the path of immortality.

The Qi Refining Stage merely drew Spiritual Energy into the body, circulated it through the meridians, and strengthened the flesh.

Foundation Establishment, however, required compressing gaseous Spiritual Energy into liquid form and opening a "sea of qi" within the dantian. From then on, one's total Spiritual Energy would surge dramatically, one could wield true spells, and one's lifespan would increase to two hundred years.

For ordinary cultivators to achieve Foundation Establishment, they needed to find a quiet chamber for secluded cultivation, prepare a Foundation Establishment Pill, and cautiously attempt the breakthrough under the protection of their elders. The success rate was less than thirty percent.

Yet Qin Yuan, alone within the grim and bloody White Bone Cave, used the twenty years of cultivation infused by the system as fuel and brutally rammed into that heavenly chasm!

Crack—

It felt as though something had shattered within his body.

It was not the sound of a barrier breaking, but something deeper—a soft sound like an eggshell cracking.

Immediately afterward, a violent swelling sensation erupted from his dantian. The "qi chamber," which had once only been able to contain a stream, was being forcibly stretched open, expanding into the embryonic form of a lake!

Liquid Spiritual Energy began to condense.

The first drop, the second drop, the third drop... Spiritual Energy was forcibly compressed from gas into gleaming droplets that fell into the newborn sea of qi. With every drop that fell, Qin Yuan's aura became more profound and his body strengthened another layer.

This process lasted an entire hour.

When the final wisp of gaseous Spiritual Energy had been converted, the sea of qi in Qin Yuan's dantian had taken shape. Though it was newly formed and less than three chi across, the Spiritual Energy within it was already more than ten times what it had been at the Thirteenth Layer of Qi Cultivation!

First Layer of Foundation Establishment, achieved!

But the torrent of twenty years of cultivation had yet to run dry.

The sea of qi continued expanding, liquid Spiritual Energy falling ceaselessly like rain. Second Layer of Foundation Establishment!

Only when his cultivation stabilized firmly at the peak of the Second Layer of Foundation Establishment did that torrent finally subside completely.

Qin Yuan opened his eyes. A sharp gleam flashed through them before withdrawing inward like a deep pool.

He slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air. It condensed into a white arrow in the air, shooting three zhang before dispersing.

This was Foundation Establishment.

His five senses were clear, and his Spiritual Sense had soared. Without deliberately probing, he could clearly "see" every crack in the cavern walls, every thread of blood flowing in the pool, and even sense two Yin Rats gnawing on a rotting corpse three hundred zhang deeper in the cave.

The difference in strength was even greater than heaven and earth. He clenched his fist, his knuckles crackling like popping beans. He felt that one punch could collapse this entire cavern.

Qin Yuan rose, removed the warning formation, and walked toward the blood pool.

This time, he no longer concealed his aura. The pressure of the Third Layer of Foundation Establishment naturally spread outward, and the yin energy within three chi of him melted away instantly like snow meeting boiling water. The bubbles churning on the blood pool's surface abruptly calmed, as if they had sensed a threat.

He made a grasping motion through the air. Spiritual Energy formed an invisible giant hand and drew the three Yin Fiend Crystals down from above the blood pool.

The instant the Yin Fiend Crystals left the pool—

Roar—!!!

The blood pool exploded! A pallid tentacle as thick as a water bucket, covered in suckers, shot from the bottom of the pool and lashed straight toward Qin Yuan's neck! Countless eyes on the tentacle opened at once, firing sinister soul-snaring light!

Qin Yuan did not even look. He raised his left hand, fingers together like a sword, and casually slashed.

Hiss—

A pale-golden sword gleam flashed past. The tentacle was severed at once, foul black blood spraying from the break. A shrill scream came from the depths of the blood pool as the entire pool began to boil, more tentacles surging out in a frenzy!

"Troublesome."