Father Reached Foundation Establishment

Three months passed in the blink of an eye!

After three months of painstaking cultivation, Liu Changxu took a Barrier-Breaking Pill and finally broke through to the seventh layer of Qi Refinement.

Feeling the powerful magical energy of the seventh layer of Qi Refinement, Liu Changxu was thrilled. He could finally ride a flying sword through the skies.

In the Liu Household, anyone who reached late Qi Refinement could become a lineage elder. Liu Changxu was only seventeen. A late Qi Refinement cultivator so young would have been outstanding even in the Azure Cloud Sect!

When the Liu Household cultivators learned that Liu Changxu had broken through to late Qi Refinement, they were all delighted. It was clear that he stood an excellent chance of reaching Foundation Establishment in the future!

Liu Changxu would surely become the Liu Lineage's strongest leader and guardian, leading the Liu Household toward a brighter tomorrow. His breakthrough gave everyone in the Liu Household hope that their lineage would grow powerful and prosperous.

A lineage's prosperity required the combined efforts of all its members, but even more importantly, it needed powerful cultivators to protect and guide it.

A single Golden Core cultivator could establish a powerful cultivation lineage. With a lifespan of up to five hundred years, a Golden Core cultivator could shelter a lineage and keep it flourishing for centuries.

An even stronger Nascent Soul cultivator, with a lifespan of up to a thousand years, could directly create a lineage that endured for a millennium.

Members of a lineage led by such a powerhouse enjoyed far better cultivation resources and conditions than cultivators from ordinary lineages or rogue cultivators.

Cultivation emphasized "methods, companions, wealth, and land." In such a powerful lineage, there would be many cultivation methods to choose from, good teachers and helpful friends to instruct you and resolve your doubts, and spiritual mountains and cave abodes where you could cultivate. You could learn all manner of cultivation crafts, so long as you worked hard enough.

Ordinary rogue cultivators, however, started with nothing. Many began cultivating with a cultivation manual they happened to obtain by chance, and methods acquired this way were usually nothing more than ordinary yellow-grade methods.

From the day they set foot on the path of cultivation, they could only grope their way forward by following the manual's instructions. They had no one to answer their questions, no spirit vein where they could cultivate, and no cultivation craft with which to earn spirit stones. Many could only risk their lives hunting demons and gathering medicinal herbs deep in the mountains to earn a few spirit stones and sustain their cultivation.

With their low cultivation and lack of useful magical artifacts, these rogue cultivators died in the jaws of demonic beasts. Often, hard work alone was not enough. These rogue cultivators had already lost at the starting line.

Liu Changxu's breakthrough astonished even Ninth Great-Aunt Liu Qiuju and her daughter, Zhao Yushan, who were standing guard while Liu Shihao attempted Foundation Establishment.

It was not just Liu Changxu. With ample pills to support them, Third Uncle Liu Shijie, Fifth Brother Liu Changshun, and Fifteenth Uncle Liu Shichao had all advanced in their cultivation. Third Uncle Liu Shijie finally broke through to late Qi Refinement, adding another elder to the Liu Household. Fifteenth Uncle Liu Shichao reached the sixth level of Qi Refinement, while Fifth Brother Liu Changshun reached the fourth layer of Qi Refinement.

All three were especially grateful to Liu Changxu. Without the yellow crystal copper mine he had discovered, they could never have broken through so quickly.

While Liu Changxu and the other three had all made breakthroughs in their cultivation, his father, Liu Shihao, had also reached the critical moment in his attempt to attain Foundation Establishment.

After several months of secluded cultivation, Liu Shihao had refined his magical energy to a state of complete perfection. He had committed every precaution required for Foundation Establishment to memory, thoroughly mastered the Fire Lotus Sword Art, and successfully switched to the new cultivation method.

Once all his preparations for Foundation Establishment were complete, Liu Shihao took out the blue-green Foundation Establishment Pill, which gave off a faint, pleasant fragrance. He placed it in his mouth and began circulating the Fire Lotus Sword Art to refine it.

As he gradually refined the Foundation Establishment Pill's medicinal power, the mass of spiritual energy in his dantian began spinning and churning violently, as though it had been set ablaze. The potent medicinal power drove the magical energy and true qi within his dantian through the meridians throughout his body, continuously scorching and scouring his organs, bones, blood, muscles, and other tissues, tempering out gray-black impurities. During this process, the excruciating pain nearly made Liu Shihao faint!

For a Qi Refinement cultivator, advancing to Foundation Establishment was a process of evolution to a higher level of life. Like a butterfly breaking free of its chrysalis, this process was agonizing! Once it began, it could not be stopped. Many cultivators failed to establish their foundations because they could not endure such pain! The price of failure was often death and the end of their cultivation path. The lucky few who survived usually suffered grievous injuries and could never attempt Foundation Establishment again.

Precisely because Liu Shihao understood this, he forced himself to endure the pain without letting his guard down, continuing to circulate the Fire Lotus Sword Art and refine the Foundation Establishment Pill.

As he slowly grew accustomed to the pain, gentle currents of medicinal power began gradually reshaping Liu Shihao's meridians and body! His aura also grew stronger, little by little.

Under the Foundation Establishment Pill's powerful medicinal effects, the mass of spiritual energy in his dantian also began to liquefy. Once all the spiritual energy in his dantian had turned into liquid, his Foundation Establishment would be complete.

After three arduous days and nights of refining the pill, all the gaseous magical energy in Liu Shihao's dantian finally transformed into liquid magical energy.

A powerful aura began radiating from Liu Shihao. He had successfully reached Foundation Establishment.

After more than a century of effort by every member of the Peach Blossom Mountain Liu Lineage, they had finally nurtured their first Foundation Establishment cultivator. The Liu Household had become a Foundation Establishment lineage!

When the Liu Household cultivators in Purple Forest Market heard that Liu Shihao had successfully reached Foundation Establishment, every one of them rejoiced. Grand Elder Liu Qiusheng and several other elderly members of the lineage even shed tears of happiness!