As Chen Ming approached the airspace above Blackstone Market and landed beside the smoke-blackened boulder at its entrance, a burst of frenzied laughter pierced the market's noisy hubbub.
"Hahaha! It's here! It really is!"
"Whoa! It's actually a Mystic Spirit Crystal!"
This time, cries of astonishment came from every direction. The itinerant cultivators hurrying along, the guards collecting entrance fees, and even the proprietor standing by a second-floor window of a nearby pill shop all felt their pupils contract, their gazes nailed to that piece of ore.
Chen Ming looked over. It really was that gambling addict, Liao Kongchen. It seemed he had finally turned his luck around with this wager.
As Chen Ming drew closer, even the system, which had been silent for ages, sounded again. Apparently, this Mystic Spirit Crystal was valuable enough to warrant its attention. The greed on the faces of the guests and proprietors made that clear as well. Fortunately, Liao Kongchen was still an inner disciple of the Soaring Immortal Sect, so no one would openly make a move against him for the moment. More importantly, he was a notorious gambling addict. Without even thinking about it, everyone knew he would almost certainly sell it, so no one was planning to target him.
Chen Ming merely glanced over before turning away.
That glance was swift and cold, like a blade lightly scraping across a greasy tabletop, without the slightest lingering attachment. What he saw was neither the crystal's starlight nor Liao Kongchen's face, twisted by greed and his lucky escape, but the nauseating tacit understanding surging beneath this bustling spectacle.
The itinerant cultivators gathered around, the proprietors, and even the gray-robed cultivators of the Azure Wolf Gang had no killing intent in their eyes, only the composure of those waiting for a ripe melon to drop from its stem. They did not need to act, or even dirty their hands.
An inner disciple of the Soaring Immortal Sect, a notorious wastrel and gambling addict-put those two labels together in a place like Blackstone Market, and they amounted to a seal marked "temporary storage."
Everyone understood perfectly well that sooner or later, this Mystic Spirit Crystal would pass from Liao Kongchen's hands, after he had gambled until his eyes turned red, into the underground vault of the Treasure Gathering Tower or the counting room of some major gambling house. Watching now was merely a matter of waiting to see how this fine show would begin, waiting for that sucker to lose even his trousers.
It chilled the heart more than any robbery carried out with naked blades and spears. This was an unspoken, "legal" form of plunder built upon human weakness.
Without attracting anyone's attention, Chen Ming became a nearly transparent streak of light and darted out along the shadows at the foot of the walls.
As Chen Ming walked along the road, a familiar voice suddenly came from behind him.
"Fellow Daoist, please wait!"
Chen Ming froze for a moment. When he looked back, it really was Shen Gongbao.
"Senior Brother Chen, it really is you! This is wonderful!"
After a long journey, Shen Gongbao had finally arrived in the Fengdu Kingdom, but he had not joined another sect. He had come because he heard that the auction house here would be auctioning a Foundation Establishment Pill. He had now reached the twelfth level of qi refining.
"I really didn't expect to see you here, Junior Brother Shen."
Chen Ming had never imagined Shen Gongbao would suddenly appear here, and he hurried to ask why.
Shen Gongbao explained to Chen Ming why he had come.
"Here! Take it!"
Once Chen Ming learned why Shen Gongbao had come, he casually took out a Foundation Establishment Pill and tossed it to him with a smile.
"Senior Brother Chen, what is this?"
Shen Gongbao caught the pill. He knew neither what a Foundation Establishment Pill looked like nor what medicinal fragrance it possessed. He had only heard of it and had never encountered one himself, so he asked with a face full of bewilderment.
"This is a Foundation Establishment Pill. Come on! This isn't the place to talk."
Chen Ming rose on his flying sword, taking Shen Gongbao with him as he flew out of the market and spoke quietly.
"Make your breakthrough here. I'll stand guard for you, so focus on breaking through without worry!"
At the foot of Green Wood Peak in the Five Elements Sect, Chen Ming spoke with ironclad certainty, raising his hand to point at an inconspicuous rock face nearby.
Dense vines covered it, their emerald shadows swaying. Without a close look, it was almost impossible to notice the narrow cave entrance hidden behind them. This spot was remote and quiet, well away from the paths the disciples of Green Wood Peak traveled daily-a rare, secluded hiding place indeed.
"Whenever doing something elsewhere would be inconvenient, I often come here to change clothes or take stock of things I can't let others see. Outsiders have no way of discovering it."
As he spoke, Chen Ming stepped forward and pushed aside vines thicker than a human arm. A smell of earth and old plant ash washed over them. The cave was dim but dry and tidy, clearly maintained regularly.
"What are you standing there for?"
Chen Ming approached, softening his tone a little. He placed a hand on Shen Gongbao's shoulder and sent a strand of gentle, pure wood spiritual energy into him to settle his turbulent emotions. "Sit down and regulate your breathing."
The warmth flowing from his shoulder was like a trickling stream, nourishing Shen Gongbao's nearly parched heart. He raised his eyes and met Chen Ming's gaze.
There was no hollow reassurance in those eyes, only rock-solid certainty, just as there had been when he handed over a Qi-Nourishing Pill on that rainy night five years ago. Only now, they held a little more of the steady strength that came from weathering the world.
Shen Gongbao nodded firmly and said no more, sitting cross-legged on a blue stone slab. He took a deep breath and pulled the stopper from the jade bottle. A perfectly round pill the size of a longan, giving off a rich medicinal fragrance, rolled into his palm. A Foundation Establishment Pill! An opportunity countless qi refining cultivators dreamed of now lay tangibly in his hand.
He hesitated no longer, tilting his head back and swallowing the pill.
As the pill entered his throat, it did not slide down his gullet. Instead, the instant it made contact, it transformed into a mighty, tidal surge of heat that thundered through every limb and bone! Shen Gongbao let out a muffled grunt, his body trembling almost imperceptibly as fine beads of sweat instantly appeared on his forehead.
He hurried to focus his mind and circulate his usual cultivation technique, guiding the violent medicinal power toward his dantian.
Outside the cave, Chen Ming stood with his hands behind his back, while his magical power secretly circulated throughout his body. His spiritual sense spread like an invisible spiderweb, tightly covering a radius of several dozen zhang around the cave. He could clearly sense Shen Gongbao's breathing inside gradually becoming long and heavy, each breath drawing dense spiritual energy into the cave.
Green Wood Peak already abounded in wood spiritual energy. Now, as though drawn by some force, it became a faint green radiance visible to the naked eye, gathering strand by strand toward the vine-covered entrance.
Time passed in silence. One cup of tea, two cups of tea... The spiritual energy fluctuations inside the cave grew increasingly fierce. At first, they were like a murmuring brook, but gradually they became a rushing river, even stirring the air inside the cave into low, mournful howls.
Chen Ming's expression grew grave. His fingertips quietly closed around three Soul-Calming Talismans he had prepared in advance, ready in case the impact of the medicinal power destabilized Shen Gongbao's spiritual sense.
Meanwhile, the pores all over Shen Gongbao's body seemed to become countless tiny vortices, ravenously devouring spiritual energy. From the Baihui point atop his head, an extremely fine yet incomparably dense column of white energy shot skyward, as though it would pierce straight through the vines and layers of rock!
A sign of foundation establishment!
A sharp gleam flashed in Chen Ming's eyes. He knew the critical moment had arrived. He stamped his foot hard, making the ground tremble slightly as more earth spiritual energy spread out, stabilizing the flow of spiritual energy around the entrance.
"Steady! Guide the energy into your dantian, condense it into liquid!"
Chen Ming called out in a low voice. Though quiet, it carried a strange rhythm that penetrated the restrictions and entered Shen Gongbao's ears directly. Like evening drums and morning bells, it helped steady his mind.
Inside the cave, Shen Gongbao had immersed his entire awareness within his body. The Foundation Establishment Pill's medicinal power was like an ancient behemoth awakening, charging wildly through his meridians. Wherever it passed, his already broad meridians were stretched almost to the point of rupture, only to be expanded and strengthened as purer spiritual energy washed through them.
Within his dantian, the spiritual energy that had originally been gaseous was being compressed and condensed bit by bit under the combined pressure of the medicinal power and his cultivation technique... The process was agonizing, as though his sinews and bones were being crushed inch by inch and rebuilt, but only one thought remained in his mind: I must not let him down! I must not fail Chen Ming's protection, nor waste this hard-won opportunity!
Who knew how long had passed? Perhaps only an instant, perhaps several hours. The spiritual energy storm inside the cave gradually subsided, and that violent suction slowly weakened until it disappeared. At last, everything fell silent.
The taut string in Chen Ming's heart eased slightly, but he still dared not relax his spiritual sense, keeping it firmly fixed on the cave's interior. He could feel that Shen Gongbao's aura had undergone an earth-shaking transformation.
The restlessness and ostentation of the qi refining stage had vanished without a trace, replaced by a deep, restrained weight like that of a fathomless pool. Though it was not yet fully stabilized, this was unmistakably the spiritual pressure possessed only by a foundation establishment cultivator!
After another long while, a prolonged exhalation came from inside the cave. Then the vines were gently pushed aside from within, revealing Shen Gongbao.
He still wore the same green robe, yet he seemed reborn. His face appeared a little leaner, but a keen light lay within his eyes as they opened and closed. Not a trace remained of the old sluggishness caused by barely suppressing his cultivation level.
Every step he took was steady and powerful. His aura flowed smoothly and freely, faintly harmonizing with his surroundings. Qi refining and foundation establishment were only a single step apart, yet the difference seemed as vast as that between mortal and immortal.
Shen Gongbao looked at Chen Ming and bowed deeply. His voice was slightly hoarse after his breakthrough, but utterly sincere. "Senior Brother Chen, I will never forget your great kindness!"
Chen Ming extended a hand, lifting him with an invisible supporting force. After looking him up and down, he finally revealed an unabashed smile and clapped him firmly on the shoulder. "Good! Early foundation establishment, and a fine showing at that! How do you feel?"
Feeling the power within him, dozens of times stronger and purer than before, and recalling the transformation that had balanced him on the line between life and death, Shen Gongbao struggled to calm his emotions. "It was all thanks to you standing guard, Senior Brother. Otherwise, even with the pill, I could hardly have broken through so smoothly."
"Enough of that. Now that you've established your foundation, what are your plans?"
Chen Ming waved a hand, then asked.
"I wish to follow at your side, Senior Brother Chen!"
Shen Gongbao bowed deeply and spoke solemnly.
"Mm! I've joined Green Wood Peak of the Five Elements Sect. In that case, come up the mountain with me! And don't tell anyone about the Foundation Establishment Pill!"
Chen Ming nodded in satisfaction, then spoke.