Foundation Establishment! Anything from the Female Demon Was Bound to Be Top Quality

"Mm, I respect your choice."

Shangguan Wuqing did not try to persuade him. Lin Mo's answer seemed to have been entirely within her expectations.

Then Shangguan Wuqing asked about Zhou Ze.

Although she still did not know Lin Mo well enough, even demonic cultivators needed a reason to kill, apart from a tiny handful of extreme cases.

Lin Mo must have had a reason for killing Zhou Ze without a sound.

After considering it for a while, Lin Mo told her the whole story.

"Your description alone isn't enough for me to identify her. There are eighty, if not a hundred, female disciples in the sect who fit that description."

Shangguan Wuqing pondered for a moment. "You should be more careful from now on."

Lin Mo nodded.

After this incident, he really did need to be more careful.

At least until he grew stronger, it would be best to go out as little as possible.

The waters of the First Saint Sect ran too deep.

For Servant Disciples in particular, it was all too easy to drown in that pool of murky water.

"Take care, Captain Wuqing."

After Shangguan Wuqing left, Lin Mo began recuperating in quiet seclusion.

Fortunately, his injuries were not serious, and the pure yang sacred body possessed exceptionally powerful self-healing abilities.

After seven days of quiet recuperation, he had more or less recovered.

Lin Mo was in no hurry to study and practice the Soul-Devouring Saber Art. His most pressing task was to break through to the Foundation Establishment Realm first.

During his secluded cultivation, Lin Mo also kept an eye on the entrance to the Purple Heaven Palace.

Fortunately, no one had come looking for Liu Ziyan lately.

His secluded cultivation therefore proceeded smoothly, without any forced interruptions.

And so.

More than a month passed.

Lin Mo's steadily surging aura finally reached a critical point.

Deep in cultivation, Lin Mo sensed a hazy barrier.

It was the shackle separating the Qi Refining Period from foundation establishment.

For ordinary cultivators, this shackle was not so easy to break.

But for Lin Mo, who possessed the pure yang sacred body, it was like a thin sheet of paper that could be pierced with a single poke.

With a stir of Lin Mo's will.

Vast spiritual power surged like a flood bursting through a dam.

It shattered the shackle barring his path to the Foundation Establishment Realm.

In an instant, torrents of spiritual power forced their way through meridians that had become clogged over the years.

As his aura continued to rise, his body underwent earth-shaking changes as well.

Flesh filled out his skeletal frame, and the wrinkles that time had etched into his skin gradually tightened at a speed visible to the naked eye.

His weathered old face regained its vitality.

After clearing his blocked meridians, the spiritual power, as vast as an abyssal sea, finally flowed into his dantian.

An unending stream of spiritual power gathered in his dantian, condensing into a golden Dao foundation that radiated scorching pure yang energy.

At that moment, Lin Mo's aura reached its peak.

Foundation establishment early stage!

After more than a month in seclusion, Lin Mo opened his eyes again.

His once-clouded eyes, hollow and lifeless as those of a man on death's doorstep, now held a measure of clarity.

"A hundred and ten years. This old man has finally... established his foundation."

Lin Mo clenched his fists, feeling the powerful spiritual energy within him, so different from before, and murmured in an even tone.

Beneath that even tone lay joy and excitement enough to send an old man's tears streaming down his face.

But over a century of wind, frost, and brutal battering had made him mature and steady, no longer as rash as he had been in his youth.

Once he had calmed somewhat from the joy of his breakthrough, Lin Mo noticed the changes in his body.

Before, he had looked like a dying old man past a hundred.

Now, he looked as he had at eighty.

The change was quite obvious. At the very least, he no longer looked as shabby as he had during the Qi Refining Period.

Lin Mo did not expect to regain the youthful appearance he had possessed at twenty. Returning to the appearance of a middle-aged or elderly man in his fifties or sixties would be enough.

"Next, I can start practicing the Soul-Devouring Saber Art."

Lin Mo did not dare slack off. After only a brief rest, he took out the manual for the Soul-Devouring Saber Art and began studying it.

Once he mastered the Soul-Devouring Saber Art, with the added support of the Black Blade.

If he faced Yun Fei again, Lin Mo was confident he would absolutely have the strength to protect himself.

He would not be reduced to fleeing for his life in panic as he had last time.

Over the next few days.

Lin Mo studied Soul Hook, the first move of the Soul-Devouring Saber Art, while using the Black Blade to aid his practice.

With the heaven-defying comprehension granted by the pure yang sacred body as well.

It took Lin Mo only five days to master Soul Hook completely.

Only then did Lin Mo gain a rough understanding of the Soul-Devouring Saber Art.

"Holy shit, this Soul-Devouring Saber Art definitely isn't an ordinary technique!"

Even the Soul Hook he unleashed while studying and testing the move was powerful enough to make Lin Mo tremble with fear!

As its name suggested, [Soul Hook] could seize an enemy's three souls and seven spirits.

If used against a mighty cultivator in the Nascent Soul Realm, it could severely injure their primordial spirit, or even forcibly strip it from their physical body!

Of course, with Lin Mo's current cultivation, he clearly could not pose any threat to a mighty Nascent Soul Realm cultivator.

But that did not matter. With his current cultivation, Lin Mo did not expect.

To threaten a mighty Nascent Soul Realm cultivator with this one Soul Hook move.

At least against someone in the same realm.

If his enemy was unprepared, this Soul Hook move would undoubtedly be fatal.

Lin Mo even felt that challenging someone a minor stage above him would be no great difficulty!

"As expected of a technique from the Female Demon. It really does have something to it!"

Anything from Liu Ziyan was bound to be top quality!

Lin Mo had known it. How could a technique Liu Ziyan carried on her person possibly be low-grade trash?

With this, if he encountered Yun Fei again, he would no longer be the one who needed to avoid her.

Instead, Yun Fei would have to think about how to escape with her life.

"Mm... reaching foundation establishment is only the starting point of cultivation. This old man still needs to guard against arrogance and impatience, keep his head down, and grow stronger."

Lin Mo realized that his cultivation had been advancing too quickly lately.

Perhaps he needed a technique for concealing his aura.

That way, not only could he keep his head down and grow stronger more smoothly.

If someone set their sights on him one day.

His hidden cultivation could also lead his enemy to underestimate him, allowing him to catch them by surprise.

Aura-concealing techniques were not particularly rare. He should be able to find one by browsing the Sect Trading Market.

"Come to think of it, it seems about time to clean the Purple Heaven Palace."

As soon as he stepped outside, the gates of the Purple Heaven Palace came into view.

Only then did Lin Mo suddenly remember Liu Ziyan's instructions before she left.

She had told him to clean the Purple Heaven Palace after a month.

Yet more than a month and a half had already passed.

"Forget it. The Female Demon isn't here anyway, so there's no rush. I'll go buy a manual for an aura-concealing technique first."