Forging the Dao Foundation

He had broken through!

The Foundation Establishment Realm!

But his Dao Foundation was nothing like what he had imagined, or what he remembered.

When the sect's Transmission Elder had taught them, he had said that the density of their Dao Foundation determined their future growth.

The denser the Dao Foundation, the higher they could climb!

An ordinary Dao Foundation occupied only about thirty percent of the Embracing Origin Palace. Someone like that could never even break through to the Golden Core Stage.

But what if the Dao Foundation occupied around fifty percent?

Then they would have the foundation needed to reach the Golden Core Stage.

With a Dao Foundation occupying over sixty percent, one could rightfully be called a genius!

Over seventy percent, and they were as rare as phoenix feathers-one of the sect's foremost prodigies, a core disciple whose cultivation received special attention.

As for eighty percent?

Apparently, no one in the entire Cloud Frontier had an eighty-percent Dao Foundation. Only the Hundred Schools of humanity in the High Antiquity period were said to have possessed such foundations.

The Ancient Sages had swept across heaven and earth, carving a bloody path for humanity. Their might was easy to imagine.

And beyond eighty percent-ninety percent?

The Transmission Elder had meant that, never mind himself, even the leaders of the Cloud Frontier's major sects had never heard of such an existence.

The Ancient Sages were already figures of myth and legend, let alone someone with a ninety-percent foundation.

Back then, the Transmission Elder had told Lin Ke and the other outer disciples all this to encourage them to cultivate diligently and consolidate their foundations.

The more Spirit Power they accumulated during the Qi Refining Stage, and the firmer their foundations, the more Spirit Power they could convert into a Dao Foundation when they broke through to the Dao Foundation Stage.

And now, what about Lin Ke?

Lin Ke forcibly suppressed the trembling in his heart, silently sensing the Dao Foundation that filled his Embracing Origin Palace and the boundless Spirit Power it represented.

Solid, immense, vast.

If a genius's Dao Foundation meant being sixty percent full, a prodigy's seventy percent full, and the Ancient Sages' eighty percent full...

Then Lin Ke's Dao Foundation was like eating until he was stuffed, his stomach stretched so far that it filled his entire chest and abdomen.

"Fucking hell. No wonder the Cloud Frontier Beast Venerable was so angry..."

Lin Ke rarely swore, but he did now. Then he let out a long breath, suppressing the excitement in his heart.

He could imagine that the requirements for opening up the Mysterious Bead were far more demanding than he had thought. Otherwise, why hadn't the Cloud Frontier Beast Venerable opened it himself?

When he recalled how convoluted and bizarre the original owner's discovery of the Mysterious Bead had been, Lin Ke felt even more delighted.

What a fortuitous opportunity!

A supreme treasure valued even by a mighty Spirit Transformation cultivator was bound to be fraught with difficulties to unlock.

And now, the original owner had endured all those hardships and dangers, while he enjoyed the blessings...

What a fortuitous opportunity indeed!

At the ninth level of Qi Refining, he could cast a dozen or so spells effortlessly. That level of ability was only ordinary; countless cultivators in the Qi Refining Stage were stronger than him.

But what about now?

The dense power within his Cinnabar Field was more than a simple case of quantitative change producing qualitative change. It felt as though that qualitative change had transformed into another quantitative change.

The spells learned during the Qi Refining Stage could only count as "arts." Even someone at the ninth level of Qi Refining could not unleash the "magic" within those spells.

After forging a Dao Foundation, an ordinary cultivator at the Dao Foundation Initial Stage could wield that "magic," but only a dozen or so times.

And him?

Pop.

He raised his arm. A fireball rose from his hand, then went out.

The five-element Spell Arts manual every outer disciple owned now barely consumed any of his Spirit Power.

Previously, using the Mountain-Moving Art and Sweet Rain Art had exhausted him half to death. Now, he could cast them all night without running out of Spirit Power.

At that thought, Lin Ke shook his head and murmured:

"A Dao Foundation, a Dao Foundation... Even the legendary Immortal Foundation is only ninety percent. Who would have thought mine would be a hundred and thirty percent..."

The Transmission Elder had said that, in theory, a hundred-percent Dao Foundation did not exist. The highest possible was an Immortal Foundation of over ninety percent.

That was because a hundred-percent Dao Foundation was essentially no different from a spirit stone. It meant that the Embracing Origin Palace had completely transformed into Spirit Power—it was itself Spirit Power.

Yet Lin Ke's Embracing Origin Palace held a hundred-and-thirty-percent Dao Foundation, its Spirit Power incomparably vast.

Still, he did not grow arrogant or complacent.

Whether a genius, a prodigy, or anything else...

Until they grew into someone strong, they still belonged among the weak.

He still needed to keep his feet firmly on the ground and lie low in the Green Mulberry Garden until he became strong.

Lin Ke closed his eyes. When he opened them again some time later, his gaze was as still as an ancient well, without a trace of his earlier exhilaration or excitement.

He rose and went outside.

The eastern sky had brightened, and the morning sun was just rising.

The farmers, men and women alike, had already gotten up early to prepare for work.

Come to think of it, few could have slept under the Cloud Frontier Beast Venerable's terrifying pressure earlier, especially mortals at the very bottom of the cultivation world's food chain.

But they had no power to resist, either. They simply rose early and worked diligently, with little choice in the matter.

With the Earth Cicada Warm-Sand Formation in place, the Green Mulberry Garden's farmers no longer needed to take turns watching the Blackgold Silkworms throughout the night. After some sleep, they were all brimming with energy.

"Immortal Lin, do you have any instructions for us today?"

The male overseer, Fang Tong, came to the house with the plump woman. Seeing Lin Ke come out just then, he cupped his hands in greeting.

Fang Tong supervised all the male farmers, while the plump woman was in charge of the women.

"Li Yanhua, continue reeling silk. Remember to bring each day's silk to me for inspection once you're finished." Lin Ke looked at the plump woman first.

The plump woman, Li Yanhua, bowed slightly. "As you command, Immortal Lin."

Lin Ke then looked at Fang Tong. "There are plenty of insects in the Green Mulberry Garden's five mountains. Leave five men to patrol Golden Silkworm Peak and watch the Blackgold Silkworms. Everyone else will go into the mountains together to catch insects!"

Golden Silkworm Peak was now covered entirely in mulberry trees and Blackgold Silkworms. With everything gathered in one place and the temperature conditions improved, only a few people were needed to keep watch.

Rather than leave them idle and inefficient, it was better to have them join him in the mountains to catch insects.

Lin Ke was not worried about the farmers encountering danger, either.

With the sect-protecting formation in place, wild spirit insects and spirit beasts would not appear in the Green Mulberry Garden.

These men and women had all lived in the mountains for years and knew them better than Lin Ke did.

"Catch insects?" Fang Tong paused. "What kind of insects?"

"All insects." Lin Ke smiled. "No restrictions on size, species, color, or anything else. As long as they're insects, and alive, they'll do. Of course, stay safe. Don't get bitten by venomous insects."

Hearing this, Fang Tong exchanged a glance with the plump woman and understood Lin Ke's intention.

"Immortal Lin, are you going to raise gu?" Fang Tong asked curiously.

"Yes, and no." Lin Ke gave no definite answer. After all, some things could not be revealed.

Fortunately, this sort of thing was perfectly normal to people from the Poison Tempering Mountains.

Ethnic groups such as the Miao Wei, Yi Ni, Wa Hei, and Ha Ka had passed down their traditions here for hundreds upon thousands of generations. Living alongside venomous insects and miasma generation after generation, they were exceptionally skilled in Witchcraft and Gu Arts.

Rumor had it that the founding patriarch of the Golden Wing Sect had established the sect only after learning Witchcraft and Gu Arts.

Thus, Fang Tong and Li Yanhua were neither particularly surprised nor frightened. They accepted it quite calmly.

Fang Tong was even itching to get started. "All right! Just you wait, Immortal Lin! The men of our Green Mulberry Garden are dab hands at catching insects and handling snakes!"

"Still, be careful." Anticipation showed in Lin Ke's eyes as he teased, "Don't let the Five Poisons peck your eyes out."

"Rest assured, Immortal! Just leave it to your humble servant!" Fang Tong laughed.

"So long as they aren't spirit insects, never mind the Five Poisons-we can handle even the Six Evils with ease. If we run into any, we'll catch every last one for you!"