Bitter cultivation was the foundation

Li Dalong took a few steps back, pressed two fingers together, and unleashed a streak of Sword Qi from his fingertips toward the barrier. Small as that streak was, it packed enough power to pierce a boulder dozens of meters across.

Yet when such powerful Sword Qi struck the barrier, it only made a tiny dent, which vanished in an instant. The barrier did not retaliate either. Apparently, it was purely intended to seal off the area and defend it.

One look told Li Dalong that this barrier was beyond anything he could tackle at present. He made no further attempts and went no farther. After standing before it and examining it for a while, he prepared to turn back toward the entrance to the forbidden grounds.

Ding! Would you like to check in before the Righteous Qi Sect's ancestral grounds?

So the Back Mountain was the sect's ancestral grounds!

"Check in."

Li Dalong agreed without hesitation.

Check-in successful. Reward: one True Essence Pill.

As the system notification faded, a pill giving off a rich medicinal fragrance appeared in Li Dalong's hand. This was the True Essence Pill.

The True Essence Pill was suitable for Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators seeking to improve their cultivation. A single pill could raise them by one stage, greatly shortening the time needed to form a golden core.

Rewards from the system's check-ins could be claimed immediately or temporarily stored in the system space. This was another exceptionally practical feature the system provided.

This was not a suitable place to take a pill and cultivate, so Li Dalong put the newly obtained True Essence Pill back into the system space.

Without lingering before the barrier, he turned and walked out of the valley, returning to the cave dwelling near the entrance to the forbidden grounds.

Since he now intended to live there for the long term, he began using spiritual power to clean and tidy the cave dwelling. At the very least, he wanted to live comfortably.

He now had something of a modest foothold in this other world.

In the days that followed, Li Dalong cultivated diligently every day to improve his strength, persistently checking in at the cave dwelling and before the ancestral grounds to obtain rewards.

His cultivation stage and strength rose at an extraordinary pace.

Time flew like a shuttle, and a year passed in the blink of an eye.

A year might seem long to an ordinary person, but to cultivators with their long lifespans, it was no more than the snap of a finger.

A single session of seated cultivation could last years, or even decades.

Throughout that year, Li Dalong continually obtained rewards through the system's check-ins.

Check-in before the Everlasting True Person's cave dwelling successful. Obtained: one Amethyst Garment.

Check-in before the Righteous Qi Sect's ancestral grounds successful. Obtained: one Dark Bone Seal.

Check-in before the Everlasting True Person's cave dwelling successful. Obtained: the Yin-Yang Ninefold Splendor Sword-Controlling Art.

Check-in before the Righteous Qi Sect's ancestral grounds successful. Obtained: one Celestial Master Spirit-Transforming Sword.

Check-in before the Everlasting True Person's cave dwelling successful. Obtained: one Jade Disk.

Besides these, Li Dalong also obtained numerous True Essence Pills and cultivation materials from his check-ins. These pills and materials greatly accelerated his progress, allowing him to advance from the early stage of the Foundation Establishment Realm through the middle stage and into the Late Foundation Establishment Realm in just one short year.

Over that year, with the system's assistance, the cultivation arts and magical treasures he obtained through check-ins brought Li Dalong's combat power far beyond that of other cultivators at the same stage.

His cultivation progress had accelerated noticeably after he acquired the Innate Spirit Body in particular. A cultivator's cultivation speed depended on talent and resources.

He lacked neither now. If he still could not surpass ordinary people, there truly would be no justice under heaven.

Although he spent that year cultivating diligently, he also understood the need to balance work and rest, rather than cultivating without pause.

In his spare time, Li Dalong explored the entire area between the entrance to the forbidden grounds and the barrier before the ancestral grounds.

There was nothing but desolation. The cave dwellings where his predecessors had once cultivated were all destroyed.

They had left no treasures behind either. As for the barrier around the ancestral grounds, he had no way to open it until his mastery of formations and his strength reached a sufficient level.

Throughout the year, no one entered the forbidden grounds to inspect them. Each day, the Enforcement Hall merely sent someone to leave food inside the entrance. No one cared whether he lived or died; the entire sect seemed to have forgotten him.

Ding! Would you like to begin checking in?

"Check in."

Li Dalong responded as the system notification sounded.

Check-in successful. Congratulations, host. You have obtained one Mystic Origin Pill.

What perfect timing. I've already reached the peak of the Foundation Establishment Realm. With this Mystic Origin Pill, I can break through to the Golden Core Realm.

A cheat was a cheat-the system hadn't let me down at the crucial moment. Looking at the Mystic Origin Pill in his hand, Li Dalong smiled happily.

The Mystic Origin Pill was a supreme-grade pill, worth far more than a True Essence Pill. Only an alchemy grandmaster or someone of greater skill could refine it, and even then, the success rate was below ten percent. Thus, this pill was almost never seen on the market. Every successful batch was immediately divided among the major powers.

Not only did the Mystic Origin Pill contain an enormous amount of spiritual power, but its medicinal potency could also repair hidden injuries sustained during cultivation and shorten the time needed for a breakthrough. Most importantly, it could increase the chances of breaking through from the Foundation Establishment Realm to the Golden Core Realm by at least thirty percent.

In the cultivation world, the Qi Refining Realm involved drawing qi into the body to improve it and lay the foundation for cultivation. The Foundation Establishment Realm marked the passage through the gates of cultivation. Once one established a foundation, immortal and mortal parted ways forever, and one's lifespan reached 180 years.

Entering the Golden Core Realm embodied the saying, "Once a Gold Core is swallowed into my belly, my fate rests with me, not heaven." One's lifespan then rose dramatically to 500 years.

Thus, the peak of the Foundation Establishment Realm seemed only a single step away from the Golden Core Realm, yet that single step barred more than ninety percent of the cultivation world. That one step was like crossing a thousand mountains and ten thousand rivers. Those who crossed it were dragons and phoenixes among men, possessed of astonishing talent.

This showed just how low the chances of breaking through from the Foundation Establishment Realm to the Golden Core Realm were, and how immense the difficulty was.

The system's reward of a Mystic Origin Pill, capable of directly raising the chances of forming a golden core by thirty percent, was truly staggering.

Now that he possessed the Innate Spirit Body, his cultivation speed already far surpassed that of his body's former owner. Given his current talent, reaching the Golden Core Realm was only a matter of time, with or without pills.

Originally, he would have needed another three months of cultivation before he could confidently break through the bottleneck. With the Mystic Origin Pill's assistance, however, he could now be certain of reaching the Golden Core Realm within a month.

What mattered most now was improving his cultivation and advancing his realm. With that thought, Li Dalong put the Mystic Origin Pill into his mouth and swallowed it, then circulated his cultivation art to begin absorbing and refining the pill.

As the pill entered his belly, a vast surge of medicinal potency poured into Li Dalong's dantian.

At the same time, as Li Dalong circulated his cultivation art, every pore on his body opened. Streams of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy poured into him from every direction, rushing along his meridians into his dantian.

As spiritual qi entered his body, a radiance began to emanate from Li Dalong, spreading outward with him at its center.

As his cultivation session continued, the spiritual qi inside the cave dwelling grew increasingly dense. Drawn by the pull of his qi, spiritual qi from outside the forbidden grounds passed through the barrier and poured inside.

Spiritual qi now flowed endlessly into his body, and the spiritual power within his dantian grew ever more abundant.

The vortex of spiritual power also began spinning faster and faster, gradually compressing and shrinking from its original size spanning his entire dantian.

As it compressed, the spiritual power at the center of the vortex became a seed of spiritual power, which then slowly grew. Meanwhile, the vortex continued to shrink, and the spiritual qi carried through his meridians replenished it.