Time flew, and two months passed in the blink of an eye.
During that time, Han Xuanji kept to himself and strictly followed his path of keeping a low profile.
He never stirred up trouble and had as little contact with others as possible.
He found life on Spirit Elegance Peak delightfully carefree. Unlike the other peaks, which had all sorts of quotas, no one here would bother him as long as he finished his work for the day.
That had always been Spirit Elegance Peak's tradition. It was known for arduous cultivation, with none of the scheming and backstabbing found elsewhere.
Life on Spirit Elegance Peak might have been a little dull for others, but in Han Xuanji's eyes, it was a rare treasure of a place.
He specifically chose the easiest menial tasks. Though the contribution points they rewarded were pitifully few, he did not care.
All he wanted was to go there and sign in.
In other people's eyes, however, Han Xuanji was an "oddball," wasting his time on tasks that were hardly worth the effort.
One day.
Han Xuanji came to a mountain peak. Cold mist surrounded him, and a grand hall stood ahead.
Three large characters were engraved on the hall: "Thousand Lotus Hall."
Thousand Lotus Hall was one of Spirit Elegance Peak's treasured places, where many spirit lotuses were grown. The Profound Heart Lotus was a rare spiritual treasure for Foundation Establishment.
Such treasures helped cultivators establish their foundations. Unlike a Foundation Establishment Pill, which increased the chances of success, a good spiritual treasure could not only increase those chances but also improve the quality of one's Dao foundation.
For most cultivators, however, having a Foundation Establishment Pill to help them establish their foundations was already a blessing. Finding a good spiritual treasure for the task was a thousand times harder, since most were snatched up by people with powerful backing.
Han Xuanji entered Thousand Lotus Hall and silently said:
System, sign in.
[Congratulations to the host for successfully signing in at Thousand Lotus Hall. You have obtained the spiritual treasure "Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Heart Lotus."]
"Not bad."
Han Xuanji's eyes lit up.
In Thousand Lotus Hall, even a thousand-year-old Profound Heart Lotus could sell for a sky-high price, and people had reserved them long in advance. Ordinary disciples had no way to get one even if they wanted to buy it.
That was because the Profound Heart Lotus was an excellent spiritual treasure for Foundation Establishment, suitable for most cultivators.
All those days of signing in weren't for nothing.
Han Xuanji murmured to himself.
Han Xuanji had not been idle these past few days. He had reached Qi Refinement Perfection some time ago, but he had not rushed to break through. Every step on the path of cultivation was important, and rushing a breakthrough was unwise.
If he had only intended to establish an ordinary foundation, he would have done so long ago.
He had an Immortal's Aptitude, after all. Naturally, he did not want to settle for less and was determined to forge a perfect foundation.
But forging a perfect Dao foundation required extra effort. Not only did he need to refine his spiritual power and consolidate his foundation, but he also needed the help of a supreme-grade spiritual treasure for Foundation Establishment.
And now, after spending seven sign-in opportunities, he had finally obtained one.
After signing in, Han Xuanji turned and left.
The people around him thought nothing of it. After all, strength and status went hand in hand in the cultivation world, and a disciple who had only just entered Qi Refinement would hardly attract attention.
Before long, Han Xuanji arrived at a cultivation chamber on Spirit Elegance Peak.
He spent fifteen Spirit Stones to rent it for three days.
A Spirit Gathering Formation slowly operated inside the chamber, filling it with abundant Spiritual Qi and making it ideal for secluded cultivation and breakthroughs.
Han Xuanji circulated the True Scripture of Ascension. A vortex of Spiritual Qi appeared above his head and lingered for a long time.
Countless streams of Spiritual Qi entered through the crown of his head, and spiritual power surged within his Dantian.
At that moment, Han Xuanji took out the Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Heart Lotus. The spiritual treasure then entered his body and settled in his Dantian.
He then devoted himself entirely to Foundation Establishment.
Inside his Dantian, his spiritual power condensed from gas into liquid. This was a crucial step in breaking through to the Foundation Establishment Realm. A Foundation Establishment Pill helped cultivators complete that condensation, a step that placed great demands on the quality of their spiritual power.
An unknown amount of time passed.
Once all his spiritual power had condensed into liquid, it formed a lake within Han Xuanji's Dantian, radiating seven-colored light.
This was the sign of perfect Foundation Establishment, and it meant that Han Xuanji had officially entered the Foundation Establishment Realm.
At the same time, a power known as Divine Sense appeared in his sea of consciousness.
Han Xuanji spread out his Divine Sense. It was as though he had gained another pair of eyes; within its range, he could perceive nearly everything around him.
"Having Divine Sense makes things a lot more convenient."
Han Xuanji nodded.
On the path of cultivation, every breakthrough to a major realm brought earth-shaking changes in strength.
So, in the end, one's realm was what mattered.
Counting everything, Han Xuanji had cultivated for three months before reaching the Foundation Establishment First Layer. That was already extremely fast. For many people, Foundation Establishment was a hurdle in itself, and not everyone could break through successfully.
Moreover, even cultivation geniuses did not always pursue breakthroughs as quickly as possible.
Several of the Divine Profound Sect's ten rising stars of this generation had already reached Foundation Establishment, but theirs were not perfect foundations, merely high-grade ones.
The others wanted to find supreme-grade spiritual treasures to forge perfect Dao foundations, so they had yet to enter the Foundation Establishment Realm.
Of course, for most people, a high-grade foundation was enough, and there was still room to make up for it in the future.
It was not as though failing to establish a perfect foundation meant one could never break through to Golden Core or Nascent Soul.
Upon entering Foundation Establishment, one could also be promoted directly to an outer sect disciple in the Divine Profound Sect.
In a third-rate minor sect, someone in the Foundation Establishment Realm could probably even become an elder.
Han Xuanji understood, however, that the Foundation Establishment Realm counted for little in the cultivation world as a whole. In the Divine Profound Sect, it was merely the level of an ordinary outer sect disciple, nothing to be proud of.
Keep a low profile-he had to keep a low profile!
He had no intention of revealing that he had established his foundation, either. For someone with heaven-grade aptitude and sufficient resources, reaching Foundation Establishment in a hundred days was not astonishing.
But for a mere yellow-grade menial disciple, reaching Foundation Establishment in a hundred days would be enough to attract attention, even with a low-grade Dao foundation.
The benefits of being an outer sect disciple were insignificant to Han Xuanji.
He would be better off settling down and continuing to sign in and cultivate.
As long as he kept a low profile.
Would becoming an immortal be difficult?
[Congratulations to the host for successfully signing in at Spirit Elegance Pill Refining Workshop No. 1. You have obtained a bottle of supreme-grade Origin Nurturing Pills.]
"Origin Nurturing Pills? They're just the right supreme-grade spirit pills for the Foundation Establishment Realm. The system really came through."
A smile appeared on Han Xuanji's face.
Qi Condensation Pills could no longer offer him much help, but the Origin Nurturing Pills would come in handy.
He had previously obtained some high-grade Origin Nurturing Pills through signing in, but he had not expected to get a whole bottle of supreme-grade pills this time.
From then on.
Han Xuanji diligently signed in every day while working hard to cultivate various Cultivation Methods. Both his strength and his realm improved at an astonishing pace.
Spring gave way to autumn, and time passed unnoticed in the mountains.
Two years went by in the blink of an eye.
For ordinary people, two years was a long stretch of time.
But to cultivators, it was no more than the snap of a finger.
In just two years, Han Xuanji had already reached Foundation Establishment Perfection.
That speed was inconceivable. Cultivation grew slower at higher levels, and breaking through a single minor layer in the later stages of the Foundation Establishment Realm could be dozens of times harder than it was in the Qi Refining Realm.
Han Xuanji had not focused solely on his cultivation, either; he had not neglected the other aspects.
In the path of the sword, he had now achieved minor mastery of Sword Intent. Although he had never fought a battle against another cultivator, he occasionally went into the deep mountains to hunt low-level Demon Beasts. He generally killed them with one sword strike apiece, without any difficulty.