Breaking the Limits

The Red Leaf Auction won't be held for another year, so that route can only be a backup.

As for other ways to obtain a Foundation Establishment Pill, I've only heard of one: the Hundred Treasures Pavilion's Fate-Forging Gathering. It's held once a year, but the threshold is a little high. They require proof of funds in advance.

I only have a little over seven thousand Spirit Stones and a hundred and twenty Spirit-Concentrating Talismans on hand. I wonder if that's enough to meet the requirements?

If all else fails, I'll make a trip to the Hundred Treasures Pavilion and find out exactly what the requirements for attending are.

As for the Mo Household, should I get involved now, or wait until after Foundation Establishment?

Mo Wen pondered for a long time before finally making a decision: he would wait until after Foundation Establishment to intervene in the Mo Household's affairs!

There were two main reasons he was interested in the Mo Household. First, the original owner of his body came from the Mo Household. Bound by blood, he would help where he could. Second, he wanted to obtain the Mo Household's talisman inheritance. After all, a talisman inheritance that extended to the third tier was truly precious. If he missed it, it would be a terrible shame!

But all of that had to rest on the foundation of his own safety! With the Attribute Panel, Mo Wen would reach the pinnacle of the cultivation world sooner or later! Risking himself for fly-head profits and the hollow fame of a snail's horn was not something a wise man would do!

Having thought it through, Mo Wen walked out of the cultivation room, found Song Xuan, and said, "From now on, if there's any news about the Mo Household, just make a note of it. There's no need to rush to tell me."

"Also, do you know any way to buy a Foundation Establishment Pill?"

Hearing Mo Wen say this, Song Xuan was immediately startled. He looked at Mo Wen in confusion and asked, "Old Mo, what are you planning?"

Mo Wen smiled faintly and said, "I actually cultivated a Secret Method for concealing my presence. The Foundation Establishment Pill is for me."

With that, he released a trace of his presence toward Song Xuan.

Song Xuan's expression changed, and he asked in shock, "You've already reached the Qi Refinement Ninth Layer?"

He truly hadn't expected that this old friend of many years had quietly attained Qi Refinement Ninth Layer cultivation! With that level of strength, plus his status as a mid-grade talisman master, Mo Wen was definitely among the top figures in Red Leaf Market!

Mo Wen nodded and said, "Yes, I advanced two years ago. I'm still a little short of Qi Refining Great Perfection."

"This really is..." Song Xuan looked at Mo Wen with envy written all over his face, at a loss for words. His aptitude was a little better than Mo Wen's, and he had the support of his lineage, yet he had never managed to break through the late-stage bottleneck. Meanwhile, his old friend was about to attempt Foundation Establishment. It was truly a case of "comparing yourself to others will make you die of frustration!"

"Old Song, you've always had a wide circle of acquaintances. You must have heard of some way to buy a Foundation Establishment Pill, right?" Mo Wen returned to the previous topic.

"I have heard people mention some, but I don't know whether they're true." Song Xuan sounded a little uncertain.

"Ask around first. There's no hurry; I come by every month anyway," Mo Wen said with a smile.

Once they had finished discussing business, Mo Wen left a few Wood Armor Talismans and took his leave. The Mo Household was in a dire situation now, and he too had to make the most of his time and attempt Foundation Establishment as soon as possible.

In the blink of an eye, another two months passed. On this day, Mo Wen's cultivation finally reached Qi Refining Great Perfection.

According to common knowledge in the cultivation world, once a Qi Refining cultivator reached Qi Refining Great Perfection, there was no further room for progress. They had to achieve Foundation Establishment before they could enter the next realm of cultivation.

Generally speaking, the better a cultivator's Spirit Root aptitude, the higher their chance of successfully achieving Foundation Establishment. For a cultivator with a False Spirit Root, even with the help of a Foundation Establishment Pill, the chance of success was less than one in a hundred. A cultivator with a True Spirit Root had roughly a twenty to thirty percent chance if they took a Foundation Establishment Pill. For cultivators with a Dual Spirit Root or Variant Spirit Root, taking a single Foundation Establishment Pill made success practically a sure thing. As for the legendary Heaven Spirit Root, its possessors could achieve Foundation Establishment on their own without a Foundation Establishment Pill. It was as easy as eating and drinking.

Mo Wen had False Spirit Root aptitude, so his chances of achieving Foundation Establishment through normal methods were actually slim. He was seeking a Foundation Establishment Pill mainly as a precaution. In truth, he had greater expectations for the Attribute Panel.

At this moment, Mo Wen steadied his mind before opening the Attribute Panel:

Host: Mo Wen

Talent: Heavenly Dao Rewards Diligence (you reap what you sow; effort will always bring rewards!)

Age: (59/104)

Spirit Roots: Four Spirit Roots (wood 36, metal 27, fire 23, water 9)

Cultivation: Qi Refining Limit Breaking (1/100000)

Cultivation Methods: Azure Wood Instruction (greater mastery 3649/10000), Sun Essence and Moon Radiance Life-Praying Technique (beginner 9247/10000), Hundred Transformations Heart Scripture Qi Refining Chapter (greater mastery 872/10000)

Law Techniques: Wood Shield Technique (lesser mastery 1329/5000), Fireball Technique (proficient 438/500), Geng Metal Finger (lesser mastery 271/5000)

Talisman Dao: first-tier mid-grade (3946/5000)

Note: Qi Refining Limit Breaking can simultaneously increase the host's Law Power, Divine Sense, and physical body until all three barriers are broken, allowing the host to achieve Foundation Establishment on his own.

This Heavenly Dao Rewards Diligence is far too heaven-defying! It actually produced limit breaking! So this is what it meant by effort always bringing rewards!

But that's way too much proficiency, isn't it? A whole hundred thousand points. How long will I have to grind before I reach the end?

As Mo Wen grumbled, he began calculating. His Azure Wood Instruction had reached greater mastery, and he could grind out roughly five or six hundred proficiency points a month. At that rate, it would take him about fourteen or fifteen years to break the limit and achieve Foundation Establishment on his own.

Of course, as his mastery of the Azure Wood Instruction deepened with each passing day, his cultivation efficiency would continue to increase. But even taking the most optimistic view, he couldn't achieve Foundation Establishment without ten years of arduous cultivation!

Did he have ten years? He really did! His Sun Essence and Moon Radiance Life-Praying Technique was about to reach proficiency, and then he could extend his life by thirty years! He had plenty of time!

But did the Mo Household still have ten years? Without a Foundation Establishment Ancestor guarding Jingxiu Mountain, the Mo Household would be doing very well to hold out for two or three years without falling!

Alas! It's not that I don't want to help the Mo Household. Circumstances simply won't allow it!

Before he knew whether the Attribute Panel would be useful for Foundation Establishment, he had considered relying on a Foundation Establishment Pill to attempt it. If everything went as he wished, he had a slim hope of succeeding. If he could achieve Foundation Establishment within a year or two, he could help the Mo Household weather its crisis and might even have a chance of taking charge of Jingxiu Mountain.

But once he learned he could achieve Foundation Establishment through limit breaking, he immediately abandoned the idea of using a Foundation Establishment Pill. Even with a Foundation Establishment Pill, a False Spirit Root cultivator's chance of success was vanishingly small. If Foundation Establishment failed, even if he luckily survived, his foundation would be severely damaged, and he would have no further chance of achieving it.

Now that he had limit breaking, a method guaranteed to succeed, why would he still consider a Foundation Establishment Pill? As for the Mo Household, he only needed to do what he could.

Since I'm going to take the path of limit breaking, I no longer need to save up Spirit Stones. I might as well sell a few suitable Law Artifacts.