Successful Foundation Establishment, Failed Star Inlaying
Kong Wenxuan ultimately decided to advance to the "Yellow Earth Divine Sword" first, rather than changing it to the "Azure Wood Divine Sword".
Although he had previously witnessed the power of his third aunt Kong Yuyin's Second Tier Spirit Artifact, the "Azure Wood Divine Sword," and was quite envious, he once considered changing his cultivation plan to first refine and upgrade the "Azure Wood Divine Sword."
However, after calming down, he remained firm in his original idea and continued to refine and upgrade the "Yellow Earth Divine Sword".
After all, he already possesses the Second Tier Spirit Artifact "Crimson Fire Divine Sword" and "White Metal Divine Sword," so he is not lacking in offensive power and lethality. What he lacks now is defensive power.
Therefore, choosing the "Yellow Earth Divine Sword," which offers superior defense, is undoubtedly the better option.
At this moment, the three servant cultivation Lineage Yan, Ma, and Yun, along with eight Qi Refining Ninth Layer cultivators, were in seclusion in a nearby house, attempting to break through to the Foundation Establishment Stage. Even if they were quick, it would still take several days. Kong Wenxuan naturally couldn't waste this time watching them break through and attempt to break through to the Foundation Establishment Stage.
At most, he would wait for the cultivators from the servant Lineage in the nearby houses who were attempting to break through to the Foundation Establishment Stage. If any of them failed and fell into Demon Beast form, he would simply kill them.
If anyone successfully Foundation Establishment, congratulations will be offered afterward.
Therefore, he continued his normal cultivation, summoned the "Yellow Earth Divine Sword," formed hand seals, and channeled his Law Power and Spiritual Consciousness to create Spiritual Restriction that he then infused into the "Yellow Earth Divine Sword."
Buzz!
The "Yellow Earth Divine Sword," which was hanging upside down above the Second Tier "Shoushan Stone" spiritual material, immediately vibrated and hummed. A yellowish-brown sword light shot out from the downward-hanging sword tip, landing on the "Shoushan Stone" spiritual material below. It immediately extracted a large amount of yellowish-brown "dust mist" from it, which was then integrated into the "Yellow Earth Divine Sword" for absorption and refinement.
The First Tier Law Artifact, "Yellow Earth Divine Sword," began to undergo subtle changes and growth. At the same time, a wisp of Law Power and spirituality was fed back into Kong Wenxuan's Dantian and sea of Sea of Consciousness during the process of refining, devouring, and transforming the "Yellow Earth Divine Sword," causing his Law Power and Spiritual Consciousness to increase and improve subtly.
Five days passed in the blink of an eye. On this day, Kong Wenxuan was continuing to refine the "Yellow Earth Divine Sword" and devour and refine the "Shoushan Stone" spiritual material below when he suddenly sensed a fluctuation of Spiritual Consciousness coming from a house not far away.
He immediately stopped refining the "Yellow Earth Divine Sword" and turned to look in the direction from which the Spiritual Consciousness fluctuations were coming.
"Judging from the location of that house, it should be the place where a Qi Refining Ninth Layer cultivator from the Ma Household went into seclusion. Did he successfully open his Sea of Consciousness and give birth to Spiritual Consciousness?"
"Unexpectedly, out of three servant cultivation Lineage and eight Qi Refining Ninth Layer cultivators, it was the Ma Household who were the first to achieve a breakthrough."
"Next, the Demonic Nature Backlash. The question is whether they can overcome their demonic nature with humanity and avoid becoming Demon Beast."
Chirp!
Just as Kong Wenxuan's thoughts were turning, he suddenly heard the chirping of Sparrow coming from the house, and a Yao Qi burst forth from the room.
He immediately raised his eyebrows, shook his head, and sighed, "It's a failure!"
Then, the Golden Light Sword Threads transformed from the Second Tier "White Metal Divine Sword" flew out and slashed into the house, instantly killing the Ma Household cultivator who had just failed to break through, whose demonic nature overwhelmed his humanity, and who had fallen into the form of Sparrow demon.
He retrieved the "White Metal Divine Sword," its sharp edge completely untouched by blood. He shook his head, ignoring the matter.
In this True Spirit Realm, breakthroughs in major realms for bloodline cultivators are always accompanied by various dangers, especially for those from lower-level Bloodline Lineage like theirs. Failure and degeneration into Demon Beast are the most common outcomes.
The chances of failure for cultivators from the Kong Household when attempting to break through to the Foundation Establishment Realm were nearly 50%, let alone for these servant cultivator Lineage.
Therefore, Kong Wenxuan didn't find it strange that the Ma Household cultivator who failed in his first attempt and degenerated into Demon Beast was not surprising.
He quickly composed himself and continued to refine and enhance the "Yellow Earth Divine Sword".
However, that afternoon, he sensed a new wave of Spiritual Consciousness; someone else had successfully opened their Sea of Consciousness, given birth to Spiritual Consciousness, and entered the Foundation Establishment Stage.
He turned his head and saw that the person in that direction was still a cultivator from the Ma Household. Moreover, judging from the location of the house, the one who was in seclusion inside to break through should be Ma Zhenyu, the patriarch of the Ma Household.
"It's the Ma Household again!"
Kong Wenxuan only had a fleeting thought in his mind before giving it no further consideration, simply looking at the place where the other party had gone into seclusion to break through.
This time, there were no unexpected events. After a brief period of confusion, the other party's newly formed Spiritual Consciousness quickly stabilized.
Immediately, an aura and power belonging to a Foundation Establishment cultivator erupted from the room.
Clearly, Ma Zhenyu, the patriarch of the Ma Lineage, has successfully broken through to the Foundation Establishment Stage and overcome the Demonic Nature Backlash in his bloodline, thus becoming a true Foundation Establishment cultivator.
"One failed this morning, and one succeeded this afternoon. That's an impressive success rate!"
A thought flashed through Kong Wenxuan's mind, and suddenly, as if sensing something, he looked up at the sky.
Although no unusual phenomena manifested, he could still sense a force descending from the "Celestial Stars True Spirit Diagram" in the sky, connecting with the newly born Spiritual Consciousness.
The next moment, he sensed that the newly formed Spiritual Consciousness had disappeared, and even the aura and power belonging to Ma Zhenyu in the house had vanished.
Kong Wenxuan instantly understood. "This is the Star Inlaying Trial initiated by the ' Celestial Stars True Spirit Diagram '!"
"Ma Zhenyu actually chose to accept the test; he wants to be Star Inlaying!"
Kong Wenxuan's mind raced as he put away the "Yellow Earth Divine Sword" and the Second Tier "Shoushan Stone" spiritual material in front of him, got up and walked out of the house, looking up at the sky.
Although he couldn't possibly see Ma Zhenyu undergoing the "Star Inlaying Trial" like this, he still couldn't help but look up, wanting to know as soon as possible whether the other party had successfully Star Inlaying.
"Your Excellency, Magistrate!"
On the other side, outside the house where the two members of the Yan Household were in seclusion, Yan Zhiyu, the head of the Yan Lineage who was protecting them, saw Kong Wenxuan come out and immediately came forward to pay his respects, with a look of doubt on his face.
Clearly, she was unaware that Ma Zhenyu had undergone the "Star Inlaying Trial".
"Hmm." Kong Wenxuan nodded slightly to her and said, "It's alright, you can continue..."
Before he could finish speaking, he sensed that the mysterious power that had descended suddenly dissipate and disappear, and Ma Zhenyu's aura, power, and even his newly formed Spiritual Consciousness reappeared in the house in front of him.
At this moment, Yan Zhiyu seemed to finally sense something was amiss. She turned to look at the house where Ma Zhenyu was, a look of surprise on her face, and said, "Fellow Daoist Ma, you have successfully Foundation Establishment!"
"It was indeed a success." Kong Wenxuan nodded, while thinking to himself, "The Star Inlaying Trial ended so quickly; it seems the other party failed in their Star Inlaying."
"Even Ma Zhenyu might not have been able to complete the ' Starlight Steps,' nor reach the ' Ninth-Grade True Spirit Heaven,' let alone undergo the Star Inlaying."
He couldn't help but shake his head. "Star Inlaying is indeed not that simple."
However, now that he had already come out, it wasn't appropriate for him to go back. In any case, the other party had successfully Foundation Establishment, so he might as well offer his congratulations.