Breaking Through to Foundation Establishment
After more than a month, Shen Ge had finally returned to the Peak of the Ninth Layer of Qi Refinement. Now it was time to begin breaking through to Foundation Establishment.
He left the courtyard and came to a cliff that rose high into the sky. Watching the clouds gather and drift apart below, Shen Ge slowly adjusted his State of Mind, doing his best to calm his heart.
Three days later, Shen Ge began his breakthrough. As the Spirit Gathering Formation in his room activated, countless streams of Spiritual Qi from all around surged toward him like a tide.
Five days passed. A powerful wave of Spiritual Qi erupted from Shen Ge inside the room. The next moment, his eyes snapped open, and a thin ray of golden light shot from them and faded into the air.
Slowly breathing out a breath of turbid air, Shen Ge looked at the Spiritual Qi surging within him and finally let out a sigh of relief. Several times over the past five days, he had nearly taken the Foundation Establishment Pill, but fortunately, he had held back each time. Now he had finally succeeded in breaking through.
"Foundation Establishment Realm. My spiritual power has increased more than threefold. In terms of strength, I could probably take on five of my former selves."
After observing the changes within his body for a while, Shen Ge finally noticed an extremely thin layer of something like grime on his skin, and it gave off a terrible stench.
"This must be marrow cleansing and bone tempering. I didn't expect this body of mine, which I only condensed not long ago, to still have so many impurities. What a surprise."
Shen Ge raised a hand and summoned a ball of water. After rinsing himself off, he changed into his dark cyan robe. As for his old clothes, he took them outside and burned them. They stank so badly that no one would want to wear them.
Back at the cliff where he had gone to calm his State of Mind, Shen Ge gazed at the sea of clouds below and hesitated. After struggling with the decision for a while, he decided not to try flying here after all. Falling from this height would be no joke.
Once he reached the mountain forest, Shen Ge leaped to the top of a tall tree and raised a hand to summon the Golden Light Sword.
Looking at the flying sword hovering in the air, Shen Ge guided it to his feet. After a moment's hesitation, he stepped onto it.
The flying sword plunged sharply downward, but soon rose again.
Shen Ge guided the flying sword slowly into the air. Though it was as slow as a leisurely walk, at least it was steady.
After circling a few times, Shen Ge grew bolder and poured more spiritual power into it. The flying sword went faster and faster, soon turning into a streak of light that darted wildly through the sky.
Fortunately, Shen Ge's skills weren't too shabby, and he didn't crash into any mountains or trees.
After experimenting for nearly four hours, Shen Ge was forced to land because his spiritual power was almost exhausted.
Sitting on a boulder, Shen Ge frowned and analyzed the situation. "At full speed, I'm a little faster than an airplane, but the Spiritual Qi in my body can only last four hours when I fly at full speed. If I had Spirit Stones or pills to replenish my spiritual power, I should be able to keep flying as long as I had enough."
Once he understood his limits, Shen Ge began restoring his spiritual power.
Toward evening, a streak of light left the courtyard and flew toward a nearby peak, disappearing into the forest shortly afterward.
In the distance, atop a peak more than a dozen mountains away, a man in white watched the sword light and frowned. "Is that the junior brother who joined Divine Sword Peak a few months ago? Has he already reached Foundation Establishment?"
"Senior Brother Qin Yu, we're all friends here, so stop hiding it. Aren't you just upset that the kid went into Senior Sister Liuyue's territory? But he's the junior brother in Senior Sister Liuyue's direct lineage, so there's nothing you can do about it."
The speaker was Li Kui, the eldest senior brother of Spirit Medicine Peak. Two others stood beside him: Liu Xiao, the eldest senior brother of the Artifact Refining Hall, and Lu Fan, the second senior brother of Azure Jade Peak.
"When did I ever say I was upset? Which of your ears heard me say that?" Qin Yu protested. "I was just surprised at how fast the kid cultivates. Did I say I was upset?"
"All right, Senior Brother Qin Yu, stop explaining. The more you try to clear your name, the blacker it gets. Who here doesn't know you like Senior Sister Liuyue?"
"But as your friend, I have to give you a word of advice. None of us can match Senior Sister Liuyue's talent. He's already reached Golden Core, while the rest of us are still stuck at the Foundation Establishment Late Stage. So, Senior Brother, there are some things you should think through carefully."
This time, Qin Yu fell silent. He understood some things himself, but understanding was one thing; whether he could convince himself was another.
"Let's leave it at that. I know what I'm doing." Qin Yu looked toward the peak where Su Liuyue lived. "None of us has met this new junior brother yet. Once he goes back, let's drop by his place and get to know him."
"That suits me perfectly. I heard this junior brother seems to have a supreme-grade Metal Spirit Root, which makes him just right for our Artifact Refining Hall. I'll go talk him into joining us, and he can lend everyone a hand in the future."
"So that's what you've been plotting, Liu Xiao. No wonder you've been hanging around here every day lately," Li Kui said with a laugh.
"Speaking of which, what has Senior Sister Wang Yan been doing lately? I haven't seen her in ages," Lu Fan asked.
"I've heard a little about that. Apparently, Martial Uncle Tongxuan roped Senior Sister Wang Yan into assisting him. He seems to be refining a batch of major pills, and Junior Brother Qingfeng seems to have been sent to learn as well."
Meanwhile, at the entrance to Su Liuyue's cave abode, Shen Ge bowed and called out, "Sister, are you there?"
"Sister? Junior Brother, who are you calling sister? You can't mean Senior Sister Liuyue, can you? Strange, I never heard that Senior Sister Liuyue had a younger brother." A woman's voice came from the sky behind him. Unlike Su Liuyue's cool voice, this one had a lively note to it.
Shen Ge turned and saw a woman in a long yellow dress descending slowly from the sky. In terms of looks, she was perhaps only slightly less beautiful than Su Liuyue, but the golden crescent mark on her forehead made her look a touch cute?
Perhaps that was the right word, but when he thought about describing a woman who had lived for decades or even a hundred years as cute, Shen Ge couldn't help feeling that the word wasn't quite right.
"Junior Brother, which peak are you from? How come I've never seen you before?" the woman in yellow asked.
After probing her and finding that her cultivation was higher than his, Shen Ge didn't dare be discourteous. Besides, since she could come and go freely here, she was presumably his senior sister's friend. So Shen Ge replied, "Senior Sister, I-"
Just then, a cool voice came from inside the cave abode. "You should call her junior sister."
The next moment, the restrictions on the cave abode opened, and Su Liuyue's voice came from within. "Junior Brother Shen, Junior Sister Jin Ling, come in."
Jin Ling gave Shen Ge a strange look, her lips turning down as though she were a little unhappy. She had thought he was a junior brother, only to find that he was a senior brother-and one weaker than her at that.
Shen Ge smiled and immediately corrected himself. "Junior Sister Jin Ling, after you."
She had been a senior sister just now, and suddenly she was a junior sister. His attitude had made a complete one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn.
Seeing the faint smile on Shen Ge's face, Jin Ling gave a cold snort and walked in ahead of him.
Had I seen that wrong?
After living so long, she still had the temperament of a young woman?
Shen Ge shook his head to cast those stray thoughts aside and hurried after her.