Chapter 44 Foundation Establishment

Leaving the Baoxian House, Cao Yun did not pause for even a moment, heading straight out of the marketplace. Filled with lingering caution and fearing pursuit by the people of the Baoxian House, he refrained from returning directly to the青山宗 (Qingshan Sect), choosing instead to circle around several times. Only after confirming that no one was tailing him did he safely make his way back to the sect.

Now that he had obtained the medicinal pills required to break through the bottleneck of the tenth layer of Qi Condensation, he merely needed to find a secluded spot to begin his breakthrough.

To act with utmost caution, Cao Yun spent a month of leisurely searching before finally stumbling upon an ideal location. Situated within the Qingmin Mountain Range, more than a hundred miles away from the Qingshan House, the spot concealed a moderately sized valley. Within the valley lay an underground cavern; its entrance was barely wide enough for a single person to pass through, yet the interior opened up into a surprisingly vast space several yards across.

If one were to use weeds and withered wood to slightly camouflage the spot, let alone ordinary immortal cultivators, even a deity descending from the heavens would never imagine that he was breaking through his bottleneck right here.

Having selected his secluded spot, Cao Yun requested a one-month family visit leave from Zhang Bao, the outer sect managing disciple—the senior brother specifically in charge of disciplining their handyman disciples. Cao Yun was firmly convinced that, regardless of whether he succeeded in breaking through the Qi Condensation stage, a month's time should be more than sufficient.

Once everything was properly arranged, Cao Yun entered the underground cavern, meticulously covering the entrance with dead branches and withered leaves. Immediately afterward, he set about attempting to break through the bottleneck of the tenth layer of Qi Condensation, launching an assault on the Foundation Establishment realm.

He was already thoroughly familiar with the medicinal efficacy of the Essence-Jing Pill, but this was his first time taking the Pure Yang Pill. Consequently, he decided to start with two pills to test their potency.

Pinching two Pure Yang Pills between his fingers, Cao Yun swallowed them without a moment's hesitation. The pills melted the instant they touched his tongue, transforming on the spot into a torrent of spiritual energy akin to blazing flames that rampaged through his dantian before spreading instantly to every corner of his body.

Cao Yun felt his spiritual power surge and churn violently, as if it were about to burst right out of his physique. He had not anticipated that the potency of the Pure Yang Pill would be so tyrannical, appearing to be several times fiercer even than the Essence-Jing Pill.

Elated in his heart, Cao Yun circulated his spiritual power, launching a fierce assault against the bottleneck. Even though his spiritual power at this moment was exceptionally formidable, that bottleneck guarding the entry into the Foundation Establishment stage remained as unyielding and indestructible as a wall of bronze and iron. By the time the medicinal efficacy of the two Pure Yang Pills was completely exhausted, the bottleneck still showed not the slightest sign of loosening.

All of this had been well within Cao Yun's expectations, and he did not grow discouraged. Reaching out, he snatched up the bottle of Essence-Jing Pills, tipped three pills into his palm, and tossed them all back at once.

Although the Essence-Jing Pill was not as ferocious in potency as the Pure Yang Pill, its virtue lay in its endurance. Cao Yun took nearly twice as long to completely exhaust the medicinal efficacy of the Essence-Jing Pill as he had for the Pure Yang Pill. Yet, the bottleneck remained as solid as pig iron, showing no trace of loosening whatsoever.

Without a second thought, Cao Yun tipped out another three Essence-Jing Pills and swallowed them in one go. Yet once the medicinal potency faded, the bottleneck remained as impregnable as a fortress.

Once, twice, three times...

Watching as a bottle of Essence-Jing Pills neared depletion while the bottleneck remained utterly motionless, Cao Yun, despite his early preparations, had never imagined that the breakthrough would prove quite this arduous. A whole bottle of Essence-Jing Pills was nearly gone, and the bottleneck was still holding firm.

Left with no other option, Cao Yun could only send another three pills into his mouth. After the medicinal power slowly faded away, he shook his head helplessly, a bitter smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

If the bottleneck of the Qi Condensation stage could be likened to carrying a heavy ten-pound iron slab, then breaking through the Foundation Establishment bottleneck felt much more like being crushed beneath the weight of a thousand-pound burden, making it difficult even to draw a breath. Cao Yun had originally thought he possessed a full and accurate estimation of the breakthrough's difficulty, but at this moment he realized how mistaken he was; his substandard spiritual root aptitude had once again shattered his preconceptions.

He took a deep breath, slowly exhaling the stale air from his lungs, and then ingested two more Pure Yang Pills. He pondered inwardly whether a method combining hardness with softness might prove more effective in assaulting the bottleneck. Thus, he continued his repetitive attempts—following three Essence-Jing Pills with two Pure Yang Pills—until a bottle and a half of Essence-Jing Pills had been entirely consumed, leaving him with less than half a bottle of Pure Yang Pills.

At long last, the bottleneck, which had previously felt as though it were cast from pig iron, began to show the faintest trace of a loosening sign.

Upon witnessing this, an indescribable wave of joy welled up in Cao Yun's heart. If the bottleneck had shown no signs of loosening even now, he might actually have begun to doubt whether someone with a deficient spiritual root could truly ever break past the Qi Condensation stage.

However, since signs of loosening had finally appeared, he immediately adjusted his strategy, reducing the dosage of Essence-Jing Pills from three to two, and the Pure Yang Pills from two to one. He intended to sustain his assault on the bottleneck with this pace for a while longer, before delivering a thunderous, decisive blow to break through in a single stroke.

With his plan set, Cao Yun devoted himself heart and soul to the prolonged task of breaking through the bottleneck. Twenty-five days slipped away as swiftly as a white horse leaping past a crevice. He could clearly sense that the bottleneck had grown as thin as a sheet of window paper, as though a single, final, ferocious strike would be enough to puncture it entirely.

At this moment, he had only three Essence-Jing Pills and two Pure Yang Pills remaining in his possession. Without hesitation, he ingested the two Pure Yang Pills. The pills melted upon contact, rapidly transforming into a surging torrent of spiritual power that he precisely controlled to hammer against that thin membrane. Although the bottleneck looked as though it would shatter at the slightest touch, its resilience far exceeded imagination.

Cao Yun launched wave after wave of assault, and seeing his spiritual power on the verge of exhaustion, he was already preparing to consume his remaining Essence-Jing Pills. Yet, at this very critical juncture, that thin membrane unexpectedly fractured under a gentle, parting brush of his residual, meager spiritual power.

The remaining spiritual power rushed like a wild horse with broken reins instantly into the breached mouth of the bottleneck. Cao Yun clearly felt the spiritual power storage capacity of his dantian expand tenfold in a single instant. He pondered inwardly: if he were to fill this expanded space with spiritual power, what astonishing might would his Fireball Spells and Wind Blade Spells possess? And what terrifying lethality would his Blazing Fire Mother-and-Child Spikes display when driven by such spiritual power?

At this moment, Cao Yun's heart was filled with an unprecedented surge of yearning and excitement. He could hardly wait to immediately fill the spiritual Qi within his dantian to the brim and stride outside to test his newfound prowess.

The thought caused him to burst into hearty laughter, the sound echoing endlessly within the underground cavern.

Clasping two spirit stones in his hands, after a full day of meticulous extraction and refinement, he finally filled his magical power to its absolute peak state. Only then did he notice that both his divine sense and mental power had undergone a massive leap and enhancement.

However, just as he was preparing to depart from the underground cavern, a grief-stricken and indignant female voice suddenly drifted into his ears: "Senior Brother Zhu, aren't you afraid of being discovered by the sect elders when you pull a stunt like this? Tang Ling and I are inner sect disciples..."

The voice was exceptionally familiar. Connecting it with the names Tang Ling and Senior Brother Zhu uttered by the female voice, Cao Yun had already guessed the identity of the person outside.

He slowly closed his eyes, expanding his divine sense without holding anything back. Down on the ground above, Tang Ling lay sprawled in a pool of blood, bubbles the size of little fingers continuously welling up from her mouth, her eyes wide open like copper bells, the once-lovable face now completely stripped of all vitality and color.