novelnext Chapter 218 - 167: Foundation Establishment at Last
Chapter 218 - 167: Foundation Establishment at Last
Inside the Immortal Mansion, Fang Qingyuan’s soul hovered weightlessly above the Black Land. His soul was now incredibly solid. Thanks to the combined capacity of two fused souls and the extra Soul Power from his Soul Dao Technique, Fang Qingyuan’s soul was nearly on par with a Cultivator in the Foundation Establishment Stage—more than five times stronger than that of a peer Late-stage Qi Cultivation Perfect Cultivator.
Sensing his perfected soul, a feeling of deep satisfaction welled up within him. A powerful soul like his increased his chances of achieving Foundation Establishment by thirty percent over an ordinary person, an advantage sufficient to rival the effects of a Foundation Establishment Pill.
But even so, Fang Qingyuan had a vial of Foundation Establishment Pills prepared, just in case.
’A Lifebound Talent is great, but reaching Foundation Establishment is what’s truly fundamental. I can’t stubbornly refuse to take a Foundation Establishment Pill just for the sake of my talent.’ Fang Qingyuan believed that if he needed it, he would take it. There was no point in being needlessly obstinate.
’Of course, it would be even better if I could reach Foundation Establishment without needing the pill at all.’
Fang Qingyuan gazed at everything within his Immortal Mansion. As his cultivation level had gradually increased, the space had expanded to twenty mu. Compared to the initial one-and-a-third mu it started with, the twenty mu of Black Land now looked far more vast and open.
With the improvement of Fang Qingyuan’s Five Elements Spirit Root, the Purple Bamboo Forest and the Spirit Plant Garden had grown much more robust. The Spirit Plants seemed to greatly prefer the radiance cast down by the miniature sun, manifested by the Three-legged Golden Crow Illusion Beast in the sky, over the Immortal Mansion’s own innate light.
Furthermore, Fang Qingyuan had instructed the Water Spirit Beast, his Black Tortoise Illusion Beast, to stay in the original water pool. All the water vapor within the Immortal Mansion now gathered there, where the Black Tortoise Illusion Beast transformed it into a sweet dew imbued with Water Spiritual Power, which it used to nourish the purple bamboo and the other Spirit Plants.
The Earth Spirit Illusion Beast worked to enrich the nutrients in the Black Land, while the Wood Spirit Dragon Form playfully zipped about the Immortal Mansion, causing a bit of mischief. It would occasionally spit out a ball of Spiritual Qi, enough to sustain the plants for many days.
Only the Golden Spirit White Tiger remained, standing motionlessly on a patch of ore-rich ground, its daily thoughts a mystery.
The Five Elements Illusion Beasts were not mindless, false creations. Thanks to the miraculous nature of the Earth Tier Upper Grade Cultivation Technique that Fang Qingyuan primarily practiced, these Illusion Beasts were all evolving down the path to becoming true living beings. However, this process was exceedingly long. By the day these five Illusion Beasts became truly sentient, Fang Qingyuan would likely have already ascended to the ranks of the immortals.
After all, even Zuo Changsheng, the creator of this Cultivation Technique, had only ever theorized this step. He ultimately died at the precipice of advancing to Divinity Transformation, which was why this technique was never rated as Celestial Tier.
Among the Five Elements Illusion Beasts, the Wood Spirit Dragon Form was the most intelligent. This was because it had once eaten a small Fish Dragon, and its own form was now gradually evolving to resemble one.
Compared to the other four Illusion Beasts, which could only understand the simplest of commands, the Wood Spirit Fish Dragon could even express emotions like joy and anger.
This was an extremely crucial step. Therefore, even though Fang Qingyuan’s aptitude was highest in his Metal Spirit Root among the five elements, he still used Wood Spirit Techniques the most often.
Sensing the arrival of Fang Qingyuan’s soul, the nearly five-inch-long Fish Dragon swam over to him, wagging its head and tail. It occasionally brushed against his soul to express its delight.
The Fish Dragon’s five-inch body wasn’t even as tall as a water bottle from Fang Qingyuan’s past life. Its frame was slender, hardly thicker than an earthworm. Yet, this tiny creature could unleash immense power. No one below the level of a Foundation Establishment Cultivator could even hope to lay a finger on it.
After playing with the Fish Dragon for a moment, it swam off elsewhere. Having gained sentience, it was curious about everything within the Immortal Mansion. Fang Qingyuan had forbidden it from visiting the Bee Queen’s hive in the Purple Bamboo Forest, but it was free to roam and explore anywhere else.
The Bee Queen was still in a deep slumber. The sheer length of time made Fang Qingyuan a little worried, but its condition was stable, showing no sign that it would sleep forever. That put his mind at ease. Still, the Bee Queen had now been asleep for almost seven years. ’Just what kind of Innate Divine Technique,’ he wondered, ’could require such a prolonged hibernation?’
As he took another look at everything in the Immortal Mansion, Fang Qingyuan recalled the days he spent ferrying Yinbao across the water. A faint smile touched his lips. Then, with a casual wave of his hand, he summoned twelve black daggers from a nearby platform, pulling them in front of him.
The refinement method used to create these black daggers was unsophisticated, so their quality was not high—only Tier One Upper Grade. If sold in an outside Marketplace, the entire set would not fetch more than twenty thousand Low-grade Spirit Stones.
However, these black daggers carried a hint of the Demonic Dao and could emit a blade light that bewildered the mind. An ordinary Cultivator could easily be caught off guard by them.
In Fang Qingyuan’s eyes, however, these enchantments were a complete waste of the daggers’ excellent base material.
’My Foundation Establishment Opportunity points to these daggers not for the Sword Light Array inscribed on them, but for the material they’re made from.’
At this thought, Fang Qingyuan hesitated no longer. He gathered the daggers in mid-air and beckoned to the Three-legged Golden Crow Illusion Beast in the sky, signaling for it to breathe fire.
The little Three-legged Golden Crow, which currently looked like a small chick, tilted its head and looked at Fang Qingyuan for a long moment before understanding his intention. It then opened its tiny beak and began to spew an extremely hot flame at the black daggers.
The flames spat out by the Three-legged Golden Crow were a culmination of all the Flame Techniques Fang Qingyuan had ever practiced. All his insights, understanding, and skills with Fire Element Techniques had been absorbed by the creature. After being integrated and refined by the Three-legged Golden Crow, the resulting flames were a good deal stronger than any Fang Qingyuan could conjure himself.