Chapter 223: Chapter 214: Breakthrough to Foundation Establishment (Part 2)

With the Top-grade Foundation Establishment Pill swallowed and the Celestial Wood Spirit Leaf held in his mouth,

Fang Yun began circulating the final mental method of the Cyan Wood Technique—the part for breaking through to the Foundation Establishment Stage—and officially began his attempt to reach the next realm.

With all preparations complete and the aid of every external factor, his probability of successfully breaking through to the Foundation Establishment Stage was already close to ninety-three percent.

For a Cultivator with Five Spirit Roots, this was undoubtedly an extremely high success rate.

If this attempt failed, another Top-grade Foundation Establishment Pill would be incredibly difficult to obtain anytime soon. With his current influence in the sect, he could probably still get a Middle-Grade Foundation Establishment Pill, but in theory, a middle-grade pill only increased the chances of success by thirty percent—a far cry from a top-grade one.

There are three barriers to Foundation Establishment.

They correspond to trials of Spirit, Essence, and Qi. Regardless of the method used for Foundation Establishment, these trials are fundamental.

Special methods of Foundation Establishment are all extensions of this foundation; some increase the difficulty of a single trial, while others add extra ones.

Fang Yun had never considered using a special method for his Foundation Establishment.

An ordinary breakthrough was best for him and also offered the highest chance of success.

The process had begun; he had to pass three barriers to succeed.

The first was the Physical Body Barrier.

Unless they possessed a method to preserve their qi and blood, Cultivators were generally advised to attempt Foundation Establishment before the age of sixty, as their qi and blood would begin to decline after that.

Once one’s qi and blood began to decline, the chances of passing the Physical Body Barrier were minuscule, even with the aid of a Foundation Establishment Pill.

After countless refinements by their predecessors, the Foundation Establishment Pill now offered stable assistance for all three barriers.

However, this aid still required a foundation to be effective. For the Physical Body Barrier, one’s qi and blood didn’t need to be exceptionally powerful; the baseline requirement was simply that they had not yet begun to decline.

Fang Yun was currently only twenty-three, with over four months until his twenty-fourth birthday. At this age, a Cultivator’s qi and blood were at their absolute peak.

For him, the Qi and Blood Barrier was the least difficult of the three.

What’s more, he also had the assistance of the Top-grade Foundation Establishment Pill’s medicinal power.

The surrounding Spiritual Qi began to surge continuously into his body, signaling the imminent arrival of the Physical Body Barrier.

If the surrounding Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi were insufficient, he wouldn’t even be qualified to face the first trial of Foundation Establishment.

This gathered Spiritual Qi didn’t act at once. Instead, after accumulating to a certain point, it began to relentlessly wash over his body like a waterfall.

Having read countless notes on Foundation Establishment from Sect Elders and held in-depth discussions with Foundation Establishment Elders like Song Qiaoqiao, Fang Yun was long prepared for the sudden assault of Spiritual Qi and the impending trial.

If his qi and blood had been in decline, his body would most likely have been unable to withstand such a test and would have collapsed.

Fang Yun’s body, fortified by the medicinal power of the Top-grade Foundation Establishment Pill, formed the final and most powerful barrier of protection.

He passed the Physical Body Barrier smoothly, with little of the Top-grade Foundation Establishment Pill’s medicinal power consumed.

The second of the three barriers was the Spiritual Power Barrier.

The foundation for this barrier lay in the Qi Refining Tenth Layer.

The Qi Refining Tenth Layer was called the Peak of Qi Refining precisely because once a cultivator reached it, they were qualified to attempt Foundation Establishment.

Upon first entering the Qi Refining Tenth Layer, one’s Spiritual Power foundation is weak. Unless their qi and blood were on the verge of declining, no Cultivator would immediately begin Foundation Establishment right after reaching this layer.

Fang Yun had spent the last two years accumulating Spiritual Power at the Qi Refining Tenth Layer, all in preparation for this barrier.

While the peak of the Qi Refining Tenth Layer wasn’t the absolute best foundation for Spiritual Power, it was a complete one.

The influx of Spiritual Qi from the outside world accelerated and increased in volume.

For Fang Yun, who had already passed the Physical Body Barrier, this was still well within his limits. Now, the crucial part was his Qi Sea.

The Spiritual Qi continuously converted into Spiritual Power, causing the concentration of Gaseous Spiritual Power in his Qi Sea to grow higher and higher.

Suddenly, the influx of external Spiritual Qi stopped.

It was like a speeding car suddenly slamming on its brakes.

The conversion rate of the Five Spirit Roots was simply too low. The Spiritual Power concentration in his Qi Sea was clearly insufficient; it had not yet reached the critical point where Gaseous Spiritual Power would liquefy.

At this moment, the Top-grade Foundation Establishment Pill once again took effect.

Its medicinal power rapidly converted into Spiritual Power—this was the allure of a Top-grade Foundation Establishment Pill. Before long, with a powerful push from the pill, the metaphorical stalled vehicle made a final sprint and successfully reached the finish line.

Aided by the Top-grade Foundation Establishment Pill, the well-prepared Fang Yun passed the Spiritual Power Barrier smoothly as well.

Next was the final barrier of Foundation Establishment, and also the one widely acknowledged as the most difficult.

The third barrier of Foundation Establishment: the Divine Sense Barrier!

Qi Refining Cultivators possessed Spiritual Sense, which allowed them to inspect their own bodies from within, while Foundation Establishment Cultivators possessed Divine Sense, which could be projected externally.

The third barrier of Foundation Establishment was to open the Sea of Consciousness and complete the metamorphosis from Spiritual Sense to Divine Sense.

The process was extremely difficult; the slightest misstep could leave one an imbecile.

For Fang Yun, however, this barrier was actually a bit easier than the Spiritual Power Barrier. This was because he not only had the aid of the Top-grade Foundation Establishment Pill but also the powerful assistance of a Foundation Establishment Spiritual Object: the Celestial Wood Spirit Leaf.

For Cultivators who practiced Wood Attribute Cultivation Techniques, the Celestial Wood Spirit Leaf provided assistance during the last two barriers of Foundation Establishment, but its effect was most potent for the third. Under Fang Yun’s control, the leaf in his mouth was already working in tandem with the medicinal power of the Top-grade Foundation Establishment Pill to begin opening his Sea of Consciousness.

With their combined power,

the entire process of opening his Sea of Consciousness went quite smoothly.

But as smooth as it was, he still had to endure the sensation of his consciousness being torn apart as his Sea of Consciousness was forged.

The moment his Sea of Consciousness was opened, it formed a connection with his Qi Sea. Fang Yun was now less than half a step away from breaking through to the Foundation Establishment Stage.

After his Spiritual Sense transformed into Divine Sense, his control over his body strengthened even further.

Aided by his Divine Sense, the Spiritual Power in his Qi Sea began to continuously liquefy.

DRIP... DRIP...

A sound like dripping water echoed endlessly in Fang Yun’s ears.

Within his Qi Sea, one-tenth of the space was already filled with cyan, liquid Spiritual Power.

At this moment, Fang Yun’s aura changed. The very plane of his existence had taken a great leap forward.

Foundation Establishment Stage!

At this very moment, he had successfully broken through to the Foundation Establishment Stage.

Fang Yun spat out the half-withered leaf. In less than half a breath’s time, it turned completely desiccated.

The Celestial Wood Spirit Leaf, a Foundation Establishment Spiritual Object, had not been completely depleted of its power while assisting his breakthrough. However, the remaining energy would rapidly dissipate the moment he opened his mouth and could not be preserved.

If it could have been preserved, the Celestial Wood Spirit Leaf would still be usable.

’As for another cultivator’s saliva? When it came to increasing one’s chances at Foundation Establishment, such a thing was utterly insignificant.’

"I... succeeded."

Fang Yun opened his eyes, his face alight with joy.

He could clearly feel how powerful his life force had become.

After Introducing Qi into the Body and opening their Qi Sea to become a Cultivator, a person could generally live to be around 120 years old, provided they suffered no hidden injuries. But after reaching the Foundation Establishment Stage, one’s lifespan increased by over a hundred years. A typical Foundation Establishment Cultivator could live to be over 220.

A Foundation Establishment Cultivator would feel their various bodily functions begin to decline in the last ten years of their life, making it an unsuitable time to attempt Core Formation.

Therefore, if a Foundation Establishment Cultivator wanted to attempt to reach the Core Formation Stage, they wouldn’t face the same problem as Qi Refining Cultivators, whose chances of breaking through plummeted around the halfway point of their lives as their qi and blood began to decline.

Compared to the Qi Refining Stage, the Foundation Establishment Stage afforded Fang Yun much more time.

But Fang Yun’s goal was not merely to reach Core Formation. Therefore, during the Foundation Establishment Stage, he had to break through as early as possible to buy more time for his future self.

’It’s too early to think about all this... I haven’t even made it through the initial phase of the Foundation Establishment Stage yet.’

Fang Yun shook his head. Big goals needed to be broken down into smaller ones. Core Formation was still too distant; first, he should focus on accumulating enough Spiritual Power to fill twenty-five percent of his Qi Sea.

Filling a quarter of his Qi Sea would mean he had reached the peak of the early Foundation Establishment Stage.

Opening the light screen, Fang Yun checked the monthly settlement.

After a quick glance, he navigated to the Life Talent interface and made two hundred and thirty-seven draws.

His Alchemy Talent, the one closest to upgrading, now had 1,953 fragments. With just under 3,100 more, he could upgrade the talent to six stars.