Yang Jing sat cross-legged beneath the Pure Yang Apricot Tree, circulating the world’s surging Celestial Yang Qi and refining it into Celestial True Gang.

With the abundant supply of Essence Qi from the Celestial Demon Park, he had much more time to spare, allowing him to dedicate more of it to cultivating his True Yang Body.

While cultivating his True Yang Body, he could also multitask, using the Five Elements Wheel to refine the Magical Power within his Golden Core. This prevented the Magical Power from becoming impure due to his rapid cultivation progress.

Since he was cultivating a Foundation Establishment Stage Body Refining Technique with his Golden Core Realm cultivation, Yang Jing’s progress on the True Yang Body was incredibly fast.

His efficiency at absorbing and circulating Celestial Yang Qi was astonishing. He drew in all the Celestial True Yang from several miles around, and it poured into his body.

The Five Elements True Spirit Sect was covered in Spirit Plants and Spirit Medicine. Within the Purple Cover Mountain Range, the Celestial Yang Qi was nearly inexhaustible, as vast as mountains and seas.

After his Core Formation, his Power of the Flesh had greatly increased. Combined with this massive amount of Celestial Yang Qi, it took him as little as three or four days to open a single Acupoint, and seven or eight days at most. The pace of his progress was astonishing.

「Three years later.」

Yang Jing had finally opened all 365 Acupoints in his body. His cultivation had also reached Second Layer Golden Core Perfection.

Surging Celestial True Gang coursed between his Acupoints, crashing with the force of monstrous waves.

During this time, he also comprehended several more forms of Magic on his own. Combined with Power Control Qi and the Golden Bone Technique, which he had previously mastered, he now knew a total of nine.

Most of these forms of Magic were highly practical, with functions such as Detoxification and Healing. One of them was the Nine Steps of Spiritual Void, the very technique Iron Head had once comprehended, which allowed one to draw power from the void itself.

Unlike Qi Cultivators, Body Refining Cultivators who wished to advance to the Tier Three Golden Core Realm had to pass through the Foundation Establishment Three Gates one by one. They couldn’t simply enter seclusion for Core Formation and achieve it all in one go, as Qi Cultivators could.

Yang Jing had already passed the Law Control Gate. For this gate, comprehending fewer than six forms of Magic meant one’s foundation was insufficient, making it impossible to even condense True Blood later on.

The second gate was the True Blood Barrier, which required a Body Refining Cultivator to cleanse their marrow with True Gang and generate True Blood.

Once True Blood was self-generating, the innate physical frailty of Human Race Cultivators would be largely overcome.

This gate was far more dangerous than the Law Control Gate. When cleansing the marrow with True Gang, the slightest lapse in control would injure it and severely damage one’s Vitality.

With his Golden Core Cultivation, Yang Jing could manipulate the Celestial True Gang without error. However, this gate required a Water Grinding Skill; even he could not rush it. He could only wait for his bone marrow to undergo a qualitative transformation and generate True Blood.

For the past few days, he had been waiting for news. An Outer Disciple practicing the Blood Spirit Scripture had reached Qi Cultivation Perfection and had officially entered seclusion in a secret chamber in the Inheritance Hall to attempt Foundation Establishment.

This person was none other than the most diligent of them, Yang Changjin. His cultivation had already reached Qi Cultivation Perfection before, and with the Nine Revolutions Red Blood Pills supplied by Yang Jing, his progress after performing Abandoned Cultivation and Re-Cultivation was naturally extraordinary.

Over the past few years, Yang Jing had subtly adjusted the Blood Spirit Scripture these nine people were practicing more than a dozen times. The Magical Power cultivated from it was now even purer and possessed extraordinary might.

Feeling the warmth of the True Yang washing through his bone marrow, Yang Jing suddenly opened his eyes.

An emaciated-looking Yang Changjin appeared outside the Grand Array of the Cave Mansion. The moment he stepped inside, he rushed to Yang Jing and fell to his knees.

Yang Jing shook his head at the sight.

He had seen it coming long ago. Among the nine Outer Disciples, Yang Changjin—the one who appeared to be progressing the fastest—actually had the lowest chance of successfully achieving Foundation Establishment.

The pressure from his dwindling lifespan had made him greedy for results and reckless. Despite Yang Jing repeatedly instructing the nine of them to build a solid foundation, warning them not to rush to Qi Cultivation Perfection just to attempt Foundation Establishment...

Yang Changjin would only rein himself in and diligently refine his Magical Power for a short while after being advised, but a few days later, he would always revert to his old habits.

’So, I stopped bothering with him. It’s a good chance to obtain an early case study on Foundation Establishment anyway.’

"Recount for me, in detail, everything that happened during your attempt at Foundation Establishment."

As he spoke, he took out a Jade Scroll.

Forcing himself to stay focused, Yang Changjin recounted his Foundation Establishment attempt, not daring to omit a single detail.

After three years together, all the Outer Disciples knew that Yang Jing did not tolerate deceit, and that his Insight Power was astonishing. They knew that not a single lie could escape his notice.

After listening to Yang Changjin’s account, Yang Jing concluded that he had failed for the exact reason he’d suspected: his Blood God’s Magical Power wasn’t pure enough. He had been unable to condense the gaseous Magical Power of the Qi Cultivation Stage into a liquid, failing at the final step.

With a wave of his hand, Yang Changjin felt a surge of Yanghe Qi pass through him. To his horror, the remnants of Blood God’s Magical Power in his body began to dissipate like melting snow. His skin grew intensely itchy as the Restrictions pricked into it rapidly vanished.

"Master! Master Yang, please give me another chance! I’m sure I can succeed at Foundation Establishment this time! Please, give me one more chance!"

The Spirit Liquid that had been injected beneath his skin to form the Restrictions oozed out, leaving Yang Changjin drenched in blood and in a wretched state.

He realized with horror that he had completely lost his connection to the Huabei Spiritual Qi. Even if he had the Blood Spirit Scripture memorized perfectly, he would never be able to practice it again.

As someone who had practiced it, Yang Changjin knew the power of the Blood Spirit Scripture better than anyone. The Magical Power it produced was far mightier than that of the Five Talisman Scripture, yet it lacked the latter’s difficulty and esoteric nature.

After he failed Foundation Establishment, he had made up his mind. Even if it meant violating his Heart-Demon Oath, he would take this scripture out of the Five Elements True Spirit Sect and pass it on to his descendants.