Chapter 613: Chapter 574: Entering the Pool, Supreme Foundation

The man watched his companion walk into the Celestial Cloud Pool, let his gaze pause on Qin An, and said, "Later, he’ll need to go in and verify whether what you said is actually true."

Qin An nodded slightly and said, "All right, I understand. Go ahead and verify it."

Now that the Celestial Cloud Pool was right before him, Qin An showed not the slightest impatience. Having come this far, being impatient was pointless.

He waited, waiting for this man to go in and clarify the result; naturally, he would then tell him what to do next.

The man hadn’t been inside for long before he soon walked back out at a measured pace.

But when the man walked out, there was a middle‑aged man following behind him.

The middle‑aged man was also dressed in a white robe. Although there was nothing striking about his appearance, a faint aura of nobility lingered about him.

When he saw Qin An, he nodded slightly, then spoke: "That’s right, you indeed carry the aura of that existence from Ten Thousand Poison Cloud Peak. It seems you really are the Savior."

Qin An said, "Since my identity has already been verified, may I now enter the Celestial Cloud Pool and obtain the supreme foundation for the Tripod Aspiration Realm?"

His aim was precisely this supreme foundation, so he wasted no words.

The middle‑aged man nodded and said, "You may, but there is danger inside. I hope you can know this in advance, then decide whether or not to do it."

"Right, let me introduce myself first. My name is Liu Rong. I am the guardian of this Celestial Cloud Pool, and also an Elder among the original inhabitants of the Celestial Cloud Forbidden Land. How should I address you?"

Qin An reported his name, then asked, "I wonder what kind of dangers lie within this Celestial Cloud Pool?"

The dangers he knew of in the Celestial Cloud Pool should have come from this group of original inhabitants guarding outside, yet what Liu Rong meant was that even if he went into the Celestial Cloud Pool to soak and obtain the supreme foundation, he would still be facing many dangers.

This was completely at odds with what he knew.

Liu Rong turned and said, "Come with me and you’ll know what kind of danger it is."

Qin An thought for a moment, then followed behind Liu Rong, walking forward.

There was a thin layer of white mist ahead. It looked very light, yet it was impossible to see the true appearance of the Celestial Cloud Pool through it.

And when Qin An followed Liu Rong and stepped into the white mist ahead, everything before his eyes gradually became clearer.

Qin An finally saw the true face of the Celestial Cloud Pool.

In front of him was a huge body of water resembling a lake, but the water inside was not clear and transparent; instead, it was a milky white.

Strands of cold air rose from it, condensing in midair into form before quickly dissipating.

Coupled with this white pool water, it gave one the feeling of a chilling aura rushing straight at the face.

Liu Rong took a wooden ladle from the man beside him, then lowered his head to scoop up a ladle of pool water and held it out before Qin An, meaning for Qin An to see for himself what was different about it.

Qin An took the ladle of pool water, stared at the milky‑white currents in it, and after a moment suddenly noticed a hint of abnormality.

He only felt that, at the instant he touched the pool water, it was as if an army of thousands upon thousands surged out from the depths of his heart along with the mist.

This pool water seemed to carry a bone‑piercing killing intent, and Qin An’s mind nearly lost its footing.

Qin An took a deep breath, then handed the ladle back, his expression incomparably grave: "If I’m not mistaken, this thing is killing intent."

It was a pure killing intent that made even him feel a chill in his heart and guts—so pure that an ordinary cultivator, if stained by just a trace of it, would instantly be infected by the killing intent and become a monster that knew only slaughter.

Liu Rong poured the pool water back into the Celestial Cloud Pool, then said, "You’re not wrong. The reason the Celestial Cloud Pool can wash away all impurities, raise the quality of Void Essence, and forge the supreme foundation for the Tripod Aspiration Realm is all because of this killing intent."

"As you’ve seen, using killing intent to nurture oneself so that one’s Void Essence undergoes a qualitative transformation—but the side effect is that if you are even the slightest bit careless, you’ll be corroded by the killing intent within the Celestial Cloud Pool."

"To us, the Celestial Cloud Pool is a sacred land, because many times we need to borrow the killing intent within the Celestial Cloud Pool to cultivate, in order to dissolve the willpower of all beings. This is a very complicated process; I can’t explain it to you."

"But you only need to understand one thing: even though we year‑round cultivate with killing intent, we still don’t dare enter the Celestial Cloud Pool and let it soak our entire bodies. Yet you, who have never come into contact with such terrifying killing intent, still intend to step directly into it—this is very difficult."

Liu Rong felt that he had said all that needed to be said, so he closed his mouth, spoke no further, and waited for Qin An’s reply.

Qin An furrowed his brows tightly. After several breaths, he finally asked, "Is there no solution?"

Liu Rong shook his head and sighed. "There is no solution. Everything relies on killing intent. It all depends on whether you’re tough enough."

"Is your mindset tough enough? Is your strength tough enough? If not, then when you are devoured by the killing intent, even I will have no way to preserve your life."

"I’ll say it again: I should listen to you in all things, because you are the Savior. But at a time like this, I must speak."

"Even if you cannot forge the supreme foundation for the Tripod Aspiration Realm, you won’t actually lose that much."

Qin An shook his head and said, "I’ll lose too much—so much that I myself would regret it."

What is a supreme imperial endowment?

It is the posture of the supreme.

Once one successfully steps into the next realm, one will possess combat strength that is nearly invincible among those of the same realm.

If he could not obtain such terrifying combat strength, Qin An would not only feel he had suffered a huge loss, but that loss would be enough to make him feel it was truly a pity.