txolops Chapter 32 Foundation Building
Chapter 32 Foundation Building
Time passed slowly and imperceptibly. The next step involved enduring the pressure to condense all the gaseous magical power within the body into a liquid state. This step was the most time-consuming, often requiring several days and completely testing the cultivator's spiritual strength.
Whether it was the advantage of his soul brought by his transmigration that made his divine sense stronger than that of ordinary people; or the overpowering effect of the Foundation Establishment Pill with three pill patterns; or his firm belief that he would definitely establish his foundation—perhaps all three were at play—in any case, Luo Ming's subsequent condensation process went exceptionally smoothly without encountering much resistance.
At this moment, the divine consciousness participating in the transformation of magical power transformed into an invisible barrier, firmly enveloping all the condensed liquid magical power. In the end, the gaseous magical power completely dissipated, and in its place was a liquid spiritual energy ball about the size of a quail egg, as smooth and lustrous as glass, which slowly floated and rotated in the center of the dantian, exuding a pure and profound aura.
This was formed from all his magical power, but he didn't expect it to be only the size of a quail egg.
Just as his magical power liquefied completely, his divine consciousness, which had been continuously nourished by the magical power, suddenly experienced an explosive growth. Luo Ming felt a moment of disorientation; this was the feedback after the foundation of the Great Dao was formed, and the rapid growth of his divine consciousness caused violent turbulence in his sea of consciousness.
"Hiss! I feel like my mind is about to burst."
If we were to use the words from his previous life, Luo Ming's current feeling would be that he needs to grow a brain.
He dared not slacken in the slightest, and quickly calmed his mind and focused all his efforts on stabilizing his consciousness. A full quarter of an hour later, the feeling of disorientation slowly subsided, and his consciousness returned to calm.
Feeling the surging, powerful divine sense within his sea of consciousness, Luo Ming felt a surge of excitement, eager to test how far his current divine sense could probe. However, the alchemy room was heavily guarded, isolating him from both internal and external perception, so he could only try it after leaving the room.
With this foundation laid, the path ahead is promising.
"So this means I've successfully established my foundation?" He felt that this foundation establishment process wasn't as dangerous as described in the jade slip from Steward Qin.
Just as his divine sense was completely stabilized, as if a signal had been sent, Luo Ming's dantian suddenly transformed into a bottomless pit, frantically and greedily devouring the surrounding spiritual energy. Due to the rapid flow of spiritual energy within the alchemy room, vortexes of spiritual energy were formed, which were then drawn in by a powerful suction force and poured entirely into his body.
That's right, it's pouring in! The attraction is so strong that even the mid-grade spirit stones placed on the spirit-gathering array can't supply it, and it has begun to draw the spiritual energy of heaven and earth outside the stone chamber back in.
"Oh no! We mustn't alert those outside."
Luo Ming was taken aback. He never expected that the spirit-gathering array driven by mid-grade spirit stones could not satisfy the thirst of his dantian for spiritual power. He was both happy and worried.
The good thing is that this strange phenomenon precisely shows that his foundation is extremely solid. After the Foundation Establishment, the liquid mana that his dantian can hold far exceeds that of ordinary cultivators. The bad thing is that this place is the sect's alchemy room. The sect strictly prohibits breakthroughs here because the backflow of spiritual energy caused by a breakthrough can easily disrupt the stability of the alchemy fire and seriously affect the alchemy of others.
However, Luo Ming could not possibly stop absorbing spiritual energy at this moment. He quickly took out several mid-grade spirit stones and crushed them with a secret technique. A large amount of spiritual energy immediately surged into the alchemy room. Although doing so was too wasteful, he couldn't care less, because he didn't want to cause too much of a stir, nor did he want to miss this opportunity.
"It's alright, at most it will affect the alchemy room next door, the area won't be too big. I've heard that the longer you infuse spiritual energy into your body, the more stable your foundation will be. I wonder how long I can last." Luo Ming's expression was calm as he carefully comprehended the process of infusing spiritual energy into his body. He slowly circulated his cultivation technique, guiding the magical power into the body in an orderly manner, eventually growing into a liquid magical power ball the size of a normal egg.
Such an opportunity to infuse spiritual energy into the body only occurs when one has just broken through to a higher realm. At this time, the invisible barrier within the dantian has just taken shape and is not yet stable. Absorbing spiritual energy at this time can greatly expand the capacity of the dantian and accumulate profound magical power.
If one waits for the invisible barrier to solidify, one can only slowly widen it through painstaking effort, which would require at least several more months of arduous cultivation. This is precisely the key point emphasized in the Foundation Establishment insights given to one by Deacon Qin.
The infusion of spiritual energy is an essential step for cultivators to break through to the Foundation Establishment stage, though the amount varies from person to person. This not only saves months of arduous cultivation but also stabilizes the initial Foundation Establishment state. To be interrupted at this moment would be a matter of life and death.
After all, if one is hindered along the way, even if one eventually succeeds in establishing a foundation, one's foundation will be far inferior to that of one's peers, and one's potential for subsequent cultivation will be greatly reduced. Making up for it will be extremely difficult.
As spiritual energy continued to flow into his body, coupled with the repeated cleansing of liquid magic, Luo Ming's physical body began to transform.
Pure liquid magic surged from his dantian, flowing slowly along his meridians, permeating his flesh, bones, and even deep into his bone marrow, gradually stripping away and expelling impurities accumulated over many years, which were eventually expelled through his pores. In a short while, a pungent, fishy stench filled the alchemy room.
Luo Ming frowned slightly and quickly cast a cleansing spell. A gentle breeze swept out from his body, condensing all the impurities on his skin into a dark brown mud ball. He casually put the mud ball into a jade box that he had prepared beforehand, and then took out a sealing talisman and stuck it on the mouth of the box to isolate the fishy smell before he felt relieved.
"Is this the legendary bone-cleansing and marrow-washing?" Luo Ming understood in his heart. Feeling the lightness and surging power coming from his body, he couldn't help but smile.
At this moment, his physical body seemed to have been reborn, his skin was delicate and fair, and his appearance was several years younger, looking no more than twenty-five or twenty-six years old. In the cultivation world, there is a saying that "the earlier one establishes their foundation, the younger they look." That white-robed cultivator must have been even younger than him when he established his foundation.
Moreover, under the long-term nourishment of liquid magic, the cultivator's physical body will gradually break away from the realm of mortals. The biggest change is that they no longer need to survive by refining the essence of food like mortals, but can directly absorb the spiritual power of heaven and earth, and truly enter the realm of "abstaining from grains".
Of course, some cultivators crave the delicacies of the mortal world and cannot give up the taste of meat, wine, and grains. However, they generally do not eat mortal food full of impurities. Instead, they choose spiritual rice, spiritual wine, or delicacies cooked with the meat of demonic beasts that have been tempered with spiritual energy. These foods contain pure spiritual energy with very few impurities. Even if they are eaten, the small amount of impurities that remain can be directly expelled through the pores without affecting their cultivation.
It was only then that Luo Ming fully understood why cultivators above the Foundation Establishment stage did not need to relieve themselves—after Foundation Establishment, a cultivator's body would gradually transform into a "leak-free body," which was why impurities could only be expelled through the pores during the bone and marrow cleansing process.
"No wonder the higher the cultivation level of a cultivator, the worse their fertility becomes. It turns out it's because their body is transforming into a flawless body!" A thought suddenly flashed through Luo Ming's mind.