txolops Chapter 169 Mid-Stage Abilities
Chapter 169 Mid-Stage Abilities
After breaking through to the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment, Li Ping underwent significant changes.
First, there's his mana. He broke through from the early stage of Foundation Establishment to the middle stage, and during this process, his mana increased by about twice.
Of course, this change in magical power is a quantitative accumulation, which cannot be compared with the qualitative change in magical power when breaking through a major realm.
The increase in magical power doubled, making his endurance even more abundant.
In addition, after the breakthrough.
He can now mobilize significantly more mana at once; in simpler terms, his output power has increased.
Increased output power naturally unleashes more of the magic weapon's power.
For example, although he had several second-tier top-grade magic artifacts in hand, the amount of magic power that a Foundation Establishment cultivator could mobilize at one time was simply insufficient to unleash the full power of a second-tier top-grade magic artifact.
Now that he has broken through to the mid-Foundation Establishment stage, although he still cannot perfectly unleash the power of a second-tier top-grade magic weapon, he is much stronger than before.
In addition to magical power, there is also divine consciousness.
Normally, the range of divine sense in the early stages of Foundation Establishment is only about 100 zhang, but Li Ping's divine sense is naturally strong, so the range is as high as 150 zhang.
Now that he has broken through to the mid-Foundation Establishment stage, the range of his divine sense has reached a radius of three hundred feet, which is still about 50% higher than that of an average mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator.
The enhancement of his spiritual sense also means that he can control more magical artifacts for attack and defense at the same time, which undoubtedly improves his combat power.
After releasing several magical artifacts and testing them one by one, Li Ping revealed a satisfied smile.
Driven by his mid-Foundation Establishment stage magic power, several top-grade magic artifacts began to demonstrate their power.
In particular, the top-grade magic weapon 'Blood Banner', which was seized from the demonic cultivator couple, showed even more wonderful uses at this moment.
After some experimentation, he discovered that the blood mist released from the Blood Banner could actually solidify on his body to form a suit of armor.
Moreover, this armor has extremely strong defensive capabilities; Li Ping estimated that it was roughly equivalent to a second-tier high-grade defensive magic weapon.
Although it's not as good as the "Blood Shield", it's still an extra layer of protection.
……
A few days later, Yu Menghan brought the Seven-Colored Illusionary Butterfly to her home for treatment.
Upon discovering Li Ping's breakthrough in cultivation, she was surprised but also offered her congratulations: "Congratulations, Fellow Daoist Li, on breaking through to the mid-Foundation Establishment stage. You have taken another step forward on the path to immortality."
Li Ping smiled modestly and said, "Not at all, I'm just barely keeping up with the fairy."
He wasn't being modest. He didn't know Yu Menghan's exact age, but judging from her behavior, demeanor, and appearance, he figured she wasn't very old, perhaps even much younger than Li Ping himself.
Although she is young, her cultivation level is quite high.
When she came to Xiantao Mountain for medical treatment six years ago, she was already a mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator.
In fact, Li Ping reached the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment at the age of seventy, which is neither fast nor slow.
The speed at which a Foundation Establishment cultivator breaks through is positively correlated with their own aptitude and the resources they can obtain.
For example, the Bai family patriarch, given the Bai family's strength, could not afford to provide him with pills to enhance his cultivation, nor could he find suitable spiritual grounds for cultivation. Furthermore, he had to stay in the family and dared not venture out to take risks.
Therefore, he was stuck at the bottleneck of the early stage of Foundation Establishment for his entire life.
Take Xiao Yunzhi for example. As a cultivator with a Heavenly Spiritual Root and a descendant of the number one cultivator in the Western Wilderness, she possesses unparalleled talent and has no shortage of the resources needed for cultivation.
In addition, cultivators with Heavenly Spiritual Roots do not face any bottlenecks before reaching the Nascent Soul stage.
Therefore, she was able to successfully establish her foundation before the age of twenty. When she met Li Ping, she was not even thirty years old, but she had already cultivated to the middle stage of foundation establishment.
Now, another twenty-three or twenty-four years have passed, and Li Ping guesses that she is probably a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator.
Li Ping's qualifications are certainly no match for Xiao Yunzhi's.
However, the "Ze Shui Yang Sheng Jue" he cultivates has a characteristic similar to that of cultivators with Heavenly Spiritual Roots: he has no bottlenecks when breaking through minor realms.
For many Foundation Establishment cultivators...
Cultivation within a certain realm is a gradual process; as long as one is patient, one can generally accumulate enough magical power over time.
The reason they are unable to break through is mostly because they are stuck at a bottleneck, which cannot be overcome simply by time.
Because there were no bottlenecks and he only needed to accumulate magical power, Li Pingfang was able to break through to the mid-Foundation Establishment stage in his seventies.
……
Hearing Li Ping's modesty, Yu Menghan simply covered her mouth and smiled, without saying anything more.
Her reaction further convinced Li Ping that Yu Menghan's aptitude was likely not bad either, and would not be lower than that of a different spiritual root.
Otherwise, she would have lamented how difficult her cultivation was.
As usual, Li Ping channeled four strands of health-preserving mantra energy to heal the Seven-Colored Illusionary Light Butterfly, then gestured for Yu Menghan to check.
After Yu Menghan finished her examination, she still left a spiritual fruit for Li Ping to nourish his body.
At the same time, she smiled and said, "Thank you for your trouble, Fellow Daoist Li. I have already received news about the thousand-year ironwood you requested. Perhaps it can be delivered to Fenglan Immortal City within four years."
"Oh? We've got news so quickly." Li Ping was somewhat surprised by the capabilities of the Yinghai Chamber of Commerce.
Yu Menghan nodded, unconvinced: "Ironwood isn't anything rare. It's only in the Western Wilderness. If it were at the Merchant Guild headquarters, there would be a huge stockpile of it."
Yu Menghan's disdain for the cultivation world of the Western Wilderness made Li Ping suspect that there might be a Nascent Soul cultivator in the Yinghai Chamber of Commerce.
However, the other party was unwilling to reveal specific details to him, so he could not confirm his own guess.
"By the way, Fairy Yu, I have to go out on some business for a while, so the scheduled treatment will probably have to be suspended for a period of time," Li Ping said apologetically. "But please rest assured, Fairy, I will definitely come back to continue treating your spirit beast once I have finished my business."
He had already broken through to the mid-Foundation Establishment stage, and Yan Hengchuan had long since cultivated to the ninth level of Qi Refining, not far from the peak.
Now, everything is ready, and he should go and help Yan Hengchuan establish his foundation.
Yan Hengchuan is the great-grandson of his master. Li Ping helped him establish his foundation and left him in the Yan family to maintain peace for two hundred years.
He can also fulfill his promise to his master and end this worldly ties.
Moreover, the "Blood Spirit Hundred Transformations True Scripture" that Yan Hengchuan cultivates was given to him by him.
He gave Yan Hengchuan the cultivation method and helped him establish his foundation, which can be considered responsible and thorough.
Therefore, this is something that must be done no matter what.
"Oh? How long will Fellow Daoist Li's journey take? I wonder if I have any assistance?" Yu Menghan was somewhat surprised, clearly not wanting Li Ping to leave midway through the treatment.
Li Ping shook his head: "This trip will take at least six months, and at worst one or two years. Moreover, this matter must be done on-site; it cannot be delegated to others."
Upon hearing this, Yu Menghan hesitated for a moment before smiling and saying, "In that case, I can only obey Fellow Daoist Li. I will urge them to send over the thousand-year-old ironwood. Fellow Daoist Li, please remember to return and collect it as soon as possible."
"Don't worry, Fairy Yu," Li Ping said with a smile.
He knew Yu Menghan's concerns; perhaps she was worried he would leave without saying goodbye, so she deliberately used the thousand-year-old ironwood to lure him. With the carrot dangling in front of him, he wasn't afraid he wouldn't come back.
Of course, the main reason why Yu Menghan agreed so readily was actually—
After six years of treatment, the Seven-Colored Illusionary Butterfly not only escaped danger but also recovered well. Even without Li Ping's treatment, it can recover on its own, although it will take longer.
……
He informed the Meng family patriarch of his upcoming travels and left a letter for Zhang Tie and the others.
Li Ping habitually took all his belongings with him before flying out of the immortal city.
After this trip, barring any unforeseen circumstances, he will return to the Immortal City to cultivate.
But if something unexpected happens along the way, he might have to turn back, so it's essential to bring all his belongings.
Leaving the area of the Immortal City, Li Ping threw out the Floating Shadow Shuttle and floated up to land on the flying boat.
With a thought, the flying boat transformed into a black streak of light, shooting off towards the distant Wang Family Mountain in the distance, disappearing in the blink of an eye.
Several hours later, Li Ping met Yan Hengchuan, who was cultivating at Yanxia Mountain, and then greeted Wang Xingwei.
The Floating Shadow Shuttle once again transformed into a streak of light and flew towards the outside of the Cloud Mist Mountains.
On the flying boat, Li Ping stood with his hands behind his back, and Yan Hengchuan stood behind him.
At this moment, Yan Hengchuan was excited, but also a little uneasy. After sensing for a moment, he finally spoke: "Grandmaster, Yan Liming's aura is still lingering on the grassland and has not left."
"Still on the grassland?" Li Ping was slightly surprised.
He was very curious about why Yan Liming, a human cultivator, would stay on the grassland for so long. The grassland had a harsh environment and scarce resources, with very few spiritual veins. It was a wasteland that human cultivators would never want.
Only the Turo tribe, driven out of the Western Wilderness by humans, lived there. It is said that in the depths of the grasslands, in addition to the Turo tribe, there were also many other tribes such as the Yue tribe and the Baihu tribe.
Because of their physical constitution, these cultivators from other races rely less on spiritual veins during their cultivation, which is why they are able to survive and reproduce on the barren grasslands.
Although Yan Liming is a demonic cultivator, he is fundamentally still a human cultivator, and staying on the grassland for a long time would greatly hinder his cultivation.
Unless, he has some reason to do so.
"Then let's go to the grasslands too!" Li Ping ordered without hesitation.
Dealing with Yan Liming in the territory of another race is much easier than taking action on the Blood Shadow Cult's territory.
Of course, the best scenario would be for Yan Liming to appear within the territory of the Weidao Alliance, which would give Li Ping a greater chance of dealing with him.
Upon hearing Li Ping's instructions, Yan Hengchuan quickly replied, "Yes, Grandmaster."
He then directly controlled the flying boat and flew towards the location he sensed.
At the same time, Li Ping sat cross-legged, enveloped in a cloud of blood mist, thus concealing his figure.
Within the blood mist, he nodded in satisfaction.
Li Ping took out a talisman brush, talisman ink, and talisman paper, and began to make a second-grade high-quality spirit talisman.
The reason for concealing his figure with blood mist was mainly to prevent Yan Hengchuan from seeing the process of making the talisman.
After all, for a mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator to be able to create a second-tier high-grade spirit talisman... that's just too astonishing. It's better for Yan Hengchuan not to know.
As is his habit, he still prioritizes drawing the most violent lightning-type offensive talismans.
Second-tier superior spirit talisman 'Raging Thunder Talisman'!
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