Chapter 281: Stepping into Foundation Establishment, Overpowering Nangong (II)

After Wang Yuan left, Luo Chen didn’t head into the thatched hut but instead he stood still atop the mountain, eyes closed as the wind swept through his hair and robes.

In the next moment, his consciousness turned inward toward his dantian.

The newly rebuilt dantain after his breakthrough was now ten times larger than it had once been, layer upon layer, it resembled distinct cultivation stages. In truth, calling it a “dantian” no longer felt accurate. Based on the ancient records he’d read, this was something else entirely.

This... was the sea of qi.

The dantian had transformed into a sea, capable of holding a hundred rivers, his spirit energy swirled within like the tides of a vast ocean. And above that sea hung nine layers, suspended like heavenly strata. The "Nine Heavens of the Sea of Qi," as the texts had described them, each layer a milestone, each breakthrough a gateway.

If one could ascend through all nine, it was said the golden core would naturally form. Hence, the path to the Golden Core Realm.

In structure, the Foundation Establishment Realm mirrored the Qi-Refining Realm: nine stages, divided into early, middle, and late stages, three, six, and nine.

But Luo Chen wasn’t thinking about that yet.

What mattered to Luo Chen was his current condition.

After succeeding in his Foundation Establishment, the Dao foundation he had reconstructed was extraordinarily solid. Though he didn’t know how others fared, for him, reaching Perfected Mastery of Foundation Establishment through hard cultivation alone would take hundreds, perhaps even a thousand, years.

And that was merely a rough estimate.

Since he lacked a core cultivation method, he could only rely on the Perfected Mastery Long Spring Art to refine the spirit power within him.

At the base of the sea of qi, there was a thin layer of spirit liquid. That liquid was another defining feature of the Foundation Establishment Realm, liquefied spirit energy, in addition to externalized spirit consciousness.

Only with this liquefied energy could a Foundation Establishment Initiate perform advanced techniques, command supreme-grade artifacts with ease, and even wield enchanted treasures to a certain extent.

Luo Chen’s spirit liquid wasn’t abundant. But that wasn’t all he possessed.

In the first layer of his sea of qi, massive clouds of spirit energy still swirled and rolled like storm fronts over an ocean. They were remnants from the five sets of Foundation Establishment spirit medicine he had consumed.

Whether it was the violent Foundation Establishment pill or the gentle Imperial Nectar, both contained immense spirit energy. Having attempted Foundation Establishment multiple times in a short span, some of that energy had inevitably gone unused.

Now, all of it lingered within the newly expanded sea of qi. If he didn’t completely refine it, he couldn’t begin the cultivation within the Foundation Establishment Realm.

So, the Medicine King Yimu Codex must be acquired!

After completing his internal examination,

𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

Luo Chen quickly opened his status panel.

[Status Panel]

Name: Luo Chen

Lifespan: 32/150

Spirit Roots: Gold, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth

Realm: Foundation Establishment Stage One (10/100)

Achievement Points: 3

[Techniques]

Long Spring Art: Perfected Mastery

Divine Breaker of Malevolence: Perfection (351/500)

Myriad Beast Sutra: Beginner (10/100)

[Spells]

Fireball: Perfected Mastery

Carefree Wind-Control: Perfected Mastery

Traction: Perfected Mastery

Spirit Suppression: Perfected Mastery

Spirit Eyes: Perfected Mastery

Entangle: Perfected Mastery

Cleanse: Perfected Mastery

Heal: Grandmaster (625/1000)

Earth Summit: Perfection (315/500)

Wave Surge: Perfection (309/500)

Sound Isolation: Perfection (312/500)

Soul-Intimidation: Skilled (179/200)

[Alchemy]

Jade Fracture Hand: Perfected Mastery

Unadorned Heart Hand: Grandmaster (513/1000)

Flowing Creek Hand: Skilled (125/200)

Cloud Transformation Hand: Skilled (112/200)

[Martial Arts]

Mountain Cleaving Monument Breaking Palm: Grandmaster (880/1000)

Heavenly Maiden Scatters Flowers: Perfection (357/500)

[Skills]

Second-Tier Alchemist

The very first thing his gaze landed on was the “Lifespan” section.

150!

"It finally changed!" Luo Chen let out a long breath of relief.

For as long as he could remember, his lifespan had always been different from ordinary people. Generally, once mortals set foot on the path of cultivation, their bodies would begin to transform through the tempering of spirit energy, and a typical Qi-Refining cultivator could reach a lifespan of about one hundred and twenty years.

There were plenty of examples, like Sun Shou from the Jade Cauldron Sword Pavilion. The man was already in his nineties, yet he was always smiling, full of energy, moving with such ease that no one could tell his true age.

And then there was Granny Yuan of the Luo Tian Society, who had already crossed the century mark long ago. She showed signs of age, of course, but nothing debilitating, just a bit of frailty here and there.

It could be said that, barring serious injuries, a cultivator’s lifespan would steadily increase with each breakthrough in the realm. It was a slow transformation of life’s very essence. It is not something accomplished in one go, but through gradual accumulation.

There’s a saying, “With one step into Foundation Establishment, lifespan increases by two hundred,” which was merely a generalization.

But Luo Chen, from the third stage of Qi-Refining to Perfected Mastery, had never seen his lifespan change, which suggested that it had something to do with the fact that he was transmigrated into this world.

His lifespan had carried over from his former life!

Back then, he had been a corporate grunt, diligently working 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days a week. If he could’ve made it to seventy-five in peace, that would’ve already been considered a decent life.

But in the cultivation world, that was truly the mark of a short-lived fool.

Now that his lifespan had increased to one hundred and fifty, it was genuinely worth celebrating!

Moreover, as my cultivation improves and I break through to higher realms, my lifespan should continue to increase,

Luo Chen muttered to himself.

After all, historically speaking, the maximum lifespan for a Foundation Establishment Initiate is recorded at three hundred years!

Luo Chen had looked up the lifespans of Foundation Establishment Initiates in the past. Normally, a Foundation Establishment cultivator could expect to live up to two hundred and fifty years.

Compared to Qi-Refining cultivators, that was more than double, an extra century and then some.

This was precisely why so many major sects favored disciples who broke through before the age of sixty. With such an early advancement, those cultivators had nearly two full centuries to pursue the Golden Core Realm at a measured, unhurried pace.

As for the few rare cases where someone reached three full centuries?

That was never achieved through ordinary cultivation.

Those individuals had consumed rare longevity-extending pills.

Back then, the Poshan Gang had once discovered a Six-Leaf Heavenly Emperor Lotus, a legendary plant where each leaf was said to extend one’s life by a full decade. A complete six-leaf lotus granted sixty extra years. A treasure worthy of the heavens and earth!

Mi Shuhua had once traded such a lotus to the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect in exchange for a single Foundation Establishment pill.

Naturally, Luo Chen also dreamed of acquiring such miraculous herbs one day. With something like that in hand, he’d have far more time to prepare for the Golden Core Realm breakthrough.

However, that was a matter for the future. Right now, his new lifespan, one hundred and fifty years, has already given him ample time to do more.

My realm is now the first stage of Foundation Establishment, but the progress is a bit different from before.

Luo Chen thought as he glanced through the status panel.

In the past, whenever he broke through, be it in spell mastery, pill proficiency, or realm advancement, everything typically started at “1”.

But this time, it had jumped straight to ten points. It must’ve been those five doses of Foundation Establishment spirit medicine.

Luo Chen skimmed downward and paused at the entry for the Divine Breaker of Malevolence.

Now that was a valuable technique! It had helped him maintain clarity even amid the excruciating pain caused by the Foundation Establishment pill and the lulling warmth of the Imperial Nectar.

As for the rest of the status panel, there wasn’t much else worth examining.

Right now, what Luo Chen truly wanted was to test how his spells had evolved since reaching Foundation Establishment.

After all, no spell remained fixed forever. With every leap in cultivation, even the simplest techniques would shift, growing sharper, faster, more devastating. A Fireball cast by a Foundation Establishment cultivator was nothing like the same spell flung from the hands of someone still in Qi-Refining.

Hence, he started with the one he knew best, Fireball.

This was a technique he had mastered to the point of instinct. He could conjure or disperse it with nothing more than a breath of thought. Sure enough, the moment he focused, a small fireball bloomed into being in his palm.

"Just a thread of spirit liquid... and it already matches the full-powered fireballs I once cast," he murmured. "If I pour in more spirit power, the force could multiply several-fold."

This change didn’t seem like much. He had long since gone beyond basic fire manipulation. His true edge lay in fireball fusion, the foundation of the deadly Solar Flare.

"If I ran into enemies now, I wouldn’t need to hide to charge up a Solar Flare anymore," he noted. "Just a few breaths, and I could unleash one strong enough to threaten those of my realm."

Luo Chen let the flame in his palm die out, nodded to himself in satisfaction.

This was a significant improvement. What had once been a trump card was now part of his standard offensive spell.

Of course, to fully maximize its power still required ample time to fuse, but that didn’t matter much. Even in its normal form, the Solar Flare already possessed the might of a second-tier spell.

Once the fireball vanished, Luo Chen went on to practice his other spells one after another.

Even his sword orb and the Blue Musk Gathering Serpent Banner were brought out and tested.

It had to be said, Foundation Establishment brought with it tremendous changes.

With his abundant spirit power, he could now wield those spirit-consuming enchanted artifacts effortlessly.

"No wonder Duan Qiankun was able to endlessly unleash the Heluo Sword against Wang Yuan back then. Now I, too, can freely wield the Blue Musk Gathering Serpent Banner!"

Those were all offensive matters.

Luo Chen steadied his breath, quieting his heart as he carefully guided thread-thin streams of spirit liquid into his eyes. The moment the energy merged with his vision, his pupils lit up, radiant and clear.

A surge of power burst forth. His eyes gleamed with light.

The Spirit Eyes at Perfected Mastery, activated in full.

Luo Chen stood at the summit of Xiao Huan Mountain, gazing out with his newly empowered eyes. The world seemed to unfold before him.

A hundred li... two hundred li...

In an instant, his vision stretched a thousand li into the distance.

“Clairvoyant eyes?” he muttered.

“This... might qualify as a divine ability!”

Luo Chen clicked his tongue in amazement. This level of transformation had caught even him by surprise.

Yet after a moment’s thought, it felt entirely reasonable.

He had cultivated the Spirit Eyes to Perfected Mastery; no wonder it was exceptional. Over the years, he had taken plenty of Clarity Essence, and Runming Pearl Essence was something he nearly never lacked.

While none of it had caused a breakthrough on its own, now, with his recent advance to Foundation Establishment, it all came together, blossoming into a powerful reward.

With this, I can now anticipate my enemies’ moves ahead of time!

Luo Chen had a powerful divine soul foundation, which was why, despite just stepping into Foundation Establishment, he could already hold his own against Nangong Jin.

And even faintly surpass him!

But when it came to spirit consciousness projection, his range was still only five li, already three li beyond what most at his stage could manage. A solid edge in the foundational stage. One that placed him well ahead at the very start of this realm.

But even that advantage paled before the thousand-li reach of his Spirit Eyes.

There was nothing to be done; he hadn’t taken much Spirit Passage pills, so his divine soul still lacked full depth.

“Well,” Luo Chen said to himself, “I’ve reacquainted myself with most of my techniques. Once my realm settles, I can refine the rest.”

Familiarizing himself with these methods had taken Luo Chen quite some time.

By now, the sky had grown pale with dawn.

Just as Luo Chen was about to withdraw his Spirit Eyes, his gaze halted, locked onto the most familiar direction.

Hmm?

he murmured, eyes narrowing.