Chapter 68
Chapter 68
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 68
Chapter Title: Foundation Establishment Conditions
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"Fellow Daoist Chen, I've heard the Yun Clan's Mirror Moon Market City will open on New Year's Eve this year. I plan to be there, so please invite Fellow Daoist Yu to join us for a gathering."
"Also, there's a letter from Peiyao. It couldn't be sent directly to Mirror Moon Lake, so it was delivered to Qinghe Market City for me to pass on to you two."
The contents of Zhou Miaoyun's letter were concise and clear, but it brought a pleasant surprise to Chen Jianghe. He quickly opened the forwarded letter.
It was indeed Gao Peiyao's handwriting.
After seven years apart, news had finally arrived.
He opened it and read carefully. The letter stated that she had joined the Tiannan Sect. The process had been somewhat convoluted, but the outcome was good.
She hadn't passed the entrance examination, but a sect Deacon had taken her as a personal disciple and brought her into the Tiannan Sect.
"Peiyao's fortune is quite good."
Back when Gao Peiyao went to the Tiannan Sect for the entrance examination, her age was already at the upper limit of the requirements.
Furthermore, a four-element pseudo-spiritual root wasn't considered exceptional talent in the sect's examination.
The letter wasn't long, conveying only three pieces of information.
The first was that she had successfully joined the Tiannan Sect and was safe, so they needn't worry about her.
The second was that at the age of twenty-nine, with her master's help, she had successfully broken through to the seventh level of Qi Refining, becoming a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator.
A seventh-level Qi Refining cultivator at twenty-nine might not be top-tier within a sect, but in the outside world, she would absolutely be considered a prodigy of her clan.
As he read the third part of the letter.
Chen Jianghe frowned. For him, this was not good news.
"If one has no great ambition, they can rely on the Calamity Dispelling Pill to break through to the late stage of Qi Refining."
This was a direct quote from Gao Peiyao's letter, reminding Chen Jianghe, Zhou Miaoyun, and Yu Daniu not to use the Calamity Dispelling Pill for their breakthroughs.
Otherwise, it would reduce their success rate by ten percent when they attempted to reach Foundation Establishment in the future.
Chen Jianghe was no longer the cultivation novice he had been when he first transmigrated; he knew that attempting to reach the Foundation Establishment stage could result in failure.
And the consequence of failure, for the most part, was the shattering of one's Sea of Qi and Dantian, leading to death by bodily explosion.
Even if one were lucky enough to survive, they would be crippled.
Even with a Foundation Establishment Pill, success was not guaranteed. Reaching Foundation Establishment depended on multiple factors.
Spiritual root aptitude, physical constitution, spiritual essence, and the grade of the spiritual meridian at the breakthrough location—all of these directly affected the success rate of Foundation Establishment.
A genuine Foundation Establishment Pill could only increase the success rate by twenty percent.
Of course, the Foundation Establishment Pill had another benefit: if the attempt failed, it would protect the Sea of Qi and Dantian from shattering, making them even more stable and one's magical power more profound.
Their magical power would be stronger than a ninth-level Qi Refining cultivator's, but without heavenly materials and earthly treasures, a second attempt at Foundation Establishment would be extremely difficult.
Even with such treasures allowing for a second attempt, the success rate would be halved.
The conditions for reaching Foundation Establishment could be categorized into five types, with each contributing a score of two.
To achieve a one hundred percent success rate, one would need: a three-element true spiritual root, a perfected physique, a perfected spirit, a second-tier high-grade spiritual meridian, and a genuine Foundation Establishment Pill.
Chen Jianghe had a five-element miscellaneous spiritual root, so his spiritual root aptitude could only be counted as one.
Therefore, even if he later obtained a body tempering art and a spirit cultivation technique and mastered both.
And was lucky enough to acquire a genuine Foundation Establishment Pill and attempted his breakthrough in a market city with a second-tier high-grade spiritual meridian.
He would still only have a ninety percent chance of success.
If he were to take the Calamity Dispelling Pill, that would drop to eighty percent.
But who could be so lucky as to obtain a Foundation Establishment Pill?
So many Foundation Establishment immortal clans struggled to find even one, making it even more difficult for a rogue cultivator like him with no backing.
As for body tempering arts and spirit cultivation techniques, according to the "Yun Clan Annals," although they were sold in large market cities, their prices were absurdly high.
Several times, or even ten times, more expensive than a storage pouch.
The saying in the cultivation world, 'rogue cultivators have no hope of Foundation Establishment,' was not without reason.
"I never expected the Calamity Dispelling Pill to have such a major hidden drawback."
His lifespan was long, stretching to three hundred and sixty years.
A normal Qi Refining cultivator's vitality would begin to decline at sixty, making Foundation Establishment difficult, but he didn't have this problem.
His vitality wouldn't start to decline until he was one hundred and eighty. He had plenty of time to grind away at the bottleneck to reach the late stage of Qi Refining.
If five years weren't enough, then ten, or even twenty.
As for the other requirements for Foundation Establishment, he could slowly accumulate them over a long time. A selective disadvantage like taking the Calamity Dispelling Pill could be directly avoided.
However, for Qi Refining cultivators with no hope of reaching Foundation Establishment, the Calamity Dispelling Pill was indeed a divine breakthrough pill.
"Peiyao's letter... Daniu and Fairy Miaoyun should have received it too. I just don't know what they'll choose."
Yu Daniu's strenuous efforts in his earlier years had caused him to lose too much vitality and essence. Even with slow recuperation, he couldn't return to his peak state.
Furthermore, the Yun Clan would never buy a Foundation Establishment Pill for a live-in son-in-law.
Therefore, Chen Jianghe guessed that Yu Daniu would probably take the Calamity Dispelling Pill to break through the minor bottleneck and reach the late stage of Qi Refining.
He could afford to spend five or ten years grinding at the bottleneck, but others could not.
Attempting Foundation Establishment before the age of sixty was the standard for meeting the aforementioned requirements. After sixty, the success rate would plummet, making it essentially hopeless.
As for Zhou Miaoyun, unless she became a high-grade Talisman Master before the age of fifty, she would have little hope of reaching Foundation Establishment.
Otherwise, it was simply impossible.
Moreover, Zhou Miaoyun wasn't cultivating alone. She had her clan, and the income from making talismans had to be contributed back to her family.
This made reaching Foundation Establishment even more difficult.
Chen Jianghe considered it for a moment. At present, the only ones in their mutual aid alliance with a real hope of reaching Foundation Establishment were him and Gao Peiyao.
Magical power flowed from his hand, and the letter turned to dust.
He wrote a reply to both Zhou Miaoyun and Yu Daniu, arranging to meet at the Mirror Moon Immortal Pavilion on the Day of Awakening of Insects after the New Year.
As for why they weren't meeting on the opening day of the Mirror Moon Market City?
The reason was simple. Yu Daniu was now the Manager of the Mirror Moon Immortal Pavilion. On the market's opening day, he would likely be too busy to even stand still.
Why would he want to put Yu Daniu in a difficult position?
He didn't reply to Gao Peiyao because her letter didn't include her current address.
There were likely many restrictions within the sect.
In short, the three of them could only wait for Gao Peiyao to contact them; they had no way of reaching her.
When the sixth month arrived, Chen Jianghe consumed a Spirit Accumulating Pill.
Because Xiao Hei had consumed his share in advance, he didn't use any cultivation resources at the same time as Chen Jianghe this time.
Afterwards, Chen Jianghe continued to draw spirit talismans.
This year, he didn't try to draw Five Elements Body Protection Talismans or Five Elements Escape Talismans. Instead, he focused entirely on the Water Arrow Talismans he was best at.
Although this meant giving more spirit stones to Talisman Master Chu Lang.
But the number of spirit stones he earned himself also increased, allowing him to save up a few more before the Mirror Moon Market City opened.
Although he didn't know what opportunity Yu Daniu had mentioned regarding the market's opening, it was never wrong to prepare more spirit stones.
As New Year's Eve approached.
The Yun Clan's large boat came to collect the fish. The manager of the large boat was still Yun Wu. Just as Yu Daniu had said, Yun Wu didn't deliberately suppress him or give him the cold shoulder.
He simply wasn't as friendly with him as before.
It was clear he now saw him as the type to become arrogant and overambitious after a little success.
Chen Jianghe didn't say much about it, maintaining his usual respect for Yun Wu. The man's cultivation was higher than his own, and he was the manager of the large boat in the inner waters; disrespect was not an option.
The large boat departed after collecting the little green fish.
Chen Jianghe had five more spirit stones in his hand.
Thanks to Xiao Hei's diligent work—urging the little green fish to take a stroll after eating, digest, and then eat again—they had successfully raised four little green fish.
There was also a bonus for the average weight being reduced by one catty.
(End of this chapter)