Foundation Establishment Insights
Beom Chang begged Jin Somyeong with a face that looked ready to burst into tears.
“U-uh... little brother! Please, think about this again. A thousand spirit stones is just too much!”
Jin Somyeong frowned.
Beom Chang’s reaction was so violent it was almost surprising.
“You’ve got plenty of spirit stones, so why are you being so stingy?”
“S-stingy?! Little brother, I don’t know what kind of misunderstanding you’ve got here, but that doesn’t mean spirit stones aren’t precious to me! Most of the magical tools and spirit stones I use were given to me by Uncle. They aren’t mine to spend carelessly in the first place!”
“...Hm.”
“It’d be hard, but I could scrape together a thousand spirit stones and hand them over to you, little brother. But then what would I do? No matter how well I hide it, Uncle would find out eventually!”
His wailing was getting on Jin Somyeong’s nerves, but there was a point to be made.
Handing a thousand spirit stones to a newly acquired subordinate was far too suspicious.
“Fine. Forget it.”
“Ah! That was the right decision! As expected, little brother, you’re wise!”
Now completely relieved, Beom Chang’s face even brightened. Jin Somyeong jerked his chin at him.
“We’ll call it a loan. I’ll use them for a bit and return them.”
“A-loan? Wh-what’s the difference between that and just giving them to you? You clearly have no intention of paying them back!”
For a moment, Jin Somyeong was left speechless. It was the kind of thing that told him exactly how this man had been living all this time.
He must have extorted spirit stones from weaker juniors under the pretext of “borrowing” them and then never returned a single one.
“Ha... I said I’d pay them back, didn’t I?”
“I-It’s the same thing! How am I supposed to trust you— Agh?!”
Smack.
Beom Chang cried out and clutched his forehead, stumbling back.
Jin Somyeong had struck him squarely on the brow with a flick of his finger, after the man had lost all reason and started throwing a tantrum.
“Tch. You really are shameless for someone who calls himself an elder brother. Quit spouting nonsense and hand over the spirit stones. I’ll use them for exactly a hundred days and then give them back.”
In truth, a hundred days was more than enough time to recover the principal from the spirit stone mine.
He still intended to strengthen the mine without spending a single spirit stone of his own.
“Ugh...”
“You’re not going to say even this is impossible, are you? No matter how incompetent you are, you ought to be able to hide it for a little while. If you say nothing to anyone and quietly lend them to me, how would your Foundation Establishment uncle ever know?”
“Y-you really must pay them back. I’ll hide it as best I can, but if Uncle finds out, I won’t have anything to say for myself.”
“I said I would. Why would I bother cheating you? I’ll return every last coin cleanly after a hundred days.”
After hesitating for a long while, Beom Chang clenched his teeth and took out his money pouch.
As if he were being robbed of his own flesh, he dumped out the spirit stones and various magical tools with reddened eyes.
“If you sell these magical tools at Cheonbo Pavilion, they’ll fetch at least a thousand spirit stones! Is that enough for you now!”
Jin Somyeong frowned at the fellow, who was huffing as if voicing a silent protest.
“You seem dissatisfied. I haven’t forgotten what you tried to do to me. Do you want me to really get vicious?”
“N-no!”
Beom Chang shrank back in terror and bowed his head deeply. Watching him become respectful again in an instant, Jin Somyeong shook his head.
Tch, tch.
Right now, Beom Chang was the one on the losing side, but he was the sort of vermin who had spent his whole life cheating others.
When he had been the one abusing the weak, he probably never imagined a day like this would come.
Besides—
If Jin Somyeong had lost that fight a month ago, the man would not have shown him the slightest mercy. He would have exploited him even more brutally.
“Ah! Something just occurred to me. Since you’re the nephew of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, you must know quite a bit about Foundation Establishment, right? I’d like you to give your elder brother some advice.”
“...There’s something called the Comprehension of Foundation Establishment passed down within the Red Sun Sect. Wait here a moment; I’ll go to the Merit Hall and borrow it.”
How long had he waited?
About thirty minutes later, Beom Chang returned holding out a jade slip about the size of a fist.
“Everything our Red Sun Sect has gathered on Foundation Establishment is recorded in this jade slip.”
“Oh?”
“Oh, and this jade slip has a location-tracking restriction carved into it. You absolutely must not let it leave the Red Sun Sect. Knowledge related to Foundation Establishment is treated as a strategic resource.”
“Understood. I’ll be careful.”
Apparently the borrowing fee was no small thing, because Beom Chang handed it over with a face twisted in anguish.
The jade slip was packed with dense spiritual energy and looked quite valuable. No matter how Jin Somyeong looked at it, this was no ordinary piece of jade.
It clearly seemed precious, yet there wasn’t a single character engraved on it, which puzzled him.
“How do you use this jade slip?”
“A jade slip is basically an advanced book in which a Foundation Establishment expert has recorded information using divine sense, that is, mental power. It’s highly efficient and convenient, but you need a certain level of mental strength to use it.”
“A certain level? How much, exactly?”
“Well... when I asked while borrowing it, they said that once you reach late-stage Qi Refining, you’ll be able to read the information inside.”
As Jin Somyeong toyed curiously with the jade slip, Beom Chang added a few more words of explanation.
“A jade slip can convey more information in a single breath than a thick stack of books. Most high-level cultivators record information in jade slips instead of books.”
“I see.”
Nodding, Jin Somyeong asked about the exact usage.
“It’s simple. Place the jade slip against your forehead and focus your mind.”
“Really? Let’s see...”
The moment he pressed the jade slip to his brow out of sheer curiosity—
A Qi Refining cultivator must overcome three gates to become Foundation Establishment. These three gates test essence, energy, and spirit. If one’s level is insufficient, they cannot be passed.
The flood of information made him instinctively flinch.
Jin Somyeong furrowed his brow and focused again.
If one fails to overcome the three gates, death is the usual outcome, and even if one is lucky, the result is lifelong crippling. Only by consuming a Foundation Establishment Pill can this danger be avoided. Furthermore, attempting Foundation Establishment in a spirit vein of tier two or higher can increase the chance of success...
In less than a second, countless pieces of information poured into him without pause. It felt as though an entire book had been forced straight into his head.
The content was full of things to watch out for when attempting Foundation Establishment, along with what needed to be prepared in advance.
It was extremely valuable knowledge that would greatly reduce his trial and error.
“Little brother? Don’t strain yourself too much. During mid-stage Qi Refining, you wouldn’t normally be able to sense anything. You need your divine sense to grow stronger before you can use it.”
At the sound of Beom Chang’s voice, Jin Somyeong naturally pulled the jade slip away and nodded.
“I see. In any case, thank you. I’ll read it once I reach late-stage Qi Refining and return it.”
“...Haha. Then I’m the one who should thank you. Please return it as quickly as possible, little brother. Do you need anything else? Just say the word. This brother will handle it all for you!”
Jin Somyeong waved him off at the sight of Beom Chang grinding his teeth in pained reluctance.
“Knowledge doesn’t shrink just because it’s shared. Why are you acting so stingy? You’ll need the Comprehension of Foundation Establishment yourself before long anyway, so consider this a loan in advance and go train. I’ll call if I need anything.”
“...Yes.”
Beom Chang looked as if he were being asked to cut away his own flesh, but Jin Somyeong sent him off and turned his gaze elsewhere.
Staring at the jade slip, he fell into thought.
It says my mental power needs to be at late-stage Qi Refining level to use it. Then why can I use it?
He hadn’t bothered showing it in front of Beom Chang, but he had used the jade slip far too easily.
It was undeniably strange.
Could it be because I awakened my past life?
There were too many possible explanations to judge the reason.
Still, having strong divine sense wasn’t a bad thing, so he decided to let it go and handle the urgent matters first.
He glanced down, a little dumbfounded.
The magical tools piled up on the floor like a small mountain made him feel slightly at a loss for words.
So he really is rich.
For all Beom Chang’s whining, there were far more items here than Jin Somyeong had expected.
It even made him wonder just how much that Foundation Establishment uncle had been providing him.
Whoosh!
With a wave of his hand, Jin Somyeong made all the items disappear.
He swept up the magical tools and spirit stones, then headed straight to Cheonbo Pavilion and sold everything off.
“Thank you very much, customer! Please come again!”
He returned to the Red Sun Sect after being seen off by the manager, who bowed a full ninety degrees.
In truth, selling goods at Cheonbo Pavilion meant taking a loss, since the place bought low and sold high.
But at least they didn’t play tricks.
For Jin Somyeong, who didn’t want to deal with trouble, it was a perfectly acceptable place to sell.
“At last, it’s time to strengthen the mine.”
Flash!
By now familiar with the scenery of the Simsangbigyeong, Jin Somyeong reached the blue hill and focused his mind.
He invested every last spirit stone he had obtained from Beom Chang.
The moment a thousand spirit stones vanished,
Rumble!
the entire Simsangbigyeong trembled with a faint vibration.
“Oh?”
The mist that had surrounded the hill like a fence drew back. The entire pocket realm had expanded.
It was a side effect of the mine’s growth, but he had no reason to dislike it.
On the contrary, it was excellent.
Looking at the blue hill, which had surely grown at least twice as large, Jin Somyeong felt satisfied.
If it gets just a little bigger, I might even be able to make a vegetable patch.
Smacking his lips, he let his eyes gleam. It was time to enjoy the real main course.
“Yes! This is it!”
The Simsangbigyeong had not betrayed him. As much as a thousand spirit stones had been spent, the production output had risen accordingly.
It had grown without wasting the resources used to break through its rank.
Whoosh!
Jin Somyeong immediately ran to the spirit stone mine and marveled.
“Incredible.”
The entire underground cavern was filled with blue light.
The spirit stones, suddenly doubled in number, glittered like stars.
Twenty a day.
There were so many that even mining them individually was a chore.
But it was money-making work—how hard could that be? This kind of labor was no more than picking up cash off the roadside!
Clang!
Jin Somyeong pulled out the pickaxe magical tool he had bought at the market and took his stance.
Clang! Clang! Clang...
As someone who had been doing this for a long time, he dug out the spirit stones with practiced skill.
Had he mined about fifteen?
Just as he was looking for the next target, he paused.
“No, wait. This is actually pretty exhausting.”
He felt a faint pain somewhere deep between his brows.
It was the kind of fatigue that came from the mind, not the body.
Because he had mined spirit stones steadily every day until now, he had not realized it, but doing it in a half-spirit state was quite demanding.
Of course, this was not merely a bad thing. Every matter had its pros and cons.
The harder the work, the greater the reward.
In this case, that reward was stronger divine sense. Mining spirit stones itself was a form of training!
...So this was the wish I made.
He had clearly hoped the Simsangbigyeong would also help him train. Thanks to that, the mine itself had become a kind of training ground.
No wonder.
A long-standing question was finally answered.
His senses were strangely sharp. He had even been able to detect a cultivator in mid-stage while still in early-stage Qi Refining.
Now that he thought about it, all of it had been because his divine sense had grown stronger.
Honestly, there were times when mining each spirit stone one by one felt like a hassle. But if it offered this much help, then it was more than welcome.
The stronger his divine sense became, the greater the benefits.
It would, of course, help him overcome the three gates of Foundation Establishment, and it would also keep him from falling too easily into illusions. There were countless advantages.
Even just today, hadn’t he been able to read the information inside the jade slip?
Stronger divine sense was always better!
Pop!
After mining every last spirit stone, Jin Somyeong returned to the eastern compound.
He took out the Comprehension of Foundation Establishment jade slip he had only skimmed before because of Beom Chang and pressed it to his forehead.
“Mm...”
A long while later, after memorizing every scrap of information in the jade slip without missing a single character, he sank into thought.
To break through to Foundation Establishment, one must pass the three gates of essence, energy, and spirit...
Essence, energy, and spirit referred, in simple terms, to the body, spiritual energy, and divine sense. To pass the three gates, one’s training in these three had to be as close as possible to the level required for Foundation Establishment.
Of course, this was so difficult it was almost impossible.
How could a Qi Refining cultivator possibly possess Foundation Establishment-grade mental power, body, and spiritual energy?
It was only natural that most failed.
It would be nice if, after failing, one could replenish whatever was lacking and try again, but that was impossible.
There is no second chance. The moment you fail, you either become crippled or die.
The difficulty was truly vicious.
No wonder the overwhelming majority of Qi Refining cultivators died without ever passing that threshold.
It isn’t completely impossible.
That was where the Foundation Establishment Pill came in.
Taking it greatly increased the chances of overcoming the three gates, and if one still failed, it reduced the consequences substantially.
It preserved life, protected the meridians, and kept one from becoming a cripple.
Its effects were so extraordinary it would not be an exaggeration to call it a divine pill.
Foundation Establishment Pill... perfect, if not for how hard it is to obtain.
The reason Jin Somyeong wanted to enter the Red Cloud Secret Realm was largely because of that pill.
If he missed this secret realm, which only opened once every thirty years, then not only the Foundation Establishment Pill but even the key ingredients—Foundation Establishment spiritual materials—would become as hard to find as stars in the sky.
Strategic resources like the Foundation Establishment Pill were not something one could simply buy just because one had spirit stones.
It was the same reason the United States did not sell its newest fighter jets to just anyone on Earth.
In any case, to raise the odds of Foundation Establishment, I need to train essence, energy, and spirit sufficiently.
Then one of them was already effectively solved.
As long as he kept mining spirit stones in the Simsangbigyeong, his divine sense would continue to grow stronger. There was nothing to worry about.
After going over the contents of the Comprehension of Foundation Establishment again, Jin Somyeong brushed himself off and stood up.
He planned to go to the Scripture Pavilion and check the manuals and arts provided there for free.
At the very least, they should be better than the street stalls.
Jin Somyeong was a regular at the Scripture Pavilion, but the truth was that he could not obtain any truly high-grade techniques there.
In this world, knowledge was tightly monopolized, so at best one could buy only low-grade tier-one arts.
Since the Red Sun Sect was a sect in name, Jin Somyeong believed it had to be far superior to ordinary bookstores.
...Right?
For a moment, a trace of doubt surfaced, but he forcibly pushed it aside.
Come now, how could a sect that had ruled Jeokyang Market for over twenty years have no depth to it?
If he could find a secret art for improving spiritual roots, or a method of training essence, energy, and spirit, that would be ideal.
Leaving the eastern compound, he briskly made his way by asking directions from senior and junior brothers alike, and before long he arrived at the Scripture Pavilion.