Attempting Foundation Establishment

Essence, Qi, and Spirit.

After brooding over the Three Gates of Foundation Establishment, Jin Somyeong first made his way to the steward’s office.

“Welcome. Have you come to rent a cave residence?”

“Yes, senior.”

As expected of a Golden Core-grade city, even an ordinary steward was a Foundation Establishment great cultivator. It surprised him a little, but it posed no problem.

Jin Somyeong paid the Spirit Stones and rented a first-grade mid-tier cave residence. He could have leased one with an even better spirit vein, but this level was exactly right. The spiritual energy flowing in from the Mental Secret Realm, which had already reached the second grade, was more than enough.

Thump.

Settling cross-legged in the center of the cave residence, Jin Somyeong waved a hand. All kinds of spiritual herbs spilled out from his subspace and piled up before him. He drew in a deep breath.

First, I’ll create a fire spirit root.

There were several ways to open the heart through the Ojangbaekryeongyeol, but having a fire spirit root would make the process vastly easier. Of course, creating a spirit root was no simple matter—but for the current Jin Somyeong, it was possible.

Because he had the Five Elements Qi Refining Art, which had evolved through the proficiency system.

Grab.

From the mound of spiritual herbs, he selected only those of the fire attribute and began placing them into his mouth. It was to supplement fire qi, the weakest of his five elements.

The herbs poured into him without pause, filling his stomach—until at last, a fierce heat surged up from within his belly.

Fwoosh!

The heat was so intense that, left unchecked, it would have burned his entire body to ash.

Then, in the next instant, water qi suppressed the rapidly swelling flame. The cooled fire enriched the earth, and the soil hardened into metal.

Generation and restraint.

The endless circulation of the five elements continued without pause. The five whirlpools within his dantian influenced one another, gradually approaching a more perfect equilibrium.

At some point, something like tiny seeds broke away from his four existing spirit roots—wood, metal, water, and earth. They flowed along the circulation of the five elements, and the instant they reached the fire-attribute vortex—

Boom!

His heart thudded violently. At the same time, he felt a special sense awaken within him.

“Fire spirit root!”

It was an energy that seemed warm when viewed from afar, yet would burn anyone who dared approach too carelessly. Such power filled the air around him. Fire-attribute spiritual energy, which he had rarely been able to perceive clearly before, now stood out with startling vividness.

Jin Somyeong closed his eyes and focused, then flicked a finger. The moment he gathered only fire qi and compressed it into a single point—

Fwoosh!

A blazing fireball appeared in midair.

He had succeeded in casting Fire Bullet, a basic fire-type spell. As the temperature in the cave residence rose sharply, a smile came to him unbidden. Unlike before, handling fire qi felt comfortable. The sensation of being obstructed at every turn, as though he were running into invisible barriers, was gone.

Jin Somyeong could now command all five elements.

“Good.”

While the momentum was still there, he began training in the Ojangbaekryeongyeol at once. Now that he had formed a fire spirit root, opening his heart as a spiritual organ was simple. As with his other organs, all he had to do was temper it through repeated destruction and regeneration.

Of course, I need to be careful.

The heart was the strongest organ, yet also the most fragile. As it was a fatal weak point, he had to handle it with extreme caution.

Hssss...

With each breath, he guided the spiritual energy he inhaled toward his heart. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Qi seeped in with fire qi at its center and began accumulating within the organ. A stiff, aching pain seized his chest, and his breath caught.

Gulp.

Tension rose in him. If he made even the slightest mistake, his heart might burst and kill him. A single bead of sweat slid down his forehead.

Not too much. Not too forceful. Slowly, carefully, he tempered his heart.

How much time had passed?

After countless cycles of minute destruction and regeneration, Jin Somyeong, who had remained utterly still, opened his eyes.

“Ah!”

An exclamation escaped him, and his face brightened. He had completed one round of tempering without any real difficulty.

It’s easier than I expected.

It was almost puzzling. The Ojangbaekryeongyeol had warned that opening the heart was the most dangerous and difficult step, and that he must exercise absolute caution. Yet at this level, it was about as difficult as opening any other organ.

...Has my aptitude improved?

Now that he thought about it, it made sense. The fortuitous encounter he had experienced in the Red Cloud Secret Realm had been immense. The proficiency system had helped as well, and the pure white flame had transformed his body to a degree close to complete rebirth.

That’s good news.

It felt as though he had been running with heavy shackles on, only to finally be freed of them. The more his formerly abysmal aptitude improved, the easier cultivation became.

Still smiling broadly, he closed his eyes again. Thanks to his formidable stamina, he still had room to continue. He intended to temper himself once more.

Three months later.

A violent aura surged from Jin Somyeong as he sat cross-legged. If an ordinary person had seen him then, they would have been struck with the terror of standing before some enormous beast.

Wooooong!

The rampaging energy gradually subsided, and the moment his soaring blood qi came under Jin Somyeong’s control, his heart opened.

As the Ojangbaekryeongyeol advanced from the introductory stage to the skilled stage, all five of his organs evolved into spiritual organs.

“It’s done!”

The instant all five viscera opened, an unbreakable line formed between them. The organs, which had been functioning somewhat separately until now, were linked through spiritual energy and began harmonizing with one another. They stimulated each other constantly, generating blood qi without end.

Stamina. Physical toughness. Poison resistance. The volume of spiritual energy he could breathe in. Everything had improved far beyond what it had been before.

And that was not all.

The current Jin Somyeong could amplify his blood qi to explosively increase the power of his flesh. It was, quite literally, a rampage. The aftereffects would be enormous, but as a technique to use in a life-or-death battle, it was exceedingly useful.

Boom!

He lightly thrust out a fist, and the sound that followed was like a bomb detonating. He could only marvel at the air, which trembled and hummed from the aftershock of his strength alone.

If he infused spiritual energy into this body and let loose, no Qi Refining cultivator would be able to withstand him.

“Ha!”

What this meant was obvious. His muscular strength had reached the level of the second grade. As he was now, he felt as though he could beat to death barehanded a Foundation Establishment cultivator like the one he had encountered in the Red Cloud Secret Realm.

Of course, that was only under the premise that the opponent was restricted by the secret realm’s prohibitions. Once a Foundation Establishment great cultivator began using magical artifacts in earnest, he would still be difficult to handle.

...At least for now.

Above Qi Refining, below Foundation Establishment.

His confidence grew stronger by the moment. With a body like this, it would be stranger if he failed to pass the three gates of essence, qi, and spirit.

My Spirit Gate won’t be an issue since I have Divine Sense. That leaves qi.

In truth, that was not much of a problem either. So long as he had time to cultivate, it would be enough. He had been steadily preparing many things for this very day.

I’ll cultivate to the very end of the ninth layer of Qi Refining. Then I’ll take the Foundation Establishment Pill, and it’ll be over.

A sense of satisfaction filled him. The rewards he had risked his life to obtain in the Red Cloud Secret Realm had accumulated and combined until Foundation Establishment now felt close enough to grasp. Everything he had built until now had become his foundation, supporting him with reassuring solidity.

None of the hardships he had endured had been in vain.

As he savored the heavy, pounding pulse of his blood qi, which felt like a condensed volcano, Jin Somyeong carefully examined ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠his meridians.

“Oh.”

His meridians, the pathways through which spiritual energy flowed, had become far tougher and sturdier than before. As his flesh evolved, his meridians had strengthened as well.

At this level, I can move to a better cave residence.

If he used both a second-grade cave residence and the Mental Secret Realm at the same time, reaching the ninth layer of Qi Refining would not be difficult.

Jin Somyeong immediately left the cave and headed toward the steward’s office of Cheongdan City, only to pause mid-step.

The atmosphere in the streets feels strange...

Even he, who had been so focused on Foundation Establishment that he had paid little attention to his surroundings, sensed something off. Cheongdan City was unusually noisy. Rather than lively, it was more...

It feels like Jeokyang Market right before the secret realm opened.

As though something were about to happen at any moment. The cultivators walking through the streets all wore unmistakably tense expressions.

“Haa. Did you hear about it?”

“That the Giant Sword Sect and the White Demon Sect clashed? Of course I heard.”

Jin Somyeong had been letting the conversation drift past him naturally, but at that, he stopped dead. The contents were not ordinary. Narrowing his brow, he infused spiritual energy into his ears.

“Good grief. What are rogue cultivators like us supposed to do if war breaks out?”

“Exactly. Surely they won’t drag us off to the battlefield, will they?”

“Come now, surely not. Cheongdan City is a neutral power, isn’t it? We should be fine.”

He could not help flinching at the provocative word that lodged itself in his mind.

War broke out?

After coming to a Golden Core-grade city, he had naturally learned many things. The country where Jin Somyeong lived was called the Damun Kingdom.

The Damun Kingdom was ruled by seven great sects, and one of them was the Giant Sword Sect, which he had recently encountered in the secret realm. Of the seven sects, three called themselves righteous immortal sects, while the remaining four were demonic sects.

News that a conflict had erupted between an immortal sect and a demonic sect made his brow furrow.

Of all times, war has to break out now.

If the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠war escalated to its peak, rogue cultivators like Jin Somyeong would be swept up before they even knew what was happening. A weak existence like a Qi Refining cultivator could easily die from the aftermath alone.

“...”

He stood still for a moment, then shook his head hard.

The course of action he needed to take was the same either way. Focus on cultivation and achieve Foundation Establishment. For now, that was enough.

I’ll think about what comes next later.

Arriving at his original destination, the Cheongdan City steward’s office, Jin Somyeong approached the steward and spoke.

“Senior, I came because I would like to rent a second-grade low-tier cave residence.”

“Second-grade?”

The old man looked Jin Somyeong over and gave a quiet murmur of admiration.

“You still look young, yet you’re already at the eighth layer of Qi Refining. A promising young man, indeed.”

“Not at all. I was simply fortunate.”

A faint smile settled on Jin Somyeong’s lips. Unlike before, he was not utterly helpless even under the gaze of a Foundation Establishment great cultivator.

He had tried condensing his Divine Sense within his body to conceal his body-refinement realm, and it had succeeded. The steward surnamed Go had not noticed at all that he was also cultivating a body-refinement art.

“The monthly rent for a second-grade cave residence is ten mid-grade Spirit Stones, or one thousand low-grade Spirit Stones. The ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠deposit is one year’s rent. Will that be acceptable?”

“Yes.”

For other Qi Refining cultivators, it was an eye-watering sum, but for Jin Somyeong, it was fine. His Mental Secret Realm had already reached the second grade and produced one mid-grade Spirit Stone every day.

“Ho... You are a far more remarkable young man than I expected.”

The steward sounded genuinely surprised, then continued.

“To be honest, I have many things I’m curious about, but I won’t ask. The Lord of Cheongdan City instructed us not to pry into the origins of rogue cultivators.”

“Haha.”

When Jin Somyeong laughed somewhat awkwardly, the Foundation Establishment steward handed him a formation token and said, “Seeing that you wish to rent a second-grade cave residence, I suppose you intend to attempt Foundation Establishment... I don’t know how long it will take, but next time, I hope you’ll call me fellow Daoist rather than senior.”

“Thank you for your kind words.”

After parting from the steward, Jin Somyeong arrived at the second-grade low-tier cave residence and activated the formation to its maximum output.

As though entering closed-door cultivation, he cut off all contact. He did not want any disturbance before he achieved Foundation Establishment.

Thump.

In the place where spiritual energy was densest—the room marked as the cultivation chamber—he sat cross-legged and closed his eyes.

He buried the passing years in the pit called cultivation.

Three years later.

Upon reaching the ninth layer of Qi Refining, his Boundless Great Ability, which had numbered 190, increased to 220.

Jin Somyeong had thought 220 was the limit of the Qi Refining stage. It was not.

Afterward, the golden beads increased little by little each time he cultivated, finally reaching 250.

“So this is the true limit a Qi Refining cultivator can reach.”

The very end of the ninth layer.

In other words, he had reached the Great Circle of Qi Refining.

At the age of only twenty-one, he had obtained the qualifications to challenge Foundation Establishment. And as a rogue cultivator, no less. If this news spread, the entire country would be shaken.

This was a speed even faster than the cherished geniuses of Golden Core-grade immortal sects.

But Jin Somyeong paid no attention to such things. His entire focus was on challenging the Three Gates of Foundation Establishment.

Let’s begin.

He placed a hand near his dantian and focused on his breathing.

He did not exhale the spiritual energy that streamed endlessly into him, instead continuing to accumulate it in his dantian. Even when his dantian, pushed to its limit, cried out in pain, he did not stop.

Hssss...

Not only his dantian but his entire body filled completely with spiritual energy. At the point he believed to be his limit, he took one more step forward. Then, the moment he tossed the fragrant Foundation Establishment Pill into his mouth—

Boom!

His spiritual energy broke through the critical point.