Chapter 72 – Seizing the Foundation
The middle-aged man looked around for a moment, then muttered, “This place is indeed strange. Two years ago, there was a sudden burst of spiritual energy that attracted these beasts. Since then, waves of spiritual energy have been sending out from around here. That’s what attracted the beasts.”
The young man’s eyes suddenly lit up. He said, “Senior Brother, could there be treasure here?”
The middle one chuckled and said, “There were some elders who thought so too, but after looking into it for a while, they decided that the release of spiritual energy was a natural occurrence.”
The young man sighed in disappointment and said, “That’s such a shame. If only there really was treasure here.”
The middle-aged man laughed and said, “It’s getting late. I’ll catch a powerful crystal spirit beast, then we can go back.” With that, the middle-aged man spread out his divine sense and found 7 to 8 crystal spirit beasts and began observing them.
Just then, all the cultivating beasts suddenly began to stir, as if something had startled them. Some even began to growl.
Gradually, the number of growls increased, until all the animals were roaring, their roars directed at the vegetation-covered cliffs.
The middle-aged man was stunned. Before he could call his fellow disciples to leave immediately, a vast divine consciousness swept over them. The middle-aged man’s expression changed drastically. Even with his 12th-layer cultivation level, he felt completely powerless under this divine consciousness.
The girl named Xu, who was next to the middle-aged man, turned pale. The flying sword beneath her feet flashed and fell to the ground. The girl and the young man holding her also fell to the ground.
The flying sword beneath the middle-aged man also wobbled, and he had to use all his strength to stay aloft. He stepped forward and grabbed the two falling men before they landed on the ground. This simple action alone left him drenched in sweat.
Upon landing, he immediately clasped his hands and said, “Junior is a disciple of the Xuan Dao Sect, Li Hai. I didn’t know Senior was cultivating here. Please forgive us.”
The girl named Xu also noticed the divine sense. It caused her to lose control of her flying sword. She said respectfully, “Junior is Xuan Dao Sect disciple Xu Fei.”
The young man was so frightened that there was no trace of blood on his face. He stood there, clutching the girl’s clothes, not daring to speak.
All the animals felt a chill as the divine sense spread throughout their bodies. They all showed expressions of shock and fear. They lay on the ground, not daring to move.
“Xuan Dao Sect…” A very old voice echoed from the surroundings. It was hard to tell whether the voice was happy or angry.
The middle-aged man groaned. If he were alone, he might have fled the moment he realized something was wrong, but now, with a younger sister and a younger brother present, if he fled, their master would definitely hold him accountable. He could only hope that, since the Xuan Dao Sect was so close and they hadn’t done anything to offend this senior, the senior wouldn’t do anything.
After the senior said those words, he began to think. The middle-aged man clenched his teeth and decided that his life was more important. If the senior started acting with murderous intent, he would save himself first.
Xu Fei’s forehead was covered in beads of sweat. He became extremely nervous when he saw his always calm third brother turn pale with fear. He hesitated for a moment, then said, “Senior, this junior hasn’t done anything to offend you. You…”
Before he could finish his sentence, the old voice let out a surprised sound and said, “You said your name was Xu?”
The girl was stunned. She replied respectfully, “The disciple is named Xu.”
The voice fell silent again. After a long moment, the voice sighed and said, “You may go.” Then, a sudden change occurred in the sky, as if an invisible hand were waving in the air. The three of them were pushed far away by an unstoppable wind.
The middle-aged man felt increasingly terrified. At that moment, he felt as if his entire body were being imprisoned. If this senior wanted to kill him, he wouldn’t even be able to react.
Frightened, he immediately grabbed his younger brother and sister and ran as fast as he could without a word once the binding force was gone. He was afraid that his senior would change his mind, so he used all his strength to escape.
After the three left, the cliff covered in vegetation began to shake until all the vegetation fell away, revealing a dark cave.
A young man with shoulder-length hair walked slowly out. His face was pale and his eyes were sparkling. As he emerged from the cave, all the wild beasts began to whimper, their eyes pleading for mercy.
The long-haired young man was around 20 years old. His gaze was cold as he looked at all the beasts. He remained silent as he looked towards Mount Heng Yue with regret in his heart.
He is Wang Lin, who has been in closed-door cultivation for 4 years.
Wang Lin’s eyes lit up. He muttered to himself, “I reached peak Qi Condensation a long time ago, but reaching Foundation Establishment is too difficult. I’ve tried countless times, but I still haven’t succeeded. Situ, will the method you mentioned really help me reach Foundation Establishment faster?”
“Yes. Have you decided to use my method?” Situ Nan smiled proudly. “I told you before: although reaching the Foundation Building stage is difficult, if you use my method, it will definitely work.”
A cold light flashed across Wang Lin’s eyes. He said, “But I can’t even defeat someone in the Foundation Building stage. How can I capture him alive?”
Situ Nan laughed and said, “You can rest assured, because you have me here. This time, to help you reach Foundation Building, I will take another risk and use my technique again. As long as you can find an opening for me, I can help you hold that person back. You’d better find someone who has just reached Foundation Building so I don’t have to waste too much essence.”
Wang Lin pondered for a moment, then sighed. He smiled wryly. “Situ, this foundation theft is extremely cruel. Whoever I steal from will surely die, so let’s wait and see.”
Situ Nan said in a displeased tone, “You! I’ve told you countless times that in the cultivation world, the strong prey on the weak. Killing others for your own benefit is perfectly normal. With your current merciful nature, how long will it take you to reach Spirit Transformation? Hmph, if you don’t want to use my method, you can also look for the wood element. If you can fill the Heaven-Defying Bead with the wood element, the enhancement will give you enough spiritual energy to reach Foundation Building. If you don’t do either, and don’t have a Nascent Soul cultivator to help you, don’t even think about reaching Foundation Building.”
Wang Lin pondered for a moment, then said, “I wonder how other people can reach foundation building.”
Situ Nan grumbled and said, “It’s simple. If they had a sect, a Nascent Soul cultivator would use their own cultivation to help their disciples reach Foundation Building. If I still had my body, I could do the same and help you. In my homeland, a Nascent Soul cultivator’s status is the same as a Core Formation cultivator’s here. Although there aren’t many, there are enough to help disciples reach Foundation Building.”