That night.
The starlight was brilliant.
Gu Qingfeng, wearing a thin robe, sat upright on the bed, his hands resting casually on his knees, his eyes slightly closed. He seemed to be sitting in quiet meditation, entering a trance, resting his spirit, or perhaps breathing and circulating energy.
Threads of spiritual energy in the surroundings, like mist, seeped in an orderly fashion through all the pores of his body. After circulating through the meridians within, they nourished his internal organs and his bones, muscles, skin, and membranes.
In this world, the path of cultivating immortality and seeking the Dao was divided into four major stages and twelve realms.
The Cultivator Stage: Postnatal, Innate, Foundation Establishment.
The True Person Stage: True Body, Purple Palace, Golden Core.
The Daozun Stage: Primordial Spirit, Dao-heart, Dharma Form.
The Earth Immortal Stage: Great Completion, Return to Origin, Tribulation Crossing.
The so-called Postnatal realm involved absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to temper one's own bones, muscles, and skin.
The so-called Innate realm involved absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to open up all the meridians throughout the body.
Only after opening all the meridians could one establish a foundation.
The Great Dao numbered three thousand, and the Immortal Dao was one of them.
Regardless of which Great Dao one cultivated, the first step was always Foundation Establishment—laying the foundation of the Dao. The Immortal Dao was no exception.
The foundation was the root.
It was the root of the Great Dao, and also its source.
Foundation Establishment in the Immortal Dao emphasized the unity of the three spiritual essences.
Spiritual Root, Dantian, and Meridians.
Only by connecting and linking one's own Spiritual Root with the Dantian and Meridians could one lay the foundation of the Immortal Dao.
If Foundation Establishment succeeded, it was akin to being reborn—the physical body would become stronger, the physique lighter, and one would become impervious to heat and cold.
Foundation Establishment was the first major barrier on the path of cultivation. One either succeeded or perished.
If Foundation Establishment succeeded, all was well. But if it failed, one's Spiritual Root, Dantian, and Meridians would inevitably be damaged, possibly even collapsing. Continuing cultivation afterward would be extremely difficult.
A hundred years ago, at the end of the Ancient Era, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth was sparse. Foundation Establishment was a very difficult matter, with a very low success rate. Many, many people stopped here, their cultivation paths cut short by failed Foundation Establishment.
After the Cataclysm, the Modern Era began, and all things revived. Although spiritual energy was now abundant and cultivation resources were countless, if one rushed for success, it was still possible to fail at Foundation Establishment.
Of course, Foundation Establishment failure could also lead to mutation. This mutation occurred during the Foundation Establishment process when the Spiritual Root, Dantian, and Meridians twisted and tangled together, resulting in a physical body different from ordinary people. Although the body became formidable after mutation, due to the twisted and chaotic state of the Spiritual Root, Dantian, and Meridians, it became very difficult to continue cultivation.
The chance of physical mutation due to Foundation Establishment failure was very low.
The reason Gu Qingfeng was mistakenly considered a mutated waste body was precisely because his physical body was different from ordinary people.
Of course, the reason his physical body was different was not due to Foundation Establishment failure. Firstly, it was because he had tempered his body with the Nine Nethers Ancestral Flame. Secondly, it was due to the judgment of the Heavenly Dao.
His Great Dao foundation had been destroyed by the Heavenly Dao's judgment. If he wanted to cultivate, he had to re-establish his foundation.
At this moment, the spiritual power within his body was flowing leisurely through his meridians. This spiritual power had been autonomously absorbed and transformed by all the pores of his body since arriving at Yunxia Sect. The spiritual power wasn't very abundant, nor was it very strong.
Originally, Gu Qingfeng had planned to live a leisurely life for a few years first and consider other matters later, so he hadn't taken cultivation seriously.
Now that he had promised Huode, he reckoned he needed to establish his foundation as soon as possible.
Although relying on the power of his physical body, he feared no one.
However, hearing Huode say that various Treasure Bodies and foundations were very prevalent nowadays, and not being too familiar with these things himself, Gu Qingfeng thought it best to be cautious. He didn't want to end up being killed by some little brat.
It was safer to establish his foundation quickly.
Beside Gu Qingfeng were some white jade bottles and various colorful stones.
The white jade bottles contained high-quality pills, and these colorful stones were various top-grade spirit stones.
These pills and spirit stones were all sent by Huode. Seeing Gu Qingfeng agree to help, Huode naturally offered his full support, sending over all the cultivation resources he had treasured.
Gu Qingfeng opened a white jade bottle, sniffed it, then swallowed all the pills inside in one go. He also picked up a top-grade spirit stone and began extracting the spiritual energy within.
If Huode were here at this moment, he would surely be shocked speechless.
These pills and spirit stones were treasures he had treasured for many years. The white jade bottle contained Blazing Fire Nourishment Pills. For him, taking just one would take years to fully digest. Yet Gu Qingfeng swallowed over a dozen Blazing Fire Nourishment Pills from the bottle in one breath.
Those spirit stones were Starfire Spirit Stones. They contained starfire spiritual energy. With Huode's cultivation level, it would take him a year or two to refine one. Yet Gu Qingfeng casually refined a Starfire Spirit Stone completely, extracting all the starfire spiritual energy within until it was clean.
Whether pills or spirit stones.
Any cultivation resource.
Whether consuming or refining, one must proceed step by step. This was especially true for resources with stronger effects. If taken or refined blindly, the Spiritual Root, Dantian, and Meridians simply couldn't withstand it. They could very likely collapse. If it caused a backlash of spiritual power within the body, sudden death was not impossible.
Of course, this was true for ordinary people.
For Gu Qingfeng, these problems simply didn't exist.
It wasn't because he lacked a Dantian, nor because he lacked a Spiritual Root. It was because this physical body of his had once been tempered by the Nine Nethers Ancestral Flame. Even though it had now been beaten back to a mortal physical body by the Heavenly Dao's judgment, his bones, muscles, skin, membranes, internal organs, and blood still contained the essence of the Nine Nethers Ancestral Flame. Never mind this so-called starfire spiritual energy—even heavenly thunder spiritual power he dared to refine.
And so, he consumed pills while refining spirit stones.
In a single night, over a dozen white jade bottles containing more than a hundred Blazing Fire Nourishment Pills had been completely consumed by him. Over seventy Starfire Spirit Stones had also been fully refined.
The spiritual power within Gu Qingfeng's body grew increasinglyprofound.
But it still wasn't enough!
Far from enough.
Foundation Establishment required massive amounts of spiritual power support. Especially since his physical body was extraordinary, the amount of spiritual power required was an unknown quantity.
If he relied solely on absorbing the meager spiritual energy between heaven and earth, whether he could establish his foundation even in the year of the monkey was a question.
Although the pills and spirit stones Huode sent were priceless treasures, that was only true for ordinary people. In Gu Qingfeng's eyes, they were no different from a pile of garbage, only barely usable.
The night passed without incident.
Until dawn, as the sun first rose.
Only then did he slowly open his eyes.
Looking at the empty white jade bottles, then at thesedepleted spirit stones.
Gu Qingfeng got up from the bed, stretched, washed up, and went to look for Huode, thinking to ask for more pills and spirit stones. But after searching around, he didn't see Huode's shadow. Just as he wasfeeling puzzled, a voice reached his ears.
"Young Master, what are you looking for?"
The speaker was precisely the laborer Wang Dashan from the Spirit Seclusion Garden. However, since Gu Qingfeng had lived in the Spirit Seclusion Garden, Wang Dashan had become his personal attendant.
"Where's Huode?"
"Elder Huode went out last night...
Didn't Young Master know?"
"He went out yesterday?"
Gu Qingfeng rubbed his chin, thinking carefully, and then remembered that Huode had said yesterday he was going to find a few of his own people to discuss the plan.
"This old man is too impatient, isn't he?"
Gu Qingfeng shook his head, sat down in the armchair, and began basking in the sun, thinking about Huode's plan.
It seemed he was supposed to first pass the outer gate examination, get promoted to an outer gate disciple, then go seize the position of Chief Disciple of the Twelve Outer Halls?
Then pass the inner gate examination, become an inner gate disciple, then go seize the position of Chief Disciple of the Nine Inner Halls?
He said this was Yunxia Sect's procedure. Doing it this way would both comply with Yunxia Sect's rules and give others no grounds for criticism, while also increasing credibility. Then he could logically compete for the Sect-Heir Disciple position.
"Young Master...
This morning, Senior Sister Tan Siru came by. She said...
She said Feixue Zhenren wants to see you."
"Who is Feixue Zhenren?"
Gu Qingfeng thought about it but didn't recognize anyone called Feixue Zhenren.
"Feixue Zhenren is the Outer Gate Head of Yunxia Sect, an Inner Court Elder, also a Grand Steward, and also...
Also Senior Sister Tan Siru's master..."
"Tan Siru's master?"
Gu Qingfeng frowned and asked, "What does she want with me?"
"This...
Senior Sister Tan Siru didn't say..."