Chapter 34 – Ninth-Grade Foundation Establishment, Spiritual Platform Immortal Foundation

“Examination concluded. All examinees please exit in an orderly manner. Specific results will be announced on Friday…”

As Mu Xiaoye personally escorted the last examinee out of the Secret Realm, the thirteen-day mock examination finally came to an end.

Although she had secured first place in the mock exam, Mu Xiaoye was currently in no mood for celebration.

Staring at the formation appearing beneath her feet, she pouted angrily: “That damned Lu Chen, leaving without even telling me in advance! Could he have guessed I wanted to defeat everyone else and then intentionally lose to him?”

“And I went through the trouble of ambushing that guy Bian Shouyi, eliminating him before he could even react. All that effort wasted for nothing! I’ll settle this with him when we get back, hmph!”

However, when Mu Xiaoye emerged, she discovered that someone had already made an early escape, seemingly having anticipated her actions.

Watching Lu Chen who had hidden away in the cultivation room in advance, Mu Xiaoye stamped her foot in frustration.

But no matter – he might escape temporarily, but he couldn’t escape forever.

Mu Xiaoye clearly remembered that Lu Chen still owed her a big meal!

Originally, she had thought about going easy on him when the time came, but now she had changed her mind.

She would eat, and eat extravagantly – she’d eat him into poverty!

Two days after the mock examination ended, at Luocheng High School’s cultivation room.

While meditating and circulating his Qi to enhance his cultivation, Lu Chen divided his attention to the game on his phone.

[You consumed 1000 experience points. Basic Alchemy improved to ‘Proficient’…]

[Basic Alchemy: Proficient 1/3000]

[Effect: Can moderately increase alchemy success rate]

[Current Experience Points: 5000]

One month in the game equivalent to three days in reality.

During this period, Lu Chen hadn’t made his game character do anything unnecessary, focusing entirely on cultivation.

Thanks to the relatively good spiritual power concentration in his game’s Cave Residence, he could now obtain approximately ’70 points’ of experience per day of cultivation.

In just one month, he had accumulated a full ‘2100 points’ of experience – a massive amount he had never imagined before.

If he started using all his experience points to enhance his cultivation now, even with his current spiritual power limit increased to thirty thousand points, he could still reach the Peak of Qi Condensation Stage within one game year and begin preparing for Foundation Establishment.

And one year in the game was merely one month in reality.

Though his current experience acquisition speed seemed fast, he would find it barely sufficient when actually using it.

Because Lu Chen’s current goal was no longer ordinary Foundation Establishment – he was preparing to attempt First Grade Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment.

How difficult was First Grade Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment?

Lu Chen now had a profound understanding.

Not to mention the Nine Provinces Immortal Alliance, even the Azure Cloud Sect with its Deity Transformation Stage ancestor had only produced a handful of people in its history who achieved First Grade Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment.

Without exception, all who accomplished First Grade Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment eventually achieved significant accomplishments, dominating their era.

Based on the information he had gathered so far, Lu Chen estimated that with his Five Elements Spirit Root attributes, the experience required for Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment would start at a minimum of one hundred thousand points, with no upper limit.

This was because the foundation of Foundation Establishment lay in the ‘Immortal Foundation’.His Spirit Root attribute meant he had to condense five ‘Immortal Foundations’ to meet the conditions for Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment.

‘Foundation Establishment has nine grades, the Soul Platform Immortal Foundation.’

The nine grades refer to the quality of Foundation Establishment: grades one to three are Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment, grades four to six are Earthly Dao Foundation Establishment, and grades seven to nine are Human Dao Foundation Establishment.

The Soul Platform refers to the cultivator’s ‘Dantian’ during the Qi Condensation Stage.

The Immortal Foundation refers to the special Dantian formed after a cultivator completes Foundation Establishment and fully fuses with their Spirit Root.

It was only after learning this information that Lu Chen fully understood the meaning of ‘Foundation Establishment.’

Foundation Establishment, Foundation Establishment—building the foundation for immortality.

Foundation Establishment essentially involves a cultivator completely refining their Spirit Root and fusing it with their own Dantian, making it entirely a part of themselves.

The quality of the Immortal Foundation not only affects the future Core Formation grade but also greatly influences the cultivator’s strength during the Foundation Establishment Stage.

To put it simply, the difference in Spiritual Power between Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment and Human Dao Foundation Establishment was already staggering enough to shock Lu Chen.

Similar to the saying for Spirit Roots—’Low Grade one, Medium Grade two, High Grade five, Supreme Grade ten’—the three Foundation Establishment grades also have a corresponding saying: ‘Human walks one, Earth drives five, Heaven ascends ten.’

Taking Lu Chen’s current Spiritual Power limit of 30,000 as an example:

If he were to achieve Human Dao Foundation Establishment, his Spiritual Power limit during the Foundation Establishment Stage would be 1.5 to 2 times the original, i.e., 45,000 to 60,000.

If he were to achieve Earthly Dao Foundation Establishment, his Spiritual Power limit during the Foundation Establishment Stage would be 3 to 5 times the original, i.e., 90,000 to 150,000.

If he were to achieve Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment, his Spiritual Power limit during the Foundation Establishment Stage would be over 10 times the original, starting at 300,000.

And this is merely the difference in Spiritual Power limits between the Qi Condensation Stage and the Foundation Establishment Stage.

The greatest disparity between the Foundation Establishment Stage and the Qi Condensation Stage lies in the quality of Spiritual Power.

If the Spiritual Power of a Qi Condensation Stage cultivator is like gas, then the Spiritual Power of a Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator is like liquid.

Liquid Spiritual Power is not only more refined but also allows for a greater output of Spiritual Power in the same amount of time.

This is the fundamental reason why many Spells can only be cultivated by Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators.

Beyond the differences in Spiritual Power cultivation and Spell potency, the Physical Body and Divine Soul of a Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator are subtly enhanced by their own Spiritual Power, far surpassing those at the Qi Condensation Stage.

Advantages in Spiritual Power limits, Spiritual Power quality, Physical Body, Divine Soul, and Spells…

The Foundation Establishment Stage holds far too many advantages over the Qi Condensation Stage.

Attempting to challenge someone of a higher stage is as difficult as ascending to the heavens.

The more one knows, the more one realizes how much remains unknown.

Previously, Lu Chen had no clear concept of the gap between the Foundation Establishment Stage and the Qi Condensation Stage, so he didn’t think much of his victory over Ye Chenglin.

He had simply assumed it was due to the overwhelming power of his ‘Dragon’s Roar Sky-Piercing Strike’ that he won the battle.

But now, looking back, he realized that his victory in that battle had relied on far too many strokes of luck.

First was Ye Chenglin’s identity as a Talisman Cultivator.

Talisman Cultivators, much like Alchemists, are professions within the cultivator system that are not particularly adept at combat.

They need to make thorough preparations before a fight to unleash their full strength.

However, because Ye Chenglin was stationed in the Underground Tomb, he had no means of obtaining talisman paper, forcing him to rely solely on the ‘Air-Drawing Talisman’ technique during the battle.However, the talismans drawn this way only possessed about half the power of genuine ones, greatly limiting his original strength.

Secondly, Ye Chenglin had suffered severe injuries, losing an arm, which halved his speed and efficiency in drawing talismans.

Moreover, before his battle with Lu Chen, he had already fought fiercely with other reanimated fellow disciples inside the tomb, further damaging his body and reducing his strength to less than one-tenth of what it was in life.

Lastly, Ye Chenglin lacked a strong will to survive, coupled with Lu Chen’s bug-like ability to resurrect indefinitely.

Without all these factors, for Lu Chen to even think of defeating Ye Chenglin would be nothing short of delusional.

“My victory over Fellow Daoist Ye was truly more luck than skill, and replicating such conditions in reality is nearly impossible.”

“Attempting to overcome Foundation Establishment with Qi Refining is ultimately too far-fetched.”I must never mistake this coincidence for inevitability, or I will surely pay a heavy price in the future.”

“Besides, with ‘True Immortal Cultivation’ at my disposal, there’s really no need for me to take unnecessary risks—steadiness should be my priority.”

“Although I withdrew early from this mock exam, judging by the final outcome, I should still be able to earn a fair amount of credits.”

“And from homeroom teacher Old Chen’s attitude toward me after the exam, it seems he witnessed my performance during the simulation, leading to a significant change in his view of me.”

“Given Old Chen’s status within the school and his unique qualifications, he will likely provide considerable assistance to me in the future.”

“All of this… stems from my performance in the mock exam.”True steadiness, it turns out, isn’t about relentless low profile.””

“Displaying a certain degree of potential while avoiding excessive attention—this is the true path of steadiness, what the ancients called the Doctrine of the Mean… our ancestors truly did not deceive us.”

After these reflections, Lu Chen devoted all his energy to the game.

Today, he intended to thoroughly test his proficient-level Alchemy skill in the game, hoping to improve his efficiency in refining ‘Qi Gathering Pills.’

After all, although the Qi Gathering Pill is only a low-grade elixir, its utility is by no means insignificant!

Especially for Lu Chen’s ‘Infinite Spiritual Power’ plan, the more elixirs in the game, the better.

Theoretically, as long as his game character has an endless supply of elixirs, he would never face Spiritual Power depletion in reality!

Because during real-world battles, he could have his game character frantically consume pills!

At that point, it might seem like he’s fighting alone, but in reality… it would be two people!

Thus, the importance of elixirs to Lu Chen is immeasurable!

This is the fundamental reason why he is determined to become an Alchemist.

If he doesn’t become an Alchemist, where would he get so many pills to consume?

And what he plans to refine now is a common yet effective elixir—the Qi Gathering Pill.

【Qi Gathering Pill (Common)】

【Effect: After consumption, restores 100 Spiritual Power within the time it takes an incense stick to burn. Repeated use in a short period reduces Spiritual Power recovery effect.】

Under Lu Chen’s control, his game character quickly arrived at the Alchemy Hall on Danyang Peak.

Rows of burning Alchemy Furnaces immediately came into view…

(End of Chapter)