Chapter 125: I Want to Establish My Foundation

Chapter 125: Chapter 125: I Want to Establish My Foundation

Inside the room.

Cheng Yao looked with resignation at Wang Xingwei, who lay unconscious on the bed.

Between the recent rumors in the Immortal City, the Foundation Establishment Cultivator from the Meng family showing up at their door, and the various Physicians they brought to try and wake Wang Xingwei—she had put it all together.

How could she not guess that Wang Xingwei was the unfortunate soul whose Foundation Establishment Pill had been sabotaged?

It was precisely because the Foundation Establishment Pills were faulty that he failed to reach the Foundation Establishment Stage, despite using two of them in his attempt.

At this thought, Cheng Yao couldn’t help but look at Wang Xingwei with a hint of pity.

Foundation Establishment Pills... they were so incredibly precious.

The Wang family had exhausted every possible means to acquire those two Foundation Establishment Pills; they represented the entire family’s hopes.

But Wang Xingwei had failed twice in a row, shattering the family’s future.

Unaware that the pills were the problem, one could only imagine the tongue-lashing Wang Xingwei must have endured.

His assignment as steward of the Spirit Medicine Garden at Fishing Square was, in effect, an exile!

No wonder the Wang family had been completely indifferent to his situation, leaving him alone at the Fishing Square Spirit Medicine Garden for so many years.

Now, even though the issue with the Foundation Establishment Pills had been exposed and the mastermind behind it, Ye Chen, had been punished, the fact that the Wang family swindled Loose Cultivators out of their Spirit Stones was irrefutable.

Thus, the Immortal City’s punishment against the Wang family was still in effect.

With the Wang family’s Cultivators struggling to fend for themselves, they had no spare energy to care for Wang Xingwei or any intention of bringing him home, even after learning the failure wasn’t his fault.

Sitting by the bed, Cheng Yao sighed softly. "You really are unlucky. If those two Foundation Establishment Pills had been fine, you’d probably be a Foundation Establishment Cultivator by now."

"I never would have guessed you were a Cultivator with a Dual Spirit Root, the Young Master of the Wang family of Immortal City."

"Too bad the Wang family has been schemed against and has fallen into decline. Otherwise, after all the years I’ve spent taking care of you, you’d have to thank me properly, wouldn’t you!"

"I’m not asking for much, but a few hundred Spirit Stones would be the least you could do."

"Then again, if no one had plotted against your family, your old ancestor would still be alive and well, and you wouldn’t have needed my care in the first place."

"Sigh... With you like this, I guess the Wang family really doesn’t care about you at all."

...

As Cheng Yao rambled on about the recent events in the Immortal City, her gaze drifted, and she completely missed the sudden twitch of Wang Xingwei’s finger.

She didn’t know.

In reality, Wang Xingwei had never been unconscious. He had been lucid the whole time, but the psychological trauma was so severe that he simply refused to wake up.

He couldn’t accept the fact that his ancestor was dead, nor could he accept that he had failed to live up to his ancestor’s expectations. He couldn’t forgive himself.

His spirit was broken, his heart dead to the world!

So, when the Wang family lost its power and he was kicked out of Fishing Square, he didn’t wake up.

After lying there for five years, he still didn’t wake up.

Even after Meng Qingyun slapped him hard across the face twice, he still didn’t wake up.

’A waste like me has no reason to live,’ he thought.

’What’s the point of being alive? I might as well be dead.’

’It’s my fault. It’s all my fault!’

’I wasn’t good enough. I’m the reason our ancestor died.’

’If it weren’t for me, the family wouldn’t be in this state.’

...

In such a state, it was only natural that the various Physicians, Pharmacists, and even Musicians could find nothing wrong with him. His body was perfectly healthy, and his mind was perfectly lucid.

He simply couldn’t forgive himself. He couldn’t escape the cycle of self-blame, so he had given up completely, unwilling to wake up.

But now, listening to Cheng Yao’s monologue, a sense of release gradually washed over him.

’That’s right. If the Foundation Establishment Pills hadn’t been faulty, I wouldn’t have failed my Foundation Establishment.’

’Our ancestor’s death was the result of someone else’s scheme, not my fault.’

’I’ve been "unconscious" for so long, yet not a single clansman has come to see me. Why should I care so much about what they think?’

’I’m a Dual Spirit Root Cultivator. A genius.’

...

A thousand thoughts and ten thousand emotions finally converged into a single resolution.

WHOOSH! Wang Xingwei suddenly shot up in bed. His eyes burned with intensity as he stared straight ahead. "I will achieve Foundation Establishment!"

"You’ll achieve Foundation Establishment? Ah!" Wang Xingwei’s sudden awakening startled Cheng Yao so much that she leaped to her feet.

But her shock quickly turned into a pleasant surprise. With Wang Xingwei awake, she was finally free from this burden.

However, Wang Xingwei’s next move gave Cheng Yao a huge fright.

He simply sat cross-legged on the bed, assumed a meditative posture, and truly began preparing to attempt his Foundation Establishment.

SLAP!

Cheng Yao panicked. She slapped Wang Xingwei right across the face, the force so great it snapped his head aside forty-five degrees.

Opening his eyes, Wang Xingwei looked at Cheng Yao in confusion. "Cheng Yao, why did you hit me?"

Cheng Yao retorted irritably, "The Spirit Vein here is only Tier One Upper Grade! Are you trying to get yourself killed, attempting your Foundation Establishment here? Besides, you don’t even have a Foundation Establishment Pill. What Foundation Establishment are you going to achieve?"

After hearing her out, Wang Xingwei scratched his head. "Cheng Yao, give me some Spirit Stones. I need to go rent a Tier Two Spiritual Land to attempt my Foundation Establishment."

"No Spirit Stones! Where would I get Spirit Stones?" Hearing his request, Cheng Yao shook her head like a rattle. "Besides, I already told you, you don’t have a Foundation Establishment Pill! How are you supposed to do this?"

Wang Xingwei blinked. "I don’t need a Foundation Establishment Pill."

This wasn’t some impulsive boast; he was telling the truth.

The two Foundation Establishment Pills he had used were indeed sabotaged by Hu Feng, causing their medicinal power to destabilize suddenly and leading to his failure.

However, during both attempts, he had managed to complete a part of the Foundation Establishment process.

Therefore, his current state could be described as Half-Step Foundation Establishment. The difficulty of breaking through the bottleneck again would be far lower for him than for other Cultivators.

Moreover, the residual medicinal power from the Foundation Establishment Pills remained in his body. If he just tried, he could still call upon it!

On top of that, as a cultivator with a Dual Spirit Root, he had a roughly thirty percent chance of success even without a Foundation Establishment Pill.

Now that his inner demons were resolved, Wang Xingwei was fully confident he could succeed.

But Cheng Yao didn’t know any of this. She didn’t want to watch Wang Xingwei, who had only just woken up, go off and kill himself. "Trying for the Foundation Establishment Stage without a Foundation Establishment Pill? Are you trying to die?"

But Wang Xingwei wouldn’t listen to her, just kept muttering, "I will achieve Foundation Establishment... I will achieve Foundation Establishment... I will achieve Foundation Establishment..."

Finally, worn down by his chanting, Cheng Yao gave in with a helpless sigh. "Fine, I’ll go find you a Foundation Establishment Spiritual Land."

Only then did Wang Xingwei break into a wide grin. "Thank you, Cheng Yao."

...

「Ten days later.」

Cheng Yao brought Wang Xingwei to Cyan Dragon Mountain.

A short-term rental of a Tier Two cave-dwelling cost six or seven Spirit Stones a month, and the Foundation Establishment process would take at least a month or two. There was no way she was going to pay for that.

So, she decided to ask Zhang Tie for help.

She knew that Zhang Tie’s cave-dwelling possessed a Tier Two Upper Grade Spirit Vein. For Foundation Establishment, its effects would be far better than the cave-dwellings rented out in the Immortal City.

After all, asking Zhang Tie for help wouldn’t cost her any Spirit Stones.

After Cheng Yao explained the situation, Zhang Tie agreed to her request without the slightest hesitation.

He consented to let Wang Xingwei use his cave-dwelling to attempt Foundation Establishment.

The two entered Zhang Tie’s cave-dwelling, and Wang Xingwei walked unceremoniously into the seclusion chamber Zhang Tie had prepared for him.

He sat cross-legged, circulated his Magical Power, and began his attempt at Foundation Establishment!

...

Cheng Yao let out a sigh of relief, but at the same time, she couldn’t help but worry.

She was relieved because, regardless of whether Wang Xingwei succeeded or failed, she would no longer be responsible for this burden.

But she was worried because, without the protection of a Foundation Establishment Pill, a failure could very well be fatal.

She had, after all, done her best to take care of Wang Xingwei for over five years. After five years together, you’d grow attached to a dog, let alone a person.

Cheng Yao sighed. "I hope you succeed."

Just as she sighed, the Spiritual Qi around Zhang Tie’s cave-dwelling began to stir restlessly.

...

「On Immortal Peach Mountain.」

Li Ping was meeting with two juniors, Yan Hengchuan and Ji Shu Xuan.

The two juniors had been in the Immortal City for four years. Yan Hengchuan was now nineteen and Ji Shu Xuan was twenty. Both had grown into adulthood, their features more defined.

However, both had poor Spiritual Roots. Although Li Ping had given them Pills and guided them in their cultivation every year...

...one was only at the Qi Refining Second Level, and the other at the Qi Refining Third Level.

Ji Shu Xuan was doing better; reaching the Middle-stage Qi Refining shouldn’t be a problem for him.

Yan Hengchuan, on the other hand... As a cultivator with five Spiritual Roots, Li Ping estimated he would run into major trouble when trying to break through the mid-stage bottleneck and would likely have to rely on the power of a Pill.

For a Qi Refining Cultivator, such a bottleneck-breaking Pill was not only extremely valuable but also practically impossible to obtain through normal channels.

But he was lucky enough to have a good grandmaster. Li Ping planned to give him a breakthrough Pill directly once he reached the peak of the Qi Refining Third Level.

Otherwise, he would likely end up like Daoist Ji, who had barely managed to reach the Qi Refining Fourth Level by the time he died.

After bestowing Pills upon the two and offering some guidance on their cultivation, Li Ping gestured for them to leave.

But to his surprise, Yan Hengchuan didn’t leave immediately, instead showing a hesitant expression, as if he wanted to say something but couldn’t.

Li Ping found this odd and asked with a smile, "Hengchuan, have you run into some kind of trouble?"

Hearing this, Yan Hengchuan nodded, then shook his head. "Grandmaster, it’s just a personal matter. I won’t trouble you."

After speaking, he grabbed Ji Shu Xuan and scurried away.

Seeing this, Li Ping couldn’t help but chuckle, not giving the matter much thought.

Returning to his Alchemy Room, he began to study a Pill Formula he had recently purchased from Jade Cliff Palace.

The Pill was called the ’Beast Feeding Pill’.

The Beast Feeding Pill, as its name implied, was a type of Pill developed by Cultivators to feed Spirit Beasts.

If a Spirit Beast consumed it over a long period, it would accelerate its growth.

In fact, this Pill Formula recorded three different concoctions.

These were the Tier One Beast Feeding Pill, the Tier Two Beast Feeding Pill, and the Tier Three Beast Feeding Pill, which could be consumed by Demon Beasts of corresponding tiers.

Li Ping’s Spirit Beast, the Desolate Fire Sparrow, possessed an extraordinary bloodline. After consuming its own eggshell and awakening, it already had the strength of the Tier One Late Stage.

Once it reached adulthood, its power would be comparable to that of a Nascent Soul Cultivator. Its potential was in no way inferior to that of a Cultivator with a Celestial Spiritual Root.

However, the growth rate of such a natural Spirit Bird was absurdly slow. To help it mature faster, Li Ping was preparing to refine a special Pill for it to consume, to give its development a boost.