Chapter 33: The Foundation of the Dao Established

After confirming that he had reached his peak state, Li Ji’an sent a message to Zhao Shuyao.

“Xiaofan is finally going to attempt Foundation Establishment!” Upon receiving the message, a look of excitement flickered across Zhao Shuyao’s usually tranquil face.

Sixty-seven years ago, the five of them had arrived in this realm from the Immortal Grace Dynasty. Of the five, only Zhang Tiezhu had gone the furthest, stopping at the sixth level of Qi Refining. Now, among the second generation, Zhang Tiezhu’s child was with the Yan family and would likely spend his life stuck in the late stages of Qi Refining; Dong Jiangling’s daughter was busy raising children, effectively ending her own path to immortality. Only Li Ji’an’s son was finally going to catch a glimpse of the scenery of the Foundation Establishment stage on behalf of their generation.

Beyond this significance, Zhao Shuyao and her companions had previously pinned their hopes on Li Ji’an, wishing that after he reached Foundation Establishment, he might help them exact revenge—revenge for the hundreds of heaven-gifted seniors from the Immortal Grace Dynasty who had been lured and deceived into this realm over the past century. However, as they grew older and learned more about the cultivation world—especially after realizing that the culprit was almost certainly one of the Five Great Families—they became increasingly desperate. Zhang Tiezhu and Dong Jiangling had long since given up. She herself was unwilling to let the younger generation carry the hatred of their era; it was simply too heavy a burden. Most importantly, even if Li Ji’an succeeded in Foundation Establishment, he would have no chance of victory against a False Core ancestor of such a family. Unless Li Ji’an could reach the Golden Core stage—but they all understood that this was nearly impossible. Perhaps, after he established his foundation, he could find a partner of equal talent, and their descendants might have a chance.

“Yaoyao, come with Auntie Yao once more.” Composing herself, the ninety-five-year-old Zhao Shuyao felt her blood and Qi gradually rise, regaining the aura of a first-rank consummate body cultivator.

Tong Yaoyao circled Zhao Shuyao, clicking her tongue in wonder, as if seeing a shadow of the past: the time when she was ambushed as a child and thirty-something-year-old Zhao Shuyao had used her physical cultivation skills to save her from a demonic cultivator. “Auntie Yao, relax, you have me now,” Tong Yaoyao said, stepping forward to take Zhao Shuyao’s arm. “Sometimes I’m truly jealous of that kid. I feel like you aren’t even this good to me, all because of his heartless father!”

“Nonsense again.”

Before long, the two arrived at the rental grotto-dwelling area of the inner city.

“Hmm? There are actually so many people watching this kid.” Tong Yaoyao paused just as they reached the entrance of Li Ji’an’s dwelling. She suddenly unleashed her divine sense, scattering the several strands of consciousness hovering nearby.

“Xiaofan’s alchemy is profound. Once he successfully establishes his foundation, he will surely become a second-rank alchemist. It is only natural that people are paying attention,” Zhao Shuyao said, patting Tong Yaoyao’s hand to signal that she shouldn't overthink it.

Blocked by the Foundation Establishment mid-stage cultivation of Tong Yaoyao, several people in the residential area were startled and decisively withdrew their focus from Li Ji’an. One even hurriedly sent a voice transmission to Tong Yaoyao: “Senior, please forgive me. This old man was only trying to confirm if Alchemist Li would succeed so that I might seek his services in the future. I have no other intentions.”

Sensing their arrival, Li Ji’an specifically exited his dwelling to express his gratitude. Since he had entered the dwelling three days ago, several Foundation Establishment rogue cultivators in the vicinity had been watching him. He had paid them no mind, as it had no impact on him. The dwelling was protected by an array capable of shielding against the divine sense of Golden Core real persons; naturally, they could not penetrate it and were merely gauging the situation by sensing the fluctuations of spiritual Qi outside.

Once Zhao Shuyao and Tong Yaoyao were seated outside the dwelling, Li Ji’an entered the grotto without a shred of concern. Having undergone four rebirths, this was his first time truly touching the foundation of the immortal path. With all the arrays activated, he began to circulate his Foundation Establishment techniques. Based on his years of research—both from ancient texts and the shared experiences of Yan Qingwan and Xiao Changfeng—one point was clear: Foundation Establishment was the building of the Great Dao’s root. Only upon success could one truly be qualified to seek the immortal path.

The theoretical knowledge of this stage was already etched into his heart. Essentially, it involved condensing the gaseous spiritual power refined into the Dantian during the Qi Refining stage into a liquid state, further nourishing the Dantian and triggering a transformation to lay the groundwork for future core formation, infant transformation, and even soul integration. The principle was to flood the body with vast spiritual energy, using intense spiritual pressure to compress the gaseous power into liquid.

The first step was the infusion of spiritual energy. This was the critical test of one’s physical body. If the body were flawed or the physique not strong enough, it would be impossible to withstand the sudden, overwhelming pressure of the spiritual energy. The stronger the physical body, the greater the pressure it could withstand, and the more spiritual energy could be infused—and vice versa.

*Boom.*

In this aspect, Li Ji’an was a consummate first-rank body cultivator. Having suffered no debilitating injuries, he was confident that his physical strength was at the pinnacle of Qi Refining cultivators in this realm; aside from those with legendary special constitutions, he believed he was inferior to no one.

As the physical valves opened, the dense spiritual energy gathered in the dwelling poured in frantically. *Hiss.* Even though he was mentally prepared, the actual impact still caused his entire body to tremble. The moment the energy entered, he felt every cell enduring immense pressure and tearing. Yet, he had no intention of stopping; he allowed the energy to pour in, pushing his body to its absolute limit. The more energy infused, the greater the final spiritual pressure, making it easier to compress the power into liquid.

While the energy poured in, his divine sense was not idle. Fully activated, it observed every change in his body, analyzing every detail. Beyond accumulating experience for his next life, this was to understand the essence, identify flaws, and find areas for optimization.

Three days later, Li Ji’an took a deep breath, controlling his blood and Qi to slowly close his physical valves, halting the intake of spiritual energy. He had finally reached his limit; he could not contain a single drop more. At this moment, every part of him felt saturated with spiritual energy. He sensed that the dwelling remained filled with it.

“This step was twenty percent stronger than Xiao Changfeng’s!” When Xiao Changfeng had shared his experience, he had absorbed energy for two full days before stopping. However, he had utilized a quasi-third-rank training ground provided by his sect elders, which was even more concentrated, and with his superior spiritual roots, his absorption speed was higher. In total, Xiao Changfeng’s first step had only been twenty percent less than Li Ji’an’s.

With the infusion complete, Li Ji’an immediately began to condense his Dantian power. He was practicing the Yan family’s *Flame Dragon Art*, which was reputed to be capable of reaching the Golden Core stage and comparable to the high-grade techniques of major sects. While his power intensity was slightly lacking compared to Xiao Changfeng’s, his refinement was superior due to the use of fire spirit essence. Now, in the second stage—the power stage—theoretically, the stronger and purer the power, the smoother the liquefaction and the greater the volume would be, allowing it to fill the entire Dantian.

He could not chase the volume of liquefaction, as his power was not strong enough; he could only focus on refinement. Days later, having refined his power to the absolute limit, Li Ji’an decisively swallowed a top-grade Azure Condensation Pill to further refine his energy.

Half a month later, with his power refined to the limit, the third stage began: the intervention of divine sense. The process of using vast spiritual pressure to squeeze the Dantian power had to be controlled by divine sense. One part less, and the liquefaction would be incomplete; one part more, and the Dantian might rupture. Thus, the divine sense stage was the most critical. It required a long, sustained application of focus. For Li Ji’an, however, this was the least worrying stage. His divine sense was already comparable to that of a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, and his soul was powerful. Sensing his Dantian and modulating the pressure was as easy as turning over his hand; his precision and endurance were perfect.

Two months passed in a flash. On this day, observing his Dantian, the vast spiritual energy absorbed in the first step had been channeled by his divine sense. The refined power within his Dantian was now caught in the center of that immense pressure. The final step—the one that would decide success or failure—required sustained pressure to thoroughly turn the power into liquid and condense it into a single mass.

*Hoo.* Having successfully passed the first three stages, Li Ji’an still dared not relax. According to Yan Qingwan’s experience, this was the moment to swallow the Foundation Establishment Pill. The pill not only strengthened the Dantian in an instant, preventing the massive pressure from rupturing it, but also provided a sudden surge of power and controlled pressure. It compensated for physical inadequacies, bridged the gap for those with insufficient power, and even made up for any lack of divine sense control. It was truly a lifeline for cultivators with insufficient talent.

Li Ji’an took out the premium Foundation Establishment Pill, but did not swallow it immediately; he first took a premium Pulse-Protecting Pill.

*Boom.* The moment the liquid from the Pulse-Protecting Pill merged into his Dantian, Li Ji’an manipulated the spiritual energy to compress the clouds of power. This was exactly how Xiao Changfeng had done it. At the moment the pressure erupted, Li Ji’an clearly felt the gaseous power begin to dampen and liquefy, bit by bit. Simultaneously, the Dantian walls endured pressure even greater than what his physical body had faced. Without the Pulse-Protecting Pill, he could not guarantee his Dantian would have held.

Time ticked away, and the power slowly turned to liquid. Deep within, a sliver of spiritual insight connected with his divine sense, but it was too vague to grasp. Another half-month later, Li Ji’an clearly sensed that all the power clouds had turned into liquid, yet they remained independent, refusing to coalesce. That elusive spark of insight remained just out of reach.

“In the end, it is still lacking,” Li Ji’an sighed softly after a long, cautious observation, understanding the reason. The key lay in his own lack of power, a consequence of the technique he practiced this lifetime and the efficiency of his spiritual roots.

Without further thought, he swallowed the premium Foundation Establishment Pill.

*Boom.* The moment it hit his stomach, his Dantian was bathed in golden radiance. A powerful pressure surged into existence, and pure power poured into his Dantian. The next moment, without him needing to do anything, the pressure erupted, compressing all his power—both the newly born and the previously liquefied—into a single mass. It rapidly fused into a crimson, fire-like liquid sphere. The sphere spun at high speed, eventually filling the entire Dantian until it looked like a sphere of molten lava.

*Thump!* Following a sound like a drumbeat, the excess spiritual energy and the energy within his body were instantly expelled. As the massive energy left his body, it caused a riot of spiritual Qi within the dwelling, even causing the pressure above the dwelling to surge.

“It’s done!” Tong Yaoyao opened her eyes outside.

“Xiaofan succeeded?” Zhao Shuyao heard this, her face filled with relief as tears welled in her eyes.

“Hahaha, congratulations to Alchemist Li on his successful Foundation Establishment!” With the fluctuations in the air, the surrounding people could finally come forward to offer their congratulations.

“Such a massive release of pressure—Alchemist Li’s foundation must be very stable!”

“Our Immortal City has gained another second-rank alchemist! A joyous occasion indeed!”

As the chorus of congratulations grew outside, Li Ji’an sat quietly in his dwelling, his brows furrowed. He was summarizing his experience while recalling that elusive spark of insight. It had been so close, yet it had vanished at the final moment.

“It seems it disappeared the moment the Foundation Establishment Pill took effect!”

He pondered for a long time, but with no answer, he could only keep it in his heart.

“This is Foundation Establishment!” Looking closely at his Dantian once more, feeling that scorching, vast power, Li Ji’an finally broke into a smile.