119: Backlash?

Outside Moon Cliff Mountain.

Huang Moyuan had just led his clansmen out of the Zheng Family's 驻地範圍 when he saw an old man in a Daoist robe standing in the distant sky.

Recognizing the man, Huang Moyuan and the clansmen behind him immediately bowed respectfully.

“Greetings, Old Ancestor!”

Then, Huang Moyuan stepped forward and, with a look of shame, said to the old man.

“Old Ancestor, Huang Moyuan was ineffective in his duties and brought shame to the Huang Family. Please punish him.”

He recounted, in detail, everything that had happened outside the Zheng Family.

The old man was Huang Yuhai, the Huang Family's only Foundation Establishment Cultivator.

After quietly listening to Huang Moyuan's account, Huang Yuhai stroked his beard and smiled.

“You did very well. What fault is there?”

Huang Moyuan was puzzled. He had expected to be reprimanded by the Old Ancestor, but he never imagined such a reaction.

“Old Ancestor, what do you mean by this?”

“You, ah, you! You're so caught up in the situation!”

Huang Moyuan was indeed a Foundation Establishment seed of the Huang Family; with the Old Ancestor's hint, he immediately understood.

In that instant, Huang Moyuan understood many things. As the saying goes, your enemy is always the one who knows you best.

Their Huang Family and the Zheng Family had been fighting for so many years that they were intimately familiar with the Zheng Family's way of doing things.

If that Foundation Establishment Cultivator of the Zheng Family was in good health, how could he possibly let their group leave?

As long as he kept them, the Huang Family would surely suffer a great loss of Origin Qi, but the Zheng Family's Foundation Establishment Cultivator did not do so.

Just thinking of this, he couldn't help but feel a little fearful.

This was good luck that the Old Ancestor of Zheng Family didn't make a move, but if the probing had failed, wouldn't it have been...

Huang Yuhai saw Huang Moyuan's expression and glared at him in annoyance.

“What are you thinking wildly about? I, your Old Ancestor, have been following you all along.”

That's right, Huang Yuhai had been outside the Zheng Family from the beginning, just hidden.

Before he could confirm the state of the Zheng Family's old ghost, how could he rest assured that the Huang Family's clansmen would go to probe?

Once the probing went wrong and the Zheng Family's old ghost made a decisive move, not a single one of these people would escape.

Moreover, what made him certain that the Zheng Family's old ghost had a big problem with his body was this:

The Zheng Family's old ghost actually didn't discover his existence!

He even leaked a trace of his aura, but the other party didn't react, which shows the problem was not small!

Huang Moyuan was reprimanded by the Old Ancestor, but he didn't feel embarrassed.

A glint flashed in his eyes.

“Old Ancestor, since the Old Ancestor of Zheng Family's body has a problem, can we then...”

“No, the more this is the case, the more we must remain patient.

If the Zheng Family's old ghost is nearing his end, his actions might become frantic, and he could do anything. He might even want to drag our Huang Family down with him before he dies.

Now, we only need to wait quietly. When the time comes, the Zheng Family, without a Foundation Establishment Cultivator to guard it, won't it be ours for the taking!”

Huang Moyuan nodded in agreement upon hearing this.

“Old Ancestor is wise!”

...

Heavenly Star Immortal City.

In the Immortal Cave in seclusion.

Spiritual Qi formed a vortex and converged towards the person at the center of the spiritual spring, and the aura emanating from his body was also rapidly increasing.

Lu Ming was currently undergoing the second stage of Foundation Establishment—the Mana Stage!

The Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi was being swallowed by him into his body, and the 'Demonic Bloodspring Method' was also operating frantically.

Streams of pure blood Qi emerged from the endless Void Realm, assisting him in refining the mist-like Spiritual Qi in his body.

The mana between the acupoints began to merge with each other, moving towards the Dantian.

The greenish mist began to gradually transform into crimson mana, becoming increasingly dense as time passed...

When the blood evil Qi and the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi were completely transformed into mana.

Some turbulence began to appear within the Dantian.

Lu Ming looked inward, guiding the gaseous mana within his Dantian to transform into liquid form.

During this process, the mana from the Meridians and acupoints converged into the Dantian, and the gaseous mana continuously transformed into liquid, becoming more solid.

However, the process was also extremely dangerous. A slight mistake could damage the Meridians.

Once the mana was insufficient to complete the circulation and could not return to the Dantian, then Foundation Establishment would fail.

In severe cases, one would die and their Dao would vanish; in minor cases, Meridians would be severed and the Dao path cut off.

Therefore, many Cultivators yearned for a Foundation Establishment Pill when establishing their Foundation.

More than that, it was a form of self-preservation, so that even if they failed, they would still have a chance to start over.

However, with the golden book's protection, he naturally had no fear. At worst, he would just start over.

Lu Ming also sent out his Clone, constantly observing and meticulously recording the changes in the Breakthrough.

Within the Dantian Qi Sea, the extremely dense crimson mana was continuously compressed and refined...

Time flowed on, and an unknown amount of time passed.

Drip!

Drip!

Existing, or perhaps a hallucination.

The dripping sound seemed to echo in Lu Ming's ears.

And within the Immortal Cave, the spiritual power gathered within the Spirit Gathering Array formed a vortex several zhang in size, constantly being absorbed to provide him with replenishment.

The next moment, he looked inward at his Dantian Qi Sea and saw drops of liquid mana, like blood rain, falling, resembling fresh blood.

One drop, two drops, three drops...

After the first drop of liquid mana condensed, the speed continuously accelerated until more than thirty drops of liquid mana had condensed, and the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi from outside was no longer absorbed, finally slowly stopping.

Lu Ming's heart filled with joy. As long as the Mana Stage was successfully passed, Foundation Establishment was basically complete!

For others, the Divine Sense Stage was the most difficult step among the three stages of Foundation Establishment.

But for Lu Ming, it was the simplest thing.

His own Divine Soul power had already reached a terrifying level.

Coupled with the Clone's Fusion, the Divine Sense Stage was easy, completely unable to stop him.

But perhaps it was joy turning to sorrow.

Suddenly.

The Dantian Qi Sea violently shook and suddenly dissipated.

His aura plummeted back to Qi Refining Great Perfection.

“Damn it!”

Lu Ming cursed.

He didn't expect to fail at the last step.

However, Lu Ming was not surprised. His own Five Spiritual Root Aptitude was inherently inferior.

Moreover, without using a Foundation Establishment Pill, failure was inevitable.

However, Lu Ming was not discouraged. With the golden book as a safeguard, he had countless opportunities to fail.

But as long as he succeeded once, he would be able to successfully Breakthrough.

Moreover, Lu Ming looked inward at himself and made a new discovery.

The liquid mana that had just condensed did not completely disappear due to the failure of the Breakthrough; nearly one-third of it remained.

Furthermore, his own Divine Soul power had also grown slightly stronger.

Although he currently only seemed to have the aura of Qi Refining Great Perfection, in terms of actual strength, he could easily suppress Cultivators of the same Realm.

He had already surpassed the scope of the Qi Refining Realm. Saying he was a half-step Foundation Establishment wouldn't be an exaggeration!

However, compared to a true Foundation Establishment Cultivator, there was still a clear gap.

But Lu Ming was not discouraged; instead, he laughed.

Breaking through to Foundation Establishment is closely related to how much liquid mana can be condensed.

Theoretically speaking, being able to condense all the mana in one's body into liquid form would not only lay an incredibly solid Foundation during the Foundation Establishment Stage.

It would also give one an advantage when fighting Cultivators of the same Realm.

But this is merely theoretical; at least in the information Lu Ming has gathered so far, no one has been able to achieve it.

Breaking through Foundation Establishment is about going all out, moving forward without hesitation.

If successful, the Foundation would naturally be laid, unless rare spiritual items were used Acquired to compensate for deficiencies.

If it failed, perhaps one could rely on the Foundation Establishment Pill to protect the Meridians and continue the Dao path.

But how easily can Meridian damage recover? Not only would it not increase the probability of Foundation Establishment, but it would actually decrease it more and more.

So Lu Ming became a special case.

He currently felt no discomfort and could continue to Breakthrough immediately.

As for the backlash suffered from failure, his good brother naturally shared it for him.

Moreover, he also planned to continuously refine his mana through repeated Breakthroughs. If he continued like this, by the time he had completely refined all the mana in his body.

How solid would his future Foundation be? Lu Ming didn't even dare to imagine...

“Hehehehe...”