44: Chapter 44: Foundation Building Begins!

Sun Boan knelt in the Immortal Cave, his forehead pressed against the cold stone floor, unable to rise for a long time.

Shi Jian flicked his claws impatiently: "Are you done kowtowing? Hurry up and go back to prepare. You have half a year left; focus on getting your body in shape first."

Sun Boan raised his head. His eyes were bloodshot, but he shed no tears.

He stood up, said nothing more, tucked the two jade boxes into his Storage Pouch, bowed deeply, and turned to walk out of the Immortal Cave.

His steps were steady.

Ten, a hundred times steadier than when he had arrived!

Watching that thin back, Shi Jian yawned and muttered to himself: "Just don't die in there. I'm still counting on you to work for another two hundred years."

...

Over the next half year, the entire Sun Clan revolved around a single matter.

Sun Kezheng took over all the clan's administrative affairs; the operations of the market, the calculation of the spirit tax, and the coordination of the Guest Elders all weighed on his shoulders alone.

Sun Changping made time to specifically concoct three medicinal bath formulas for Sun Boan.

Using low-grade Spirit Medicine as a base, supplemented by the medicinal power of the Marrow-Cleansing Pill, he provided Sun Boan with three months of Meridian clearing...

At fifty-eight years old, his physical condition was indeed on the decline.

But the Marrow-Cleansing Pill lived up to its reputation as a Medium Grade Medicinal Pill. As its medicinal power seeped into his Meridians, those Meridian nodes that had gradually hardened and become blocked due to age were softened and cleared inch by inch.

In the first two months, Sun Boan lost a whole layer of weight.

After his daily medicinal bath, foul-smelling black liquid would ooze from his body; that was the Impurities and turbid Qi that had accumulated over decades, being cleared away bit by bit...

By the third month, his complexion had become ruddier.

His aura began to become steady and heavy, like an old blade that had been re-sharpened, possessing a sense of "the old hero still has his edge."

Shi Jian would occasionally wander over to take a look, offering no comments or advice, and would leave right after.

The only thing he ever said was: "Think less of trivial matters. Your heart must be calm."

Half a year later.

Late autumn, the sky was high and clear.

Sun Boan walked out of the quiet room, stood in the courtyard, and looked up at the sky.

"It is time."

He said those three words to Sun Kezheng behind him.

Sun Kezheng nodded and turned to leave immediately.

That night, Hongtian City entered a state of unprecedented alert.

Zhou Sun led twelve Loose Cultivator Guest Elders, divided into three shifts, to set up hidden sentries within a thirty-mile radius outside the city. Any strange Spiritual Qi fluctuations approaching Hongtian City were to be reported immediately.

The remaining Guest Elders sealed the four gates of the market, prohibiting travel at night.

On the city walls, the Cultivators of the Sun Clan stood guard in shifts, their Divine Sense fully activated for twelve hours, taking turns monitoring the entire city!

In the valley behind the mountain, Elder Rat squatted on a rock.

He shook his whiskers and squeaked twice.

Immediately, over a hundred quasi-spirit rats emerged from every corner, creeping along the base of walls, eaves, and sewers, infiltrating every alleyway of Hongtian City.

This was the second line of defense arranged by Shi Jian.

Elder Rat's kin were spread throughout the city, leaving no blind spots in their vision.

Should there be any disturbance, they would react even faster than the human sentries!

Everything was ready.

Sun Kezheng stood on the back mountain, looked back at the brightly lit Hongtian City, and whispered: "The entire city is under lockdown. There are no omissions."

"Alright, let him go in."

Shi Jian nodded slightly, and Sun Boan walked into the back mountain Immortal Cave, sitting cross-legged in a side room that Shi Jian had specially cleared out.

Two jade boxes lay in front of him.

On the left, the foundation establishment pill.

On the right, the residual medicinal power of the Marrow-Cleansing Pill had already merged into his body.

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, adjusted his state to the best it could be, and then placed the foundation establishment pill into his mouth...

The Medicinal Pill melted upon entering his throat.

A wave of warm medicinal power spread along his Meridians, rapidly infusing his whole body.

The first hurdle of Foundation Establishment — Gathering Spirit!

To gather all the Spiritual Qi scattered throughout the Meridians, unify it, and converge it into the Dantian to form a high-purity Spiritual Qi vortex.

This hurdle tested a Cultivator's control over their Spiritual Qi.

Sun Boan had practiced for over forty years, his Foundation was quite solid, and his control over Spiritual Qi was already second nature; his experience was naturally extremely rich.

The Spiritual Qi scattered throughout his limbs and bones, like soldiers hearing an order, gathered into the Dantian in an orderly fashion.

One wisp, two wisps, ten wisps, a hundred wisps...

The Spiritual Qi vortex in the Dantian spun faster and faster, condensing tighter and tighter.

Finally, it triggered a Spiritual Qi vortex, continuously guiding Spiritual Qi to pour into his body.

Half an hour later, the first hurdle was passed.

The second hurdle — Condensing Liquid!

Compressing the massive amount of gaseous Spiritual Qi he had absorbed into liquid true essence.

This was the most dangerous threshold of the three Foundation Establishment hurdles...

Converting Spiritual Qi from a gaseous state to a liquid state required immense compressive force, and the pressure on the Meridians would increase several times over!

If one was not careful, the Meridians would rupture; in the best case, one would be severely injured and their cultivation destroyed, and in the worst case, they would explode on the spot.

Young Cultivators had Meridians with good elasticity and sufficient toughness, allowing them to withstand this violent compression.

But Sun Boan was fifty-eight.

His Meridians were like an old rope that had been used for decades; although they had been repaired and reinforced by the Marrow-Cleansing Pill, they were ultimately not as sturdy as a new rope.

In the Dantian, the Spiritual Qi vortex began to contract violently.

The pressure climbed sharply.

Veins bulged on Sun Boan's forehead, beads of sweat the size of beans dripped down his chin, and the bloating pain coming from his Meridians grew stronger, as if thousands of needles were stabbing into him simultaneously.

He gritted his teeth, not making a sound.

The medicinal power of the foundation establishment pill played a key role at this moment; the warm medicinal power acted like a protective film, wrapping around the most fragile major Meridians, sharing nearly twenty to thirty percent of the pressure for him.

The Spiritual Qi was compressed bit by bit, changing from gaseous to viscous...

And then from viscous, it became dense!

Finally, the first drop of liquid true essence condensed in the Dantian.

Immediately following were the second drop, the third drop...

Sun Boan's body was trembling violently, his face deathly pale, blood seeping from the corners of his mouth.

But he did not stop.

Because he could not stop.

Once the condensation of liquid began, giving up halfway meant death; if one did not advance, one would perish.

Outside the Immortal Cave, half an hour passed.

Shi Jian's ears twitched; he heard the dull cracking of bones from within the Immortal Cave, as well as the suppressed groans that were pushed to the absolute limit.

"The second hurdle, he is enduring it."

Shi Jian had experienced it himself back then and knew full well the difficulty of the Foundation Establishment Breakthrough; he had relied on his Physical Body cultivation to force his way through back then...

Another stick of incense passed.

The sounds inside the Immortal Cave gradually subsided; the second hurdle was passed!

The third hurdle — Solidifying the Foundation.

Fusing the condensed liquid true essence with the Dantian completely to reshape the Foundation.

This hurdle was not as dangerous or violent as the first two, but it was the most grueling; it did not test cultivation or talent, but one's state of mind.

The Cultivator needed to maintain absolute clarity in their spiritual platform, guiding the true essence to resonate, fit, and merge with the Dantian.

Any stray thought would cause the true essence to drift away, rendering all previous efforts futile.

Young Cultivators had fewer distracting thoughts and simpler minds, making it easier to achieve a heart as still as water, but a person who had lived for fifty-eight years had too much in their heart.

The various affairs of the clan, the lives of dozens of people, the humiliation and resentment borne over these years, the anxiety about the future...

Every single thread of it rushed into his mind.

The true essence began to become unstable, vibrating violently in the Dantian.

Sun Boan gritted his teeth, attempting to forcibly suppress the stray thoughts.

But the more he suppressed them, the more stray thoughts there were.

He thought of his father who had passed away early, thought of himself having shouldered the heavy burden since childhood, thought of that night when he knelt before Shi Jian to beg for a way out...

The true essence vibrated more and more violently; on the verge of collapsing, a trace of despair flashed in Sun Boan's eyes, his face full of unwillingness!

"Could it be... that it ends here?"

"I am unwilling, I am not willing to give up!"