Translator: AnubisTL
Ting-ling-ling~
A clear, crisp chime rang out. Li Qing, seated cross-legged in his wooden hut, felt as if his very soul had undergone a cleansing.
He had obtained the Soul Nurturing Bell three years ago, and in that time, he had never missed a single day of refining this ancient, unassuming bell.
It cleansed his divine sense and nourished his divine soul.
This secret treasure, even after tens of thousands of years, had not been buried by the sands of time. It still functioned perfectly.
"Truly worthy of being a secret treasure with Innate dao Resonance. I can't even imagine how such a thing was crafted."
Li Qing held the bell in his hand, examining it closely. The Heaven and Earth dao Patterns, woven from intricate laws, shimmered faintly within. Even cultivators defying the natural order would find it impossible to replicate.
Soon, Li Qing returned the bell to his chest, wearing it close to his body.
After refining it just once each day, the Soul Nurturing Bell would continuously nourish his divine soul, slowly enhancing his divine sense power.
While the increase was subtle, its persistence was remarkable. With consistent daily practice, it was certain to bring about a profound metamorphosis in his divine soul.
Li Qing had been refining the Soul Nurturing Bell for three years now. Combined with his consistent internal consumption of Heavenly Star Grass, his divine soul had reached an astonishing level of strength.
Retrieving the bell, Li Qing closed his eyes and slowly released his divine sense power.
The surrounding scenery of heaven and earth vividly imprinted itself in his mind, including his own figure, all clearly rendered.
Outside a simple wooden hut stood a Jade Locust Tree radiating crystalline spiritual light. Now nearly eight years old, the tree had taken deep root.
Inside the hut, Li Qing saw his own figure sitting in meditation with closed eyes, as if he had gained a god's-eye view of himself.
This was divine sense projection!
Normally, only cultivators who had successfully achieved Foundation Establishment could accomplish this. Yet Li Qing possessed such divine sense strength at the Sixth Layer of Qi Refining, a testament to the extraordinary power of his divine soul.
Drawing his divine sense back to his brow, Li Qing slowly opened his eyes. A golden halo flashed briefly within his pupils.
"That's right. Next, I should seek out a secret technique for divine sense attacks. With such powerful divine sense, this will become my trump card."
Imagine: with his current overwhelming divine sense, launching an unexpected attack would undoubtedly sweep through all cultivators of the same realm.
Li Qing stood up again, gazing at the Medicinal Field Peaks within the secret realm.
The Heavenly Star Grass around the peaks had been almost completely harvested. From now on, he would have to rely on the Soul Nurturing Bell to enhance his divine sense power.
Of course, if he were in urgent need, Li Qing could return to the World of Eternal Night to capture more strange beasts and use the same method he used to breach the main peak to break the Restrictions on these Medicinal Field Peaks.
However, Li Qing wasn't in a hurry. He was already quite satisfied with his current divine soul strength. Recklessly consuming another thousand-year-old Heavenly Star Grass might cause his divine soul power to surge again, which might not necessarily be a good thing.
The human body has its limits. As a cultivator in the Qi Refining Realm, his divine soul was already excessively powerful. He wasn't sure his body could handle any further increase.
As an Immortal, Li Qing deeply understood the principle of "too much is as bad as too little."
After all, the divine soul of a cultivator is the most mysterious and unfathomable thing. It contains countless strange and profound secrets, and even high-level cultivators wouldn't dare claim to fully grasp its mysteries.
Gazing at the distant peaks, Li Qing realized he had already spent six years here.
He saw that several Medicinal Field Peaks were still channeling starlight, which was one of the reasons he was reluctant to forcibly break the Restriction.
If he did so, the Restriction would no longer draw in starlight, and the Heavenly Star Grass would lose its ideal growing environment.
Li Qing didn't want to resort to such short-sighted tactics. He planned to wait until his cultivation was higher, then naturally dissolve the Restriction while preserving the starlight-channeling mechanism, allowing the Heavenly Star Grass to continue thriving.
"Come to think of it, it's time to break through!"
As the words left his lips, the spiritual energy within Li Qing surged violently.
Buzz!
Over the past six years, he had consumed numerous pills to boost his cultivation. Now, the bottleneck that had been blocking his entry into the Late Qi Refining Realm had been worn down to a mere sliver.
Breaking through now was a natural progression.
In the next moment, the heaven and earth spiritual energy within the secret realm surged forth, continuously converging towards Li Qing's position.
Sensing the changes within his body, Li Qing calmly sat cross-legged and began circulating the Fire Origin Art, continuously inhaling and refining the spiritual energy surrounding him.
Cycle after cycle, this spiritual energy was drawn into his body, transformed into pure spiritual energy, and flowed along his meridians into his dantian qi sea.
As time passed, Li Qing's aura steadily climbed.
Finally, when the spiritual energy reached its peak, Li Qing's aura surged to unprecedented heights.
Boom!
The thin bottleneck shattered without resistance.
With this breakthrough, Li Qing had reached the Seventh Layer of Qi Refining, officially entering the Late Qi Refining Realm!
At this stage, he now qualified to take the Foundation Establishment Pill and should begin planning for Foundation Establishment.
After his breakthrough, Li Qing remained seated for some time. Only after his cultivation stabilized and his aura settled did he slowly open his eyes.
"Huu!"
Exhaling a cloud of turbid air, Li Qing felt better than ever before.
His mana was abundant, his spirit was full, and his Vital Energy was surging.
His essence, qi, and spirit had reached their peak—this was the Late Qi Refining Realm!
Everything had come naturally, flowing smoothly and harmoniously. Li Qing felt little joy, as he had long anticipated this moment.
"Breaking through to the Late Qi Refining Realm without relying on the Spirit Condensation Pill is quite good. It might broaden my path on the Dao in the future."
"Now, it's time to set my sights on Foundation Establishment!"
Both the Seventh Layer of Qi Refining and the Tenth Layer of Qi Refining Grand Completion qualified one to take the Foundation Establishment Pill and attempt Foundation Establishment.
However, for greater assurance, many cultivators would cultivate to the Tenth Layer or the Ninth Layer of Qi Refining before attempting the breakthrough, which significantly increased their chances of success.
Of course, Li Qing still possessed a considerable supply of Foundation Nurturing Pills, which could enhance his cultivation in the Late Qi Refining Realm and refine his mana.
For now, he planned to continue cultivating while seeking opportunities for Foundation Establishment.
"I obtained many auxiliary ingredients for the Foundation Establishment Pill from Gu Ming's storage pouch. These Spirit Herbs can't go to waste. I should consider befriending some Pill Refiners later and see if I can find someone with the main ingredients to jointly refine a batch of Foundation Establishment Pills."
"If that's the case, and two or three pills are successfully refined, I might have a chance to get one."
Li Qing's eyes flickered as he carefully calculated his options.
Of course, he wouldn't forget the token in his possession, which was highly likely to be an Ascension Token. With this token, he could go to the Lingyun Sect and obtain a Foundation Establishment Pill.
However, he couldn't rush this matter. Li Qing didn't want to place all his hopes for Foundation Establishment on a single token.
To ensure his success, he planned to prepare two strategies, just in case the token turned out not to be an Ascension Token after all.
"Even if it is an Ascension Token, I doubt it'll be easy to get that Foundation Establishment Pill. A Cultivation Sect is so vast; there must be countless Qi Refining Realm disciples eagerly awaiting a single pill."
"They've completed countless missions within the sect, accumulating vast contributions. If I just waltz in with a token and get a pill, I'm sure I'll face a lot of resentment."
"If I succeed in Foundation Establishment, it'll be fine. But what if I fail?"
At this point, Li Qing couldn't help but force a bitter smile. With his Four Spirit Root cultivation aptitude, he truly didn't believe he could successfully establish his Foundation with just one Foundation Establishment Pill.
Though he was already a Late Qi Refining Realm cultivator, without the aid of so many mana-enhancing pills, reaching this level would have taken him at least another decade, and even then, success wasn't guaranteed.
"Sigh, if I fail, life in the Lingyun Sect won't be easy either."
Li Qing shook his head with a wry smile, temporarily suppressing this thought.
"So I need to find a way to get at least one more Foundation Establishment Pill. With two, I should definitely succeed!"
As the words left his lips, Li Qing couldn't help but rub his gums, still lacking confidence.
What he didn't know was that in the immortal cultivation world, a Late Qi Refining Realm rogue cultivator obtaining even a single Foundation Establishment Pill in their lifetime was considered a remarkable achievement.
Many rogue cultivators who could never gather enough resources for a Foundation Establishment Pill would often choose to make a desperate gamble in their final moments, attempting to break through without the aid of pills.
Of course, the outcome was inevitably tragic. Old and frail, with depleted Vital Energy and withered blood, they forced themselves to break through. In the end, their mana dissipated, causing their meridians to rupture and leading to their immediate death.
Such cases were not uncommon, while those who succeeded were as rare as phoenix feathers.
"No matter what, I have to leave seclusion now. I wonder if the war in the immortal cultivation world has subsided," Li Qing muttered, then stretched languidly. His recent surge in power had boosted his confidence.
But confidence was one thing; hubris was another. With his current cultivation level, he probably wouldn't even be enough to fill the gap between two Cultivation Sects' teeth.
"To be safe, I should first check the letter Ye Feng sent me from the secret realm. I need to understand the current situation in the immortal cultivation world."
"I wonder if that guy is still alive after all these years."
The chaos in the world might bring danger, but it also presented opportunities. This was the classic case of danger and opportunity coexisting, where some Heavenly Prodigies might seize the chance to soar to great heights.
Still, Li Qing hoped for stability. It aligned better with his philosophy of steady development.
(End of the Chapter)
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