Xiaomeng was corrupted. Completely and thoroughly. The power of capitalism had already scarred her little thoughts, making her a slave to the strongest poison known to the world. And she was still liking it. She felt the small prickly sensation from the jutting edges of the spirit stones in the two bags. She made her way to her residence. She had to get up early the next morning. That night she had a beautiful dream where she was traveling in a river made of spirit stones. The Fourth Elder was the captain of the ship and Elder Sister Lan was her attendant. It was such a pleasant dream. And it was broken by the banging door.
She tried to ignore it at first but after the banging grew even louder, she could only get up and go to the door and open it to greet her visitor. Senior Sister Lan was standing in front. Xiaomeng stifled the yawn coming and asked, "What is it, attendant?"
"What!" Senior Sister Lan made a perplexed face. Xiaomeng also came to her senses that instant. She quickly changed the topic before Senior Sister Lan grew suspicious. "I meant why didn't you send another disciple or an attendant? It's not good to stress yourself out for such small matters."
Senior Sister Lan's eyes narrowed, "You think it's a small matter?" From her tone Xiaomeng felt a genuine threat. Her mind raced to find an appropriate answer. Why was her Senior Sister so grumpy this morning?
"I will only be gone for a few years. Being a cultivator, we have a lot of time ahead of us. A few years is nothing."
Lan Xue felt that the little girl was hiding something, but didn't know what. She let out a soft sigh. Then took out a small porcelain bottle from her storage ring. Handing it to Xiaomeng she said, "This is a foundation building pill specially made by me. It will help in your breakthrough. When you are there, take care. The people of the first peak tend to use their heads less."
Xiaomeng took the bottle and bowed, "Thank you, Senior Sister. I will return soon." Lan Xue nodded at this and left. Now alone and awake, Xiaomeng started to pack her things and get ready to head out. She had to reach the first peak soon. She packed her things, as few as they were. Took the two hidden spirit stone bags and made her way to her destination. She passed several of her seniors who gave her a sympathetic look. Even an Elder she encountered gave her words of encouragement.
What is going on? she thought to herself. She was only staying out for some time. She would still be in the sect going forward. But it did not take a long time for her to get her answers. In a few incense sticks of time, she had arrived at the first peak and there was already a large crowd gathered. Several disciples of her fourth peak were already standing at the gate waiting for something.
As she approached them, two more disciples came out carrying a stretcher. And on that stretcher one of the foundation establishment challengers from yesterday was being carried. There was a dent in his chest, but from the looks of it, he didn't seem to feel any pain. There was even a smile on his face. Soon, several other such cases followed behind. Xiaomeng just stared dumbfounded. Standing there she began to question her decisions.
Soon a guard spotted her and ran toward her. Xiaomeng stepped back, her stance vigilant. But the guard just bowed to her. "The First Elder had informed us about the great person coming here today. Allow me to lead you."
Xiaomeng's eyes widened. Great person? This definitely smelled like trouble. When she tried to back out, the sound of the spirit stones assaulted her ears. It was too small, but ignoring its competition it retained Xiaomeng's attention. Clenching her teeth she could only nod and followed behind the guard.
The guard went to the crowd and whispered something to the disciples at the end. The disciples spread it further ahead. And in just a few moments the message was spread to the front. The crowd parted from the middle and made a way for Xiaomeng. Everyone was giving her appreciative looks. What have you gotten me into, you old geezer? Xiaomeng cursed the Fourth Elder with reckless abandon. In her mind, of course.
She hurried past the crowd. It amazed her just how many disciples had gathered here. What were they even doing here all this time? Her questions were quickly answered. When she reached her destination, the sound of something breaking and slamming was heard. She gazed inside the small courtyard and her eyes were filled with the fallen bodies of the challengers. There was hardly any place visible below the fallen. The walls were cracked and furniture broken. Standing upright in the middle of this carnage was Tian Yao.
The silver-haired girl turned her head and looked at Xiaomeng. "It is over for today," she said. Her voice imbued with qi carried to the end of the crowd. The others outside all nodded their heads at her command and slowly started to pick up their fallen comrades. Soon, the courtyard was empty. Then another group of disciples came in and started repairing the broken architecture.
Tian Yao gestured for Xiaomeng to follow. Xiaomeng could only follow this goddess of death without asking any questions. Tian Yao gave her a tour of the First Peak, but everything went above Xiaomeng's head. Her head was still stuck on the scene before. The fallen bodies and broken courtyard occupying her mind. "Did you understand?" a question was heard.
"Yes?" Xiaomeng said instinctively.
"Did you understand what I said?" Tian Yao asked. Although she didn't, looking at Tian Yao's expressionless face, Xiaomeng simply nodded.
"Good," Tian Yao continued. "Then from today onwards this will be your place." Her hand was pointing at a large room some distance ahead, just beside the courtyard from before. The people had somehow managed to repair it in such a small time, as if they had prior experience.
"Isn't it too big?" Xiaomeng subconsciously asked, looking at the spacious hall.
"What are you saying?" Tian Yao interjected and gave her a deadpan face, which was harder to distinguish from her normal face. "I meant the small one beside it."
Hearing those words, Xiaomeng's attention went to the small room beside the large one. It was just a quarter of the size of the large room and lacked most of the furniture. She turned her head to protest but under the cold eyes of Tian Yao only brought out a soft, "I understand."
"Go and get some rest." Leaving those words, Tian Yao went inside her own room. Xiaomeng made her way to the small room. It was roughly the same size as her previous one from the fourth peak. But with such a spacious room beside her, a bitter feeling did rise in her chest. It felt too bitter.
She placed all her small things in their right places. The spirit stones were hidden in the small wooden cupboard, placed between some other miscellaneous things and clothes. She then proceeded to properly check the room. Its structure was similar to her previous one and there was also a small courtyard at the back. She still wasn't able to sense external arrays so didn't know if there were any.
With nothing else to do, Xiaomeng plopped on the soft bed and leaning back soon fell asleep. She was later shaken awake by Tian Yao. Seemed like she had forgotten to properly lock the door. "What is it?" she asked while stretching her stiff body.
Tian Yao brought out a small plate from behind. "Food." Xiaomeng looked at the food and then at Tian Yao's face. If she was simply brought awake, she would have brought her own food. Anyways, she took the plate and gave Tian Yao a sweet smile. Tian Yao nodded and went back. What exactly is her deal? Xiaomeng wondered.
Xiaomeng silently savored the food. There were dumplings, rice and some spirit herb broth, which tasted quite salty. She should pay the kitchen a visit one day. Finishing her meal, she washed the dish and placed it to dry. She would return it tomorrow morning. Then she went to the courtyard and activated the protective array. Sitting down she began her cultivation. Today she was definitely going to make her breakthrough.
At first, the gaseous Qi in her body began to circulate all along the nine opened acupoints. The nine acupoints started to funnel the Qi with greater speed. The gaseous Qi then began to gather at the Dantian and fill it. In no time the Dantian was completely filled with no room to spare.
Xiaomeng applied more force and the Qi began to compress. It was a painful process where the Dantian had to bear the burden of this compressed Qi. She took out the pill given by Senior Sister Lan this morning and the one she had stored before. She took the morning's pill. The pill entered her stomach and started dissolving into Qi. The concentration of Qi in Xiaomeng's Dantian was forcefully increased. The gaseous Qi slowly formed a drop of crystal-clear liquid. A compressed form of Qi.
More and more drops followed behind. Xiaomeng then took the other pill. This one dissolved and started to mend and support her Dantian which already had a few cracks running through it. The cracks mended and the Dantian became firmer. The speed at which the Qi was turning liquid also increased. Just when she was halfway through, her spiritual root which had been silent till now became restless.
"Not again," Xiaomeng said with a twisted face. Beads of sweat were glistening on her forehead. Her face had turned redder and veins were bulging on her clenched hands. The spiritual root started to interrupt the flow of Qi and slow down the conversion. While it didn't affect her directly, it slowed the formation of foundation. This increased the risk of failure.
At first, Xiaomeng was able to cope with it. But after a few incense sticks had passed and only a quarter of the foundation remained, she felt her body losing power. Her foundation was starting to crumble and even the drops were starting to transform back to gas. When she felt that she had failed, a foreign Qi invaded her body. A slight brush with her jumping spiritual root and it went quiet. This foreign Qi forced the escaping gaseous Qi to remain in the Dantian and supported Xiaomeng in her breakthrough.
With external help, the process was very smooth. In only half an incense stick's time, Xiaomeng had formed her foundation and officially became a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Her Dantian was completely filled with a clear luminous liquid, indicating that her foundation was heaven grade. When she tried to open her eyes, the dizziness hit her and she lost consciousness.
Tian Yao picked up the unconscious girl and carried her inside. Placing the girl on the bed, she pulled up the blankets and covered her. Looking around and finding no problems, she went out, closing the door behind her.
Entering back into her mind she muttered, "There are all kinds of weird things in the world. But a spiritual root which has gained spirituality is a first."