At this moment, Qi Ping was fully prepared. His physical condition and spirit were at their peak.
"Let's begin!"
Qi Ping's eyes narrowed, filled with determination and confidence. The path of immortality was not easy, but he would not flinch. Since he had chosen this road, he would not retreat, no matter the danger or the hardship.
He had spent his time forging his body, soul, foundation, and comprehension into a formidable state. His understanding of the True Meaning and Dao-heart was already superior to that of many Foundation Establishment cultivators. Given these conditions, what was there to fear from a mere breakthrough?
All fear stems from a lack of preparation.
Qi Ping was indeed cautious—even cowardly—when facing the powerhouses of the cultivation world. Faced with old monsters who had lived for a thousand years, he knew he was outmatched in strength, schemes, and experience. But on the path of personal cultivation, he had steadily increased his success rate day by day. By now, his conditions surpassed ninety percent of Qi Refinement cultivators. Even in the Great Sky Domain, few could match his foundation.
He did not hesitate any longer. After consuming a portion of honey, he directly manipulated his spiritual energy to charge at the Foundation Establishment barrier.
Almost instantly, a thick and powerful spiritual pressure erupted from his body. An incredibly dense True Meaning of Fire swirled around him, and the golden Beast King's Flame burned in the void, radiating a terrifying pressure. Surprisingly, despite unleashing such power, Qi Ping's expression remained unchanged. He felt no strain; controlling this level of power was effortless for him.
In this moment, his solid foundation and control were displayed perfectly! After his full power erupted, he began a relentless assault on the barrier. With his foundation, the True Meaning of Fire, and his control, the shackles of the Qi Refinement stage began to crumble at an incredible speed!
What required others to use pills and months of painstaking effort was crumbling before Qi Ping. Under the boost of the True Meaning of Fire, the barrier could not stop him. Yet, Qi Ping felt this intensity was still not enough.
"Still not enough!"
"Using Wood as Kindling, let the spiritual energy sublimate!"
Using wood as fuel, he forced his fire spiritual energy to rise to another level. This was a unique advantage of wood-fire dual-attribute cultivation. If one chose to switch to a pure fire-attribute Foundation Establishment manual, they could use their previous wood-attribute energy as kindling. Not only would this convert all energy into fire-attribute, but it would also elevate the quality of the energy during the process, resulting in a more powerful foundation.
The benefits of this for forging a foundation were self-evident. This was why Qi Ping had chosen a pure fire manual—to increase his success rate and ensure a more robust base. In any case, he didn't expect great achievements in alchemy, so the wood attribute was dispensable in the short term. In the long term, once his talents grew, he would switch to a five-element manual to pursue the path of "Five Elements Generating All Things." That was the path most suited for a Druid—one who is close to nature.
After Qi Ping used Wood as Kindling, his spiritual energy surged again, and his aura became even more majestic! When he manipulated this enhanced energy to strike the barrier, the shackles shattered without surprise!
Qi Ping's body shook violently, and a pressure far exceeding the Qi Refinement stage erupted! The aura of Foundation Establishment!
After breaking through, the intensity of his spiritual energy surged again, and a vast amount of heaven and earth spiritual energy began to be drawn into his body. Within his sea of qi, the spiritual energy reached a peak of density and rapidly began to liquefy!
But a problem soon emerged: insufficient spiritual energy, violent fluctuations, and a chaotic aura.
The powerful energy was thrashing wildly inside him, far exceeding anything he had felt at Qi Refinement. For Foundation Establishment, this amount of energy was still not enough; he had to absorb even more to support the formation and stabilization of the new realm. Under these conditions, any issue—lack of resources, poor control, an unstable foundation, or insufficient body and soul strength—could lead to failure. The result would be severe injury, regression, or even self-implosion.
This was where a Foundation Establishment Pill proved its worth. it stabilized the energy and provided a constant supply, greatly increasing the odds of success. However, there were drawbacks. The boost from a pill was not one's own power. The more pills used, the weaker the foundation and control were proven to be. While one pill didn't have a massive impact, using multiple pills would all but sever one's hopes for the Golden Core stage.
Facing this situation, Qi Ping naturally had no pill, but he felt no panic.
'Is that all?'
His True Meaning of Fire and Farming Domain surfaced instantly. Combined with his powerful soul, the violent and chaotic energy was suppressed immediately, becoming as docile as a kitten under his control. He then guided the energy to circulate according to the Golden Flame Manual. Drop after drop of golden-red liquid spiritual energy began to form in his sea of qi.
That solid and powerful aura displayed the depth of his foundation. Liquid energy formed through a pill could hardly compare to that formed through the comprehension of a law's True Meaning. Relying on external help is never as good as relying on oneself! If one must rely on outside forces for a breakthrough, it proves their foundation is lacking and their control is insufficient. While the impact might be minor once, the hidden flaws would accumulate, making the path of cultivation increasingly difficult.
Once Qi Ping took control of the situation, the rest was a matter of persistence and fine-tuning. Generally, this process would last half a day to a full day. One had to constantly consume items to replenish energy. This was another hurdle; if one's foundation wasn't solid, they couldn't endure for over half a day while practicing a new manual.
Fortunately, these issues were nothing to Qi Ping. He had mentally rehearsed the breakthrough at least a hundred times. Everything was within his grasp. With his foundation, barring any freak accidents, failure was impossible.
Over the next several hours, as Qi Ping consumed honey and the Spirit Liquid from the Star-Spirit Wood, his aura grew deeper and more powerful. The Foundation Establishment aura gradually became strong and stable. After nearly a day of this state, the Golden Flame Manual was finally mastered!