Chapter 166 – Foundation Establishment – Part 2

  Jun De sat in the center of his cultivation chamber, with his legs crossed and his eyes closed.

  The space around him had become a whirlpool of Qi, a spiralling torrent of gold and violet that filled the entire room. It roared like a storm as waves of spiritual energy crashed outward from his Dantian, then pulled back in through his meridians over and over again as if the world itself were breathing through him.

  The air hummed, and the floor beneath him vibrated faintly as it was unable to completely contain the pressure coming from Jun De. Threads of golden radiance spilled across the wall, and arcs of faint purple electricity spiderwebbed across the floor, up the walls and throughout the ceiling.

  The mixture of Qi in the room was so dense that it was visible, swirling in ribbons around his body.

  At the absolute center of this tempest was Jun De, with his posture perfect, his legs folded into the lotus position, and his hands forming a seal. The storm may be raging around him, but he was utterly unmoving.

  His entire body glowed with a golden brilliance that poured from his skin, that was warm and radiant like molten sunlight. The edge of the glow had a purple tinge that flickered intermittently.

  But, despite all this chaos, where even the strongest and most prepared cultivator would be straining to form their Foundation, Jun De was asleep.

  His breathing was slow and even, oddly serene despite the violent transformation occurring within and around him. Jun De’s expression was relaxed and calm, with a small smile as though he were simply napping in his favourite chair under the warmth of the sun.

  The cyclone of Qi surged around him while his unconscious mind drifted and dreamed. He was completely unaware of the changes inside him and unconcerned about the process of Foundation Establishment.

  It was as though his body had said to him, ‘Don’t worry about this, just sleep and I’ll handle the rest.’

  While Jun De was sleeping in the most critical moment in his cultivation journey, the Sect Master Lu Qingchen stood in his pavilion high above the Inner Sect with his hands clasped behind his back and his gaze locked toward Jun De’s residence.

  His spiritual sense was wrapped around the area as he monitored everything happening. Despite Jun De’s wards, Lu Qingchen had no trouble at all seeing the young man sitting in his cultivation chamber with the strong glow of Qi around him.

  The tempest of spiritual energy in Jun De’s residence was stronger than any he had seen before. It was the kind of disturbance that could draw the attention of others, whether with good or ill will, so Lu Qingchen stood vigilant to suppress the visions in the sky and ensure that no one approached Jun De.

  A few minutes after the disturbance had started, the barrier surrounding the entire Tranquil Mountain Sect rippled. It was soft, like a breeze pushing open a loosely latched door. A foreign presence slipped through the barrier as though it were non-existent.

  The intruder didn’t hide itself, its movements were gentle and leisurely, as though it knew that no one on the Tranquil Mountain could stand against it even if they tried.

  The moment it appeared, Lu Qingchen's breath caught. He recognized this aura as one who had visited the Sect several times already, always without announcing itself. It wasn’t hostile, but it carried a weight that pressed down on his very soul with the spiritual pressure of a woman whose cultivation far surpassed his own.

  As usual, the moment he showed a reaction to the presence, a calm, ethereal voice drifted down from the very peak of the Tranquil Mountain.

  “Leave her be. Allow her to act as she wishes.”

  The words were meant for his ears only, carried on a gentle wave of spiritual energy and reaching him from a distance in a moment.

  Lu Qingchen immediately withdrew his spiritual senses and turned toward the peak of the Tranquil Mountain high above him. Even from this distance, he could feel the presence take an interest in both Jun De and the visitor, like a slumbering dragon opening one eye to observe the world around it.

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  “Disciple hears and obeys.” Lu Qingchen replied quietly in a steady voice, bowing respectfully as he did so. Only after several breaths did he straighten his back and release a slow exhale.

  Ignoring the events in the Inner Sect, Lu Qingchen returned to his cultivation mat and began to meditate. After a few minutes, he felt his master’s presence on the peak withdraw and return to their own affairs once again.

  Jun De was completely unaware of anything occurring around him. His dreams were as pleasant as the energy rushing through him. He dreamed that he and Mu Yanyu were on a beach, enjoying the sun, before the scene shifted to include Lin Yue, Shen Ruolan, Mei Lian and Bai Xuelian.

  He stood in the center of them all, surrounded by warmth and beauty. There was a comforting sense of belonging, and no responsibilities pressed down on his shoulders.

  While Jun De dreamed, and the storm of Qi roared around him, a woman suddenly appeared in his chambers. There wasn’t a single ripple in the wards surrounding his immortal’s cave, no disturbance of the air, or distortion of the light.

  One moment, the chamber was empty apart from Jun De, and the next, the woman was standing in front of him.

  The woman wore flowing yellow and white robes, the fabric so light it seemed woven from sunlight and mist. Her beauty was radiant, peerless and flawless, with the sort of breathtaking grace that words couldn’t capture. Her skin glowed softly, and her black hair hung down her back like silk.

  But, for all her beauty, her presence was impossibly faint. Her cultivation was unreadable, and rather than being concealed, it was simply too vast to register. To lesser senses, she was an empty void.

  Her eyes took in the chamber around her, with its bare stone walls and single mat in the center that Jun De occupied. She picked up the jade box and sniffed it faintly before frowning and placing it back on the ground.

  “Emerald Cloud Pavilion.” She muttered, and her voice seemed to echo from far away.

  Next, she flipped through the pages of Jun De's cultivation manual, her interest held by the annotation in the margins that Jun De had written to better explain the process of Foundation Establishment. A small smile tugged her lips before she closed the manual.

  Finally, she turned to look at Jun De.

  His eyes were still closed in sleep, while he was bathed in gold and purple radiant Qi. His breathing was steady, and his expression was peaceful, with a small, delighted smile on his face that informed her that he was having a pleasant dream.

  When the woman looked at his face, her expression softened, and warmth bloomed like spring sunlight breaking through winter clouds. Her smile was gentle and luminous, filling the chamber with an affection so deep that it seemed to reshape her entire image.

  The woman reached out, and lightly brushed her fingertips through Jun De’s hair with a tenderness that spoke of her profound feelings for him. Her touch was feather-soft and reverent, as though she were handling the most precious treasure in the entire universe.

  For a heartbeat, the storm of Qi calmed around Jun De as though it were acknowledging the woman in front of him.

  Within Jun De’s Dantian, the Sea of Qi moved with a will of its own. It was natural, forming without direction from Jun De or the woman in front of him to guide it.

  The ten drops of Liquid Qi that had been lost in the deluge became glowing pearls of light in an ocean of spiritual power from the Foundation Establishment Pill. The Sea of Qi swelled, stretching to the absolute limits of his Dantian and shimmering with impossible density.

  The cultivation manual in front of Jun De had informed him that he would need to force the Sea to compress, to struggle to hold it steady and refine it as much as possible before it crystallized.

  Jun De didn’t do any of that. He was asleep, and Foundation Establishment was the furthest thing from his mind as he dreamed.

  But, regardless of Jun De’s distraction, the Sea of Qi continued to grow denser and heavier. Its vastness quickly condensed into something more refined. Every heartbeat that went by made the liquid Qi inside Jun De grow heavier as the ten pearls of light became a focal point for refinement.

  The golden light around Jun De flared brighter and brighter until the room was filled with brilliance. The mysterious woman watched the process silently, not interfering at all, and just observing his Sea of Qi collapse in upon itself.

  The Sea of Qi in Jun De’s Dantian shrank until it formed a layer of crystal at the bottom that would become his Foundation. It hardened in an instant, without a single crack or flaw.

  It was a perfect Foundation.

  A flawless crystal of Qi without cloudiness, impurities, fractures or instabilities. There was nothing to refine or fix, and it shone with a golden light similar to the sun in the sky.

  Where other cultivators may take months or years to correct the imperfections in their foundations, Jun De’s formed itself effortlessly and perfectly without his involvement.

  But the process wasn’t over. The Dawnheart Flame, which had been submerged by the incoming rush of Qi, reappeared from the depths of the crystal that formed Jun De’s Foundation. It flared brightly, and its light was reflected by the Qi beneath it, harmonizing perfectly as though it were the sun in Jun De’s inner world.

  The woman retracted her fingers from Jun De’s hair with obvious reluctance as her spiritual sense studied Jun De’s foundation carefully. She could not find a single fault, and some hidden tension within her eased.

  “Of course, your body remembers. For one chosen by the Heavenly Dao, such things are instinct, not effort.” Her voice was barely a whisper, and her expression was filled with both pride and sorrow.

  “I will see you again soon.” The woman promised before she disappeared as silently as she had appeared.