The battle was over, and the troops had withdrawn, but Fang Hao didn’t feel right at all. The image of Old Chen, covered in blood and flying backward, seemed etched into his mind, flickering constantly. Although it was inevitable that people would die in war, watching a brother who had just been charging alongside him vanish in the blink of an eye—this feeling was truly damn awful.

Commander Lei patted his shoulder and said he had performed a great service and the Prince would surely reward him heavily. Fang Hao twitched the corner of his mouth in response, but in his heart, he thought that if this merit could bring Old Chen back alive and well, he would rather not have it.

The city walls were chaotic. Medics ran back and forth carrying the wounded, craftsmen were busy repairing the collapsed battlements, and Formation Masters were bustling around the Formation Plates, replenishing Spirit Stones and repairing the Formation patterns that had been impacted earlier. The air was thick with the smell of blood and scorched earth, mixed with the groans of the wounded, making it hard to breathe.

Fang Hao had no heart to care about these things. He, along with Little Grandson and the veteran with the injured leg, were arranged to rest in a relatively quiet temporary barracks beneath the city wall. Little Grandson had a bandage wrapped around his arm, his face pale, sitting there in a daze. The veteran groaned in pain but gritted his teeth and didn’t cry out.

Fang Hao sat cross-legged in the corner and closed his eyes, wanting to regulate his breath, but although his Spiritual Qi circled through his Meridians several times, he just couldn’t calm down. His chest felt stuffy, as if stuffed with cotton. In his mind, one moment it was the dark red light barrier of the Blood Fiend Formation, the next it was the resolute face of Old Chen as he pushed him away, and then the heaven-destroying pressure of the Nascent Soul experts clashing in the sky...

All sorts of images were jumbled together, leaving him agitated and uneasy.

"No, if this continues, I’ll definitely suffer from Qi Deviation!" Fang Hao opened his eyes abruptly and took a deep breath. He knew that his state of mind had been affected by the killing intent of the battlefield and the stimulation of life and death. If he couldn’t get past this hurdle, let alone progress in his cultivation, it would be lucky if he didn’t regress.

He forced himself to calm down, stopped deliberately circulating his Cultivation Technique, and instead sank his consciousness into his Dantian to feel the wisp of Earth Core Flame Fire pulsing quietly. This Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi fire was extremely Yang and pure, carrying a warmth that soothed the heart. Wisps of warmth flowed out from his Dantian, slowly permeating his somewhat restless Meridians and consciousness.

At the same time, he began to recall the principles of the Formations he had learned in his mind, from the most basic Five Elements generation and restriction to the complex changes in the "Myriad Manifestations Array Interpretation," forcing himself to shift his focus to these matters that required extreme calmness and concentration.

Gradually, the noise outside seemed to fade away, and the tangled mess in his heart was smoothed out bit by bit. The suffocating and agitated feeling slowly receded, replaced by an extreme exhaustion and a... indescribable sense of emptiness.

It was as if his body had been hollowed out.

It was at this moment that he suddenly felt the Qi Sea in his Dantian begin to rotate spontaneously and slowly. The Spiritual Qi that had been exhausted due to the consecutive battles and emotional fluctuations was now converging from his limbs and bones, and from the outside air, at a speed much faster than usual.

This was not the result of his active cultivation, but more like an instinct of the body, a compensation mechanism triggered after extreme exhaustion.

The rotation speed of the Qi Sea became faster and faster, forming a small vortex. The surrounding Spiritual Qi was frantically pulled in, refined by the "Chaos Derivation Art" into pure seven-element Spiritual Qi, and merged into the vortex. Fang Hao could even "hear" the faint sound of the Spiritual Qi flowing, like a stream merging into a river.

His heart stirred; he knew the opportunity had come!

This was the sign of a Breakthrough! The Late Foundation Establishment Stage to the Great Perfection Foundation Establishment, while seemingly just a small Realm advancement, was a crucial step in laying the foundation for the Golden Core Dao! It required expanding and condensing the Dantian Qi Sea to the extreme, making the Spiritual Qi thicker and purer!

He no longer suppressed it but instead actively guided it, immersing his consciousness completely in cultivation. The "Chaos Derivation Art" operated at full capacity, like a bottomless pit, greedily absorbing the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi around him. Luoxia City was located on the border; although the Spiritual Qi was a bit chaotic after a day of fighting, it was, after all, close to a dangerous place like the Black Wind Canyon, so the concentration of Spiritual Qi was still quite considerable.

Gradually, a faint mist mixed with seven-colored light halos rose around his body, shrouding him completely. Everyone else in the barracks was alarmed. Little Grandson and the veteran looked at him in surprise, and feeling the increasingly strong Spiritual Qi fluctuations, they consciously retreated a bit further, not daring to disturb him.

Commander Lei happened to come in to check the situation. Seeing Fang Hao in this state, a flash of surprise and approval crossed his eyes. He waved his hand to set up a simple soundproof barrier and whispered, "He is about to break through, do not disturb him." Then he stood guard at the door himself as a Protector.

Fang Hao was completely unaware of this; he was currently in a mysterious state. The Qi Sea vortex in his Dantian had expanded to its limit, becoming incomparably solid, as if a miniature nebula was slowly rotating. The Spiritual Qi surged and roared within, full of a sense of power.

He could feel an invisible, tough barrier lying across the Qi Sea, hindering its further expansion and transformation. This was the Bottleneck from the Late Foundation Establishment Stage to the Great Perfection!

"Break for me!"

Fang Hao roared inwardly, concentrating all his mental will, guiding the surging torrent of Spiritual Qi like a bursting river, striking at that barrier again and again!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Every impact made Fang Hao’s whole body shake violently, and his Meridians felt a tearing pain. But he gritted his teeth and did not back down! This bit of pain, compared to the torment of life and death on the battlefield, was nothing!

He didn’t know how many times he had struck it, but finally, that barrier emitted a faint "crack" sound, and a fissure appeared!

"Now is the time!"

Fang Hao seized the opportunity and slammed the last strand of pure Spiritual Qi, even mixed with a trace of Chaos aura, into it!

Rumble—!

A loud noise, as if heaven and earth were being created, echoed in his Dantian! That solid barrier shattered with a bang! The originally saturated Qi Sea instantly expanded by nearly double! It became wider and more condensed! The Spiritual Qi surged into the new space like a tide, becoming purer and thicker, carrying a heavy sense of power as it flowed!

An unprecedented feeling of power filled Fang Hao’s entire body! His Meridians were widened, and his Physical Body seemed to have been baptized, becoming tougher. His Divine Sense also surged, and the range and precision of his detection were greatly improved!

Great Perfection Foundation Establishment! Success! 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Fang Hao slowly opened his eyes, a flash of bright light passing through them before returning to calm. He exhaled a long breath of turbid air; this breath was long and condensed, forming a white arrow of Qi in the air that flew quite a distance before dissipating.

He felt the surging power in his body, but there was not much wild joy in his heart; instead, there was a calm sense of things falling into place. This Breakthrough was less a result of cultivation and more a transformation of his state of mind and an explosion of accumulation after life-and-death struggles.

"Ning... Guest Elder Ning, did you break through?" Little Grandson asked cautiously, with envy on his face.

Fang Hao nodded, stood up, and stretched his limbs, feeling full of strength; the previous fatigue was swept away. He bowed to Commander Lei, who was guarding the door, and said, "Thank you, Commander, for acting as Protector."

Commander Lei looked him over a few times and smiled with satisfaction, "Good! Great Perfection Foundation Establishment! Your strength has taken a step forward. With this, we have more confidence for the upcoming defense of the city! You just broke through; stabilize your Realm first, there are still hard battles to fight ahead."

Fang Hao nodded. Breakthroughs were good, but he knew that the Great Perfection Foundation Establishment was still not enough on a real battlefield. Above it were Golden Core, and Nascent Soul. To truly master his own destiny, he had to keep climbing!

He walked out of the barracks and climbed back onto the city wall. It was nearing twilight, and the setting sun was like blood, illuminating the entire Black Wind Canyon in a crimson hue. In the distance, Tiebi Pass still stood, but that aggressive Blood Fiend aura seemed to have converged somewhat. In the sky, the clear light of Cloud Crane was steadily suppressing the blood-colored escape light, holding an absolute advantage.

The battle situation had stabilized for the time being, but Fang Hao knew this was just the calm before the storm. The Great Qin Empire had suffered a loss and would never let it go. The next attack would only be more violent.

He clenched his fist, feeling the power brought by the Great Perfection Foundation Establishment. The road ahead remained dangerous, but at least he was now a bit stronger than before. That was enough. In this damned world, being one bit stronger meant a greater chance of survival.

He looked toward the west, his gaze firm. To survive, to become stronger—this was his only thought at this moment.