Chapter 88: Chapter 89: Ancient Cultivator Foundation Establishment Method

"If you want revenge, you first need overwhelming strength. This is the Foundation Establishment Pill your Ninth Sister risked her life to bring back for you. Don’t let her efforts be in vain."

Song Luzhou passed a blood-stained Jade Bottle to Song Changsheng, his voice low.

Song Changsheng took it in a daze, feeling the bloodstains were a piercing red. The small Jade Bottle in his hand felt as heavy as a mountain.

’The plot was real. It was all for me. Song Luyao ended up like this because of me.’

’This debt of gratitude was heavy—so heavy he didn’t know how he could ever repay it.’

"Sigh... Alright, let Luyao rest. Luzhou, please look after her. I’ll go ask Eldest Brother to come out of seclusion." Song Xianyun sighed softly and walked out of the Hundred Arts Hall.

Song Luhuai had also been seriously injured in the battle. He needed to enter seclusion to heal immediately, or his wounds might become permanent. After dispersing the crowd outside, Song Lutong also returned to seclusion. He had just broken through to Foundation Establishment before being thrown into such a major battle, which had destabilized his foundation. He had to re-consolidate his cultivation, or he risked his realm dropping.

In the blink of an eye, only Song Changsheng, Song Luzhou, and the unconscious Song Luyao were left in the Hundred Arts Hall.

"Take good care of your Ninth Aunt. I’m going to refine a batch of healing Pills for her," Song Luzhou said gruffly, then walked into the Alchemy Room.

Everyone had left. Looking at Song Luyao’s faint breathing, Song Changsheng could no longer control his emotions, and tears welled up in the corners of his eyes.

He had thought he’d grown accustomed to life and death, but he was wrong. Seeing his own kin lying there like this... the feeling was impossible to put into words.

Song Changsheng knelt by the soft couch, watching over Song Luyao. The sun rose and the moon set, the stars wheeled across the sky, and a night quickly passed.

At dawn, a broad hand came to rest on Song Changsheng’s shoulder, and a gentle voice said, "When Luyao made this decision, she had already considered the worst possible outcome. To have survived is already a great blessing from the heavens."

"Don’t wallow in sorrow. What you must do now is pull yourself together, prepare for Foundation Establishment, and not let Luyao’s painstaking efforts go to waste."

"I will enter seclusion as soon as Aunt wakes up," Song Changsheng said softly. His eyes were filled with resolve. ’I will reach Foundation Establishment. I will make them pay!’

Song Xianming said nothing and turned to leave the Hundred Arts Hall.

Outside the hall, Song Lutong hurriedly greeted him with deference.

Song Xianming looked him up and down, then sighed. "You are now the clan’s seventh Foundation Establishment Cultivator. By tradition, we should be holding a Foundation Establishment Grand Ceremony for you, but given the circumstances, it will have to be postponed. I’m sorry you have to go through this."

"Clan Leader, you speak too gravely. All of that is just for show. With Ninth Sister injured so badly, how could I possibly be in the mood for such things? Right now, I just want to twist the heads off those bastards from the Earth Fire Sect and the Lieyang Sect!"

Seeing Song Lutong seething with rage, Song Xianming murmured, "They will pay the price. Boy, do you dare come with me?"

Song Lutong grinned. "I dare."

"Then follow me." Song Xianming took a few steps, then summoned an Array Banner and headed down the mountain. Song Lutong seemed to guess what he was about to do, a flicker of excitement in his eyes as he hurried to follow...

Soon after, a great tremor shook all of Ling Province. Whether they were Loose Cultivators or from cultivator clans, everyone was talking about one thing:

"Hey, did you hear? The Earth Fire Sect and Lieyang Sect were in cahoots and ambushed an Elder from the Song Clan. In his rage, the Song Clan Leader laid down a Tier Three Array at the base of Fire Tripod Mountain. Now, no one from the Earth Fire Sect can get down the mountain except for the Foundation Establishment Cultivators."

"I heard the Earth Fire Sect Leader led some people to try and break the array by force. Who knew that not only did they fail, but they suffered heavy casualties? The Earth Fire Sect has really lost all face this time." In a tavern, a shifty-eyed cultivator spoke in a conspiratorial whisper to his tablemates.

"That was a ruthless move from Clan Leader Song, blocking their gates with a Grand Array. He’s the only Tier Three Array Master in our Ling Province. An array laid by his own hands... Tsk, tsk..."

"Exactly! Now the ordinary disciples of the Earth Fire Sect don’t even dare try to leave the mountain. They say if you go down, you just end up wandering in a fog, unable to find your way out."

"The Earth Fire Sect has been utterly disgraced again."

————

「Liuyun Mountain Range, Fire Tripod Mountain.」

Chang Wudao, his face dark, smashed his favorite Jade Bottle. He glared at the several Array Masters of his sect and roared, "I don’t care what methods you use, you must break this damn array for me! Otherwise, you can all get lost and go mine ore!"

The few Array Masters were so frightened they hardly dared to breathe. They scurried away to figure out how to break the array.

After they left, Chang Wudao slammed his palm down, shattering a zitan wood table. He growled through gritted teeth, "Song Xianming, you’ve gone too damn far!"

"Sect Leader, since our dealings with the Lieyang Sect have been exposed, should we proceed with deepening our alliance?" Li Tiancheng asked respectfully.

"Mm, send someone to contact them. First, we break that damn array!"

"As you command."

...

After Song Luzhou administered the refined Pill to Song Luyao, her condition improved within two days. She was already able to open her eyes and speak.

She showed little reaction to the fact that her legs were crippled, remaining remarkably calm. She resumed her duties in the Law Enforcement Hall and began investigating the clan traitor.

Seeing that she was out of danger, Song Changsheng finally felt a weight lift from his heart. After leaving letters for his mother and grandfather, he entered the Seclusion Chamber that Song Lutong had previously used and prepared to break through to Foundation Establishment...

Inside the Seclusion Chamber, Song Changsheng stared at the Foundation Establishment Pill in his hand. Suddenly, as if he had made some sort of decision, he resealed the pill and set it aside, taking out another Pill instead.

This was a Vein Protection Pill, a type of auxiliary Pill for Foundation Establishment. It was Tier Two Low Grade. When a Cultivator takes it while breaking through to Foundation Establishment, it can increase the chance of success by five percent.

Compared to the thirty percent success rate from a Foundation Establishment Pill, five percent was practically nothing.

But Song Changsheng had still exchanged for it before entering seclusion. He had already made up his mind: he would not use the Foundation Establishment Pill. He would achieve Foundation Establishment the way the Ancient Cultivators did.

This wasn’t born of overconfidence, but of deep deliberation.

As the saying goes, with every gain comes a loss. The Foundation Establishment Pill allows a Cultivator to pass the Foundation Establishment Three Passes more easily, but this is essentially a shortcut. It prevents a Cultivator from undergoing a true trial.

The price for this is that a Cultivator who uses a Foundation Establishment Pill to break through will naturally be somewhat weaker in terms of Spiritual Power, Physical Body, and Divine Soul compared to a Foundation Establishment Cultivator who did not use one.

This difference is especially obvious in actual combat, which is why the elite disciples of the major sects generally do not use Foundation Establishment Pills.

Song Changsheng had once sworn to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the chosen geniuses of those major sects. That was why he made this bold decision: to emulate the Ancient Cultivators from the time before Foundation Establishment Pills and achieve his breakthrough.

The process was fraught with peril. According to ancient texts, when Ancient Cultivators attempted Foundation Establishment, not even one in ten would survive.

...