As Su Bai tirelessly circulated the Void-Sunflower Supreme Method, his massive ocean of gaseous Qi continued to violently compress.

The deeper he got into the process, the more he was reminded of just how overpowered the 10th Stage of Qi Refining actually was.

Normally, when a cultivator reached the absolute peak of the 9th Stage, they had to eat a highly expensive Foundation Establishment Pill to assist the breakthrough.

In software terms, the pill acted as a temporary, localized pressure stabilizer. It forcibly held the Dantian’s walls together so the volatile gas could liquefy without violently exploding the cultivator’s stomach.

But Su Bai’s Dantian didn’t have walls anymore.

That meant there was absolutely zero risk of explosion. He had no internal pressure threshold.

As Su Bai spun the Void-Sunflower method, the heavy droplets of newly condensed liquid Qi behaved like water in zero gravity. Instead of pooling at a "bottom" that didn’t exist, the liquid was magnetically drawn to the absolute center of his inner void.

The heavy droplets of pure Yin Qi orbited his Sapling Wood Root for a moment before splashing directly onto its exposed, floating roots, clinging to them like water to a sponge.

The process was slow, arduous, and required immense focus, but Su Bai was endlessly patient. Thanks to the cooling effect of the Wraith-Slumber Manacle on his wrist, his mental state remained razor-sharp. He felt like he could crunch these numbers for years without suffering burnout.

And so, Su Bai sat in his sealed hut for three days and three nights, waiting until every last ounce of gaseous Qi in his boundless void was fully compressed into heavy, liquid Yin.

As the liquid completely encased the floating roots of his Sapling, the final, crucial phase of Foundation Establishment began: Crystallization.

To a normal cultivator, as their liquid Qi pooled at the bottom of their Dantian, it slowly hardened and crystallized, forming a literal, physical "Foundation Pillar" or "Dao Pedestal." Most orthodox foundations looked like beautiful, glowing crystal lotuses or majestic jade altars.

But inside Su Bai’s Dantian, the architecture was vastly different.

The liquid Qi didn’t form a standard lotus or altar. Because the liquid was clinging to the roots in zero gravity, the Dao Pedestal and the Sapling became completely intertwined.

The heavy Yin liquid aggressively crystallized around the root system, encasing it in solid, dark matter.

When the final drop hardened, Su Bai opened his inner eye and was genuinely shocked by the resulting structure.

His Dao Pedestal looked like a jagged, pitch-black Yin-Crystal Asteroid suspended in the dead center of the starry void. Piercing directly out of the top of this dark, floating asteroid was the pale, crystalline trunk of his Sapling, crowned with its majestic canopy of Ashen-Frost fire leaves.

It was a perfectly self-contained, terrifyingly beautiful micro-planet.

But that wasn’t all. As Su Bai inspected the asteroid, he noticed the distinct, malicious influence of the Void-Sunflower Supreme Method.

Because he had used the infamous castration manual to compress the foundation, the surface of his Yin-Crystal asteroid wasn’t smooth. It bristled with millions of microscopic, razor-sharp silver needles.

’Integrated antivirus,’ Su Bai realized, his corporate smile widening.

If any rival cultivator ever managed to pierce his defenses and project their divine sense into his Dantian to probe his secrets, those millions of silver Yin needles would act as a hyper-lethal defense mechanism. It can instantly shred the invader’s spiritual probe to ribbons.

With the formation of the Dao Pedestal complete, a resonant, profound hum echoed through Su Bai’s body.

He had officially broken through. He was a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Su Bai slowly opened his eyes in the dimly lit hut.

He felt strangely refreshed, as if he had just woken up from the best eight hours of sleep in his life. He raised his hands and slowly clenched them into fists.

Crack. Crack.

The air itself seemed to pop under the pressure. His physical grip was terrifyingly strong.

He wasn’t just a spellcaster anymore. If someone managed to get into melee range, he could hit them with the physical force of a speeding truck.

Inside him, his Qi was no longer a frantic, floating mist. It was a heavy, calm, and infinitely deep reserve of power flowing smoothly through his widened fiber-optic meridians.

Feeling incredibly satisfied with his new specs, Su Bai stood up, smoothed out his white robes, and opened the heavy wooden door of his seclusion hut.

Standing in the courtyard, pacing back and forth with a deeply worried expression, was his Master Lu Canghai.

The old man had clearly been standing guard for three straight days, terrified that his disciple was going to accidentally blow himself up (or successfully castrate himself) using the cursed manual.

Their gazes locked.

Lu Canghai immediately felt the profound, oceanic depth of Su Bai’s new aura.

Su Bai stepped forward and bowed deeply. "Master, I have successfully established my foundation."

At those words, Lu Canghai froze for a half-second before throwing his head back and laughing uproariously.

"HAHAHA! I knew you could do it!" Lu Canghai roared. He slapped Su Bai hard on the shoulder. "You are just like your father! Absolutely reckless! But since you managed to reach the 10th Stage of Qi Refining just like he did, I suppose there was never a risk of you exploding from the pressure."

Su Bai blinked in surprise. "Wait... my father reached the 10th Stage too?"

Lu Canghai waved his hand dismissively, though a fond smile played on his lips. "Ha! He was not nearly as smooth as you were, brat. When he forced his way into the 10th Stage, the Eye of Heaven nearly beat him half to death. He was coughing up blood for a week! Fortunately, he was too stubborn to die and managed to keep his realm. I still remember Shen Youran crying her eyes out over his bed... GAHAHA!"

Su Bai stood perfectly still. He was not entirely sure if he was supposed to laugh at the mental image of Shen Youran crying over his critically injured dad. But seeing his master laugh so genuinely warmed his heart, so he offered a polite, corporate chuckle in solidarity.

Lu Canghai then grabbed Su Bai by the shoulders. His eyes shone with profound pride. He congratulated his disciple profusely, absolutely flabbergasted that Su Bai had actually used a mortal martial arts manual to forge a perfect Dao Pedestal.

When Su Bai casually mentioned that his physical body had actually benefited massively from the extreme heat generated by not cutting off his own manhood, Lu Canghai laughed so hard he had to lean against the peach tree for support.

"A true genius! To turn a crippling curse into a body-refining treasure!" Lu Canghai wiped a tear of mirth from his eye. He then straightened his robes. His aura suddenly shifted from ’warm father’ to ’smug executive’.

"Come, my disciple," Lu Canghai declared. He swiped his hand to summon a massive, glowing flying sword. "I have spent the last six years listening to those old fossils brag about their disciples. It is time for this old man to collect some face! Let’s go visit the other peaks!"

Su Bai shook his head with a wry smile. So his master wasn’t entirely above petty office politics and bragging rights. Or perhaps, the old man just genuinely wanted to show off the son that had finally recovered.

Either way, Su Bai was happy to oblige.

With a thought, Su Bai summoned his own flying sword. The Foundation Establishment Qi powered the blade instantly, making it hum with lethal speed.

Following his smug, ecstatic master, Su Bai shot into the sky. Lu Canghai led the charge to go flex on the rest of the Radiant Sky Sect.