Chapter 181: Chapter 179: Mid-Stage Foundation Establishment

After soaking in the Sword Tempering Spirit Water for a day and a night, the Celestial Xin Sword looked brand new.

Having absorbed the Five Metals Spirit within the Sword Tempering Spirit Water, the tiny, grain-sized nicks on the sword’s blade—incurred from recklessly clashing it during the great battle—had been completely repaired.

Meanwhile, the cracks on the Willow Leaf Sword’s blade were also fully mended.

However, the brutal palm strike from Bai Zichen, empowered by his Glazed Fire Divine Body, had damaged the Willow Leaf Sword’s spirituality.

It would likely need to soak for another day to fully recover.

’It seems that with my talent in Artifact Refining, even if I were to focus all my energy on it, it would still take me about twenty years before I could be confident in successfully refining a Tier One Flying Sword...’

Bai Zichen regretfully confirmed that, just as with Arrays, he had no outstanding talent for Artifact Refining.

The Flying Saber Magical Artifact before him lay shattered on the ground. He had either failed to control the heat during the Solidification Stage, resulting in over-tempering...

...or he had used too much force when inscribing the final Forbidden Seals, exceeding the limits of what the base materials could withstand.

Of course, with the wonders of his Spirit Body, as long as he was willing to spend the time, he could eventually raise any of the Hundred Skills of Cultivation to a realm equivalent to his own cultivation.

If he did that, it would be a rather poor use of his time during the Foundation Establishment Stage.

’It’s not like I’m lacking a Tier Two Flying Sword. I’m only studying Artifact Refining to make it easier to forge a Tier Three Flying Sword for myself in the future. For now, I just need to get a basic grasp on it and reach a Tier One Peak level of Artifact Refining before Core Formation. After forming my Golden Core, my Divine Sense will reside within it, giving me a much higher perspective. Breaking through will be much simpler then.’

With a wave of his wide sleeve, Bai Zichen swept the large pile of basic materials and the Artifact Refining Cauldron into a corner of the room, then extinguished the specially channeled Earth Fire.

When the White Jade Tower was first built, the possibility of practicing the Hundred Skills of Cultivation was taken into account, so dedicated rooms like an Alchemy Room, an Artifact Refining Chamber, and a Talisman Chamber were included.

Most of these rooms remained unused, gathering dust.

He returned to his Quiet Chamber for cultivation, took out an Earth Flame Spirit Pill, and sat down cross-legged in the five-hearts-to-heaven posture. He then began to proficiently circulate the first level of the Fire Dragon Returning Essence Scripture.

Before leaving for Zengguang Immortal City, Bai Zichen had already been close to the Peak of Early-Stage Foundation Establishment, thanks to the Nine Revolutions Dragon Tiger Pill and other elixirs that boosted his cultivation.

If not for the time he had lost reforging his Glazed Body, the Spiritual Liquid in his Dantian Qi Sea would have long since surpassed one-third full, reaching the limit of the Early-Stage Foundation Establishment.

This time, he was entering seclusion with the intent to push through in one go. He would not emerge until his cultivation reached the Early Stage Peak.

He had specifically informed Senior Brother Liang Yu that he’d had an epiphany during a life-and-death battle and found an opportunity to break through, so joining the Law Enforcement Hall would have to be delayed for a few years.

Liang Yu was very understanding. To him, it was perfectly normal for a genius Sword Cultivator like Bai Zichen—who had comprehended Sword Qi Thunder Sound before the age of thirty—to gain insights and break through in the heat of combat.

Otherwise, why would those Unparalleled Sword Cultivators wander the world with their swords, testing them against the strongest experts?

With the refinement of each Earth Flame Spirit Pill, a new drop of Liquid Magical Power would fall into his Qi Sea, sending ripples across the Spiritual Liquid.

At the same time, an Earth Spirit Flame would hang suspended above his Qi Sea, radiating astonishing heat.

After spending several days devouring and digesting this Earth Spirit Flame and converting it into the purest Fire Element Magical Power, another drop would be added to the pool of Liquid Magical Power in his Qi Sea.

Fortunately, the Ziwei Dazzling Thunder Sword Embryo, which had fallen into a deep slumber and showed no other signs of activity, was still unconsciously emitting arcs of lightning due to its high tier. These arcs would flash across the surface of the Spiritual Liquid lake from time to time.

This allowed Bai Zichen to maintain an extremely high efficiency in absorbing medicinal power. Furthermore, any residual medicinal dregs and erysipelas were instantly dissipated the moment they entered his Qi Sea.

「Two years later.」

A dazzling crimson light flickered around Bai Zichen’s body. After a few breaths, it reached its peak, bathing the entire Quiet Chamber in red.

In the Quiet Chamber, which was equivalent to a Tier Three Mid-Grade Spirit Land, the ambient Spiritual Qi churned and roared like dragons, forming several streams that rushed toward his body.

A scorching aura rose in the air, making it feel as if he were standing on the peak of a volcano, with magma and flames ready to erupt at any moment.

A faint dragon’s cry, tyrannical and carrying an aura that could incinerate all creation, rang out as it devoured all the Spiritual Qi in a single gulp.

The crimson light on his body receded completely, returning to normal. At the same time, the temperature in the Quiet Chamber dropped, and it was as if all the strange phenomena from moments before had never occurred.

Bai Zichen’s expression remained unchanged as the circulation path for the second level of the Fire Dragon Returning Essence Scripture—long since memorized—began to operate on its own. A spiritual rain fell within his Qi Sea, and the lake of Spiritual Liquid visibly rose by a level.

Most noticeably, the Nine Yang Divine Fire Mirror, which had been huddled in a corner with only a small part of its body submerged in the Spiritual Liquid, now had more than half of its surface area nourished by the Liquid Magical Power.

As the second level of the Fire Dragon Returning Essence Scripture completed a full circulation, a new, more powerful pressure of Magical Power emerged.

’Mid-Stage Foundation Establishment, achieved in one fell swoop...’

Bai Zichen felt little excitement, calmly contemplating the changes that came with his breakthrough.

After two years of arduous cultivation, relying on the power of elixirs to finally push his cultivation to the Peak of Early-Stage Foundation Establishment, he had immediately charged toward the next realm without the slightest pause.

If cultivators who had been stuck at a bottleneck for decades—those who had to fast, bathe, and purify their minds before even attempting a breakthrough in seclusion—were to see such a casual attitude, they would surely go mad with frustration.

In exactly one month, the breakthrough was a success.

’My Divine Sense has doubled. Its range can now reach one hundred and sixty zhang... As I recall, advancing a realm doesn’t normally have such an astonishing effect on a cultivator’s Divine Sense. This must be the effect of the Divine Casting Technique.’

Bai Zichen was very pleased with this. The strength of his Divine Sense was already approaching that of a Perfect Foundation Establishment Cultivator.

This ensured that his Divine Sense would not be a weakness when facing any other Foundation Establishment Cultivator.

As for Core Formation True Men, they were on a completely different level. It was said that no disturbance within ten li could escape their Divine Sense.

No matter how much progress he made, he wasn’t arrogant enough to think he could take on a Core Formation True Man.

If that day ever came, there were only two things to do—

Detonate his Glazed Body and activate the Taiyin Star Escape Talisman.

Whether he could survive an encounter with a Core Formation True Man after doing all that would be left to fate.

Looking inward, he saw that the total amount of his Liquid Magical Power had increased by nearly half. The power of his various magic would surely be enhanced accordingly.

Of course, for Bai Zichen, the most important change was that he could now execute three strikes with Dual Swords Unification, instead of just two.

’But for opponents I can beat, two strikes are enough... And for those I can’t beat, it seems one extra strike won’t make much of a difference, will it?’

Bai Zichen was no longer particularly worried about ordinary Late-Stage Foundation Establishment Cultivators, unless they possessed a Top-Level Cultivation Technique or a Great Divine Technique.

Without resorting to the extreme measure of detonating his Glazed Body, he was confident he could defeat over ninety percent of Late-Stage Foundation Establishment Cultivators.

As for those at Foundation Establishment Perfection, they had already taken the final step before Core Formation. Their magical power was perfected, and whether his dual swords could unleash two strikes or three would not change the final outcome.

He could only contend with them if he could turn Dual Swords Unification into a standard offensive technique.

Therefore, although he had advanced a realm, if he truly faced an enemy at Foundation Establishment Perfection, his only option would still likely be to detonate his Glazed Body.

’Unless my Sword Dao Realm advances another level to the legendary state of Refining Sword into Silk... only then could I be considered truly unrivaled below Core Formation.’

Bai Zichen’s mind drifted to the legacy image within the True Understanding of Sword Dao left by the Star River Sword Monarch. He pictured the scene of the old man controlling silky strands of Sword Light with both hands, effortlessly ignoring defensive Magical Treasures to pierce through more than a dozen opponents at once.

If he possessed such a technique, and he imagined himself back in the combat against Meng Shigui, he could have won with just his pair of flying swords.

The so-called "One Sword Breaks Ten Thousand Laws" referred to the Refining Sword into Silk Realm.

No matter your thousands of magic or defensive Supreme Treasures, I can break them all with a single sword.

Generally speaking, it was relatively easy for a Sword Cultivator who had already grasped a Great Dao True Intent to then look back from that higher perspective and master Refining Sword into Silk.

As for everyone else, only the most outstanding Core Formation True Men—those who had formulated their Pill Discussion early, understood the path that suited them, and also possessed supreme Sword Dao talent—had a chance to step into the realm of Refining Sword into Silk during the Core Formation Stage.

’Forget it. Refining Sword into Silk is too distant for me... If I can just focus on comprehending the True Enlightenment Sword Technique and grasp the legendary Sword Heart Clarity, that would be excellent.’

Bai Zichen shook his head, abandoning the unrealistic thought.

’But there is one other path that can greatly increase my combat power at the Mid-Stage Foundation Establishment, and it’s something only I can do.’

The third layer of the Five Crystal Glaze Body: the Five Crystal Permanent Casting Body.

Ancestor Ge Cang was currently at this realm in this particular body refining technique.

If one could say that achieving the first two layers of the Five Crystal Glaze Body was possible through sheer luck over a long period of time, then the third layer raised the barrier to entry once again.

If you couldn’t comprehend it, you couldn’t comprehend it. No amount of time would help.

From Ancestor Yang’s tone, it was clear he had definitely not cultivated the Five Crystal Glaze Body to the third layer.

The minimum cultivation requirement for the Five Crystal Permanent Casting Body was the Mid-Stage Foundation Establishment.

Bai Zichen believed that even Ancestor Ge Cang had only begun attempting the third layer after reaching Core Formation.

It had taken the ancestor twenty years for the first two layers; it would be perfectly normal for the third layer, the Five Crystal Permanent Casting Body, to take another forty or fifty.

Even for a Celestial Spiritual Root Cultivator, who cultivated at incredible speeds, that was not how one should spend their extra time.

Unless it was a secret technique that could drastically increase one’s chances of reaching Core Formation, no one would dare spend such a long time during the Foundation Establishment Stage on something unrelated to their cultivation realm.

’I need to nurture the Five Crystal Divine Iron in my Sea of Consciousness, evolving it from its current walnut size into a hill... And at the same time, I must connect the inner and outer worlds to give it a spiritual nature.’

Bai Zichen stared, dumbfounded, at the description of the third layer of the Five Crystal Glaze Body technique.

Ever since he had condensed the Five Crystal Divine Iron in his Sea of Consciousness, it had only grown from the size of a grain of rice to its current walnut size over all these years.

But to evolve it into a hill... the difference in scale was simply too vast. It was hard to imagine how much time that would take.

Not to mention connecting the inner and outer worlds and giving it a spiritual nature—that sounded almost like the method for nurturing a Spiritual Treasure.

Of course, Tier Five Spiritual Materials were born from the creation of heaven and earth, and possessed a spiritual nature from the very beginning of their existence.

Since this body refining technique was meant to combine the Five Crystal Divine Iron and the Glazed Fire Jade, drawing upon the strengths of both Tier Five Spiritual Materials to forge a supreme physique, achieving this step was to be expected.

’The Five Crystal Permanent Casting Body is too profound. I’ll study it properly after some time... However, leveling up the Fire Dragon Returning Essence Scripture has brought a tangible improvement to my aptitude. After cultivating two more levels, my Fire Spiritual Root aptitude won’t be any worse than that of a cultivator with Dual Spiritual Roots.’

After his breakthrough, the very first time Bai Zichen circulated the second level of the Fire Dragon Returning Essence Scripture, he could feel the difference in how he refined nature’s spiritual energy compared to before.