Chapter 258: Tu Yue Advances to Foundation Establishment
North of the Thunder Marsh, atop a towering mountain filled with pavilions and elegant buildings, stood an observatory.
At this moment, a streak of green Escape Light suddenly shot out from the observatory before coming to a stop behind the covered walkway, transforming into the figure of an old Daoist dressed in green robes.
With his hands clasped behind his back, he gazed into the distance at the tribulation clouds that had remained since time immemorial.
Just then, a man dressed in black rode a Flying Sword up from halfway up the mountain, arriving at the observatory atop the peak. He cupped his hands slightly toward the old Daoist in green before saying, “Patriarch, an unusual disturbance has come from the Thunder Marsh. A Core Formation Cultivator may have made a move.”
“No one fought.”
The old Daoist in green narrowed his eyes, faint green light flickering within them. Looking at the enormous hole above the tribulation clouds, he casually said, “At most, it's merely an Early Golden Core Stage cultivator practicing swordsmanship there. It's nothing to worry about.”
Only after hearing this did the man in black breathe a sigh of relief.
“That's good, that's good.”
“Patriarch, then should we...”
The old Daoist shook his head. “There's no need to concern ourselves. The Righteous–Demonic War has already begun. We should avoid meddling in other people's affairs. As for whether the person over there is righteous or demonic, it has nothing to do with our Lou Family.”
“Yes.”
The man in black cupped his hands once more.
“How is the matter entrusted to us by the Li Family progressing?” the old Daoist asked as he turned around.
The man in black replied, “Everything has been prepared. Those clansmen with even a little talent have already been transferred to the Pill Refining Room. It's just...”
“Just what?”
The man in black took a deep breath before asking, “Patriarch... isn't our method of placing bets on both sides... a little too devoid of principle?”
The old Daoist did not become angry upon hearing this. Instead, he merely looked at the man before him with an expression of disappointment before speaking solemnly.
“Lou Yi, after all these years, have you still failed to understand?”
“A sect lasts a thousand years; a noble family lasts ten thousand.”
“Our Lou Family is placing bets on both sides. Do you truly think the Li Family isn't doing exactly the same?”
“Never overestimate any cultivator, but never underestimate any noble family that has endured for a thousand years. You may go now. From this day onward, all major affairs of the Lou Family will be decided by me.”
Hearing those words, Lou Yi felt his entire body relax. He quickly said, “Thank you, Patriarch.”
“Mhm. Go.”
The green-robed old Daoist named Lou Wanyi waved his hand, and only then did Lou Yi turn and leave.
Watching his departing figure, Lou Wanyi could not help but think,
‘Lou Yi... Lou Yi... Ant... Ant... That name was poorly chosen from the very beginning.’
After that fleeting thought, he once more looked toward the Thunder Marsh on the horizon.
The hole in the sky had already vanished, returning to its previous calm appearance, as though nothing had ever happened.
...
Three days later.
In an excellent mood, Ji Yuan sat aboard the Wind Locust Flying Boat as it traveled northward while quietly calculating in his mind.
His current combination of seven swords—
No, it should now be called the Canglan Sword Formation...
This sword formation had undoubtedly become the strongest killing move he currently possessed.
Although the 【Spirit Energy Cannon】 was useful, actually hitting someone with it was rather difficult.
Moreover, setting it up consumed a great deal of time.
Unless, like last time in the Ancient Battlefield, someone else could hold the opponent back and give Ji Yuan an opportunity to launch a sneak attack.
As for his other methods...
Even the Heavenly Thunder Seed was no match for the Canglan Sword Formation.
After all, no matter how powerful the Heavenly Thunder Seed was, it only unleashed a Peak Foundation Establishment cultivator's full-powered strike. Judging by the Canglan Sword Formation's offensive power, however, it was already comparable to the strength of a Pseudo-Core Cultivator.
Its attack power was tremendous.
Its consumption was equally tremendous.
Even with Ji Yuan's abundant spiritual energy, he could activate the sword formation at most three times.
After three uses, his Dantian would be completely drained.
But what if he paired it with Millennium Spirit Milk?
A single drop could completely refill his Dantian.
During the two years Ji Yuan had been away,
the 【Spirit Vein】 had produced at least twenty drops of Millennium Spirit Milk.
Adding the three drops he already possessed...
With effects like that...
Hehehe...
Ji Yuan was already imagining the terrifying strength he now possessed. If he encountered Jiang Hong again, he would definitely beat the crap out of him!
The might of the sword formation had exceeded Ji Yuan's expectations.
Likewise, the power of the Thunder Punishment Sword had also exceeded his expectations. The lightning contained within it was practically the nemesis of all evil and demonic cultivators.
Among the seven sword embryos Ji Yuan possessed, the Thunder Punishment Sword was undoubtedly the strongest in single-target combat.
'Looks like in the future, whenever I fight using Qiu Qianhai's identity, I'll use the Five Venoms Serpent Staff. But if I fight as Ji Yuan, I'll use the Thunder Punishment Flying Sword.'
'One is sinister and vicious.'
'The other is upright and honorable.'
Aside from that, the increase in his physical strength also delighted Ji Yuan.
He had already tested it on the way back.
Without using spiritual energy to reinforce himself, relying solely on his physical body, even the Mid-Grade Spiritual Artifact Liushuang Flying Sword could no longer break through his defense.
His physique alone was already comparable to a Late Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator.
With such strength, who in the world could compare?
When the time came, he would first engage in long-range spell combat.
If he couldn't win...
He would deliberately reveal an opening, lure the opponent into close range, and then smash their head apart with a single punch.
Wouldn't that be satisfying?
The only regret was that he had failed to break through into the Tendon Tempering Realm in one go.
Had he succeeded, his physical body would have rivaled that of a Golden Core cultivator.
That would have been true power.
If everything else had been part of this journey's original plan,
then obtaining the Eye of Divine Truth in his glabella had been an entirely unexpected gain...
Whether it was a blessing or a disaster remained uncertain.
He would have to return and ask Hua Yaoyue.
Hopefully...
His all-knowing master had at least heard of the Eye of Divine Truth.
During the journey north, Ji Yuan continued swallowing pills, eating Spiritual Eggs, and absorbing Spirit Stones simultaneously, doing everything he could to improve his cultivation.
Along the way, he encountered several incidents.
The first involved an Early-Stage Foundation Establishment rogue cultivator being hunted down.
Ironically, the pursuer was a Mid-Stage Foundation Establishment demonic cultivator.
The fellow crossed paths with Ji Yuan and even arrogantly declared that he'd kill Ji Yuan as well.
Left with no choice, Ji Yuan decided to test the sharpness of the Thunder Punishment Sword.
In the end...
He accidentally killed the demonic cultivator with two casual swings.
Ji Yuan himself wasn't sure whether it was because the 《Canglan Nine Tribulations Sword Manual》 combined with the Flying Sword condensed from the Thunder Marsh's divine lightning was simply too powerful...
Or whether that Mid-Stage Foundation Establishment demonic cultivator had simply been too weak.
Regardless,
despite suppressing himself by a minor cultivation realm, Ji Yuan effortlessly slew a Mid-Stage Foundation Establishment demonic cultivator.
Afterward, the Early-Stage Foundation Establishment rogue cultivator thanked him profusely, and Ji Yuan simply revealed his true name.
“A nameless rogue cultivator, Ji Yuan.”
The second incident was the classic case of demonic cultivators attacking a city.
While passing through Joy Palace territory, Ji Yuan discovered a city similar to Heishan City under attack by demonic cultivators.
He had originally intended to secretly lend a helping hand.
Instead, he discovered that a Core Formation Cultivator from Joy Palace had already arrived to save the situation, so he quietly slipped away.
Only then did he realize that the Golden Core cultivator from Joy Palace was actually an old acquaintance.
Madam Meiru, the Joy Palace cultivator who had once defended the Liancheng Mountain Spirit Vein alongside him.
Back then, she had only been a Pseudo-Core Cultivator.
Yet now...
She had successfully formed her Golden Core.
That genuinely surprised Ji Yuan.
After all, she was the first person he personally knew who had advanced from the Pseudo-Core Realm into the Golden Core Realm.
Eventually, after finally returning to Water Dragon Sect territory, he found conditions little different from those around Joy Palace.
Everything was in chaos.
Even in broad daylight, cultivators openly fought one another inside small market towns.
Ji Yuan paid no attention to such trivial matters.
Because there were simply too many.
...
That day.
A streak of green light flashed across the sky.
When Ji Yuan finally saw the familiar Yunyu Marshlands once again, his heartbeat involuntarily quickened.
Firstly, he had been away for far too long.
Two whole years.
Secondly, this journey had not gone entirely smoothly.
Especially obtaining the Eye of Divine Truth and the 《Ninefold Mysterious Yang》.
Both incidents had placed him in grave danger.
But now that he had returned to Yunyu Marshlands...
Everything was fine.
He could already contact Hua Yaoyue using a Messaging Talisman from here.
So what was there left to worry about?
Ji Yuan immediately accelerated the Wind Locust Flying Boat to full speed, heading straight for Mist-Hidden Island.
A journey that had once required an entire day now took him only half a day.
After all, he was now a genuine Late Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator.
Moreover, after condensing both the Blazing Flame Sword and the Thunder Punishment Sword, Ji Yuan ranked among the strongest even within the Late Foundation Establishment Stage.
His foundation was extraordinarily profound.
His strength spoke for itself.
Looking down from above, he saw Mist-Hidden Island still shrouded in dense mist.
Since he had placed the 【Formation Room】 here, the Stardust Illusion-Kill Formation remained permanently active.
He no longer had to worry about intruders like last time.
Unless...
They no longer feared death.
Ji Yuan lowered the Flying Boat and dove directly into Mist-Hidden Island.
The buildings here had already been relocated to Wuyou Island.
As for what remained...
There was hardly anything left.
Only the Great Toad still stayed behind, unwilling to leave.
Ji Yuan had returned here first out of habit.
Besides...
He wanted to see how the Great Toad was doing.
“Croak—”
The Great Toad, which had been rubbing its back against the mountainside, froze the moment Ji Yuan suddenly appeared before it.
“Croak! Croak!”
It immediately leaped forward, intending to pounce on him.
Yet Ji Yuan simply reached out from above, pressed one hand onto its head, and firmly pinned it down.
The enormous toad was forced straight back onto the ground.
Seeing the Great Toad's utterly incredulous expression, Ji Yuan burst into hearty laughter.
Back then, Ji Yuan had already tested it.
Although he possessed a Foundation Establishment physique, he had still been no match for the Great Toad's demonic body.
But now?
With a genuine and exceptionally powerful Body Tempering cultivation technique, combined with Lightning Body Tempering, Ji Yuan's physique had undergone a complete transformation.
Suppressing the Great Toad with his full strength while it wasn't exerting itself was naturally no difficult task.
“Alright, alright.”
Seeing that not only was it perfectly fine, but that its demonic aura had become even more profound, Ji Yuan felt greatly relieved.
He then glanced at the Great Toad's naturally formed stone armor.
This Big-Mouth Devouring Toad...
Was probably about to reach Peak Second-Tier!
It seemed all those Spiritual Pigs had not been eaten in vain.
It had finally reached the limit of its bloodline.
Thinking of this, Ji Yuan felt both pleased and somewhat helpless.
Without some heaven-defying opportunity,
Peak Second-Tier was already the absolute limit the Big-Mouth Devouring Toad could reach.
After all, it was naturally only a Second-Tier Demon Beast.
If it wished to defy heaven and advance into the Third Tier,
its bloodline itself would first need to evolve.
That required an extraordinary stroke of fortune.
Even Ji Yuan was powerless to help.
Especially now, with the Righteous–Demonic War hanging over everything...
He could only take things one step at a time.
Ji Yuan gently rubbed the top of its head.
Meanwhile, inside his Storage Pouch, the Ice Flood Dragon had already become restless.
Now that it too had advanced to Late Second-Tier, it was eager to fight the Great Toad.
However, Ji Yuan did not release it.
Back when the Ice Flood Dragon had only been Mid Second-Tier, it had already fought the Great Toad to a draw.
Now that it had advanced to Late Second-Tier...
The Great Toad would lose without question.
Since that was the case, there was no point in letting them fight.
“Cultivate well. I'm going home first. I'll come see you again after some time.”
Seeing that the Great Toad was doing well, Ji Yuan could finally leave with peace of mind.
“Croak! Croak! Croak!”
The Great Toad was extremely reluctant to part.
Its simple mind simply couldn't understand why, after not seeing Ji Yuan for so long, he was leaving again almost immediately.
But Ji Yuan still departed.
There were simply too many matters awaiting him after this return.
He could not remain here any longer.
Continuing north aboard the Flying Boat, he soon passed through the Water Dragon Sect's Sect-Guarding Formation and finally arrived at Wuyou Island.
He immediately spread out his Divine Sense and swept across the nearby islands.
Fox Moon Island was empty...
Senior Sister Dong was nowhere to be found.
She had most likely been assigned a sect mission.
Given her personality, she would never have gone to Shang Mountain.
What Ji Yuan had not expected...
Was that Du Wanyi had finally returned!
Should he go see her?
Of course.
But not now.
He would first finish handling his own affairs.
Transforming into a streak of white light, he dived from the clouds and instantly entered Wuyou Island.
The current Wuyou Island had become much like the former Mist-Hidden Island.
In fact, thanks to Ji Yuan's increasing number of buildings and ever-deepening foundation, Wuyou Island had become even more prosperous.
The sun-facing side of the island housed Ji Yuan's residence, where all the building complexes stood.
The shaded side contained the 【Grave Mound】, the 【Bee Nest】, and various sinister structures.
After giving the island a brief sweep with his Divine Sense, Ji Yuan quickly confirmed that nothing major had occurred.
After he left, everything had continued operating in perfect order.
Taking a single step, he appeared before Tu Yue, who was directing Corpse Servants to cultivate the fields.
Looking at this Corpse Servant, who managed every corner of his home as though she were the mistress of the household, Ji Yuan felt unexpectedly comforted.
He had no idea how she communicated with the two Qi Refining Stage Corpse Servants.
Yet after casually pointing several times toward the mountain, the two Corpse Servants obediently shuffled away like walking corpses.
Ji Yuan waited until she finished before smiling and extending his right hand.
Without saying a word, Tu Yue obediently handed over every Storage Pouch she carried.
Ji Yuan first inspected the Storage Pouch containing Spirit Stones.
After just one glance...
His heart nearly skipped a beat.
Not from surprise.
But from shock.
There were simply too many.
A Level 3 【Spirit Vein】 produced one hundred Middle-Grade Spirit Stones and one thousand Lower-Grade Spirit Stones every day.
Ji Yuan had been away for two years...
Even calculating conservatively,
that amounted to at least seventy-three thousand Middle-Grade Spirit Stones...
And seven hundred thirty thousand Lower-Grade Spirit Stones.
‘Damn... I couldn't spend this many even if I tried!’
For a moment, Ji Yuan suddenly felt that the twenty-six thousand Middle-Grade Spirit Stones he had painstakingly saved during his travels no longer seemed impressive.
From now on...
Every battle would be fought from a position of absolute wealth.
Whenever Foundation Establishment cultivators fought,
he would first open with Heavenly Thunder Seeds and bombard the enemy.
Although Ji Yuan still couldn't refine Heavenly Thunder Seeds himself,
with this many Spirit Stones,
did he even need to?
The rest of the harvest came from his other buildings.
The 【Wine Cellar】 had quietly operated for two years.
It had produced seventy-two jin of Wishful Wine.
Packed into one-liang wine flasks,
that amounted to seven hundred twenty bottles.
The same was true for Peerless Wine.
Perfect.
He could present them to Hua Yaoyue this time.
Then there were the Runjade Fat and Blood Essence produced by the 【Pigsty】, as well as the Three-Colored Spiritual Eggs from the 【Chicken Coop】.
Those were exactly what Ji Yuan needed.
One egg per day.
Over two years,
more than seven hundred had accumulated.
Enough for him to eat until he was sick of them.
As for the 【Fish Pond】,
since Ji Yuan had switched to an ice cultivation path,
he no longer urgently needed Ice Soul Cold Dew.
He could instead share it with the Ice Flood Dragon and see whether it could break through to the Third Tier sooner.
That would become another tremendous source of combat power.
After reviewing this warehouse full of harvests, Ji Yuan's already joyful mood became even brighter.
He summoned the Flying Boat, brought Tu Yue aboard, and headed straight for the 【Grave Mound】.
During his previous northern journey, Ji Yuan had specifically purchased enough corpses for Tu Yue's advancement.
Unfortunately, after returning, he had become far too busy.
Since Tu Yue's breakthrough had not been particularly urgent, he had completely forgotten about it.
Now that he finally remembered,
he naturally intended to help her advance as soon as possible.
After arriving at the shaded side of Wuyou Island and reaching the 【Grave Mound】, Ji Yuan released both Yin Child and Real Person Heaven Silkworm.
Especially Real Person Heaven Silkworm.
During this journey, he had fought the Pseudo-Core Cultivator Crippled Taoist Mourner.
His body had suffered severe damage.
Naturally, he now needed to bury himself immediately and recover properly.
Otherwise,
Ji Yuan would have no choice but to bring him along again the next time he traveled.
Before proceeding further, Ji Yuan also swept his Divine Sense across the 【Bee Nest】.
Only then did he realize...
The sight genuinely startled him.
The entire forest was now densely packed with Spirit-Devouring Bees.
The 【Bee Nest】 required a swarm of eighty thousand bees to upgrade to Level 3.
Yet at present,
there were already nearly forty thousand.
Adding the more than ten thousand bees Ji Yuan had brought back from his journey,
they were not far from meeting the upgrade requirements.
Looking at this massive swarm, Ji Yuan did not reveal himself.
Instead, he simply tossed one thousand Middle-Grade Spirit Stones and ten thousand Lower-Grade Spirit Stones into the forest.
That was merely ten days' worth of production from the 【Spirit Vein】.
When the countless Spirit-Devouring Bees surged out of the forest,
the deafening buzzing alone was enough to shake the minds of ordinary Qi Refining cultivators.
...The Spirit-Devouring Bees had already become a genuine combat force.
They simply had yet to display their might.
It seemed...
When the opportunity arose, the identity of the “Bug Real Person” should finally make its appearance.
After inspecting these buildings, Ji Yuan's attention finally returned to Tu Yue.
Advancing from Peak Qi Refining to Early-Stage Foundation Establishment required ten Foundation Establishment corpse bodies of the same attribute.
In addition,
three Foundation Establishment Pills had to be prepared.
Tu Yue had been a fire cultivator during her lifetime.
Naturally, her advancement also required fire cultivator corpses.
As for three Foundation Establishment Pills,
Ji Yuan had plenty.
Furthermore, the upgrade requirements listed by the Panel did not specifically require Two-Pattern Foundation Establishment Pills.
Any Foundation Establishment Pill would suffice.
With that in mind, Ji Yuan took out three One-Pattern Foundation Establishment Pills.
“Here, take these and lie down inside your coffin.”
Tu Yue accepted the Foundation Establishment Pills with both hands before walking into the 【Grave Mound】 with small steps and returning to her own resting place.
Ji Yuan followed behind.
Tu Yue's coffin had been decorated with remarkable elegance.
There was even a small canopy built above it to shelter it from the wind and rain.
After arriving, she first removed her shoes.
Only then did she obediently lie down inside the coffin before looking at Ji Yuan and blinking innocently.
Seeing this, Ji Yuan immediately chose the upgrade through a thought.
As his will descended,
the ten Foundation Establishment corpse bodies within the 【Grave Mound】 instantly disappeared.
Meanwhile, Tu Yue's aura rapidly soared.
Within only a few short moments, an overwhelming burst of Yin Energy erupted from her body.
Then her aura stabilized firmly at...
Early-Stage Foundation Establishment.
Tu Yue blinked.
Her eyes appeared noticeably more spirited than before.