Chương 53: Dao Foundation

For now, everything the Zhang family possessed remained known only to the three of them. Zhang Lixian, his heart heavy with a tangled mix of emotions, withdrew into seclusion to convert his cultivation technique. He possessed a Gold, Wood, and Earth Three Spirit Root and had always focused primarily on Gold attributed techniques. But in the old days, the Zhang family's collection of cultivation manuals had been painfully thin.

Out of necessity, Zhang Lixian had also learned techniques from the Heavenly Fire Blaze Art, a Fire attributed technique. It didn't match his spirit roots, but at least it gave him some combat power when he needed it. There was no denying it, from every angle, the old Zhang family had been unremarkable, no different from any other ordinary Qi Refining Realm clan.

But now, thanks to the inheritance Zhang Huaijin had obtained, the family possessed a Gold, attributed cultivation manuals capable of reaching the ninth level of the Foundation Establishment Realm. When it came to cultivation manuals and techniques, the Zhang family's future worries were over. Yet there remained another problem. To maintain a normal cultivation speed, they needed a tier 2, lower grade Spirit Vein.

The current Spirit Vein beneath the Green Bamboo Mountain was only tier 1, upper grade barely enough to support a single Foundation Establishment cultivator, let alone the ancient, mystical Azure Peach Spirit Tree deep in the mountains, which itself was a massive drain on spiritual energy. Still, for now, Zhang Lixian and Zhang Huaijin said nothing about this. They simply went into seclusion. Zhang Chongwen followed their lead and held off on any action.

The clan treasury currently held over ten thousand Spirit Stones. And to nurture a tier 1, upper grade Spirit Vein up to tier 2, lower, grade would cost at least nine thousand of them. This was where the ten thousand Spirit Stones gifted earlier by the Heavenly Crane Sect proved invaluable. Once the two emerged from seclusion, they would act together to upgrade the vein. Upgrading a Spirit Vein to the second tier required the strength of a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

A Qi Refining Realm cultivator simply lacked the power. That was why Zhang Chongwen was waiting. Both Zhang Chongwen and Zhang Lixian believed Zhang Huaijin would surely succeed in breaking through to the Foundation Establishment Realm. After all, he possessed a Spirit Body.

It was well known that cultivators with a Spirit Body, a Heaven Spirit Root, or a Variant Spirit Root, like the rare Wind Spirit Root, had an eighty percent chance of advancing to the Foundation Establishment Realm, even without the aid of a Foundation Establishment Pill. With a firm Dao Heart, that probability increased by another ten percent. For such prodigies, breaking through to the Foundation Establishment Realm was rarely a risky endeavor.

This was precisely why the Zhang family had felt such bitter regret when their once in a generation Wind Spirit Root genius had appeared all those years ago. Because of their own weakness, they had been forced to send him away to the Heavenly Crane Sect. After all, a Variant Spirit Root cultivator was almost guaranteed to reach at least the Purple Mansion Realm. Trading one Foundation Establishment Pill for a future Purple Mansion elder was a deal with no downsides.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. —— Three years passed in the blink of an eye. In this year, Zhang Huaijin turned twenty seven. Zhang Lixian had finished converting his cultivation technique. The spiritual energy within his meridians had all been channeled into his dantian and condensed from a gaseous state into liquid, nourishing his Foundation Establishment Platform, his Dao Foundation.

When a Qi Refining Realm cultivator advanced to the Foundation Establishment Realm, they opened their Qi Sea within the dantian and forged a Dao Foundation. These Dao Foundations were ranked as lower, middle, or upper grade, representing the cultivator's talent and potential. Zhang Lixian's Dao Foundation was of the upper grade. His Dao Heart was firm, and his Three Spirit Root was by no means weak, it was what some called a True Spirit Root aptitude.

Having walked every step of his path from obscurity, each footfall was unshakably steady. A Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator with an upper grade Dao Foundation was significantly stronger in combat than an average Foundation Establishment cultivator. This explained Zhang Lixian's calm composure during his own Foundation Establishment Ceremony. Though Tian Jianmo was at the fourth level of Foundation Establishment Realm, the Zhang family's intelligence suggested his Dao Foundation was only lower grade.

Otherwise, how could he have only reached the fourth level at over one hundred and fifty years old? His starting conditions were vastly inferior to Zhang Lixian's. After the incident with Zhang Renan, the Zhang family had become extremely cautious about their spirit root testing ceremonies. Every time they tested the children, each child was placed in a private room. Only the child and the administering cultivator would know the results. This greatly reduced the risk of exposure.

Even as a newly established Foundation Establishment clan, the Zhang family's foundations were the weakest among such families. They still needed a great deal of time to develop. Zhang Lixian's cultivation was in the middle of first level Foundation Establishment's Realm. With ample spiritual energy, his progress might have been even faster. Lixian was now sixty years old. Of course, by the standards of Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators, he was still quite young.

—— The Zhang family's Azure Peach Spirit Tree had borne fruit two years ago. Zhang Huaijin had consumed one of the peaches. It must be said, these Spirit fruits contained incredibly dense spiritual energy. After refining it, Zhang Huaijin's own realm had slowly reached the perfection stage of Qi Refining Realm. He had deposited the remaining Spirit Peaches into the clan treasury. The Merit Point price for each was equivalent to the most common tier 1, upper grade pill. This was his way of giving back to the family.

The spiritual energy contained within a Spirit Peach was enough to push a cultivator from the seventh level of Qi Refining Realm to the eighth, with no side effects, far more effective than pills. Zhang Liliang and Zhang Hong both broke through to become eighth level Qi Refining Realm cultivators. Zhang Liwei also advanced to the seventh level, entering the late stage of Qi Refining Realm. In Langya County Town, Zhang Hanren used his own Merit Points to exchange for a peach.

After refining it, he too reached the eighth level of Qi Refining Realm. That was the power of cultivation resources. During those three years, besides pushing his own cultivation to the peak of Qi Refining Realm, Zhang Huaijin had also reaped many other rewards. He had studied the alchemy inheritance left by Yun Chaoge. In three years, he had mastered it completely and was now successfully refining tier 1, upper grade pills, making him a tier 1, upper grade alchemist.

Because the Zhang family's foundations were still shallow, most of the pills Zhang Huaijin refined were used internally by the clan. And as a result, the strength of the family continued to soar. Most of the third generation members had now reached the middle stage of Qi Refining Realm, and several had even achieved the sixth level, Zhang Zhewu, Zhang Rexu, Zhang Wujian, and Zhang Yunli. This was the result of the family's improved resources.

Otherwise, given their spirit roots, they could never have reached the sixth level. Zhang Huaijin's mastery of artifact forging had also advanced to a new level. He successfully refined a tier 2, low grade spirit artifact, beating Zhang Lixian to become the clan's first tier 2, Artifact Forger. Though the Zhang family had no tier 2 forging inheritance, Zhang Huaijin had innovated based on his own experience, creating a tier 2, low grade spirit artifact and blazing a new trail for the family.

This was pure talent, something others simply couldn't envy. The only thing that disappointed Zhang Huaijin was that, apart from Zhang Lixian and Zhang Liwei, no one else in the clan possessed a Three Spirit Root. All the third generation members had only four or five roots talent. And Zhang Huaijin had also made a breakthrough in his path as a sword cultivator. He had begun to grasp the first glimmers of the Sword Heart.