Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Foundation Establishment Pill
As the underground palace opened, Song Yue blended into the crowd and entered together with Miao Qiang and the others.
But the moment he crossed the stone gate, Song Yue distinctly felt a powerful connection form between the Jade Void Heavenly Monument he carried and something deep within the underground palace.
The monument trembled faintly, resonating in harmony.
In the next instant, Song Yue vanished from where he stood, transported to an utterly unfamiliar place.
Everyone else experienced the same. They had expected the space beyond the stone gate to be a blessed land or, at least, an ancient palace with countless chambers, much like the underground palaces opened before.
Instead, upon entering, each person was transported to a different place.
Qian Qianxue found herself in a very spacious room—immaculate, free from the slightest dust. There was only a single meditation cushion on what appeared to be a smooth, stone-tiled floor, along with a wooden table and a wooden chair.
This was her favorite kind of environment.
She loved being alone in such a room, quietly reading or cultivating in meditation.
She never imagined that after passing through the underground palace gate, she would be teleported to such a place.
“Could this be an illusion conjured according to my heart’s desire?” she murmured softly to herself.
Then she noticed a thin sheet of paper and a small jade bottle, about five centimeters tall, resting atop the wooden table.
She walked over and lowered her head to study the writing on the paper.
The handwriting was vigorous, powerful, and majestic.
The awkward part was—she didn’t recognize it.
Clearly, these characters didn’t belong to her era, leaving her feeling a bit lost.
Yet, in the next moment, her spiritual consciousness directly “read” the words on that mysterious sheet, as if through some resonance of the mind, and she instantly understood their meaning.
The writing said: “One Foundation Establishment Pill. For the fated one.”
Qian Qianxue was stunned.
She was utterly shaken on the spot.
Could the underground palace’s way of bestowing treasures really be this straightforward and blunt? Wasn’t it supposed to require patient searching, solving the puzzles left by ancient sages, and passing through several trials before gaining any reward?
To simply receive a treasure like this... it seemed far too careless.
No story would unfold this way! Readers would immediately complain there was no challenge, that such effortless gain was dull and uninteresting.
So for a moment, Qian Qianxue felt a deep confusion, uncertain if some senior was playing a joke on her.
By all accounts, this underground palace must have existed for an unimaginably long time—far more than a few thousand years.
Ordinary buildings would have long since rotted and collapsed under such passage of years.
How could a dustless room exist, with a Foundation Establishment Pill still sitting undisturbed inside?
It was unbelievable!
“Could it be that my longing to become a top cultivator is so strong that this is all an illusion?” she muttered, hesitating as she reached for the small jade bottle on the table.
She silently prayed in her heart: Please be real! Please be real! Please be real!
Her slender, fair fingers brushed the bottle, and the cool, gentle sensation nearly made the always composed Qian Qianxue cry out.
It was real!
She grasped the little jade bottle tightly, her cheeks tinged pink and her heartbeat quickening.
Inside... was a Foundation Establishment Pill!
A miraculous medicine capable of propelling a high-level cultivator to the next realm in an instant!
She had read many ancient texts describing the Foundation Establishment Pill—cat’s-eye sized, iridescent, jade-like in texture, and emanating a fragrance that penetrated the soul.
Yet in reality, even though her family, the Qian clan, was one of the leading houses in the entire cultivation world, she had never seen such a pill before.
The elders at home had often said that the path of cultivation in the present era was extremely arduous. Anyone who reached the Foundation Establishment realm was considered an immortal among mortals.
A cultivator’s “foundation” was like a bird’s nest: it was established in the dantian, forming a place to store vast amounts of spiritual energy from heaven and earth.
The size, quality, and potential for growth of this “nest” depended on the materials or pills used for foundation establishment—the higher the quality, the better the foundation, and the more spiritual energy it could hold. Future achievements would naturally be greater.
Countless cultivators spent their entire lives unable to build a foundation, dying at the ninth level of Qi Nourishment, with very few high-level cultivators living past the age of one hundred and eighty.
Qian Qianxue quietly recalled the basics of cultivation her elders had instilled in her since childhood, and looked again at the warm jade bottle in her hand, still unable to believe it.
Could she really step into the Foundation Establishment realm with just this single pill?
To become an immortal on earth—how alluring!
Barring accidents, a Foundation Establishment cultivator could live for hundreds of years, travel a thousand miles a day, and wield their sword to vanquish enemies.
The legends of traveling from the North Sea at dawn to Cangwu at dusk referred to people like this.
They could easily perform mystical arts, just like the thirty-six or thirty-seven-year-old cultivator she’d seen before—without even making a gesture, he burned a young man from the Western camp alive.
Such a being surely deserved the title of “earthly immortal.”
Although she had not yet reached the peak of Qi Nourishment, she believed that after leaving the secret realm, it would not be long before she could truly use this pill.
Qian Qianxue carefully hid the jade bottle close to her body.
In the next instant, her surroundings shifted, and she found herself outside the underground palace.
The suddenness of this transition left her with a sense of dislocation, as if she had lived a lifetime in the blink of an eye.
But she quickly reached into her pocket—the little jade bottle was still there!
That set her mind at ease.
She tried to re-enter the stone gate, but this time, a gentle force blocked her.
So... was her journey in the underground palace really over, just like that?
Qian Qianxue felt a pang of loss.
At that moment, the red-haired man and the blonde girl, who had been frightened away by the thirty-something cultivator, came back—this time leading a large group of Westerners, approaching in a menacing crowd.
Qian Qianxue immediately sensed trouble. She had come out far too quickly! She’d barely entered before being transported out, and now she carried a Foundation Establishment Pill on her person. If someone stole it from her, she’d be devastated.
She stood near the entrance of the underground palace, telling herself to remain calm and avoid confrontation with this group.
For some reason, an image flashed through her mind—Song Yue, grinning mischievously: “Bro Qian, go get her, you can do it!”
Yes, I can do it!
She cheered herself on inwardly, forming a hand seal, ready to show no mercy if attacked.
The Westerners were surprised to see her standing there alone.
The blonde girl’s gaze was unfriendly as she demanded, “Why aren’t you going in?”
Qian Qianxue replied calmly, “I’ve already come out.”
Others turned to scrutinize her with hostile expressions.
Especially the red-haired man—he had never suffered such a loss before. Half his teeth had nearly been knocked out, the rest loose, and his face was still swollen despite all the painkillers. The pain continued to nag at him.
Now, seeing his enemy alone, he wanted nothing more than to rush over, beat her down, and inflict his pain on this beautiful Eastern woman.
But among those who came with him, the older ones didn’t want to waste time.
One tall, burly blond man looked at Qian Qianxue and, in fluent Mandarin, asked, “What did you get in there?”
She glanced at him and said, “A Foundation Establishment Pill.”
The blonde girl burst out laughing.
“Brother, she’s lying! Look at her—she’s full of regret and disappointment. She obviously got nothing! In these ancient underground palaces, only those with fate get treasures. And besides, if you’re going to brag, at least think it through—Foundation Establishment Pill? Why not say you got the scriptures for becoming a god?”
Qian Qianxue shot her a look. “Believe it or not, that’s your business.”
The blonde girl sneered and turned to the burly man. “Brother, stop wasting time with her—let’s hurry inside. If we’re late, the good stuff will be gone!”
The blond man nodded. The underground palace had only been open a short while. If Qian Qianxue had found anything good, she couldn’t have come out so quickly.
The red-haired man was dissatisfied, but as a man, it wouldn’t look good to bully a woman in front of everyone, so he only glared at her and muttered, “I won’t let you off!”
He then followed the blond man and the others toward the underground palace.
The burly blond man, clearly the leader, strode confidently toward the entrance.
As he reached the gate, a gentle force blocked him.
He was startled, then frowned. “Everyone, step back!”
The others retreated, and the blond man shouted explosively, unleashing his energy like a golden-maned lion, and punched the hazy field of energy in the center of the stone gate.
Boom!
A thunderous sound echoed in the air.
The blond man’s large frame was sent flying, nearly plunging into the nearby lake. He climbed to his feet, embarrassed and furious.
The others tried as well, but all were blocked by the same gentle force.
No matter what they did, they couldn’t get in.
The blond man then looked at Qian Qianxue and frowned. “You, try it!”
Without arguing, Qian Qianxue walked forward, but was also blocked by the gentle force.
The blonde girl sneered, “So you can’t get in either!”
The blond man asked, “Where are the others?”
Qian Qianxue replied, “Inside.”
The blond man exhaled in frustration, then turned to a few men around forty and, switching to his native language, complained, “I can’t believe this underground palace won’t let us in—we’ll just have to wait outside.”
A sallow-faced man with a hooked nose said darkly, “Anyone who comes out, we’ll kill them.”
He shot a cold glance at Qian Qianxue, who also couldn’t get in.
Though they’d switched languages, it wasn’t certain the Eastern girl couldn’t understand.
But Qian Qianxue really could understand, though she showed no reaction, only worrying inwardly, hoping Song Yue and the others would come out later.
It would be best if those from the secret realm, like Wang Xu and Wang Jing, emerged first.
These Westerners, unable to enter, obviously intended to ambush anyone who came out.
With the advantage of surprise and their obvious strength, anyone emerging would be in danger.
The hooked-nose man switched to Mandarin. “Little girl, don’t say I didn’t warn you: if you dare raise the alarm, don’t blame us for being rough.”
Qian Qianxue looked at him. “What do you mean? I don’t understand.”
The blonde girl glared. “It doesn’t matter. Just keep your mouth shut.”
The Westerners began discussing among themselves, right in front of Qian Qianxue, how best to ensure a lethal strike.
Just then, a figure suddenly appeared at the entrance.
Qian Qianxue’s heart leapt to her throat. She was about to cry out a warning when the Westerners attacked.
Then she saw that the person who emerged was the Foundation Establishment cultivator who had previously burned the Westerners to death.
“Courting death!”
The thirty-something cultivator was clearly prepared. Instantly, a shield of energy enveloped him.
Countless attacks landed on the shield, sending ripples through the air.
The cultivator then summoned a flying sword, slashing at the blond man.
At the same time, fire rained down from the sky toward the Westerners.
The blonde girl shrieked from nearby, “That’s him—the one who burned our people alive! Kill him!”
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