15 Foundation Establishment

In preparation for his breakthrough, Issei stripped off all of his clothes.

He sat on the grass, completely butt-naked, as the wind ruffled his hair and tickled his skin. Unfortunately, Issei's clothes were not nearly durable enough to withstand the destructive power of a heavenly tribulation. If he wore them during his breakthrough, then he might as well kiss those clothes goodbye. In hindsight, not bringing an extra set of clothing was a major oversight on his part.

Issei was in the middle of an open field. In front of him was a cliff that overlooked the Philippine Sea, while behind him was an untouched forest teeming with wild boars and feral chickens.

Aside from the late afternoon chill, it was the perfect spot for a breakthrough.

It had taken Issei quite a while to find this place. More specifically, he wasn't actually the one who found it, Aika was. It was amazing what a person could do with thirty minutes of Google Earth.

The spot was located more than three miles away from the island's only village. It was also inaccessible by most forms of land transportation. Issei had to hike up a hill and traverse through an entire forest just to get here.

Fortunately, it was well worth the effort.

'All ready, partner?' Ddraig mentally asked.

Issei nodded his head. "I've delayed long enough. Let's get this over and done with."

There was no build-up or fanfare. Issei simply began going through the motions involved with advancing through to the Foundation Establishment realm.

The Foundation Establishment realm was an integral part of any cultivator's path to immortality. The realm's main focus was on bringing order and structure to the chaotic energies that swirled rampantly within the body. To do this, the cultivator must establish pathways for the Qi to follow. Although they went by many different names, in the Immortal World, these pathways were most commonly known as Ley Lines.

Issei liked to view Ley Lines as a type of pseudo-nervous system. They helped distribute True Qi evenly throughout the body. In doing so, they also drastically improve one's level of Qi control. Without Ley Lines, it would be practically impossible to properly use nearly all forms of martial skills and a large majority of cultivation techniques.

Due to differences in technique, process, and personal preference, there is no such thing as identical Ley Lines. Every cultivator's is different. For Issei, he modeled his after the human nervous system. This was somewhat ambitious and highly risky, as the more complex a Ley Line, the harder it is to construct.

A Ley Line modeled after a complete nervous system was almost impossible to create by most cultivators.

Still, the results would be well worth the effort. Foundation Establishment was a realm that quite literally acted as the foundational support for all future cultivation realms. If a house is to last, it has to be built on firm foundations. The same theory applied to cultivation.

The first step to entering the Foundation Establishment realm was to form the Central Line. In terms of his pseudo-nervous system analogy, Issei needed to create the spinal column.

He gathered a portion of his True Qi and began molding it into a long, thick, hollow line that ran down from the top of his neck, all the way down to the bottom of his umbilical.

The process was long and arduous. The heavenly tribulation did not make it any easier either.

In the time it took to blink, dark storm clouds had formed overhead. The sound of thunder rumbled like the roar of a flood dragon, while vibrant arcs of red lightning streaked through the clouds like a school of salmon swimming up a waterfall.

Issei felt a bead of sweat trickle down his forehead. An uneasy pressure slowly pressed down on his body. His arms felt heavy and his back began to ache. For a moment, it felt as if he was holding up the entire world on his shoulders.

Heavenly Tribulations were more than just ominous lightning. Some came in different flavors. From what he could tell, this tribulation was a two-pronged attack that pitted both lightning and the forces of gravity against him.

'Be careful, partner.' Ddraig's voice echoed somewhere within the back of his head, momentarily distracting him from the strain in his muscles. 'This tribulation resembles what someone trying to advance to the Soul Formation realm might experience. If you get careless, then you could very well die today.'

Although he was a bit too preoccupied to respond, Issei took his warning to heart.

His lips pressed into a grim line. Issei redoubled his efforts into constructing his Central Line. After three agonizing minutes, he had completed over thirty percent of the central line.

Meanwhile, the storm only worsened.

The wind turned into a raging squall. The rain stung his skin like a thousand wasp bites. The booming thunder sounded even closer than before.

Still, he persisted.

Just as the first ten inches of his Central Line solidified, the first bolt of tribulation lightning struck the ground. Fortunately, the lightning had missed him by a narrow margin of three hundred meters. Unfortunately, it accidentally struck a tree and set a portion of the forest on fire.

The smell of burning ozone wafted through the air.

In a matter of seconds, even more tribulation lightning fell from the sky. At first, none of the lightning bolts actually managed to hit him. Instead, they all struck the general vicinity. Things such as trees, rocks, and even small hills fell to the might of the heavenly tribulation, but not him.

Unfortunately, his joy was short-lived. With each successive lightning strike, the next one seemed to only get closer and closer to him. It was as if the heavenly tribulation's accuracy was increasing with each failed attempt.

Now that was a very frightening thought.

After three minutes of constant misses, the first bolt finally struck him.

Issei gritted his teeth, both from pain and shock. Still, he did not fold.

It was certainly painful, but the tribulation lightning was also a blessing in disguise.

With aspects from the Burning Tempest Divine Art and the Boundless Gluttony Scripture in his current cultivation technique, the lightning was less of a deterrent and more of a tonic. The moment the lightning struck him, he immediately converted it into additional True Qi. Issei felt even more reinvigorated than before.

He upped his pace and even incorporated raw tribulation lightning into his central line.

Another five minutes quickly passed. In that time, a total of eighteen inches of his central line had solidified.

With success, came punishment. The pressure on his body drastically increased. Right now, it felt as if someone was trying to make tomato puree out of his internal organs. Cracks even began to form on the ground beneath him.

While Issei could convert tribulation lightning into True Qi, it was a bit more difficult to do the same with an invisible force like gravity. Still, the longer he felt the pressure, the easier it was to adjust to it. This basically left him with more room to concentrate on the lightning.

More than a dozen bolts, all within the span of a few seconds, fell from the sky. They all successfully hit their mark, yet Issei tanked them all with ever-increasing ease.

In fact, it was more than that. He was using the tribulation lightning in order to advance his realm. The more of the tribulation he absorbed, the greater and more concrete his Central Line became. Even with his surroundings charred and blackened beyond recognition, Issei sat firm and steady, like a large stone amidst a flowing stream.

Twenty inches, twenty-one inches, twenty-two inches… in a blink of an eye, his central line was now over twenty-five inches long. He was close to completion.

Naturally, the heavens did not take kindly to this level of defiance.

The constant bombardment of lightning abruptly stopped. Even the heavy pressure on his shoulders lightened. Issei was confused by this sudden turn of events, but he did not let up his caution. The storm had yet to dissipate and the feeling of imminent danger remained. As if to mirror his thoughts, the sound of rumbling thunder intensified.

Whatever was happening, it certainly wasn't going to be anything good.

He kept his eyes closed and steadied his heart. At this critical juncture in his cultivation, Issei could not afford any distractions.

"The tribulation is gathering. Brace yourself, partner." Ddraig's voice barely reached his ears. "This next one's going to be big."

True to his words, the last of the tribulation lightning descended upon him like the wrathful vengeance of a god. A bolt nearly as thick as a school bus streaked through the air and struck him square in the chest.

Issei was blasted well off his spot. His body rag-dolled through the air before it fell into the waiting ocean below.

Despite his perilous situation, none of it registered within his mind. Issei was far too committed, far too engrossed in his own breakthrough to even care about his surroundings. He maintained his consciousness and quickly corralled the rampant tribulation lightning coursing through his body. Instead of it working against him, he forced the lightning to work for him.

Twenty-five inches… twenty-six inches… and finally, twenty-seven inches! Issei had successfully completed his Central Line. He was now an official Foundation Establishment cultivator.

He did not stop there though.

Even after reaching the first stage of Foundation Establishment, there was still plenty of excess True Qi and Tribulation Lightning rampaging throughout his entire system. Issei took the remaining energies and used them to further expand his Central Line. He added extra Lines that connected his Central Line with the peripheral areas of his body, such as his arms, his legs, and even his head.

After fifteen minutes of tedious work, Issei had finally used up all of his excess energies. As a result, he jumped all the way up to the fourth stage of Foundation Establishment.

Issei slowly opened his eyes. He felt the qualitative change in his body almost immediately. He felt stronger, faster, and in far better control of his own True Qi than before. The feeling was almost intoxicating.

After a few seconds, he suddenly frowned.

'Hey, Ddraig. Why am I underwater?'

'You didn't notice?' Ddraig questioned. 'You got blasted away by that giant bolt of tribulation lightning. I'm honestly surprised you survived.'

'I don't really remember. Everything past the first bolt was kind of a blur.' Issei openly admitted. 'Well, I should probably get back to dry land first.'

With that said, he immediately began swimming towards the water's surface. In a matter of seconds, Issei erupted from the ocean like a carp jumping over the dragon's gate. In one magnificent, gravity-defying leap, the newly minted Foundation Establishment cultivator soared through the air and landed back onto the cliff-side.

He inspected his surroundings and internally cringed at what he saw.

The ground was scorched black. More than half of the trees within the forest were just straight-up gone. They had been clearly set on fire, but fortunately, the rain had helped to put them away. Several of the small hills had been replaced with still-smoking craters.

In short, it was a mess.

"Oh, shit…"

"I'm pretty sure we broke this island," Ddraig commented.

Issei had far underestimated the severity of the tribulation. Next time, he'd make sure to find a sturdier island.

"I'm sure you're just exaggerating," Issei stated, trying (and failing) to look at the brighter side of things.

Right as he said that, a giant crack suddenly formed beneath his feet. Issei had the foresight to take a step back. A few seconds later, an entire section of the cliff-side just broke off from the island. Nearly ten thousand tons worth of dirt and stone fell into the ocean with a resounding splash.

"Uh… we better leave, like now."

This went far beyond his expectations. Issei did not want to be labeled as the guy who destroyed an island populated almost exclusively by the elderly. That was almost as bad as vandalizing a retirement center. What kind of monster vandalizes retirement centers?

Also, wasn't Japan like owned by the Shinto faction? The last thing he wanted was for those guys to sue him for destruction of property. There was no way he could afford to pay for an entire island!

"For once, I agree with you on this one, partner. Grab your stuff and get out of here!" Ddraig's support was all the encouragement that he needed.

With the speed of a raging tornado, Issei put on his clothes (sans the underwear), grabbed the rest of his stuff, and ran off towards the island's only harbor. Fortunately for him, it was already a quarter till five.

Issei had finished his breakthrough just in time to catch the last ferry to the mainland.

****

A few hours later.

Somewhere within the dimensional plane of Takamagahara.

An emergency meeting was currently being held between the Shinto faction's three head gods.

"Susanoo, what kind of mess did you make this time!?" A man's voice echoed through the conference hall. It originated from a silver-haired man with flowing white robes. He had sword-like brows, an angular face, and sky-blue eyes.

If Issei had been here, then he would have called the guy a perfect replica of a stereotypical young master.

"Get off my case, Tsukuyomi. I haven't even done anything this week."

The gruff reply came from the only other man within the room. In contrast to the first man, this guy wore a loose-fitting black haori over an oversized graphic t-shirt. A patchy stubble covered his lower jaw. He looked… slovenly.

"You haven't done anything? Then explain what the hell happened in Okitsushima today?!"

"Okitsushima? Isn't that Ryujin's old place? I thought he moved?"

"He did. Right now, he's living somewhere in Okinawa. He says he likes the sun." This time, an entirely new voice responded.

Unlike the previous two, this voice was clearly feminine. It originated from a regal-looking woman with flowing black hair and a chest that perfectly encapsulated the phrase 'a bountiful harvest'. She wore clothes that greatly resembled a shrine maiden's outfit. A golden halo floated just behind the back of her head.

Despite her motherly appearance, she exuded an almost overwhelming amount of power, enough to eclipse the two men in the room. This woman's real identity was that of Amaterasu, Japan's premiere celestial sun goddess and the Shinto faction's current ruler.

"Susanoo, were you truly not responsible for what happened in Okitsushima?" She asked.

With his sister's focus squarely on him, Susanoo sat up a little straighter. Despite being siblings, the gulf between the two had only increased as the years progressed.

"No, it really wasn't me." He replied. "I haven't even left Takamagahara all month. Why? What happened?"

Tsukuyomi and Amaterasu exchanged looks.

Earlier today, they had noticed a commotion occurring near Japan's southern seaboard. By the time they managed to send out an investigation team down there, all they found was a half-destroyed island and trace amounts of lightning-based energy in the air. Whoever was responsible was already long gone. Naturally, their suspicions fell on Japan's resident storm god and foremost troublemaker.

Amaterasu quickly explained this to her apparently innocent younger brother.

The storm god frowned. A grim countenance replaced his usual happy-go-lucky attitude. "It wasn't me. Like I said, I haven't left this place in over a month. Someone else must have created that storm."

"Do you think it might be an attack?" Tsukuyomi interjected. "Perhaps by another faction?"

"It is a possibility." Amaterasu conceded. "The residual energy left behind by the storm was not insignificant. I fear that such a level of power could only be achieved by another God."

"Have you asked any of the other weather gods of Takamagahara? May they were the ones who did it?" Susanoo suggested.

"I did," Amaterasu revealed. "Unfortunately, none of them claimed responsibility. I can only conclude that a foreign god was responsible."

"A foreign god on Japanese soil…" Tsukuyomi frowned. A ruthless light flashed through his eyes.

Amaterasu nodded her head; a similarly grim visage morphed her features.

She might have allowed the devils to prance around within her territory, but there was no way she'd allow the same to happen with the other factions. Unlike with the devils, the other factions have mostly maintained their strengths. They were a very real threat to the sovereignty of Takamagahara.

In the first place, the only reason why she allowed the devils to occupy space within Japan was because they acted as a deterrent against the other factions.

On paper, there were three factions currently co-existing within the land of the Rising Sun: The Devils, the Youkai, and the Shinto faction. Even some of the stronger factions would hesitate to invade a land occupied by three known powers.

Only two out of the three factions were currently in an alliance. The Devils and the Youkais had allied with each other. Meanwhile, the reclusive Shinto faction shared a hierarchical relationship with the Youkais. While the Youkais were allowed to occupy Japan, it was the gods of Takamagahara that held the real power.

In short, Japan was like a hornet's nest. Nobody really wanted to involve themselves into that sort of mess.

If the storm was truly created by a foreign god, then maybe it was time to rethink their previous arrangements with the devils and the youkais. They were clearly not as useful as she had first presumed.

Seeing the reactions of his siblings, Susanoo couldn't help but roll his eyes. It was no secret, but both Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi were kind of xenophobic.

He blamed their attitudes on the fact that they rarely ever left High Heaven (another name for Takamagahara). Even when they did venture out into the mortal world, they mainly stuck to Japan. As such, they were not as worldly as they liked to present themselves.

In other words, they were a couple of shut-ins who probably viewed the rest of the world as a bunch of 'no-good normies'. He learned that lingo from his fellow deity, Hestia. They were online friends.

"Susanoo, do you mind inspecting Okitsushima? See what you can discover about the perpetrator." Amaterasu turned towards him.

In response, the storm god slightly inclined his head. "Sure, I can do that. It's been a while since I've descended to the mortal world. Who knows, maybe I'll find something interesting there to occupy my time."

"I don't know where your obsession with the mortal world comes from, brother." Tsukuyomi frowned, making his displeasure known. "It is unbecoming for a child of Izanagi to be so obsessed with secular matters."

Susanoo merely stared at the guy with deadpan eyes. "You need to get out more. Staying cooped up in High Heaven is bad for your mind and heart."

The moon god scoffed. "As if. I'm perfectly content with spending my days here in Takamagahara."

"Tell me, Tsukuyomi. Do you know what the internet is?"

He blinked in response. "Internet? What is that? A new type of mochi?"

Susanoo let out an exasperated sigh and shook his head. "You poor, uncultured soul."

"Stop getting off-topic, the both of you." Amaterasu glowered. "We have more important matters to deal with, such as preparing for a potential invasion from a foreign faction."

"Sis, I think you might be jumping the gun a bit there," Susanoo commented.

"Nonsense, Amaterasu's caution is well placed." Tsukuyomi chimed in. "Perhaps we should also send out the Youkais to help with the investigation? That way, they can at least be of some use."

The relationship between the Youkais and the Gods of Takamagahara was not a pleasant one.

For most of Japan's history, the Shinto faction was the premiere force that governed the lands. In fact, the Youkais were not even seen as a real faction until much, much later in the timeline.

A clear hierarchy existed between the two groups.

The Shinto gods considered themselves to be superior to the Youkais. In fact, many thought the Youkais to be nothing more than uncivilized barbarians.

This viewpoint was not unwarranted. For the longest time, the Youkais were a fragmented force. Many preferred to live in isolation. Those that did group up mainly stuck to family clans. These clans often clashed with one another, inciting conflict that would last for decades at a time.

In contrast, the Shinto faction was a unified force with a clear head of state. The difference between the two was like night and day.

The current Youkai Faction was young. It had been in existence for less than five hundred years. It came about when the various clans gathered together in order to wrest control of Japan from the Shinto faction. Unfortunately, this did not really pan out as they had expected.

If anything, with the Youkais now all grouped together, the Shinto faction actually had an even easier time controlling the Youkais.

The Youkai leadership was also considered a curse.

The longest reigning unified leader did not last for longer than ten years before he was assassinated by a Youkai that belonged to a rivaling clan.

All other attempts at leadership also ended prematurely. Some either abdicated, others were forced out of office by rebellion, and even more died due to assassination. The current faction leader was already viewed as an anomaly of sorts. She had taken over after the death of her husband. Despite opposition from all sides, she has somehow remained in power for close to nine years now.

It was really only recently that the Youkai faction managed to gain a proper foothold into Japan. It all began around the time when the Shinto faction unanimously decided to retreat back into Takamagahara. Of course, the gods were not truly gone. They'd often send their messengers down into the mortal world. They might have loosened the leash a bit, but they were still the ones in control.

Even then, with less intervention from the Gods, the Youkais managed to proliferate and spread throughout the island nation.

At around the same time, they also made an alliance with the devils. This move cemented the Youkai faction as a legitimate faction and not just an odd collection of monsters.

"See that it gets done, brother." Amaterasu nodded her head in agreement. The sun goddess had next to no interactions with the Youkais. At most, she often had weekend tea sessions with Inari. Her fox features basically made that woman part-youkai, right?

"Who is the current leader of the Youkais? Is it still that fellow from the Nurarihyon clan?" She asked out loud. The person she was talking about was actually the first unified leader of the Youkai faction. After he died (in battle against an enemy), the Nurarihyon clan had yet to nominate another person for the position of leader.

After a moment of thought, she shook her head. "It matters not. Tsukuyomi, send out our messengers. Let the Youkais know of their task. Make sure you inform them that this is a direct order from the Shinto leadership."

Tsukuyomi nodded his head before he stood up and walked out of the conference hall.

With his brother gone, Susanoo did not see any point in staying either. He nodded his head to Amaterasu before he too hobbled out of the room.

Now all alone, the celestial sun goddess sat there for a moment, contemplating today's recent events.

"Whoever you are, I will find you. And when I do, I will make you feel the wrath of Takamagahara."