Chapter 29: "Entry Name": Late Bloomer.

"It's nothing."

Chen Qiu didn't explain much, just smiled and shook his head, "I must have been out for over a day, let's head back to Wentian Market first."

"A day?"

The scholar shook his head, "Two days have passed already, and there are less than three days left until the 'challenge' type Secret Realm in Fufeng City opens. The weather has been like this for several days now, with no sign of the sun rising."

...

Soon—

The group quickly returned to Wentian Market. The scholar and his brother stayed at the old place, while Chen Qiu took Fat Long and the other person into the city alone.

"Has it been two days already?"

Chen Qiu furrowed his brow in confusion. To tell the truth, he really had lost his sense of time. These past two days, he felt like an assembly line robot continuously attempting Foundation Establishment and failing consistently, barely ever stopping.

But...did this process take two days?

Moreover, he originally didn't feel tired or hungry, but when he found out he hadn't closed his eyes for two days and nights, he suddenly felt somewhat tired, although not too intensely—but this sense of hunger...

"I'm already at the Foundation Establishment Stage and still feeling hungry."

"Of course."

Fat Long said somewhat helplessly, "The Foundation Establishment Stage only extends life span. Compared to ordinary people, one has a full 200 years of life, enough to support a family. Many families with a Foundation Establishment just have one person at the Foundation Establishment Stage."

"But it only extends life. It doesn't break the need for worldly sustenance."

"With the sky being this way for days, I also didn't realize two days had passed. I only felt very tired. I didn't expect it to have been so long."

He looked up at the sky above Wentian Market. The market was built atop the highest point of Wentian Mountain Range, thousands of meters above the ground, where the spread of thousands of miles of dark clouds seemed to hang right above one's head.

"Speaking of the weather, it truly is bizarre. It gives a sense of security as if disaster could strike at any moment."

These past two days, he was essentially doing one thing— stuffing the endless Spirit Stones into his Storage Bag, his expressions fluctuating between excitement and fear throughout, leaving him no time to even think about sleep.

"Let's go."

Chen Qiu shook his head, planning to come out again tomorrow to spend, "Let's find a restaurant to fill up our stomachs, then get some sleep. We'll talk tomorrow upon waking."

"Alright, Brother Qiu, aren't the two brothers coming?"

"The scholar said he doesn't like to enter Wentian Market. Probably has his reasons to avoid it, no need to worry about them."

"Right."

He looked at Fat Long with a somewhat peculiar expression, "Didn't you use to call me Brother Chen Qiu? Why suddenly call me Brother Qiu?"

"Cough..."

Fat Long's expression turned slightly serious and sincere, "Among two persons walking, the more proficient one becomes the master; once one is your master, he is like a father for life, and an elder brother is akin to a father. Now that you have reached the Cultivator status of the Foundation Establishment Stage, it's only natural to call you Brother Qiu."

"Sounds good."

...

After casually finding an inn to eat something, Chen Qiu and the other found a nearby guesthouse and booked two rooms.

Chen Qiu, though weary, simply washed up and then sat at the desk and poured himself a cup of hot tea to warm his stomach. His eyes closed tight as he went into introspection.

A panel enshrouded in cloud and mist was slowly floating above his Foundation Establishment.

Although the panel insisted on making a choice within ten breaths, as long one didn't perform introspection to view it, it wouldn't count towards the ten-breath time limit. This prevented the occurrence of a critical battle breakthrough where one didn't have the time to introspect within and would miss the ten-breath window.

'Cultivation has greatly increased, officially stepping into the first layer of Foundation Establishment Phase.'

'Please choose one of the three random entries below within ten breaths.'

1:

'Entry Name': Power of the Nine Yins.

'Entry Level': White.

"Entry Effect": Has nine Yin Yin.

2:

"Entry Name": Late Bloomer.

"Entry Level": Green.

"Entry Effect": When you have less than ten years of life remaining, you will gain three random entries.

3:

"Entry Name": Focus Power.

"Entry Level": Green.

"Entry Effect": If you learn the 'Thunder Summoning Technique' spell, the power of this spell will be increased by fifty percent.

-

Looking at the familiar panel inside him, Chen Qiu, who sat on the chair, was quite moved. Who could have imagined that just a few days ago, he was a young and robust lad toiling away at chopping wood, not even at the Qi Refinement Realm first layer.

A mere mortal among mortals.

And yet, a mere few days later, he had become a Cultivator at the Foundation Establishment Stage.

In this somewhat chaotic world, he finally had a bit of confidence to call his own.

Without much thought, he had chosen the third entry from the three before him.

The first entry was purely a waste of one of his chances to choose. He was not a woman, so why would he randomly get this entry? Or could men also have this entry? What would that make him then, nine Yin one beef?

He couldn't even imagine what that situation would look like. Better keep that away from him.

He actually quite liked the second entry; he liked any entry that could give him more entries, but the conditions to activate it were too tough. After his breakthrough to Foundation Establishment, he had a life span of 200 years, with over 170 years left.

That meant to wait for this entry to be activated, at least another 160 years would have to pass, by which time the chrysanthemums would have long wilted.

The third entry suited him best.

It was his first time seeing an entry that provided an amplification bonus for a specific spell. Choosing this entry meant that you had to follow the path of a Magic Practitioner; otherwise, the entry would be in vain.

This was perfect for him, as he was intending to follow the path of a Magic Practitioner. After all, with a Pink Entry like 'Dantian Expansion' in hand, it would be a pure waste if he didn't choose the path of a Magic Practitioner.

Time to sleep.

Even if the sky were falling down, that would be a problem for tomorrow after waking up.

Exhausted to the limit, Chen Qiu stuffed the Storage Bag full of Spirit Stones under his pillow before he fell into a slumber, his right hand still clutching the handle of his knife.

...

Dawn broke.

Chen Qiu stumbled to the window of the guest room, slightly dazed. Dawn had finally arrived—the dark clouds overhead had dissipated in the night. Looking out of the window, the stone pavement was wet, indicating there must have been a heavy rain last night.

After a simple wash, he got dressed and walked out of the guest room, only to find Fat Long already awake, standing outside the door waiting for him, with dark circles under his eyes that clearly showed a lack of sleep.

"Didn't sleep well?"

"Mhm."

...

On the main road of the Trade Area in District 7 of the Wentian Market, Chen Qiu and Fat Long began their shopping spree for the day.

After 999 consecutive failures at Foundation Establishment, they had amassed a total of 29,970 Spirit Stones.

This was an incredibly exaggerated number.

One should understand that the vast majority of Loose Cultivators in the Foundation Establishment Stage didn't have twenty or thirty Spirit Stones in their pockets. Some disciples from Major Sects or big families might have a few hundred Spirit Stones, and those with more might possess a couple of thousand Spirit Stones.

But surely, no Cultivator at the Foundation Establishment Stage walked around with tens of thousands of Spirit Stones in their pocket.