Chapter Nineteen: Foundational Establishment

Yanqing was really, REALLY, rich for his cultivation now. The wealth he had accumulated from his few months in this world, not including that black box, was absolutely unimaginable for any free cultivator. 

This is not to mention the fact that he still has a lot more to sell, but now he has enough to buy the pills and swords he wanted now. Though he'd keep the other cores just in case he needed to get more money or pills.

The auction neared its end as several foundational establishment weapons were auctioned as well with many of them being damaged. It was not worth buying for anyone who was in a family, but for those that were free cultivators?

"400 Spirit Stones!"

"500 Spirit Stones!"

It was a necessity for them as they could not run, so having an item to self destruct or to deal more damage than it was worth killing, was an item everyone needed to have. 

Family Cultivators of higher status usually had at least one provided by their clan in order to protect their talents against foreign or inner threats. 

Yanqing himself did not need it as his own combative ability was much stronger than the natives of the Cultivation World, as he could fight Foundation Establishment cultivators without any prior cultivation.

Though the idea of self destructing gave him another idea for a technique. That was for later, however, as the final item that everyone else was waiting for came up.

"Now, the Foundational Establishment Pill! The Xin Family has gracefully provided one of these pills every year to free cultivators. Remember, if one has great talent then they can join the family, and if they provide enough merits they can get one for free!

"The starting bid is 3000 spirit stones and an increase of no less than 300 spirit stones!" The mouths of every Qi cultivator gulped as they saw the treasure that would allow them to step on the road of immortality. 

From Qi condensation to Foundational Establishment a change in the level of life was obvious as their life span doubled along with all their abilities. It was not wrong to call this the first true stage of cultivation. 

"3600!"

"4000!"

"4300!"

"4700!"

"5000!"

The competition was fierce, but that was normal. Even if the price of the pill was normally 5,000 Spiritual stones they were usually the price offered by families or sects. 

For others, it was much greater. One could expect to never gain one of these pills in their lifetime if it had progressed normally. 

"5600!" Yanqing shouted as he joined in on the competition, his goal was this pill after all. Though he would need a few more to guarantee his recultivation. 

The Foundational Establishment Seniors smiled as they watched the little entertainment they could find in their long lives. It was quite fun watching juniors fight like this after all. 

Maybe they should ask the family to create a tournament. It would be quite fun to watch. Considering most of these seniors were unable to take the final step or feared death too much, they hoped to see others try their best in order to reignite the passion they once had.

Failing a breakthrough to Core Formation often meant death afterall. The same goes for Nascent Soul as they must break their Golden Core in order to advance. If one failed in any of these they were guaranteed to fall, though the other stages remain unknown. 

"7000!" Yanqing shouted with a painful voice as a large portion of his newly acquired funds had dropped severely. 

"Is that all? Any other bids?" The lady spoke with a calm smile on her face as she had gone through this several times. 

Once in a while there would be a not so smart cultivator who would declare that someone did not have enough money. Then they would get face-slapped by said cultivator. Such a scene was rare, but many hoped to see it as it would be a story they could tell for weeks, if not days.

Sadly, it seems that since the war that occurred in the Heavenly South region of the State of Yue the IQ of everyone has nearly doubled. With a few rare exceptions, of course. 

"Congratulations to our buyers. Remember, you are safe within Longxin city and if anyone tries threatening or killing you, you may report to any guard! May the auction winners please follow us to these individual rooms." The lady spoke gracefully as she had once more gotten quite the bonus. 

Though it was incomparable to that lucky bastard in the auctioneer section. 

Red eyes were obvious amongst the contestants for the pill, but they soon calmed down any murderous or ill intent as it was just not worth it. They had next year after all. 

Every average male and average female walked to the exits, with the winners walking in an entirely different direction. It seems a new trend may rise in the State of Yuanwu…

The apocalypse of the average male and woman are still feared to this day as the chances of a Cultivator finding a suitable Dao companion was near zero as everyone was too cautious. 

Stories of being kidnapped for their skin, youth, or beauty was too well-known amongst the community, turning into stories that clan members would tell their children. 

Due to the embedded memories from their childhood or from their friends everyone would soon change into an average person. And there were also more warning signs.

Finding a "Jade Beauty" was asking to get trapped by a demonic cultivator after all. People with light green skin did not exist after all. Well, maybe, people with weird physiques did exist after all. 

Nascent Soul Senior Jade Mountain did have green skin after all… 

…

Yanqing claimed his auction rewards before using the money to pay for his new pill. Now he was still quite rich for his level, but now it was much less than before. 

Thankfully he only had to get another Foundational Pill as recultivating was a far easier endeavor due to the fact that the body would have created the foundation for cultivation already. Now he could truly become a senior!

Using his average male appearance, Yanqing found a location near the spiritual veins provided as a service by the Xin Family for free cultivators. 

It costs over 3,000 spiritual stones to rent a room for a second level spiritual vein for 10 years… These people truly knew how to profit off the needs of free cultivators. At least now he would not be disturbed. 

Yanqing soon recalled the [Frozen Azure Essence Sword Art]'s foundational stage. Following the conception of a [Sword], he now had to realize the most basic foundation of sword arts. 

By using his experience and talent he was able to create several moves using his [Ice Control] and swordsmanship taught by the general, he was far above those in his age and level. 

Normally one would use the basic sword techniques listed on the manual itself as a foundation, but those were the most general and basic of arts. 

Yanqing's own foundation was much greater and could therefore easily conceptualize the next step, [Foundation]. 

A virtual shadow of Yanqing's movements appeared in his mind as they performed his sword skills one after the other. Nearing the end of the conceptualization, he envisioned his current techniques.

[Darting Ironthorn]

[Cascading Laceration]

[Swallow's Pluvious Pursuit]

And

[Frozen Azure]

A momentum swirled up inside the cave as it began to freeze over much to the dismay of the cultivators outside as they soon felt the temperature drop. 

...

'My poor tea…'

'Which daoist is cultivating ice arts during the summer?'

'My water arrow got frozen…'

'Why are my feet cold?'

...

As Yanqing popped the Foundational Pill within his mouth, a surge of medicinal energy appeared in his body as he soon directed them towards his dantian. 

Yanqing's body soon felt the existence of ice and fire as his body's temperature changed rapidly, shifting between the two as it calmly settled down within him. A freezing sensation then arose from his dantian.

A piercing pain occurred as Yanqing had to clench his teeth in order to endure the pain. His muscles were slowly being torn one by one, the feeling of several blades piercing him at the same time, and the frosty sensation he felt for the first time.

The frost burned throughout his entire body as Yanqing had sweat fall from his forehead. 

Soon, the frost wrapped around his whole body and turned into warmth that flowed into his dantian. Yanqing felt the concentration of his Qi magnify as he worked alongside it to condense his Qi. 

His bones felt a scorching frost as at the highest temperatures freezing would have the same sensation as burning. Yanqing could identify that his meridians and marrow were changing extremely fast with no way to stop. 

He could not fail this, he refused to fail this as he sped up the process even faster, his qi changing from gas to liquid at an extremely rapid pace that created a vortex within his dantian. 

Normally one's Qi would not change color until reaching Core Formation with a special cultivation, but Yanqing had already begun to evolve his qi into a light blue with a tint of pink. 

[Swords] began appearing inside his dantian, although small, made up the majority of the Qi inside his body. His Qi was slowly changing to the shape of it. If one could observe his dantian, they would see that each and every part of the ocean that now made up his dantian was a [Sword]! 

A piercing intent rose from within Yanqing as his emotions and torment calmed down. The transformation of his meridians and marrows had completed, and so did his transition from gas qi to liquid qi. 

Feeling the new sensation and power within himself, Yanqing let [Aurora] outside of its poorly made sheath to guard him, he fell asleep in the hopes of sweet memories. 

He had now broken into the Foundational Establishment Stage.