Chapter 7: Breaking through.

This day was a day of relaxation for Lingtian. Instead of cultivating without small breaks between, he recognized the importance of taking occasional rests for the body and mind.

He resupplied his house with some food and other necessities, had a drink, and visited the central square to watch some fights.

Now that he had a clear path ahead, he was ready to organize his thoughts. First, he planned to give his father the Great Essence Cycle technique to cultivate. However, he wanted to wait until after establishing his foundation. He wished to bring his father into royal city with him but needed to get a foothold first.

The second priority was the Runic Fundamentals book. Yes, he hadn't forgotten about it. He knew that trying to buy it as an Essence Gathering Realm cultivator was fundamentally different from doing so as an expert at the Foundation Establishment Realm. If he waited until after breaking through, it would be much easier to acquire.

Lastly, there was the Foundation Establishment Pill. Even though he didn't need it now, his father still did. Yet again, it was much better to wait after breaking through to have a chance to buy it at a reasonable price.

Even his savings were running dangerously low. All he had left were six low essence crystals.

Thinking up to this point made Lingtian realize that all he needed to do, or rather all he could do, was a seclusion cultivation session.

But first, he wanted to set up a concealment array in his house in case he succeeded and didn't want to attract attention. Establishing a foundation wouldn't result in a phenomenon or anything, but the pressure he would release would surely make a commotion. He wasn't confident he could mask his aura in the process.

The formation was simple, so he did it himself. Actually, in the last six months, his formation mastery had grown a lot. He was sure that he could become a one-star formation master really soon.

But that was a topic for another day. For now, cultivation was all that was in Lingtian's mind.

After preparing everything, Lingtian started his closed-door seclusion. This time he intended to use the essence-enhancing pills, as they could shorten the time needed greatly. And just like that, another six months passed.

Suddenly, the essence energy started to gather crazily around Lingtian's body. His rate of absorption multiplied multiple times in an instant.

Lingtian focused and didn't let anything go to waste. He used his spirit power to absorb this energy and distribute it to every part of his body. This lasted for nearly an hour before it stopped.

But just as the essence energy around him calmed down, a huge pressure exploded from his body.

"A breakthrough, the beginner stage of the Foundation Establishment Realm," a deep grin appeared on Lingtian's face as he opened his eyes. He tried to channel his essence energy and found it was much stronger and smoother than before. It was incomparable with his old self.

"No wonder that a Foundation Establishment cultivator doesn't take the Essence Gathering Realm seriously. I can squeeze my old self to death easily." The difference between these two realms was huge, even though it was just one step away from each other.

Spending some time to consolidate his new realm, Lingtian stood up and walked out of the house, it didn't take long just about five hours.

He had to go to the city guards and declare himself. He didn't have to do that when he was at the Essence Gathering Realm, as the royal family didn't really care how many of them were present in the city.

But Foundation Establishment cultivators were different. There was no way the city guard would allow them in without checking their background and monitoring them inside the city.

Lingtian walked unhurriedly as he enjoyed the fresh air after being confined between four walls for half a year. Twenty minutes later, outside the city guard headquarters, Lingtian stopped hiding his cultivation realm and walked in.

"Hello, sir. May I ask who you are and what is your purpose of coming here? There is no record of you entering the city." Sensing the pressure of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, three people appeared in a blink of an eye and surrounded Lingtian.

Examining them, Lingtian sensed that all of them were in a higher cultivation level than himself. The two on his sides were in the mid-stage of the Foundation Establishment Realm, and the one directly in front of him was at the high stage.

Even though they surrounded him, blocking his escape routes and were ready to attack at any moment. The one in the lead asked politely.

For them, before knowing the whole situation, it was better to not act rashly and offend an expert at this level. Even though they didn't fear him as they could sense that he was just at the beginner stage, it was unwise to offend him for no reason.

"Hello, sirs. I mean no harm. My name is Gu Lingtian. I believe that I presented my identification plate before entering the city a year ago. I was at the ninth stage of the Essence Gathering Realm at the time, though." Lingtian bowed slightly while speaking in a respectful manner.

The three people in front of him looked at each other. One of them then disappeared for few minutes the came back and gave a confirmation nod.

"So, it's Brother Gu. My name is Zhang Lin This is Zhang Chen, and he is Li Jun" The high stage foundation establishment expert introduced himself and the other two before speaking again.

"I presume that you broke through just recently?"

"Yes, just earlier today, actually."

"So, I have to congratulate Brother Gu first."

"Thank you, sir Zhang Lin."

"I wonder if you are free for a chat?" Zhang Lin asked with a smile, wanting to get to know him and ask some questions.

"It will be my pleasure." Lingtian accepted the invitation without a pretense and followed him to a room upstairs. The other two didn't follow. One of them returned to his station, and the other went to investigate Lingtian's background.