Chapter 7: Breaking Through to Foundation Establishment

Knowing that danger was close, Yunfeng no longer had time to accumulate slowly as before. He poured every remaining simulation of the day into testing the breakthrough to Foundation Establishment, a crucial threshold that many cultivators never cross in their whole lives. Failure could even lead to qi deviation and permanent damage to the meridians.

The first simulation failed miserably. The spiritual energy in his dantian ran wild, and his meridians nearly shattered. But since it was only a simulation in his mind, it caused no real harm, and Yunfeng could learn from it without paying with his own body.

After seven failed simulations in a row, on the eighth he finally found the rhythm of circulating spiritual energy that best suited his unique constitution, the one bearing the Dao Rhyme Seal. It was a method completely different from the usual way of breaking through that the other disciples used.

Simulation complete.
Result: Successful breakthrough to Foundation Establishment. An unusually solid Dao Foundation has formed.
Strength converted: +40% real cultivation progress. 1 additional daily simulation unlocked.

With the solid groundwork from the simulation, Yunfeng began the real breakthrough in a meditation chamber specially arranged by the Sect Master, with Elder Zhou Bai standing guard outside in case anything went wrong.

Three days and three nights passed. Then a thick surge of spiritual energy burst from the chamber, making the whole mountain tremble faintly. When the chamber door opened, Xie Yunfeng stepped out with a completely transformed bearing. He was no longer an ordinary youth, but a true Foundation Establishment cultivator, his aura so stable that even Elder Zhou Bai was astonished.

“In less than half a year, from the third layer of Qi Refining to Foundation Establishment…” Zhou Bai murmured. “In a hundred years, the Qingyun Sect has never seen talent like this.”