***
Xu Xing discovered Zhang Yunlu, and she also saw Xu Xing standing before the counter after she entered.
Ah?
Could she have seen it wrongly?
They had run into each other just like that?
Zhang Yunlu was a bit dazed; she had been tormented by those images for another entire night last night, and as soon as she woke up today, she had inexplicably advanced to the ninth level of Qi Refining.
Thus, after breakfast, she had hurried to the mall, intending to look at the spiritual medicines for compounding Foundation Establishment spiritual liquid, so as to prepare for her upcoming Foundation Establishment.
After hesitating for a few seconds, she still walked up to Xu Xing.
"We meet again, young girl; although I felt we would certainly meet again, I did not expect that our fate would come so quickly."
"...I did not expect it either."
Zhang Yunlu paused for a moment.
"The images that appear in my mind every night—was it your doing?"
"From a certain perspective, it should be, but witnessing the clash of Dao Integration powerhouses with your own eyes is also a decent opportunity for your current cultivation level."
Xu Xing smiled.
"How is it? Have you had any insights over these past two days?"
"Insights? Does reaching the ninth level of Qi Refining count?"
"Emm..."
Zhang Yunlu: "..."
Fine, now there was no need to say anything more.
Just at that moment, the salesperson came out and handed the already emptied storage ring to Xu Xing.
"Hello, guest, the quantity of spirit stones has been verified; this is your storage ring."
"Thank you."
Xu Xing received the storage ring and casually tossed it over, and Zhang Yunlu hurriedly caught it.
"You likely do not have spatial equipment yet, so I will give this to you."
Zhang Yunlu was startled; could it be that this was the 'decent little gift' he had mentioned last time?
The salesperson who witnessed all this was full of envy; storage rings were not cheap, and the spirit stones contained within just now were only enough to cover a fraction of the cost.
"Let us go; we shall talk outside. Since I said I would give you a decent little gift, I will not break my word."
Hmm?
Could it be that he was not referring to this storage ring?
Zhang Yunlu put on the storage ring and hurriedly followed Xu Xing.
Upon reaching the entrance, the greeters on both sides bowed slightly.
"Welcome, please come again."
Zhang Yunlu paid absolutely no attention to their words, following behind Xu Xing with a heart full of apprehension, but also some excitement.
Before walking very far, Xu Xing slowed his pace, allowing Zhang Yunlu to walk side by side with him.
"To tell the truth, meeting you here today truly was a bit of a surprise to me."
A surprise?
"Shouldn't practitioners of high realms all be able to calculate and divine things?"
"One would not be divining at every single moment, and besides, if a meeting depends on divination, can it still be called 'fate'?"
Xu Xing chuckled softly.
"Returning to the main topic, with your current realm, you would not be able to command powerful magical treasures even if they were given to you, so I will first tell you how the path of cultivation ahead should be walked."
Zhang Yunlu focused her attention intensely.
"Since you are already at the ninth level of Qi Refining, the next thing to consider is Foundation Establishment; has the school told you about the grades of Foundation Establishment?"
The grades of Foundation Establishment...
Zhang Yunlu thought for a moment and replied: "The teachers at school have not taught it yet, but I have heard that there are three grades of Foundation Establishment in total."
"The lowest grade is after the seventh level of Qi Refining, taking Barrier-Breaking Spiritual Liquid to establish the foundation; this kind of foundation is hollow and unstable, some cannot even defeat a slightly powerful Qi Refining practitioner, and there is no hope of further progress, so it is also called a Pseudo-Foundation."
"Medium Foundation Establishment is when a practitioner advances to the ninth level of Qi Refining and then takes Foundation Establishment Spiritual Liquid or Foundation Establishment Pills to achieve it; this is also the most orthodox method of Foundation Establishment now."
"As for the superior grade, not only must the practitioner themselves reach the state of being filled with spiritual power, they must first swallow a Spiritual Power Storage Capsule during advancement, while simultaneously using a Spiritual Energy Cabin to atomize purified Foundation Establishment Spiritual Liquid to accelerate absorption; only when all three conditions are met is there a probability of building a Superior Dao Foundation."
That was all she knew.
Xu Xing was thoughtful.
Pseudo-Foundation, Barrier-Breaking Spiritual Liquid, Spiritual Power Storage Capsule, Spiritual Energy Cabin, purified atomization of Foundation Establishment Spiritual Liquid?
Had current Foundation Establishment already developed to be this 'scientific'?
Moreover, to be able to establish a foundation at the seventh level of Qi Refining was something he had never even heard of before his seclusion.
"A single period of seclusion, and the world has changed greatly; many things have appeared that I do not understand."
If Foundation Establishment was like this, had the subsequent realms also formulated more scientific methods of advancement?
"Let me speak of the three types of Foundation Establishment that I know; they are somewhat different from what you mentioned."
"The first type of Foundation Establishment relies on external objects as supplements, much like the consumption of Foundation Establishment Pills you just mentioned; it probably falls into this category."
In ancient times, there were also those who sought out natural treasures of heaven and earth to refine them into their foundation, or those who established their foundation based on the root of a divine ability, all of which could be considered the first type.
This kind of combat power was not low, but the means were too singular, so it had been eliminated a long time ago.
"The second type of Foundation Establishment requires gathering the essence of the sun, condensing the radiance of the moon, and refining the brilliance of the stars to cleanse the skeletal roots and spiritual power; one takes the rare treasures of heaven and earth and extracts their divine rhythm, and once achieved, the Dao Foundation is perfect, known as the Heaven-Formed Dao Foundation."
The Heaven-Formed Dao Foundation was also called the Perfect Dao Foundation; it not only had requirements for the cultivation technique practiced, but the process was also extremely perilous.
After all, how violent were the essences of the sun and moon for a Qi Refining practitioner; one moment of carelessness would lead to the death of the person and the dissipation of their Dao.
"As for this third type of Foundation Establishment, one practices supreme and wondrous secrets, and must also comprehend the fur and feathers of Logic, Law, and Intent, seizing the creation of heaven and earth; after it is built, there are all sorts of inconceivable abilities, known as the Creation Dao Foundation."
Logic, Law, and Intent.
Those were domains that a practitioner could only come into contact with after reaching the Dao Integration stage, and how many major realms lay between Dao Integration and Foundation Establishment?
The difficulty therein was self-evident.
Therefore, practitioners who could build this third type of Dao Foundation were not many in the entire Great Profound World.
Seizing the creation of heaven and earth, encroaching upon the profound mysteries of the sun and moon.
In mythology, this was the wondrous secret of longevity that Patriarch Bodhi had passed on to the Great Sage Equaling Heaven.
When they had first created this type of Foundation Establishment method, they had also taken it as a certain reference, though its degree of divine wonder was certainly incomparable.
After listening to Xu Xing, Zhang Yunlu’s expression was dull and vacant.
They were both three types of Foundation Establishment, but the gap between the ancient and modern versions was simply too large, was it not?!
But why was what she knew so different?
"Do not overthink it; if I am correct, the school is worried that you will aim too high and fail to achieve anything, so it was not an intentional concealment."
Even the divine abilities of the Seven Great Immortal Sects had been placed into high school libraries, so it was even more impossible to deliberately conceal a method of Foundation Establishment.
Although the human race in the current Great Profound World had many practitioners, high-level practitioners were still too few, far from enough.
"As the cultivation system is improved by generation after generation of people, it will only get better and better; what I have spoken of might already be outdated, so I suggest that you still return to school later and report your own realm."
Although Xu Xing was confident, he was by no means conceited, much less would he look down upon the wisdom of the world's practitioners.
The two had already walked near the main entrance of the mall at this time.
A young man wearing black sportswear and sunglasses walked into the mall, followed by two burly bald men in suits and leather shoes.
The two groups brushed past each other, and Xu Xing and Zhang Yunlu left the mall.
As for that young man, after entering the mall, he took off his sunglasses and turned to give orders.
"Move separately and buy everything as quickly as possible."
"Yes!"
Immediately, one person walked to each side, while the young man headed toward the second floor.
'Sigh~ I am truly unlucky enough.'
He was extremely depressed in his heart.
He had clearly only come over to forge a sword, yet he had happened to run into a series of agonizing events.
First, there was a cultivator emerging from seclusion, and then he encountered a demonic path senior refining a Ten Thousand Soul Banner; in the end, not only was the banner not refined, but the person himself was gone, and even the Dao Integration old devil who appeared later had an arm severed.
The small Xuanjian City had inexplicably become a place of focus for all the big shots of various sides.
When those two brothers had warned him, he had also very much wanted to flee this ghostly place!
But the problem was that he could not escape; that Dao Integration old devil who had an arm severed was staring at him, and he even had to help him collect spiritual medicines and demonic beast essence blood to recover from his injuries.
Damn it!
What on earth is all this!
***