Chapter 80: It’s Over—Junior Brother Has Recklessly Advanced to the Peak of Foundation Establishment

[Foundation Cultivation Pill: Upon consumption, one can advance one stage in the Foundation Establishment realm without any side effects!] This was the eighth draw in Cao Xuan's ten consecutive draws, yielding a green-grade item.

Having previously taken the Qi Refining Pill, Cao Xuan was mentally prepared for this, so he swallowed it in one gulp.

Nine stages of Qi Refining, three stages of Foundation Establishment.

At first glance, Foundation Establishment seemed to have fewer stages, yet in reality, each stage was divided more finely than Qi Refining. Each stage of Foundation Establishment was split into four sub-realms: Initial Entry, Mid-stage, Late-stage, and Peak. Cao Xuan now found himself at the peak of the late-stage of Foundation Establishment—the twelfth sub-level.

"Gulp—"

He swallowed the Foundation Cultivation Pill, and the "Heavenly Talisman Secret Codex" immediately activated.

"As I expected, this advancement isn't just about spiritual energy and true essence!"

Previously, the Qi Refining Pill had supplied the spiritual energy and true essence needed for his realm. But now, upon consuming the Foundation Cultivation Pill, Cao Xuan sensed three streams of energy entering his body, representing the essence, energy, and spirit required for the Dao Foundation!

Essence and spirit, being internal, manifested less obviously, but the energy—manifest as spiritual qi—was quite palpable.

"Boom—"

A tide of spiritual energy surged and exploded across the body of the Whale-Dragon Vessel.

Whale-dragons were gentle by nature, flying mostly by instinct. Once tamed by a great cultivator of the Xuanhua Dao Sect and imprinted with a route map upon their soul, they would fly along the prescribed path with only minor guidance, making them excellent mounts.

The Whale-Dragon Vessel soared and twisted above the sea of clouds, heading towards Central Province.

The cultivators atop it could not feel any turbulence.

Yet at this moment, they all heard the joyful whale-song, waking from their meditations.

Li Zhiyun, on this rare journey, was not clad in her usual battle armor but instead wore the simple attire of a peak master, flying out directly.

"What happened? Don't tell me the whale-dragon is out of control!"

The peak masters and their personal disciples all gathered on the deck.

Wang Tiefeng, who had crafted beast-controlling rings and similar artifacts, spoke up, familiar with the Whale-Dragon Vessel:

"No, these vessels, with 'vessel' in their name, are already half-artifacts."

"Control lies with the elders of Qingyun Gate in Central Province—at least Nascent Soul, perhaps even Divine Transformation cultivators."

"Even if Eastern Wilderness harbored hidden Nascent Soul monsters, they couldn't cause a disturbance in the Whale-Dragon Vessel!"

Yuan Dan, peak master, closed his eyes and sensed for a moment before saying, "No need to speculate. Someone has broken through to the peak of Foundation Establishment!"

"Because the breakthrough happened atop the whale-dragon, not on a spiritual vein, it must have relied on pills to supplement spiritual energy."

"But even so, the breakthrough stirs the ambient spiritual energy and true essence, which explains why the whale-dragon felt the anomaly and sang out!"

Hearing Yuan Dan's explanation, everyone quickly scanned the crowd to see who was missing.

Before they finished, Senior Sister Li Yao and Peak Master Yu Wan simultaneously said, "It's Junior Brother Cao Xuan (that kid) who broke through!"

"Impossible!" Liu Yu blurted out in disbelief.

Seeing the gazes of the crowd, he quickly shook his folding fan and analyzed,

"Junior Brother Cao—cough, Senior Brother Cao," noticing Li Yao's glare, Liu Yu grumbled, "didn't he only break through to late Foundation Establishment a year ago?"

"Everyone knows advancing each stage in Foundation Establishment isn't just about accumulating spiritual energy!"

"Foundation Establishment is about laying the Dao Foundation, needing simultaneous advancement of essence, energy, and spirit!"

Seeing Li Yao's displeased expression, he quickly waved his hand, "Even if Senior Brother Cao is a genius, he couldn't possibly advance this quickly!"

He chuckled, "Surely you don't believe Senior Brother Cao is as prodigious as Ancestor Immortal Xiang Qiu?"

He had wanted to call her a monster, but remembering Immortal Xiang Qiu was the junior master of several peak masters and his own ancestor, 'monster' felt inappropriate.

"True enough," Jin Tiehua echoed in his honest way.

Then the two realized, awkwardly, that silence had fallen over the crowd.

Wait, why was everyone deep in thought?

As the saying goes, the bystander sees clearly; after Liu Yu's comments, Yu Wan and Li Yao both fell silent.

One had been in secluded cultivation for a year, and upon emerging, was shocked to find Cao Xuan had reached late Foundation Establishment peak, but hadn't given it much thought.

The other had been dual cultivating with Cao Xuan—perhaps not daily, but regularly enough—not noticing any issue with his rapid advancement.

Yu Wan glanced at Li Yao; not only Cao Xuan, but Li Yao's progress was also unreasonably fast—far beyond what their spiritual roots should allow.

Cao Xuan, like herself, possessed nine-forged spiritual roots, but Yao'er’s roots were slightly inferior, being eight-forged.

Even so, in barely a year, Li Yao had reached mid-late Foundation Establishment, only two stages from peak, nearly catching up to Yu Wan.

Thanks to Yuan Dan’s reminder, everyone now sensed the surge of spiritual energy on the whale-dragon and realized Cao Xuan had caught up with the peak masters.

"This is bad!" Yu Wan suddenly exclaimed, "I forgot to warn Cao Xuan—breaking through late Foundation Establishment requires balanced essence, energy, and spirit!"

"Rash advancement, without proper levels of essence and spirit, could cause spiritual energy to go out of control!"

"At worst, the breakthrough fails; at worst, the foundation is damaged, and progress is stalled for years!"

Yu Wan’s words startled the peak masters nearby.

Li Zhiyun was furious: "What kind of master are you? I said from the start you should’ve let me take him!"

"You must have been in seclusion all year, leaving no time to guide Cao Xuan!"

"No matter how talented he is, he needs a teacher; otherwise, why did he become your disciple?"

Yu Wan murmured softly, "I... I never thought he’d advance so quickly!"

Li Yao grew anxious instantly, wanting to rush to Cao Xuan’s cabin, but Yu Wan grabbed her.

Her face went pale as she said, "It’s too late now. He’ll have to rely on himself!"

"Let’s just hope his essence and spirit aren't lacking, and he can master the energy!"

Yu Wan herself lacked confidence—breaking through to Foundation Establishment peak didn’t require perfect balance among essence, energy, and spirit.

But at least they had to be close; she and the other peak masters had spent their seclusion striving to harmonize the three.

But achieving balance was far from easy, for as cultivation deepened, energy continued to rise, and keeping essence and spirit in step was difficult.

The importance of spiritual roots and talent lay in their ability to synchronize the growth of essence, energy, and spirit.

Like Ancestor Immortal Xiang Qiu, who advanced quickly thanks to her heavenly spiritual roots, encountering no bottlenecks.

Liu Yu’s eyes lit up; he quickly raised his folding fan to hide his face, fearing he couldn't suppress his smile and others would see.

"Perspective, remember perspective!" Liu Yu hastily reminded himself.