Chapter 103: The Era of Foundation Establishment Creation
Some rules seem outrageous, but something even more outrageous must have happened behind them.
After Zhang Yunlu returned to her desk with water and sat on the sofa, she inserted the three crystal cards into their respective slots.
The content recorded on one of the chips was quickly read out, projecting a light screen—'Chi Jiuyu's Insights on Establishing a Good Fortune Dao Foundation'.
As the name suggests, these were the insights Chi Jiuyu wrote after establishing her Good Fortune Dao Foundation.
After flipping through for a while, Zhang Yunlu found the content unexpectedly good.
It not only detailed Chi Jiuyu's various feelings after Foundation Establishment, but also compared them with the insights written by other Creation Foundation Establishment cultivators.
The writing was fluid, concise, and to the point.
How should I put it...
The first thought that popped into many people's minds the moment they saw these insights was...
Was this really written by Little Martial Grand-Aunt?
She didn't hire someone to ghostwrite, did she?
However, Zhang Yunlu didn't think that way.
With a gentle tap, the content from another crystal card was also projected, displayed alongside Chi Jiuyu's insights.
This time, it wasn't the insights of a particular Creation Foundation Establishment cultivator, but a miscellaneous essay written by an Elder of the Preaching Hall after summarizing most of the Foundation Establishment insights within the Preaching Hall.
Because the content was much more extensive than Chi Jiuyu's insights, it took her over an hour to finish reading it all.
Without stopping there, Zhang Yunlu took a sip of water and continued to open the book 'On the Three Grades of Foundation Establishment'.
Since they were all books about Foundation Establishment, she planned to read them roughly first, compare the content, and then reread them carefully.
'On the Three Grades of Foundation Establishment', author unknown. This book discusses the origins and cultivation methods of the three types of Foundation Establishment: external objects, Heavenly Dao, and creation.
According to the book, in the very beginning, there were no Foundation Establishment methods using external objects or creation; there was only the Heavenly Dao Foundation, which was perfect Foundation Establishment.
Gathering and refining starlight, sun essence, and moon essence were experiences every cultivator wishing to establish their Foundation had to undergo.
Later, a group of exceptionally talented cultivators emerged and pioneered the Creation Foundation Establishment, a further step beyond the Heavenly Dao Foundation.
Its essence was the principle one comprehended, replacing the effect of 'using brine to curdle tofu' provided by rare heavenly treasures and divine essences, thereby gaining stronger combat power and a longer lifespan.
However, whether it was Heavenly Dao or Creation, both were too difficult, causing the number of cultivators to remain stagnant.
Therefore, the first batch of cultivators who established their Good Fortune Dao Foundation gathered to discuss and created the 'External Object Foundation Establishment Method', which had lower difficulty, slightly reduced combat power, but allowed for further advancement.
During that time, a hundred flowers bloomed, and various strange and bizarre Foundation Establishment methods emerged endlessly.
There was the Divine Ability Foundation Establishment method, which involved condensing a Divine Ability seed and using a powerful Divine Ability to form the Dao Foundation.
The Spirit Seed Foundation Establishment method, where heavenly and earthly spiritual objects were planted within one's body.
And the Demonic Blood Foundation Establishment method, which involved hunting demon beasts and absorbing their essence blood.
However, people later discovered that cultivators using the Demonic Blood Foundation Establishment method would be influenced by the bestiality in the demon beast blood, and in severe cases, would even lose their true selves, so it has been abolished.
Besides the Demonic Blood Foundation Establishment method, some more extreme cultivators also created the extremely cruel Spirit Refining Foundation Establishment method.
Peeling a thousand skins, extracting ten thousand bones, seizing souls and refining spirits, nurturing them in a blood pool, and sitting within it for ninety-nine days to forge the Foundation.
It wasn't until later that the Ancestor of Jishi Valley created the Foundation Establishment Pill.
Cultivators who used the Foundation Establishment Pill for Foundation Establishment not only wouldn't have their future path affected, but the difficulty was also much lower than those strange and bizarre Foundation Establishment methods.
Although their initial combat power was weaker than top-tier Divine Ability Foundation Establishment cultivators, they could compensate through later learning.
In the later stages, their combat power would actually surpass that of Divine Ability Foundation Establishment cultivators with single-method approaches.
It can be said that the appearance of the Foundation Establishment Pill truly ended that absurd era of Foundation Establishment creation.
Even today, the Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid, which has better effects when establishing one's Foundation, is essentially still an improvement based on the Foundation Establishment Pill.
"So that's how it is, Creation Foundation Establishment replaces the effect of 'heavenly and earthly rare treasures and divine essences' with the principles one comprehends," Zhang Yunlu murmured softly as she closed the book, then closed her eyes. "The Era of Foundation Establishment Creation..."
Although it was just a few words in the book, she could imagine the cruelty and absurdity of that era.
There was also something she didn't quite understand: why were the Creation Foundation Establishment cultivators so fixated on increasing the number of cultivators? For them, the road to success was clearly already before them.
She had always enjoyed studying the history of the ancient cultivation world, and after finishing the book, she couldn't help but ponder.
"Is it because of external enemies?"
That seems to be the only possibility.
After resting for a while, she turned her attention to 'New Compilation of the Theory of the Human Body as a Small World'.
"How does it feel?"
Just then, an aged voice suddenly came from beside her ear.
Looking up, she saw that the old woman she had seen earlier had somehow entered and was quietly watching her.
Her wrinkled skin, aged face, and hunched figure made her look no different from any ordinary elderly person.
Zhang Yunlu didn't dare to be negligent and quickly got up, bowing respectfully.
"Senior."
"No need for formalities. After reading 'On the Three Grades of Foundation Establishment', how do you feel?" the old woman continued to ask.
How do I feel?
"......" After pondering for a moment, she still chose to speak the truth. "That was a very absurd yet very admirable era."
"Absurd..." The old woman smiled. She didn't look as amiable as the Sect Leader; in fact, she was a little terrifying. "That was indeed an absurd era."
"But as you said, there were also many admirable people in that era."
The old woman looked up. Unlike her aged appearance, her eyes were very bright.
"What principle have you comprehended?"
The Sword Ancestor brought this little girl back but didn't take her as a Disciple, which is why she had this thought.
Leaving a little girl who has comprehended a principle to grow up on her own like this is truly a waste.
"Disciple..."
"This old one is the Hall Master of the Preaching Hall, you don't need to be nervous." Perhaps seeing her slight nervousness, the old woman said gently.
"The principle Disciple has comprehended is the principle of danger, the meaning of living towards death."
The principle of danger?
The meaning of living towards death?
The Hall Master of the Preaching Hall paused, instantly understanding the reason.
So that's how it is. No wonder the Sword Ancestor didn't take her as a Disciple.
............
Within the Inner Sect's Sword Ancestor Hall.
Xu Xing seemed to sense something and glanced downwards.
"So it's Senior Sister Ji..."
When the Sword Sect was founded back then, besides Xu Xing himself and Bie Xuening, there were also some like-minded Dao Friends who also practiced swordsmanship.
The old woman who met with Zhang Yunlu was one of them.
Because she had lived long enough, she had held most positions within the Sect besides the Sect Leader.
When Xu Xing was in seclusion, she was not yet the Hall Master of the Preaching Hall, but the Hall Master of the Si Lv Hall.
Moreover, she didn't like being in the Inner Sect, feeling it was too desolate.
Compared to cultivators of her generation, she preferred to spend time with some young cultivators.
Unexpectedly, she is now paying attention to Zhang Yunlu.
Second update, there's another chapter later.