Xuantian Immortal Cultivation Record

Zhang Yuanjing felt as if he were in a long, drawn-out nightmare. Countless ferocious beasts with sharp teeth and terrifying faces tore at his body, ripping him to shreds. Then, he would return to his original state, only to be torn apart by the beasts again, repeating the cycle endlessly.

Each time, he clearly felt the extreme and intense pain. He wished he were dead, wailing loudly, but he could only open his mouth without uttering any sound.

After enduring countless "tortures," Zhang Yuanjing finally woke up half a month later.

His eyes were glazed over, and he stared blankly at the furnishings in his cave, feeling no familiarity at all, as if the entire world had suddenly been separated from him.

Then came the intense pain all over his body, as if all his muscles and bones had been shattered. He tried to mobilize the spiritual power in his dantian, but he fainted from the pain as soon as he started.

Three more days passed, and Zhang Yuanjing woke up again. He sat blankly in confusion for a long time before finally remembering the reason for his last coma. He dared not mobilize his spiritual power again. Instead, he took out several pills for treating internal and external injuries from his storage bag and swallowed them whole. Then, he barely managed to lie on his side, waiting for the medicinal effects to dissolve on their own.

Another ten days passed like this. The inhuman pain of being torn apart finally subsided. Although there was still some discomfort, it was no longer a major problem. At this point, Zhang Yuanjing dared to slowly mobilize his spiritual power and examine the condition of his meridians.

"This is… Marrow Cleansing!"

Zhang Yuanjing was shocked to discover that his dantian had expanded more than threefold, and his meridians had also widened by two times. The spiritual power flowing within his body appeared extremely thin, like a semi-transparent thread that seemed about to break.

Checking his cultivation level, he found that he was still only at the early stage of Foundation Establishment, and it seemed as if he had just entered the early stage, no longer at the peak of the early stage before the breakthrough.

Zhang Yuanjing couldn't help but smile bitterly.

The expansion of meridians was a rare blessing. Although it would slow down the progress of cultivation, compared to other cultivators of the same level, the transportation of spiritual power would be both faster and stronger, and the ability to withstand impact would far exceed the ordinary. Whether in battle or cultivation, he would be several times better.

However, for him now, it was like trying to quench a thirst with distant water. What he needed was to break through the realm and increase his lifespan. Only with lifespan could he have a future.

He kept shaking his head, muttering to himself incoherently. He was greatly disappointed with this result.

If he succeeded, everything would naturally be fine. If he failed, he would surely die. When a person dies, it is like a lamp extinguished, without knowledge or awareness, and there would be no need to suffer anymore.

But now, he was neither dead nor alive, neither up nor down. What was he to do! After this incident, all his will and courage had been exhausted. How dare he try again! Even if he dared to think and do it, he didn't have another Golden Scale Fruit.

"Alas, it seems this is my fate. I should go see Senior Brother Yuan Kui one last time, and then go to that small mountain village to see if I can bury this old bone in my hometown," Zhang Yuanjing thought with deep sorrow.

After taking a few steps, he also noticed that his height seemed to have increased, from the original five feet six inches to more than six feet. His body had also become thicker, giving him a somewhat burly appearance. He couldn't help but shake his head and laugh at himself.

Then, he cast a spell to clean the bloodstains on his body, only to find that there was a thick, black, foul-smelling substance among them. His heart stirred, and he remembered that many heavenly materials and earthly treasures often had the effect of rejuvenating youth and prolonging life during marrow cleansing.

So, he quickly found a bronze mirror and carefully looked at the skin on his face. Sure enough, his skin had not only become radiant and bright, but it was also completely free of the "Qi Exhaustion Spots" that Guo Yuanmeng had exclaimed about before. This meant that his remaining lifespan exceeded one-tenth, and he had at least another twenty years to live.

He was overjoyed! Twenty years, perhaps there was still a chance. After thinking about it, his top priority was to seek help from Wu Yuankui. So, he took out the sound transmission jade and sent a message to Wu Yuankui, requesting to see him. Wu Yuankui's reply was only two words: Come quickly.

When he arrived at the Hanling Hall, he only exchanged a few brief greetings with Lin Yuancang before quickly walking into the left hall under the guidance of Li Zhengfeng.

"I need to go out for a trip. What do you need, say it quickly!" Wu Yuankui was dressed in a white robe, wore a scholar's cap, and had a jade fan hanging from his waist, looking just like a scholar in a mortal kingdom.

Seeing this, Zhang Yuanjing didn't waste words and quickly told him the important parts of his situation.

"Well, not bad," Wu Yuankui nodded in approval as he listened. He was quite surprised that Zhang Yuanjing dared to break through on his own without his protection, and that he had even survived.

"Your luck is really good! Of course, it also has to do with your lifelong hard work in cultivating earth-attribute techniques. Your physical body is much stronger than that of ordinary cultivators."

Then, the expression on his face became serious, and he asked very earnestly, "I know why you've come, are you sure you still have twenty years of life to use?"

Zhang Yuanjing was stunned, not understanding why Wu Yuankui would adopt such a solemn attitude.

"In your situation, there is no other way except to take a large number of high-quality pills to quickly build up your cultivation to its peak state, and then strive for a chance to break through."

Wu Yuankui said in a deep voice, half explaining and half reminding, "The only pill I have here that is suitable for you is the Bitter Essence Pill. This pill is extremely precious, and it is refined by the alchemist in the sect's pill chamber, not my own. Therefore, once it is used on you, it must be effective, otherwise, I would be putting personal interests above public duty!"

Zhang Yuanjing was somewhat surprised. In the past, when Wu Yuankui gave him pills and spiritual objects, no matter where they came from, he had never said such a thing. There was something unusual about this.

However, he had no time to think too much. He simply replied in a very affirmative tone, "Sect Leader, don't worry, how could I deceive you? My lifespan will definitely not be less than twenty years."

Wu Yuankui nodded and said, "That's what I want to hear."

Although he was the Sect Leader, he could not decide everything with a single word. There were still several people in the sect who could check and balance him.

Especially in recent years, the situation in Mount Shumi had become somewhat tense, requiring the mobilization of the sect's high-level forces to fight. Some people had taken the opportunity to criticize him, including matters involving Zhang Yuanjing. In these troubled times, he had to be cautious.

Wu Yuankui reached out and placed his hand above Zhang Yuanjing's dantian, using his own mana to probe the situation inside his body.

After more than ten breaths, he withdrew his hand and a smile appeared on his face:

"Not bad, this Golden Scale Fruit is indeed a rare treasure for cleansing the body of demon beasts. The marrow cleansing effect is quite outstanding. In the future, if we get this fruit again, we can use it to help young disciples with solid foundations and outstanding talents to strengthen their physical bodies. With your current body, cultivation will definitely be much faster than before, and the chances of breaking through bottlenecks will also be greatly increased. As long as you can eliminate distractions and focus on cultivation, twenty years is enough!"

With that, he took out three two-inch-tall cyan jade bottles and said solemnly, "These are three bottles of fifteen Bitter Essence Pills. The medicinal power of this pill is overbearing and cannot be taken by those who have not undergone marrow cleansing. The refinement of the medicinal power is quite slow. It usually takes about a year and a half from taking a pill to completely absorbing it.

With your dantian and meridians, it will probably take about a year. Therefore, you must remember to take one pill at least a year apart. Otherwise, you will definitely damage your meridians, delay your cultivation progress, and suffer more than you gain."

Zhang Yuanjing's hands trembled slightly as he carefully took the three jade bottles, nodding repeatedly, "I understand, I will definitely follow Senior Brother's instructions and never blindly seek speed."

After saying goodbye to Wu Yuankui and leaving Hanling Hall, he told Lin Yuancang, who was seeing him off, about his recent situation.

Lin Yuancang was also very happy and told him not to rush, but to just proceed steadily and surely, and he would definitely be able to break through the bottleneck.

Zhang Yuanjing returned to his cave and began to cultivate in seclusion.

In the process of a cultivator's cultivation, Foundation Establishment is a very important step.

Foundation Establishment, as the name suggests, is like laying the foundation before building a house. The more solid the foundation, the stronger the house.

How far a cultivator can go on the path of cultivation is determined by many factors, but whether the foundation is solid is the most basic one.

There are thousands of cultivation techniques in the cultivation world, but all the techniques that truly point to the Great Dao attach importance to Foundation Establishment. Many techniques even regard Foundation Establishment as the first step, and true cultivation often begins with Foundation Establishment.

Before Foundation Establishment, cultivators must go through the accumulation stage of Qi Refining.

The Qi Refining realm is divided into thirteen levels, focusing on developing the potential of spiritual roots by absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, so as to condense enough pure spiritual power within a limited lifespan, open the barrier between the dantian and the Purple Palace, and combine the acquired spiritual power with the innate vitality brought from the mother's womb, thereby transforming the spiritual power of the whole body into mana containing innate vitality. In this way, one can enter the Foundation Establishment realm and begin to shape a Purple Palace dantian that can store, refine, and transport higher-level spiritual power in large quantities.

However, breaking through the barrier between the dantian and the Purple Palace is extremely difficult. In recent times, no cultivator has been heard of who has opened the blockage on their own through Qi Refining. They all rely on pills to instantly increase the quantity and quality of spiritual power, and successfully break through in one fell swoop. This kind of pill is the Foundation Establishment Pill, known as the "Number One Pill for Breaking Through the Mortal and Ascending to Immortality."

When a cultivator enters the Foundation Establishment realm, they undergo the Three Refinements of Foundation Establishment: the Lower Refinement of the Purple Palace, the Middle Refinement of the Middle Court, and the Upper Refinement of the Mud Pill.

The early stage of Foundation Establishment focuses on developing the Purple Palace, expanding capacity and increasing volume, strengthening meridians and expanding vessels, and cultivating the origin and consolidating the foundation. When the cultivator's Purple Palace and the main meridians for circulating Qi are strong enough, they can muster a pure spiritual power, rush along the main meridian of the body straight to the Middle Court, and guide the Purple Palace's spiritual power to wash and refine the muscles, bones, skin, and membranes, strengthening the physical body, with the Middle Court as the base camp.

As long as spiritual power enters the Middle Court, one is considered to have entered the middle stage of Foundation Establishment. When the physical body is strong enough, the pure spiritual power will then go straight up along the meridians, breaking through blockages and obstacles, and entering the Mud Pill Palace in the brain, cultivating a bit of spiritual soul that is between the acquired and the innate.

As long as the Mud Pill is opened, one is in the late stage of Foundation Establishment. If that bit of spiritual soul is condensed, one can enter the False Core realm, and the Golden Core Great Dao is just around the corner.

Zhang Yuanjing's dantian meridian strength had already exceeded the early stage of Foundation Establishment, lacking only that one pure spiritual power. Therefore, as long as the spiritual power was sufficient to fill the dantian, he could enter the middle stage in one breath.

With his dantian capacity and cultivation aptitude, if he only used the low-grade or middle-grade Spirit Gathering Powder commonly used by Foundation Establishment cultivators, he would not be able to refine that pure spiritual power without thirty to fifty years. However, with the Bitter Essence Pill given by Wu Yuankui, this time would be greatly shortened.

Zhang Yuanjing meditated quietly for several months, adjusting his spiritual power to its optimal state, and then began to take the first Bitter Essence Pill.

This Bitter Essence Pill was blackish-green all over and only the size of a broad bean. After swallowing it, it turned into a ball of fire, burning fiercely, scorching Zhang Yuanjing's muscles, bones, and Qi channels red inside and out.

However, apart from the initial moment of intense pain, Zhang Yuanjing hardly felt any pain. After about a dozen breaths, he felt a burst of numbness all over his body, feeling extremely comfortable.

The medicinal liquid dissolved from the Bitter Essence Pill had been transformed into vast spiritual power, colliding violently in his dantian. If his dantian was still as shallow, small, and fragile as before, it might have burst open with this impact.

The tough dantian wall steadily withstood the impact of the massive spiritual power, forcing it to flow into the meridians.

The meridians were thick and strong, and the surging spiritual power could not cause the slightest wave, obediently running along the path of the Yellow Dragon Qi Condensation Technique. After a great cycle, a small part of it returned to the dantian, turning into mellow earth spiritual power. At the same time, a large part of the spiritual power transformed from the Bitter Essence Pill remained unrefined.

He calculated the time and found that this great cycle took exactly ten days, while before, it took him a month to circulate the energy for a great cycle. This meant that his speed of absorbing spiritual power would be shortened by two times.

Zhang Yuanjing suppressed his excitement and continued to urge his mana, running another great cycle, refining a small part of the remaining medicinal power of the Bitter Essence Pill.

In this way, after five months of meditation and fifteen great cycles, he finally absorbed all the medicinal power of this Bitter Essence Pill.

This time was far less than Wu Yuankui's estimated one year, and Zhang Yuanjing couldn't help but feel a little uneasy, worrying that he might have rushed too fast and left hidden dangers.

Therefore, he did not dare to take the second Bitter Essence Pill immediately. Instead, he circulated his energy as usual as in previous seclusions. It wasn't until a month later, when he found nothing abnormal and felt that the refined spiritual power had perfectly integrated into the dantian, that he swallowed the second Bitter Essence Pill.

In this way, refining one Bitter Essence Pill every six months, after seven and a half years, all fifteen Bitter Essence Pills were transformed into heavy earth spiritual power.

His cultivation was like a small pond experiencing a rainstorm, rising little by little at a visible speed, filling the small pond to the brim.

Zhang Yuanjing had no joy or sorrow, and continued to circulate his cultivation technique. The spiritual power flowed tirelessly, and a strand of pure Qi gradually took shape, flying like a swimming dragon in the flowing spiritual power.

He internally visualized this "dragon" of spiritual Qi. It seemed to sense his intention, and then leaped forcefully. He heard a soft "click" in the Middle Court acupoint between his chest and abdomen. This pure Qi, tempered thousands of times, broke through layers of obstacles and entered the Middle Court.

Zhang Yuanjing finally advanced to the middle stage of Foundation Establishment when he was exactly two hundred years old.