The Array’s full na was the Seven Stars Life Extension and Calamity Relief Array. Its purpose was to extend life and avert calamities, to cheat death and increase one’s lifespan. Among the various secret techniques Zhao Liangde had taught him, this was the Array Fang Qingyuan had finally chosen after much consideration.
Fang Qingyuan wanted to live for a very long ti, so he had forgone the possibility of awakening Talents in other areas to focus solely on increasing his lifespan.
Even so, there was a good chance the resulting Lifebound Talent wouldn’t be exactly what he hoped for. Regardless, it would at least be geared toward extending his life.
Previously, a Cultivator from the Huo Family had used this Array to awaken a Lifebound Talent that extended their life by 170 years. With only a Foundation Establishnt cultivation base, they had managed to outlive a Golden Core expert of the sa generation. They had gotten incredibly lucky.
Fang Qingyuan wasn’t greedy; an extra century of life would be more than enough. Surpassing the average sixty-year extension was all he asked for. The only sha was that this wondrous opportunity to awaken a Lifebound Talent only occurred when breaking through from Qi Cultivation to Foundation Establishnt. Future advancents would only allow one’s existing Talent to evolve and grow; it was impossible to generate a new one.
As the Seven-Star Everlasting Lamp began to glow, Fang Qingyuan knew it was ti. With a re thought, he summoned the Five-Colored Blood Pearl from his Immortal Mansion. He had wanted to examine the swirling drop a little longer, but by the ti he ca to his senses, his hand was already empty.
The astonishing surge of Spiritual Power from his stomach instantly told Fang Qingyuan that he had swallowed it unconsciously.
With things as they were, Fang Qingyuan stopped overthinking. He closed his eyes, sat cross-legged, and began to circulate the *True Manual of the Five Spirits Transforming Baleful Qi and Refining the Form*. He frantically absorbed the surrounding Spiritual Power, pushing his already suprely pure Magical Power to transform into a new state of existence.
The Five-Colored Blood Pearl in his stomach now felt like a burning coal. As a staggering amount of energy erupted from it, Fang Qingyuan’s entire body felt as if it were ablaze in a furnace. The heat instantly shot through every inch of him, turning his skin beet red. Imdiately after, an itching numbness spread across his body.
At first, it was barely perceptible, but it soon grew more and more intense, even beginning to penetrate deep into his bone marrow, as if countless ants were gnawing at him.
At this ti, the Spiritual Power in Fang Qingyuan’s body circulated faster and faster, and the Spiritual Pressure grew greater and greater. Not only were his ridians under imnse pressure, but his body also felt as if it were on the verge of exploding.
anwhile, the Power of Lifespan generated by the Seven-Star Lamp, channeled through the Array on the floor, began to coalesce. It flowed toward its source, surging into Fang Qingyuan’s body.
It was like adding fuel to the fire. The chaotic energies erupted with such force that Fang Qingyuan nearly blacked out. However, his powerful soul forcibly kept him lucid, allowing him to consciously direct the energies with his Soul Power and guide them to where they needed to go.
But the pain was too much. Fang Qingyuan had never experienced such agony. It wasn’t just his physical body being torn and crushed; the pain also emanated from the very depths of his soul. On several occasions, he felt he was on the verge of giving up.
But whenever he was about to give up, a surge of power would flow from his Immortal Mansion, preserving his final shred of clarity and allowing him to persevere.
’Why is Foundation Establishnt so arduous? If it’s like this, how do other Cultivators ever break through successfully?’
The question surfaced in his mind, but he cast it aside in an instant. He had no ti to dwell on such things. All his focus had to be on reining in his Magical Power.
In truth, Fang Qingyuan had no idea that the pain and suffering he was enduring far exceeded that of others by countless tis. The primary cause was the Five-Colored Blood Pearl.
Even the most resilient Cultivator would not survive this ordeal. But Fang Qingyuan, with the help of his Immortal Mansion, could.
As ti ticked by, the imnse Spiritual Pressure continuously compressed the Magical Power in Fang Qingyuan’s body. It grew denser and denser, gradually taking on a liquid-like quality...
The transformation was a long process. As his body was reforged, his soul was able to spare more Soul Power to investigate the Five-Colored Blood Pearl within him. But the mont his Divine Sense made contact with the Blood Pearl, an illusory image filled his senses. For a mont, it even snapped him out of his agony, and he could only stare blankly at the figure.
It was a Divine Bird, its tail feathers shimring with a Five-Colored Light. With wings so vast they blotted out the sky, it journeyed through the endless void. After an unknown amount of ti, a faint, illusory world appeared in the distance, and the Divine Bird charged straight for it.
The next mont, however, a streak of sword light flashed by. The Divine Bird cried out in sorrow, shedding a veritable ocean of five-colored blood. Then, with a flicker, it vanished without a trace.
Fang Qingyuan’s perspective didn’t vanish with the Divine Bird. Instead, it rged with the ocean of blood, continuing toward the illusory world. As he arrived before it, an overwhelming sense of familiarity washed over him. But the feeling lasted only an instant before it was shattered by another flash of sword light.
The sword light gathered all the five-colored blood and was about to retreat, but several other phantoms erged from the void. There was a to, the gleam of a saber, and a colossal dragon. They all sward in, forcibly snatching away a significant portion of the blood from the sword light’s grasp.
The sword light seed to grow furious, and a great battle erupted between the powers. Fang Qingyuan’s perspective didn’t linger on the fight; it continued onward toward the world. Finally, it passed through a barrier and landed inside a dark piece of ore, after which there was only endless darkness.
.....
"Fang Qingyuan! Wake up!"
A thunderous shout pulled Fang Qingyuan from the endless darkness. He opened his eyes to see Lechuan and Zhao Liangde standing over him. The array stones he had placed were now scattered across the floor. In the doorway, Situ Jingyu’s massive fra took up most of the space, squeezing Jinbao to one side. Poor Zhang Yuan was only able to peek his head through.
Just then, Heiye, who was nearby, used its tail to offer a bowl filled with a spiritual-power-infused dicinal liquid to Fang Qingyuan.
"What happened to ?"
The words ca out raspy and hoarse, as if he hadn’t spoken in so long his vocal cords had stuck together. He subconsciously scanned his body with his Divine Sense and discovered it passed straight through his skin, allowing him to see inside himself.
’I can see inside myself! This is sothing only possible at the Foundation Establishnt realm... Have I reached Foundation Establishnt?’
Only then did it hit him. As if waking from a long dream, he stared at the crowd before him, then promptly collapsed.
As three people cried out in alarm, Heiye helplessly stuck out a paw to support Fang Qingyuan’s back while simultaneously using its tail to pour the dicinal liquid into his mouth.
Seeing Zhao Liangde preparing to slap him a few tis to bring him to his senses, Fang Qingyuan quickly grabbed the bowl and said,
"Grandmaster, Martial Uncle, I’m alright! I’m alright."
"You’ve been in seclusion for a year! My master and I were afraid you had rotted inside, so we opened the Array to check. And look at you, sleeping so soundly. What on earth happened? If we hadn’t co, were you going to starve to death in there? If word of this got out, a Foundation Establishnt Cultivator starving to death right after his breakthrough... you would beco the biggest joke in the Beast Taming Sect for the last thousand years!"
Zhao Liangde’s sarcastic tirade made Fang Qingyuan’s face flush with embarrassnt. While drinking the restorative elixir, he wracked his brain for a response. ’The vision from the five-colored blood was too stunning. I can’t just talk about it. The only way out is to bla this on awakening my Lifebound Talent. Please, I just hope my Talent isn’t complete garbage.’
And so, Fang Qingyuan extended his Divine Sense into his Sea of Consciousness—a place he had only ever heard of but never visited—to inspect his new Lifebound Talent. The next mont, he was utterly stunned...
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