Ti flowed like water.
Several months later, a white jade flying boat streaked swiftly across the sea.
On board was none other than Fang Qing, ready to take up his new post.
Thinking back to Elder Tianding’s expression when he had refined Foundation Establishnt Pills and produced three superior-grade ones, Fang Qing still felt the urge to laugh.
‘But I used the excuse of assistance from a third-rank spirit spring and the occasional peak condition to muddle through.’
After all, even Elder Tianding could occasionally produce three superior-grade pills when he was in top form.
It was just that the elder had no idea Fang Qing could guarantee three superior-grade pills every single ti.
‘Back in the Taibai Sea Region again...’
Gazing at the vast azure sea below, Fang Qing could not help rembering the ten-year great war and the Sea-Overturning Turtle from years past.
Not far ahead, an island crowned with snow-capped mountains already lood into view.
It was precisely Taibai Island!
Fang Qing landed his flying boat in front of an ice-and-snow palace. A streak of escaping light imdiately ca to greet him. “Might this be Senior Brother Fang?”
“I am Fang Qing.”
Fang Qing presented his token. “Might this be Senior Brother Yuan, the current guardian?”
“Haha, no need to verify. Since Fellow Daoist can enter the array directly, your identity is clear.”
Senior Brother Yuan was at mid Foundation Establishnt, a white-haired elder with a kindly, benevolent appearance.
Already over a hundred and fifty years old and having survived multiple sect wars, he now cherished his life more than ever.
As a veteran of the sect, he naturally had connections in the upper echelons.
Senior Brother Yuan clearly knew another great war was about to erupt. When the ti ca, the main sect on Verdant Jade Island would be relatively safe, but every outer resource point and island would beco the Sea-Destroying Alliance’s priority targets.
Being able to return to the sect right now was a gain for him, so his attitude was exceptionally warm. He handed over every detail of the duties to Fang Qing, then summoned all the Blue Sea Sect cultivators on the island to pay their respects together.
Inside the ice-and-snow grand hall.
“Junior Brother, the spirit vein here is damaged, so the sect has not planted extensive dicine fields and keeps only a small number of guarding disciples.”
Senior Brother Yuan politely invited Fang Qing to sit before continuing. “Although rumors claim that guarding an outer island is like being the lord of the island with unlimited prestige, on Taibai Island there is hardly any authority to speak of. Only the spirit vein is still decent...”
“Senior Brother Yuan is too kind. I ca here mainly for the spirit spring, since I am an alchemist.”
Fang Qing offered his prepared excuse.
“Oh, right. There is also that third-rank Ice Soul Cold Spring... But Junior Brother, take a word of advice from this senior: the Ice Soul Cold Hearts nurtured inside have already been registered and recorded by the sect. They cannot be touched lightly.”
Senior Brother Yuan reminded him earnestly.
Fang Qing was rendered speechless. ‘What kind of person does he take for?’
Fortunately, at that mont more than a dozen Qi Refining disciples entered the hall, led by a male and female pair of early Foundation Establishnt cultivators.
“Greetings to the guardian.”
They bowed respectfully and also noticed Fang Qing.
One of the female Foundation Establishnt cultivators could not help but freeze slightly.
“Hmm? Junior Brother knows Junior Sister Bei? Junior Sister Bei only succeeded in Foundation Establishnt recently. She used to be a spirit plant cultivator of the sect before being assigned here.”
Senior Brother Yuan smiled.
“We t twice before.”
Fang Qing nodded and looked toward the other male Foundation Establishnt cultivator. This person was nad Ma Xin. He was also an ordinary early Foundation Establishnt cultivator responsible for maintaining the island’s arrays.
He was not from Array Island and only dabbled in array arts. Currently he was rely a quasi second-rank array master.
Still, he was more than enough for daily maintenance.
“Alright, Junior Brother Fang Qing has taken over from . From now on he will be the guardian of this island.”
After a brief introduction, Senior Brother Yuan handed a golden command token to Fang Qing, considered his task complete, and hurriedly departed.
The remaining disciples had already caught wind of the situation. The Qi Refining disciples in particular looked full of panic.
If Taibai Island ca under attack and the array was broken, the Foundation Establishnt elders might still escape by flight, but they would almost certainly die.
“Greetings to the island lord.”
Once Senior Brother Yuan left, Ma Xin and Bei Lingshu led the disciples in bowing again, their words carrying a hint of flattery.
“I am rely the guardian of this island, not so island lord...”
Fang Qing waved his hand. “I’ll trouble Junior Sister Bei to show around the island.”
“Yes.”
Bei Lingshu’s pretty face flushed slightly, which left the nearby Ma Xin sowhat dazed.
“The island’s protective grand array uses the second-rank superior Four Poles Profound Ice Array. This array can nurture extre cold qi and cultivate ice soul illusory spirits. The key point is that it consus very little of the spirit vein...”
Bei Lingshu led Fang Qing up to a high platform and pointed out the island’s landscape.
Not only that, but the sect had dismantled the original third-rank grand array that once belonged to the Zhong Clan, clearly to prevent any future guardian from using it to establish their own territory.
Fang Qing nodded inwardly upon seeing it, then arrived at a dicine field.
The field grew many cold-attribute spiritual herbs.
“This is the sect’s dicine field. Only ten mu have been opened... The most precious among them is a patch of cold moon grass...”
“This dicine field is under my care...”
“The cave dwellings for Foundation Establishnt cultivators are on the main peak of the ice-and-snow palace. All of them can enjoy second-rank superior spiritual qi. If the guardian requires it, Senior Brother Ma can secretly adjust the array to provide quasi third-rank spiritual qi...”
Bei Lingshu introduced everything with great care and enthusiasm.
“Hmm, not bad...”
Fang Qing stood with his hands behind his back and suddenly asked, “Has Miao Yifan, who ca with you, succeeded in Foundation Establishnt?”
“Miao... Senior Nephew Miao has already attempted Foundation Establishnt once, but unfortunately failed.”
Bei Lingshu shook her head, as if recalling sothing unpleasant.
“So that’s how it is.”
Fang Qing said nothing. This was exactly what he had expected.
Having offended a titan of Pill Island and facing such imnse pressure, it was only natural for one’s mind to waver during Foundation Establishnt, sharply lowering the odds of success.
If soone could turn that pressure into drive and break through while carrying such weight, then they would be a true Dao seed.
Unfortunately, Miao Yifan was not.
“By the way, he once offered a longevity fruit to Elder Tianding. Did he not manage to exchange it for a second Foundation Establishnt Pill?”
Fang Qing recalled another detail.
“Senior Nephew Miao suffered heavy injuries inside a secret realm that damaged his foundation... What he exchanged from Senior Brother Tianding were various healing spiritual dicines along with one Foundation Establishnt spiritual item. It’s said he used them all during this attempt, yet he still failed...”
Bei Lingshu sighed.
“So that’s how it is...”
Fang Qing did not care much about a re Qi Refining disciple. Whether the other party could even survive the upcoming great war was still uncertain.
On the other hand, there was Xiang Dahu. He had only been at Qi Refining eighth layer before and was still bitterly cultivating, striving to reach Foundation Establishnt as soon as possible.
With his foundation, once he broke through to Qi Refining ninth layer, he would not even need to wait for great perfection. He could swallow the Foundation Establishnt Pill and be guaranteed a hundred percent success.
After all, the man was a bright seed, and a spot had already been reserved for him.
“Alright, I will go see that Ice Soul Cold Spring myself. You need not follow.”
Fang Qing arrived at a certain spot in the dicine garden, waved for Bei Lingshu to withdraw, then entered the underground palace and saw the Ice Soul Cold Spring that nurtured the Ice Soul Cold Hearts.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The surrounding cavern walls shimred with multicolored light. At the bottom of the cold spring sat seven tiny Ice Soul Cold Hearts.
“Looks like these were newly cultivated by the sect after the last ti. Only first-rank level...”
He shook his head, converted his entire body’s [Ji Water] mana, and began sensing every property of this third-rank spirit spring.
“What an excellent cold spring... The spirituality here actually surpasses even the one at the sect.”
A mont later, Fang Qing opened his eyes, a trace of delight rising within them.
One month later.
Beside the Ice Soul Cold Spring.
Fang Qing ford hand seals with both hands, condensing an extre-cold ice dragon whose mouth held several pills glowing with rich blue light.
He was using the second-rank demon core of the Four-ard Crocodile Dragon to refine Foundation Establishnt Pills.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The cold wind howled, then abruptly ceased.
With a wave of his hand, three ice dragons ca before him and spat out three Foundation Establishnt Pills.
“Three pills ford... Hmm?”
He extended two fingers and picked up one of the pills.
This particular pill was not only slightly larger than the other two but also released a strange, unusual fragrance.
“A superior-grade Foundation Establishnt Pill? Two regular-grade and one superior-grade? Is this because my pill-refining arts have advanced again, or is it thanks to this Ice Soul Cold Spring?”
Joy surged in Fang Qing’s heart.
A superior-grade Foundation Establishnt Pill could raise a Qi Refining cultivator’s chance of breaking through by nearly forty percent. It was a priceless treasure.
But for a Foundation Establishnt cultivator, it was rely average...
Several months later.
At the edge of the Ice Soul Cold Spring.
Fang Qing circulated the qi-gathering incantation and collected the final wisp of Cavern Spring Clear Qi!
“I didn’t expect the qi-gathering progress to be this fast.”
“But it makes sense. After all, this is a third-rank underground spirit spring, and my cultivation is far deeper now... How could it compare to when I was still a mortal or at Qi Refining?”
He murmured, gazing at the complete strand of Cavern Spring Clear Qi before him. He silently dispersed all his mana, transforming it into rolling primordial qi. Then he opened his mouth and inhaled, ingesting the true qi and circulating the Listening to the Mysterious Cavern Spring Scripture.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
...
Inside the underground cavern, a sudden fierce cold wind erupted.
Everything flowed with extre familiarity. The true qi circulated throughout his body and generated a wisp of [Ji Water] mana in his dantian.
“As expected of a Purple Mansion technique and seventh-rank true qi... The quality of this wisp of [Ji Water] mana far surpasses anything from the Observation of the Black Mausoleum Book...”
Fang Qing savored it silently for a mont. The Dao-Genesis Pearl spun rapidly, pouring a massive amount of primordial qi into his dantian to nurture and strengthen that wisp of [Ji Water] mana.
Qi Ingestion second layer, third layer... ninth layer!
Then, the mysterious qi originally converted from his Dao Foundation descended, transforming into a brand-new Dao Foundation—the Wind-Positioned Dao Foundation!
“This Immortal Foundation is the manifestation of the wind of [Ji Water]. It is water traveling the Ji vein, wind arriving at its position, pine waves responding in harmony, springs singing through ravines and valleys, naturally transforming, leopard changes revealing virtue...”
Whoosh! Whoosh!
A gentle breeze blew past. Fang Qing felt as if he himself had turned into a wisp of clear wind, rging seamlessly into the breeze.
Figures began appearing within the cavern—one turning into three, three into nine...
Then they filled the sky with human shadows until it beca impossible to tell which was the true body and which were shadow bodies.
“The Xun Wind Shadowless Escape has been directly cultivated by to the third layer, even touching upon the fourth layer at Core Formation. I have gained quite a bit of comprehension in true wind escape arts...”
In an instant, the countless figures converged, revealing Fang Qing’s true body.
He trod upon the wind, his escape speed astonishing. Occasionally he rged into the wind and appeared elsewhere, almost like instantaneous movent.
Even more terrifying was how, inside the narrow underground cavern, his figure twisted and turned freely without being hindered by the countless stalactites.
“Not bad, not bad... With this wind escape art at my side, ordinary Core Formation cultivators would not be able to stop ...”
“Now that I have ford the ‘Wind-Positioned’ Dao Foundation, I am probably no different from those wind-attribute spirit body cultivators...”
“The most crucial point is that even if I switch back to the Blue Sea Technique’s mana, my comprehension and realm in this art will not regress. At most, it will simply be less nimble to execute than right now...”
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