The stock of Spirit Gathering Pill ingredients was running low, and Gu Ze had nearly used it all up in just one day.
He gained a whole new understanding of just how impoverished Biluo Peak really was.
As Gu Ze focused intently on pill refinement, Li Xunmiao sat quietly to the side, her gaze fixed on his profile, little feet swinging lightly—never once seeming bored.
After finishing the pills, he gave half of the Spirit Gathering Pills to Li Xunmiao. He was just about to tally up today’s consumption when, out of the corner of his Storage Bag, he suddenly noticed a small black-and-white ball wobble.
Foundation.
The Primal Chaos Qi that Immortal Lord Fuxu had given him had finally matured.
Gu Ze took it out. In the center of the black-and-white orb, a wisp of pale gray turbid air was flowing.
Li Xunmiao looked on with curiosity, gently poking the ball’s soft shell with her fingernail.
Before she could ask, Gu Ze took the initiative to explain: “This is a wisp of Primal Chaos Qi. I intend to use it as the material for my Foundation Establishment, to forge my Dao Foundation.”
“Primal Chaos Qi… I remember reading that this is an impurity that can’t be absorbed or refined,” Li Xunmiao recalled from something she’d seen in a Shuxue.
With Qingquan gone, she had to study much of this on her own.
Ancient books recorded that Primal Chaos Qi was an impurity that had existed since primordial times, ever since the world’s inception, and could not be absorbed or refined.
Senior Brother Gu actually planned to use this for Foundation Establishment. This wasn’t just a matter of overturning common knowledge—it was a challenge to the very truths handed down by cultivators through the ages.
“Then I want to use Primal Chaos Qi for my Foundation Establishment too!” Li Xunmiao’s eyes shone, clearly intending to walk this thorny path alongside Gu Ze.
But Gu Ze immediately shook his head and refused, raising his hand to gently tousle Li Xunmiao’s hair. “You have a much more stable option. It’s far more reliable than Primal Chaos Qi.”
Li Xunmiao pouted her rosy lips and leaned her face into Gu Ze’s big palm, squinting as she nuzzled her delicate cheek against it.
“All right then, I’ll follow Senior Brother Gu’s arrangements.”
This junior sister really was obedient.
Gu Ze breathed a sigh of relief—fortunately, Li Xunmiao wasn’t too interested in the Primal Chaos Qi.
Otherwise, if it ended up affecting her Foundation Establishment chance or even interfering with her future Xiuxian path, it would hardly be worth it.
A cultivator’s Foundation Establishment was much like laying the foundation of a building.
Foundation Establishment marked the moment when a cultivator, having completed the basic Qi Refinement stage and gathered some spiritual energy in their body, was ready to forge the foundation that would allow them to stand firm in this world.
Without a proper Dao Foundation for support, what hope was there for seeking Gold Core or Yuan Ying? Foundation Establishment was the basis of the Xiuxian path.
Qi Refinement could be abolished and started over, but once Foundation Establishment was complete and the Dao Foundation formed, there was no turning back.
A cultivator could choose only one material for their Foundation Establishment in their lifetime—almost no chance for a second try.
There were three paths for Foundation Establishment in this world: Heavenly Path Foundation, Earthly Path Foundation, and Human Path Foundation.
Heavenly Path Foundation used a part of the world itself or some innate object as the base. Unless the world itself underwent dramatic changes, the foundation was unshakable and allowed one to stand firmly in the Xiuxian world.
With this kind of foundation, a cultivator could sense the heavens and earth. Cultivation and breakthroughs seemed blessed, as if everything came naturally.
Of course, this also required extraordinary talent and luck. Heaven and earth would hardly hand over a part of themselves so easily to a cultivator.
Unless, of course, that person was Li Xunmiao.
Earthly Path Foundation, on the other hand, used rare spiritual materials or natural treasures periodically nurtured by the world as the foundation.
Though not part of heaven and earth themselves, these were still natural products of the world and were easier to obtain.
Cultivators with Earthly Path Foundation could also connect with spiritual energy, greatly increasing their hopes of achieving Gold Core in the future.
Human Path Foundation relied on Foundation Establishment Pills and used medicines to build the base.
Its ceiling was low, and it could not sense heaven and earth, making Gold Core out of reach.
For most cultivators who’d reached the peak of Qi Refinement, unless truly desperate or talentless—or uninterested in pursuing the dream of Gold Core or Immortal Lord—very few chose the Human Path Foundation.
In Gu Ze’s memory, Li Xunmiao’s Heavenly Path Foundation was many times more powerful than those of ordinary prodigies.
At least in this world, Gu Ze couldn’t think of any Foundation Establishment that could compare to Li Xunmiao’s.
As for his Primal Chaos Qi… who knew if this experimental idea of Fuxu’s would even succeed?
After a busy day, Gu Ze finished refining and placing the Primal Chaos Qi, then sat cross-legged, ready to resume his daytime cultivation.
But then, a flash of white light swept past, and when Gu Ze looked around, he found himself transformed into a wisp of pure white soul fire again.
Could the Wan Hua Soul Nourishing Fire have some special effect, bringing him back into this dreamlike world?
Gu Ze entered the pitch-black, mysterious space again, this time taking the initiative to fly toward the flickering flames scattered around.
Yet as those flames sensed his presence, they all scattered, swiftly opening a path.
It seemed… they feared this wisp of soul fire.
Gu Ze circled the edge of the space. The borders were sealed by the void; other than the floating flames, there was nothing—not a single person in sight.
He slowly approached the center of the space. If he remembered right, last time he’d seen a person there.
In this soul fire form, he could do nothing, nor could he cultivate.
If he could communicate with that person, he might as well ask what this place was.
While he pondered, the petite figure appeared in his vision again.
She sat cross-legged in the space’s center, directionless, and as Gu Ze drew near, the sound of sobbing gradually grew clearer.
Gu Ze didn’t speak right away, instead flying around the girl.
She was tiny and delicate, her face even younger than Li Xunmiao’s. Paired with those crystalline, tear-filled eyes, she looked heartbreakingly pitiful.
Her dainty nose, tinged pink from crying, stirred a strong sense of wanting to protect her.
The girl lifted her jet-black eyes, landing them on the incongruous white flame.
Gu Ze pretended to float away indifferently, but the girl’s gaze immediately followed him.
“Wuuu…” She shed a few more tears.
Gu Ze circled once and floated back to the girl. “Don’t cry. What is this place, and what are you doing here?”
His voice came from within the soul fire.
Without a physical body, his voice sounded quite different from his real one.
“Huh? You can talk? This is Bixian’s tribulation ground. Wait… did you come from the outside?” The girl blinked, full of curiosity.
Even though she’d been crying the whole time, there wasn’t the slightest hint of sadness in her eyes.
“Something like that. But first, tell me why you’re always crying.”
“It’s not like Bixian wants to cry. If I stop, the flames here will get closer. To shed enough tears to keep the fire at bay, I’ve recalled every sad memory from my three hundred years of life.” The girl replied softly, flicking a tear from her eye.
“Flames?” Only then did Gu Ze notice that the surrounding flames were always inching toward the girl, only to sizzle out when they hit a teardrop.
If Gu Ze touched the tears, they simply passed through his soul fire without effect.
“This is Bixian’s heavenly tribulation. When all these million tribulation fires are extinguished, Bixian will attain Dao and break through. But you… who are you? How did you get here? Don’t tell me… you’re that little thief?”
No sooner had she finished, the surroundings darkened.
Gu Ze snapped awake, jolting out of the dream.
Tribulation ground? A million tribulation fires? And she called him “little thief”?
Could it be, that white-haired beauty was Qingquan?!
Qingquan was always shrouded in purple qi, her face hidden. Previously, Lian Yue had joked about turning into Qingquan, and Gu Ze regretted not letting her, so he could have seen Qingquan’s true appearance.
If that white-haired girl really was Qingquan… the gap between her and Gu Ze’s imagined image was far too great. He’d always pictured Qingquan as a heroic, cool older sister matching her bold personality.
But the truth: the strongest Gold Core was… a white-haired loli?
Kind of funny.
Gu Ze patted his cheeks and told himself to treat it like a dream.
He’d entered Qingquan’s tribulation space as a soul fire. With no body, there was nothing he could do to help.
In fact, now that he realized that was Qingquan, Gu Ze wasn’t keen to enter that space again—lest his identity be exposed.
The last time the Dan Yin Peak Master had found traces of Qingquan’s Benyuan Zhi Shui in his spiritual sense, Gu Ze had been scared out of his wits.
Even if the truth would one day come out, he’d rather stay safe for as long as possible.
Suddenly, his Peak Master Token began to tremble. Someone had sent him a message.
And the messenger was none other than the Immortal Lord Wang Xiao he’d just been thinking of.
Wang Xiao invited him, in his capacity as acting Peak Master of Biluo Peak, to come to Dan Yin Peak to discuss the matter of restoring Biluo Peak’s pill supply.
Gu Ze looked at the flying message, his lips twitching.
Dan Yin Peak? This was obviously a trap!
Not long ago, he and Li Xunmiao had ruined Wang Xiao’s plan to obtain the Heaven-Scorching Fire, and now they were inviting Gu Ze over? Nothing good could come of it.
Should he make up an excuse to refuse? Gu Ze frowned and pondered for a moment, but in the end sent a reply to Wang Xiao.
He agreed to attend, and would bring Li Xunmiao with him.
For such important matters between two peaks, it wasn’t strange to have the Peak Master’s direct disciple present.
According to the novel’s plot, Li Xunmiao would gain significant fortune at Dan Yin Peak.
Not only would she sneakily consume a large stock of high-quality pills to increase her cultivation, but she would also obtain an ancient Dan Fang there.
Unfortunately, Li Xunmiao wasn’t interested in alchemy, and later traded the Dan Fang for other opportunities.
But now that Gu Ze had alchemy skills, that Dan Fang was practically a tailor-made reward for him, and he certainly couldn’t pass it up.