Chapter 149 - 144: 3 Years

Words : 1590 Updated : Oct 1st, 2025

The Foundation Establishment Pill required forty thousand Contribution Value, and no one could come up with that. Probably only Li Zhirui, who had been practicing alchemy for over a decade, had that much. Another reason was that the Foundation Establishment Pill was still quite precious at the moment. Some clansmen, not fully confident, would hesitate to use it even if they could gather the Contribution Value, fearing the waste of failing the advancement. "How is Li Zhixuan’s cultivation now?" Li Shilian thought of another girl. At this time, Li Shilian had successfully advanced to the late stage of Foundation Establishment. He still had several decades before his life’s end, which gave him time to accumulate mana. It was not impossible for him to attempt to reach the Golden Core. Therefore, he was now almost entirely detached from worldly affairs, spending his days cultivating in his cave dwelling, solidifying his base and improving the slim chance of achieving Core Formation. He would not have shown himself if it were not for Li Zhiyue’s breakthrough to Foundation Establishment today. As for Li Shiqing, although he knew that his path forward was cut off, he had not given up on improving himself. Moreover, he had recently become obsessed with drawing talismans and was in seclusion to comprehend them, which was why he was not present. "Zhixuan just recently broke through to the seventh level of Qi Cultivation," Li Zhizhun casually replied. He had a rather deep impression of Li Zhixuan, after all, she was the only one among her generation who did not practice the Wanling Sutra and thus, could not contract a Spirit Beast. And the most profound impression Li Zhixuan left on the clansmen was of diligence and hard work! "Given her speed of hunting Water Devils and acquiring resources, how has she only reached the seventh level of Qi Cultivation?" Li Shilian asked, puzzled. "The family recently acquired a Foundation Establishment Realm sword cultivation technique from a Loose Cultivator. Zhixuan has been focusing on switching her cultivation technique, that’s why the breakthrough was only recent." For the Li family now, a cultivation technique for the Foundation Establishment Realm was no longer that rare or hard to obtain. Of course, that was only true for Foundation Establishment techniques. Techniques for higher realms were much more valuable, worth ten to dozens of times more, and the Li family could not afford them. This was especially since they had purchased it from a Loose Cultivator, so the price was not high. Li Shilian came to a realization and thoughtfully said, "At her current pace, perhaps she will be able to break through to the ninth level of Qi Cultivation in five years, and there’s hope for her achieving Foundation Establishment within ten years." That was an optimistic projection. Without the help of elders, relying solely on herself, even if Li Zhixuan hunted Water Devils desperately, it would take her more than a decade to gather the forty thousand Contribution Value. As for why the family doesn’t just give Li Zhixuan a Foundation Establishment Pill, like they did for Li Zhiyue, the main reason is her poor talent! For now, Li Zhixuan can still earn Contribution by hunting Water Devils, exchanging them for Spirit Pills to speed up her cultivation, but once she breaks through to Foundation Establishment, it won’t be that easy anymore. Moreover, the family had long-established rules: those who are awarded a Foundation Establishment Pill must either possess dual spiritual roots or above, or have a great talent in a particular cultivation skill. Those who don’t meet the criteria can only exchange for it with Contribution Value in the treasure vault. "Are there any promising candidates in this year’s talent assessment?" Li Shiren, standing nearby, asked. He was stationed at Blue Mountain Island this year and didn’t have the time to come back and personally oversee the Formation, so he was not aware of the current situation. Li Zhizhun shook his head. Last year’s assessment had already exhausted the supply of children on the island, and this year’s assessment had less than ten thousand participants. Among these people, there were only about forty children with spiritual roots, the best of whom was a Three Spiritual Roots child with relatively high purity - and that child was from another family clan. Speaking of which, the Li family’s attitude towards non-clan members was somewhat ambiguous. They definitely intended to develop them, after all, whether for handling trivial affairs or marrying into the family, they were excellent choices. But the debate now is whether to give members of the clan with different surnames the same treatment as blood relatives! The Li family’s fundamental cultivation technique, the Wanling Sutra, would absolutely never be imparted to outsiders; the current point of dispute is whether to give them the same monthly stipend, whether to cultivate their abilities to learn cultivation skills, and so on. However, these issues could not be settled in a short period of time, and since they were still studying at the Spirit Wisdom Court, with two years to go before they officially began cultivating, there was enough time for them to argue at length. "Your generation has Zhirui and Zhiyue, two dual spiritual root geniuses, as well as Zhixuan, a sword cultivator prodigy. Once these three have fully grown, the family’s power is bound to surge!" Li Shilian said confidently and assertively. Experience more on novelhall.Côm Li Zhixuan, who was originally not taken seriously, had, through her relentless effort and perseverance, already gained recognition from Li Shilian and others. Of course, he did not believe that Li Zhixuan could break through to the Golden Core; perhaps with time and talent, she could grow to the later stages of Foundation Establishment, becoming a powerful sword cultivator, but that was it. "As for the next generation, I think the one with the Golden-Fire Dual Spiritual Root is named Li Chenghuo, right?" Li Shilian inquired, "How is he doing at the Spirit Wisdom Court?" Li Chenghuo, of the tenth generation of the Li family that bore the name ’Cheng’, also happened to be the one with the best aptitude among them to date. Perhaps benefiting from both of his parents being cultivators, he was rather mature from a young age. After being tested and found to have dual spiritual roots, he was held in high hopes, hence his excellent performance at the Spirit Wisdom Court. "Though he’s not as clever as Zhirui was, he’s doing very well," Li Zhizhun said with a smile. Li Shiren couldn’t help but chuckle, saying, "Zhirui, I’m afraid it will be a century before our family finds a child more clever than him." It was precisely because of Li Zhirui’s outstanding performance that he had caught his eye and received regular guidance in his cultivation. But in fact, Li Zhirui’s intelligence wasn’t just cleverness; it was a mature soul that allowed him to appear somewhat more outstanding among a group of naive young children. "Speaking of Zhirui, he has been in seclusion for over a year now, why hasn’t he emerged yet? Could it be that he is aiming for a breakthrough to the mid stage of Foundation Establishment in one fell swoop?" Li Shiren speculated. Upon consideration, everyone thought this was indeed possible. Although it hadn’t been ten years since Li Zhirui’s breakthrough to Foundation Establishment, given his talent and the copious amount of Spirit Pills to speed up his cultivation, it was not impossible for him to attempt breaking through to the mid stage. "Given his current rate of cultivation, perhaps in less than a dozen years, he will reach the later stages of Foundation Establishment," Li Zhizhun remarked with a hint of envy. Maybe in a dozen years, he would still be hovering at the early stages of Foundation Establishment, but Li Zhirui would already be two minor realms ahead of him. Suddenly, Li Shiting interjected, "It’s rumored that forming a Core before the age of one hundred could lead to the realization of a Divine Power. Maybe that’s what Zhirui is striving for." The other few heard this claim for the first time and sent heartfelt blessings to Li Zhirui, genuinely hoping that he could achieve it. What they didn’t know was that Li Zhirui’s goal for this seclusion wasn’t just the mid stage of Foundation Establishment, but the late stage! For over a year, Li Zhirui had been working hard to expand the area of his Sea of Magic, to make his mana more refined, and hadn’t rushed to break through the mid stage of Foundation Establishment. It wasn’t until recently that he realized his Sea of Magic had expanded to its current limit and couldn’t be furthered, so he set aside that matter and focused on refining his mana. Lost in the practice of cultivation, oblivious to the passing of time, and to ensure stability after consecutive breakthroughs, Li Zhirui spent more than a year on the refinement of mana. Now, his vast Sea of Magic was filled with dense ’liquid’ mana. Li Zhirui felt his current strength was several times greater than before he entered seclusion! Whether in terms of the power of his spells or the number of times he could cast them, he was incomparable to his former self. "First, I’ll go out and check the news outside as well as the situation with Da Qing and Xiaoqing, then I can focus on cultivation in peace," Li Zhirui murmured to himself as he rose and left the quiet room.

Chapter 149 - 144: 3 Years

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