Lingyuan Immortal

Chapter 164 Four Types of Dao Foundations
Hearing him calling Zhou Weiqian by his full name, Zong Bing's eyes flashed with a puzzled look, but after seeing that Chen Mu and the others also showed curiosity, she explained in a low voice.

"I also heard it from hearsay... Two years ago, the Beastmaster Sect compensated the other five sects with a large amount of immortal cultivation resources for the corpses of the Jindan demon cultivators killed during the demon plague. Among them was the Three Yin Shengyang Flower, the main ingredient for refining Foundation Establishment Pills."

"This spiritual material is extremely precious. Even our sect doesn't have many left. We dare not give it away easily, for fear of interrupting the foundation-building tradition... But after the unexpected harvest, our sect no longer had such concerns. We immediately ordered Master Chu to start refining the elixir, and he refined two foundation-building pills."

Hearing this, Chen Mu's heart skipped a beat. He thought to himself, "No wonder I heard that Wei Xingyou was refining the Foundation Establishment Pill with Master Chu..."

Zong Bing continued, "When the Foundation Establishment Pills came out, every one of us True Disciples was determined to get them, but there were only two pills. In the end, they were taken by Senior Brother Zhou and Senior Sister Tian."

"Two years later, Senior Sister Tian unfortunately failed, wasting this great opportunity, but Senior Brother Zhou succeeded in one fell swoop, shedding his worldly desires, building a wooden foundation, and becoming a Foundation Establishment cultivator..."

The three of them nodded in realization. A moment later, Niu Dali suddenly clapped his hands with his fist and shouted in a low voice, "After all, it turns out you took advantage of us!"

That's true. If Niu Dali and Chen Mu had the same cultivation level as Zhou Weiqian at that time, he would naturally not be able to get the foundation-building pills earned by this monster!
Zong Bing smiled and said softly, "Actually, it's also because Senior Brother Zhou has accumulated a lot of experience and has been cultivating the twelfth level for ten years. If he hadn't been aiming for the legendary thirteenth level, he might have found the foundation-building pill and established the foundation of the Wood Dao long ago."

"That's hard to say..." Niu Dali didn't think so. He curled his lips and said indifferently.

Chen Mu noticed a word in Zong Bing's words and asked, "Master Zong, where did this term 'Wooden Road Foundation' come from?"

As soon as these words were spoken, Niu Dali and the other two also showed puzzled expressions.

If a cultivator wants to break through the foundation-building stage, he must first build a Taoist foundation within his body. Chen Mu and others naturally know this common sense, but the term "Wood Element" is extremely unfamiliar to them.

Zong Bing smiled and shook his head when he heard this, saying, "It's normal for Junior Brother Chen not to know. Even I only understood the differences between some Foundation Establishment cultivators after I reached the twelfth level."

"Foundation-building cultivators are divided into four categories based on the different foundations they have built..."

"Oh?" Chen Mu frowned slightly and asked in a low voice, "Which four categories?"

Zong Bing raised his eyes to glance at the head of the hall and found that the elders of the sect had not arrived yet, so he felt relieved and began to introduce them.

"The first category consists mostly of casual cultivators, or those who are nearing the end of their foundation-building years, have inferior cultivation techniques, or have mixed magical powers. Although they have managed to build a Dao foundation, their Dao foundation is riddled with cracks and lacks spiritual energy. Their combat power is far inferior to that of the other two categories of cultivators. This type of Dao foundation is called a manifest Dao foundation."

"And the second category is disciples of major sects like us. They have superior skills and pure magical powers, which conform to the spiritual rhythm of the great way of simplicity. The foundation of Taoism built on this basis is a flawless foundation."

"But because cultivators have different spiritual roots, the foundations they build are more or less different. For example, Senior Brother Zhou Weiqian has a mid-grade wood spiritual root, so the foundation he builds naturally leans towards wood-attributed spiritual energy, so it can also be called a wood-type foundation..."

"As for the third category, it's dozens of times more difficult than the first two. This is because it not only requires a cultivator to have a deep and solid foundation, but also requires the cultivator to have something different from ordinary people, such as a naturally strong soul, which has evolved into divine consciousness during the Qi Condensation Stage."

"For example, if one purifies and refines all the mana in one's body into spiritual fluid, and then uses this pure mana to impact the flawless Dao foundation, it will retain its spiritual charm and manifest the transformation of 'cicada shedding'... This kind of Dao foundation is called the Cicada Shedding Dao foundation."

Zong Bing spoke eloquently, his voice soft and gentle, making Chen Mu and the other two immersed in it.

But when she came to the key point, she suddenly stopped explaining. The three of them were startled and their curiosity about these foundation-building matters increased.

"Grandmaster Sister, what about this last type of Dao foundation?"

The three of them looked at each other, and finally Han Jing, who was the closest to them, spoke up and asked.

Unexpectedly, after hearing this, Zong Bing shook his head, frowned slightly, and muttered, "The Cicada Shedding Dao Foundation is something that only disciples of major immortal cultivation sects like us can achieve. Even Senior Brother Zhou, with a foundation as solid as his, still fell short by a step and failed to achieve the Cicada Shedding Dao Foundation, didn't he?"

"As for the last category, I suspect it was just imagined by the ancient cultivators, just like the thirteenth level of Qi Condensation. Otherwise, why is there not even a single record of it..." "Imagined?"

Chen Mu thought secretly but said nothing.

However, a hint of disappointment flashed in the eyes of Niu Dali and Han Jing, but it did not last too long. After all, even if the last type of Dao foundation really existed, it was too far away from them.

"No matter whether it exists or not, being able to successfully build a foundation is a skill!"

Niu Dali saw that the atmosphere was a little quiet, so he chuckled.

"That's right, being able to establish a foundation has already surpassed too many cultivators."

"It seems that Senior Brother Zhou Weiqian is truly lucky, having built a flawless foundation."

Zong Bing and Han Jing also responded.

Chen Mu regained his composure after hearing this and nodded, "Thank you, Senior Sister, for clearing up my doubts."

Zong Bing stretched out his hand and waved his sleeves: "Junior brother, don't be so polite. I'm still looking forward to meeting you guys when I go to Tianhu Peak!"

"Senior sister, please come. He is an ascetic monk, but I am not. When the time comes, I will come to accompany you!"

Han Jing wrinkled her nose at Chen Mu and said softly in a coquettish voice.

Upon hearing this, Chen Mu immediately acted as if he was looking at his nose and his heart, and hid aside in silence.

"Hahaha... OK, OK!" Zong Bing laughed out loud with his hands covering his mouth upon seeing this, and quickly agreed.

After the four of them chatted for a few more sentences, Zong Bing returned to the ranks of true disciples.

After a while, the noisy Shuiyun main hall fell silent, and all the disciples looked towards the top of the hall.

It was the head of Shuiyunjian who slowly walked over, with bursts of spiritual energy about him, which immediately attracted everyone's attention.

Behind him followed a man in a green robe who looked like a woman and was handsome but almost evil. Although he greeted the disciples below the stage with a smile, the spiritual pressure emanating from his body was extremely strong. The closer he got, the stronger the feeling of oppression he gave to the disciples below the stage.

It was the newly promoted foundation-building cultivator, Zhou Weiqian!

When he saw this person, Niu Dali's eyes flashed, but were immediately suppressed by him.

"Just judging by my feelings, this Zhou guy looks even more powerful than the Sect Leader... He's really stealing the show!"

He didn't show it on his face, but he muttered to Chen Mu through voice transmission.

Chen Mu replied calmly, "It's like this for everyone, as they just broke through and can't control their own mana freely."

The two of them were a little far away from the leader, and the fluctuation of spiritual energy caused by the sound being bundled into lines was extremely small, but they were still discovered by the two masters.

(End of this chapter)