A Mortal's Journey to Immortality: Wang Yu Transmigrates into a Book, the Dao Ancestor of Rein

Chapter 54 Ah, Han Li, I hate you.

The young man was none other than Han Li.

At this point, one year and eight months had passed since he made the bet with Dong Xuan'er.

Many things have changed, while many others have remained the same.

"Tsk, Junior Nephew Han, you ultimately failed?"

Inside the pavilion outside the gate, a graceful figure with her legs crossed admired her nails while asking a question without turning her head.

This woman was none other than Dong Xuan'er, who had successfully broken through to the Foundation Establishment stage more than half a year ago.

This young woman has now blossomed into womanhood. Compared to when I first met her at sixteen, she has lost that baby fat. At twenty, she is truly graceful and elegant, possessing a natural allure. Even without using any seductive techniques, her charm and allure are captivating.

"Uncle Dong, you really have a lot of free time..."

Han Li grinned.

"I came here specifically to remind you not to forget the prize money in the bet..."

Dong Xuan'er said with a smile.

...

Let's go back a little over a year.

The cave house in the belly of the mountain.

After bathing, offering incense, and adjusting her mindset, the young woman officially began her foundation-building process.

As soon as the Foundation Building Pill was swallowed, its immense medicinal power instantly dissolved, generating countless streams of heat. These streams of heat rapidly spread throughout the body via the meridians, even penetrating deep into the bone marrow.

"coming!"

Dong Xuan'er looked solemn.

Soon, waves of tingling and itching sensations appeared, making her feel as if millions of ants were crawling all over her body.

"Is this what the I Ching's marrow cleansing technique is?"

Before long, she was drenched in sweat, and her face was covered in pain.

Itching, tingling, and discomfort.

The I Ching's "marrow cleansing" ritual washes away impurities from the body, making every second a torment.

The discomfort made her grind her teeth, wishing she could bang her head against the ground, or even hit the wall and scratch the ground repeatedly.

"it hurts…"

The whole process was incredibly agonizing.

Moreover, the more mixed one's spiritual roots are, the more impurities accumulate in one's body, the higher the degree of Yi Jing cleansing required, and the more difficult it is to endure.

One of the reasons is that it is more difficult to establish a foundation with three spiritual roots than with two spiritual roots.

This is also why it is extremely difficult to establish a foundation for a pseudo-spiritual root.

"what…"

Dong Xuan'er could no longer bear it and let out a scream.

She had never suffered like this before.

"Ah..."

Several times during the process, she considered giving up. The solution was simple: accelerate the release of the drug's effects and thus discard some of its potency.

Fortunately, the tingling sensation didn't last long. After the tingling subsided, it was replaced by alternating coolness and warmth.

At this moment, she felt perfectly comfortable all over her body.

The pleasurable sensation begins to return.

At the same time, a thick, grayish, foul-smelling substance was expelled from her pores, causing the originally fragrant Dong Xuan'er to wrinkle her delicate nose.

Ten days passed in the blink of an eye. Although she had only refined nearly half of the medicinal power of the first Foundation Establishment Pill, the girl's cultivation had already advanced to the twelfth level of Qi Refining without any hindrance. However, it was impossible for her to break through to the Foundation Establishment stage with the remaining medicinal power.

How difficult it is to lay the foundation!
How many self-proclaimed heroes have been stumped?

The subsequent two months of continued refining of the medicinal power only allowed her to advance her cultivation level significantly.

Of course, most attempts to build a foundation will fail, which is to be expected.

There are still four pills left, aren't there?

The four Foundation Establishment Pills will continue to help her cleanse her marrow and transform her body, which will definitely help her enter the Foundation Establishment stage.

"Very stable."

That's what Dong Xuan'er thought at the time.

Furthermore, considering that the medicinal effects on the body were gradually weakening, and that further weakening would render it ineffective in aiding foundation building, a second Foundation Building Pill was quickly administered to the abdomen, providing a slight boost in medicinal power.

A new wave of drug effects rapidly swept through the body.

"Focus all your energy on refining this..."

"With the help of this medicine, I can at least advance to the thirteenth level of Qi Refining..."

The room was filled with the fragrance of incense.

A beautiful figure sat quietly cross-legged.

She was well aware that her spiritual root talent was among the lower tiers of the three-elemental-root cultivators, inferior to some cultivators with three-elemental-roots but of much higher quality. Consequently, she lagged behind in the conversion of medicinal power and spiritual energy.

As expected, the second attempt at foundation building failed again.

But she achieved her initial goal:

Qi Refining Level 13.

"Just a little bit more..."

"Just a little bit left."

The foundation is in sight.

"I can do it, I definitely can."

Looking at the three Foundation Establishment Pills remaining in her hand, Dong Xuan'er remained full of confidence.

He took out the third pill and confidently swallowed it to refine it.

then.

Even when the medicine was still potent, she still couldn't succeed.

Once the effects of the medicine began to wear off, and the remaining medicinal power was insufficient to continue the transformation and marrow cleansing, only slightly increasing her magical power, she naturally failed again as she had not yet been completely transformed.

"Damn it." I felt like I had reached the final, most crucial hurdle. Just a little more and all the meridians, acupoints, and bones in my body would undergo the Yi Jing's cleansing and transformation, allowing me to enter the Foundation Establishment stage.

But she just couldn't get over that hurdle.

"Or should we give up?"

With beads of sweat on her forehead, Dong Xuan'er felt a sense of retreat for the first time, and wavered for the first time.

She didn't want to experience that pain again.

With each additional Foundation Building Pill she consumed, the pain she suffered intensified.

Because the medicine was penetrating deep into her bone marrow, helping her to cleanse her body and remove unwanted hair.

Now, as she takes the Foundation Building Pill to refine its medicinal power, she feels as if she is riddled with holes.

This is the disadvantage of having poor spiritual roots.

The impurities in his body were far more numerous and deeply hidden than those of cultivators with excellent spiritual roots.

"Alright, I'll take a break for a while and go out for a walk to clear my head."

Dong Xuan'er comforted herself.

This idea arose from the fact that eight months of continuous seclusion had left her feeling restless and frustrated, having never before endured such a long period of arduous practice.

Feeling unwell all over.

But it was at this moment that she thought of someone, and of the contempt that person had shown her when he had provoked her.

"No, how can we let that guy Han Li look down on us?"

"Give up now? Do you want that guy to laugh at me?"

How could she give up halfway and become a laughing stock?

When the young lady's temper flared up, she immediately gritted her teeth and decided to be strong one last time.

She wanted to show a certain man her charm.

She didn't want to be mocked and despised by someone with a pseudo-spiritual root.

She can't bear to lose face since they're always seeing each other. She can't just avoid them from now on, can she?
The fourth one, I swallowed!

“Ah…it hurts…”

The pain of undergoing the "marrow cleansing" ritual according to the I Ching truly penetrates to the bone marrow.

"Ugh... Han Li, I hate you."

A month or so later, the effects of the medicine began to wear off again. If nothing was done, the foundation-building process would be in vain.

"Why isn't it working yet?"

The young lady was on the verge of tears.

She'd had enough of this suffering.

At this moment, her pressure also reached its peak: because she only had one Foundation Establishment Pill left.

Even if taking this Foundation Establishment Pill doesn't lead to success...

"Ugh, you bastard Han Li, why did you have to bet against me?"

Why make bets for no reason?
The young lady's frustration, her resentment, her grievances, her self-doubt—in short, all sorts of complex emotions surged into her heart at once, causing her to burst into tears.

She cried so hard, her face streaked with tears: "I don't want to lose, I don't want to be looked down upon."

She didn't want to fail.

She was afraid of failure.

She can't afford to fail again.

If I fail even with five Foundation Establishment Pills in hand, I'll be too ashamed to show my face.

Should we give up now? Cut our losses? Or wait until we have more Foundation Establishment Pills before launching another clandestine attempt?
Just as Dong Xuan'er had almost convinced herself, Han Li's mocking "funny face" appeared: Hehehe...

"No, no, absolutely not."

"Don't give up easily."

Actually, using four Foundation Establishment Pills consecutively, supplemented with other medicines, would be sufficient. Or, if one's cultivation level were slightly higher, one could save one pill. After all, in the original storyline, only three pills were used.

"Let's give it our all!"

"I can't lose to that bastard Han Li..."

She couldn't bear to lose that pride.

How could she, a direct disciple of the Core Formation stage, be inferior to someone with a pseudo-spiritual root?

Han Li was confident and ambitious enough to build his foundation. The confidence that emanated from his very being was so sunny and charming that it couldn't be faked!

Why would she back down when she has better qualifications in every way? How could she possibly back down?
"Han Li, I hate you!"

How much better it would be if this guy weren't here so close for comparison.
The fifth one... *smack*.

Woo woo woo...

ah…!
...

With this fifth Foundation Establishment Pill, combined with the previous four cycles of Yi Jing marrow cleansing, and the fact that Dong Xuan'er was indeed at that most delicate critical point, this time, she truly succeeded with unstoppable momentum and in one fell swoop.

After successfully establishing her foundation, Dong Xuan'er, having shed much of her youthful naiveté, didn't even think about consolidating her cultivation before excitedly running to Han Li's cave to show off.

"Hahaha, Han Li, come out! Quickly come out and call him your martial uncle..."

"Hahaha…"

Their faces were... well, let's not even talk about them.

They wouldn't stop until Han Li called out "Uncle-Master" a few more times.

If Han Li hadn't deliberately gritted his teeth while actually being very happy and gratified, shouting it more than a dozen times, this woman might not have listened to his advice and hurriedly returned to her cave to stabilize her cultivation.

As for Han Li, what is his cultivation level at this time?
Not high, not low.

Twelve levels of Qi training.

For someone with a pseudo-spiritual root like him, this is the limit of what a Foundation Establishment Pill can achieve.
-
P.S.: I discovered a very interesting little-known fact: Dong Xuan'er is actually Hong Fu's grandniece.

In other words, Hong Fu is Dong Xuan'er's great-aunt (great-aunt).

For a detailed explanation, see Chapter 166, where Senior Brother Lu provides his interpretation.

(End of this chapter)