Cultivation begins with the Druid panel

Lu Lin picked up a calligraphy brush, dipped it in special ink, took out several sheets of yellow paper from beside the desk, and began to copy the original text. Although the writing system in this world was not quite the same as that in the other world, fortunately, the original owner had learned to write with a teacher in Tianhang Mountain Village, so Lu Lin's handwriting was not bad, and was even somewhat pleasing to the eye.

Prince Su was astonished, for apart from cultivators who practiced the Dao of Writing, he had never seen a cultivator write so beautifully.

Seeing that Lu Lin was engrossed in writing, Prince Su did not disturb him and waited quietly by his side.

The first part of this book, Taibai Shimao, contains more than 1,200 words of text, but has 3,000 words of annotations. These were all left by the disciples of the Cliff Academy who compiled the book. Their original intention was to help those cultivators who wanted to comprehend this secret technique. However, when Lu Lin browsed through it during the copying process, he found that even with the more than 3,000 words of annotations, Taibai Shimao was still a bit too complicated.

Lu Lin had always considered himself to have a high level of comprehension, but after copying this secret technique, he found that he couldn't understand it at all. As expected of the secret technique recommended by the Cliff Academy's Twenty-Four Solar Terms Seeds, its quality was indeed high.

Lu Lin copied the text quickly, finishing in half an hour and closing the original. Prince Su, who had been waiting idly, finally smiled with relief when he saw Lu Lin finish copying.

With a slightly apologetic expression, Lu Lin put down the calligraphy brush in his hand and said, "I've kept the young master waiting."

"No problem, no problem," Prince Su quickly replied, then pointed towards the bookshelf: "Would you like to find another secret technique, young master? After all, the one you have is a bit too difficult."

Lu Lin glanced at the Taibai Shimao in his hand, and after a moment of silence, accepted Su Shizi's suggestion. It wasn't that he was underestimating himself, but the difficulty of the secret technique recommended by the scholar was indeed too high. What if he didn't learn it during his time at the Cliff Academy? Wouldn't that be a waste of this opportunity?

Led by Su Shizi, Lu Lin returned to the bookshelf containing the secret techniques of the natural way. Looking at the books on the shelf, Lu Lin was caught in a dilemma. There were too many secret techniques here; anyone who came would be dazzled.

But Lu Lin knew the principle of not biting off more than he could chew, so he was extremely careful in his selection. He walked past each bookshelf, his eyes constantly scanning back and forth on the shelves. Just then, Lu Lin suddenly stopped in his tracks.

When Su Shizi saw Lu Lin stop, he followed Lu Lin's gaze and saw a book of thunder magic secrets - Three-Inch Heavenly Thunder.

The bookshelves in the Cliff Academy's library have a maximum of five shelves. The strength and difficulty of a secret technique determine the shelf on which it is located. This particular secret technique is on the third shelf, with a medium level of difficulty, making it very suitable for cultivators at the fifth level of the Qi Refining stage.

"There's actually the complete Three-Inch Heavenly Thunder technique here?" Lu Lin took the Three-Inch Heavenly Thunder technique down, his face showing some surprise. He had originally thought that the Three-Inch Heavenly Thunder technique was some kind of rare secret technique, but now it seemed that such a secret technique was not unusual in the library of the Cliff Academy, and was even somewhat inconspicuous.

To be honest, the fact that it can be placed on the third shelf of the library in the Cliff Academy proves that the Three-Inch Thunderbolt does have its merits.

"Let's take this one. It's of medium difficulty, just right for cultivation," Lu Lin said to Prince Su.

Prince Su nodded slightly, but then reminded him, "Young Master Lu, you have a wood elemental root. If you don't use lightning magic properly, you can easily get burned."

The principle behind lightning-struck wood is easy to understand.

Lu Lin turned around and smiled: "Thank you for your concern, Your Highness, but I know what I'm doing."

Prince Su was sensible and spoke appropriately before falling silent.

After Lu Lin finished copying the Three-Inch Heavenly Thunder, it was already past 11:30 AM. Lu Lin took the copybook and left with Prince Su. There were still many people waiting outside the library, talking incessantly. Some even fought over a spot in the library, but they were always stopped by the strong people from the Cliff Academy.

Prince Su was unsurprised by this, but Lu Lin was somewhat curious: "Who are these cultivators waiting outside the library...?"

Prince Su explained, "The library has limited capacity. Only after one person leaves can the next person enter, so there is a queue."

"I see." Lu Lin suddenly realized, and then said gratefully to Prince Su, "If it weren't for Prince Su today, I might not have had the chance to enter the library."

Prince Su shook his head: "It's just a small favor. The aristocratic families in Guling City have a fixed number of slots for entering the library every day. My Su family has six children in this generation. I am the third child, and I only have one younger brother and one younger sister. We can't even use up all the fixed slots."

Is this the foundation of a noble family?

Not only do they have no shortage of cultivation resources, but their network of connections is also something that others can only dream of.

Then, Prince Su led Lu Lin to a pavilion on a hill. There was no one else in the pavilion except for a stone table with a chessboard printed on it.

Logically speaking, there should be no one around this pavilion. Lu Lin glanced at Su Shizi and guessed that this pavilion might be the exclusive property of the Su family.

No wonder they are a prestigious family!

Their refined upbringing is evident in every gesture and movement.

Only then did Prince Su ask the question he had been wanting to ask: "Does the young master have any insights into the Foundation Establishment stage?"

Lu Lin paused for a moment, then recalled for a moment and said, "I don't know much about the Foundation Establishment stage; I've only read about it in books."

"Oh? Fellow Daoist has books?" Prince Su's eyes lit up.

In the world of cultivation, how to temper the body and open the meridians is not a secret, but how to build a foundation for the Dao and achieve the Foundation Establishment stage is a closely guarded secret, especially for Qi Refining families.

The fact that Lu Lin had access to Foundation Establishment stage books meant that there was definitely a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator behind him.

Lu Lin didn't hide anything. After all, in his opinion, those books were everywhere in his master's study. It was just that he didn't need them for the time being, so he read them less.

"There are three main methods for establishing a foundation during the Foundation Establishment stage," Lu Lin said to Prince Su, recalling the few words he had read in the book. Prince Su listened attentively, afraid of missing even the slightest detail.

"The first step is to build a foundation for enlightenment, which involves communicating with heaven and earth through spiritual awareness. Once you have gained some understanding, you can establish a foundation for the Dao. This emphasizes comprehension, and the prerequisite for breakthrough is to set up a Dao space in advance."

The so-called "Duo Shen" (or "Daoist practice space") can be a state of mind or a physical object. After successfully establishing one's foundation, the cultivator's strength will receive a corresponding boost under the blessing of the Dao Shen.

"The second type is Qi Luck Foundation Building, also known as Faith Foundation Building. In short, it involves condensing the Qi Luck of a region and using it to build a foundation. However, this method of foundation building requires management and the gathering of human, earth, and weather energy. It's not exactly difficult, but it's quite troublesome."

As for the last one, it's the most difficult, but also the most direct.

Prince Su quickly asked, "Please speak freely, young master."

After a moment's consideration, Lu Lin said, "Using the twelve levels of Qi Refining, one can attack from below and sever the Foundation Establishment stage, thus taking over the foundation of the severed Foundation Establishment stage. Of course, the prerequisite for seizing the foundation is that it can only be done in a one-on-one fight, and there must be the witness of the Heavenly Dao."

This book states that throughout the entire history of cultivation, it seems only one prodigy from Ancient Spirit Mountain has achieved this. You should know this Young Master Su, right? Ancient Spirit City was the location of that incident. It was also at that time that Ancient Spirit City acquired its current name.

Upon hearing this, Prince Su fell into deep thought.

That event happened more than three thousand years ago, and he had always heard it as a legend. He never expected that it was actually a method for building a foundation.

but……

Can a Qi Refining stage cultivator really defeat a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator?

It should be understood that those in the Qi Refining stage are nothing but ants compared to those in the Foundation Establishment stage, differing only in size.

"Are there any other methods?" Prince Su asked curiously.

Lu Lin fell into deep thought, and after a moment nodded: "Yes. There are many methods, but very few are successful. For example, emotional foundation building, Dao-aligning foundation building, grand vision foundation building, etc... But these types of foundation building are only exceptions, and they have great limitations."

As cultivators, we strive for transcendence. While this foundation-building method may achieve it, it is also a shackle, contradicting the essence of cultivation. I do not recommend doing it.

Prince Su has truly learned a lot this time.

He had never even heard of what Lu Lin was saying.

"Is it feasible to build a foundation through the family?" Prince Su asked excitedly.

"Of course. However, after establishing your foundation in this way, you will be dependent on your family for the rest of your life. Once the family's fortune is damaged, or its members die out, your foundation will naturally dissipate." Lu Lin nodded, but then he paused, startled:

Wait, something's not right?

Prince Su asked him why he was asking this.

But Lu Lin quickly realized what was going on.

"So that's why the young master of the Su family has been so attentive these past two days."

"But how did he know I knew these things? How strange!"