I proved immortality with thunder magic.

Chapter 83 Successful Foundation Establishment

Chengdao Peak, inside the Foundation Establishment Cave.

Zhou Tai focused all his attention on the changes within his dantian, completely isolating himself from all external perception.

Now, his world consists only of that endlessly spinning cloud vortex, nothing else!

In this state of extreme focus, every breath feels exceptionally long, yet one dares not slacken in the slightest, which is a tremendous test of one's mental will.

Fortunately, Zhou Tai had long since developed a strong will to deal with such situations during his career of drawing talismans.

He was like Ji Chang, who was learning archery, able to stare intently at the swirling clouds without being distracted for a moment, extremely focused and selfless.

After an unknown period of time, it was as if the beans in the stone mill had finally been ground apart, and white soy milk flowed out.

As the spiritual energy was completely decomposed and digested by the cloud vortex, a drop of silvery-white liquid magic power finally condensed from the bottom of the vortex and swayed as it fell into the dantian below.

The dantian (lower abdomen) and dantian (lower abdomen) of a person are themselves a unique space without heaven or earth.

Therefore, after the drop of silvery-white liquid magic power left the cloud vortex, it did not fall to the ground; it simply settled in the dantian space below the cloud vortex.

This was like opening a valve; soon, every so often, a new drop of liquid mana would condense and form, landing next to the original drop.

Time passed slowly: after an unknown amount of time, the amount of liquid mana in Zhou Tai's dantian had exceeded ten drops.

In contrast, the size of the cloud vortex has shrunk again and again, and is now only one-fifth of its original size.

After some time, as the thirteenth drop of liquid magic condensed and took shape, the cloud vortex completely disappeared.

Just then, as the thirteenth drop of liquid magic fell, Zhou Tai's pores suddenly opened up, and the rich spiritual energy of heaven and earth in the cave began to surge into his body through these pores.

These spiritual energies from heaven and earth surged in through his pores, washing over his entire body and internal organs like a storm. While helping him expel impurities and toxins from his body, they also actively integrated the essence of spiritual energy into his flesh and bones.

At that moment, he felt like a big, fat man filled with air, his whole body bloated and uncomfortable, yet there was also a strange sense of comfort.

However, he didn't dare to enjoy that comfort. Instead, he quickly grabbed the jade bottle containing the energizing liquid and inhaled the bluish-gray liquid directly into his lungs through his nostrils.

Normally, pulmonary edema would be very painful, but after the refreshing liquid enters the lungs, it makes people feel cool and refreshed all over.

The cool breath emanating from his lungs quickly filled his mind and body with each breath, instantly invigorating Zhou Tai's somewhat tired spirit and making him feel refreshed.

He soon experienced the benefits of the energizing liquid even more.

As the spiritual energy of heaven and earth penetrates deeper into the body, especially into the various acupoints and vital points of the head, the brain, under pressure, begins to experience various hallucinations and illusions.

The "going into demonic possession" that cultivators often talk about refers to the situation he is currently experiencing.

Every Foundation Establishment cultivator must pass this test. Only by passing this test can their Dao heart and will be tempered and refined, and their divine consciousness be sublimated and transformed.

If one's consciousness becomes immersed in those illusory sounds and images, unable to distinguish between reality and illusion, and loses control over oneself, then everything will come to an end!

Zhou Tai's heart was already extremely firm in his pursuit of the Dao, and his will was unwavering. Now, with the aid of the Awakening Elixir, those illusory sounds and images could not deceive him at all.

He focused his mind on his dantian, remaining steadfast and still, silently waiting for everything to pass like an old monk in meditation.

That's when you'll understand why it's best not to exceed sixty years old when you reach the Foundation Establishment stage.

Because if a body with weakened blood and qi is subjected to a large influx of spiritual energy from heaven and earth at this time, the probability of it being directly crushed and burst by the spiritual energy will greatly increase, and the pressure on the consciousness level will also increase accordingly.

After all, a person's will and physical body are closely related. Once the physical body is subjected to excessive pressure, the will will also be weakened.

Zhou Tai has now reversed his youth and become young again, so the impact on him can be said to have been minimized.

After an unknown period of time, the influx of spiritual energy from the outside world finally ceased.

However, Zhou Tai was in a mysterious state at this moment and did not notice this at all.

He, who had been sitting cross-legged on the jade futon, was now lying on his side on the ground with his hands wrapped around his knees, in a posture that looked just like an infant still in its mother's womb.

This matter is also recorded in ancient books, where it is called "reversing the innate."

During this process, Zhou Tai, who had absorbed a large amount of spiritual energy from heaven and earth, naturally entered a dormant state of consciousness because his physical body and spiritual consciousness were undergoing a transformation, so as not to interfere with the transformation process.

This process varies in length, depending on the individual circumstances of each cultivator.

Generally speaking, the more solid a cultivator's foundation, the shorter the transformation time will be.

After taking the Blood-Nourishing and Marrow-Strengthening Pill and the Blood-Ginseng Essence-Nourishing Pill in succession, Zhou Tai's foundation was naturally very solid.

He completed his transformation in just seven days, and his consciousness returned to normal.

"Have I successfully completed the Foundation Establishment stage?"

Zhou Tai opened his eyes and muttered to himself.

Then, as was his habit, he used his inner senses to examine himself and immediately confirmed the matter.

At this moment, not only did his internal magical power surge greatly, with the original thirteen drops of liquid magical power directly becoming eighteen drops, but his divine sense also increased several times over!

Because he was inside the cave, Zhou Tai could not fully calculate the limit of his divine sense's outward range, but he could still feel that it was much stronger than before.

But the biggest change was in his physical condition.

He picked up the crystal mirror he had previously tossed aside and looked at himself in it.

The face reflected in the mirror was that of a young man in his prime, barely twenty years old. The young man's face was not particularly handsome, but he was still dignified and had a respectable appearance.

Zhou Tai stared blankly at the young man in the mirror, lost in thought for a moment.

This should be him when he was twenty-two or twenty-three, but you could also say it's not him at that time.

Because when he was 22 or 23, his business hadn't grown much yet, and he was under a lot of external pressure. He was also constantly on the go, so he often had acne on his face and his skin was tanned dark.

So when he looked at his younger self in the mirror, he felt a sense of unfamiliarity and was lost in thought.

After being stunned for a while, he finally came to his senses and sighed with emotion, "They say flowers bloom again, but youth never returns. But it seems that as long as one's cultivation is profound enough, even an old man in his sixties can return to eighteen!"

No one can stay eighteen forever, but as long as one's cultivation level is high enough and one consumes enough elixirs and miraculous medicines, one can retain the physical appearance of an eighteen-year-old forever.

This, perhaps, is the meaning of cultivating immortality and seeking eternal life!

Zhou Tai seemed to have gained some insight, and he had a deeper understanding of cultivation.

Then he came to his senses and began to carefully comprehend the changes that followed the Foundation Establishment stage.

After a cultivator successfully establishes their foundation, in addition to a significant increase in magical power, spiritual awareness, and lifespan, they will also naturally acquire some innate abilities.

For example, the ability to fly using Qi, which is most envied by cultivators in the Qi Refining stage.

Zhou Tai tried it briefly and soon his feet left his body and he floated into the air.

The word "飘" (piāo) is used very accurately.

The Qi-based flight of a Foundation Establishment cultivator is essentially a form of floating.

It is the body of a Foundation Establishment cultivator after transformation, and naturally possesses certain characteristics. Under the impetus of magic power, it can float freely in the air as if it were nothing.

Of course, this kind of floating is flexible and controllable; it can go forward or backward, up or down.

Zhou Tai was initially uncomfortable with this way of flying, but after practicing for a while, he got used to it.

However, he didn't practice for too long because his current magical power wasn't enough to support him flying for an extended period.

Although he is now a Foundation Establishment cultivator, his total mana is equivalent to the first strand of mana he condensed when he first began cultivating Qi.

Any cultivator who has been in the early stages of Foundation Establishment for more than ten years could have a total amount of mana that is more than ten times greater than his!

Therefore, after experiencing the ability to fly with the help of qi for a while, Zhou Tai began to test his other innate abilities.

With a thought, a silver-white light shield suddenly appeared, protecting him within it.

This is another innate ability of Foundation Establishment cultivators: a magical shield.

This shield relies on his own mana consumption for defense, and its defensive power is much stronger than the "Golden Light Shield" spell that Zhou Tai often uses. It can even withstand attacks from second-tier spells.

With this innate ability, Foundation Establishment cultivators can always erect the first line of defense when faced with a sudden attack, giving themselves a better chance of survival.

After repeatedly testing the use of the magic shield, Zhou Tai then began to test his third innate ability.

He raised his hand, and magical power surged from his palm, instantly transforming into a ball of silver-white flame that emitted a scorching heat.

This is the True Fire of Magic, a unique flame formed using magic power as fuel. It can be used for alchemy and weapon crafting, as well as for combat.

Foundation Establishment cultivators possess the innate ability to condense true fire of magical power. After being poisoned or tainted by demonic energy, they can use true fire of magical power to refine the toxins and demonic energy, greatly enhancing their survival ability.

After testing the three Foundation Establishment cultivators' innate abilities in this way, Zhou Tai did not use the remaining divine sense pressure because there were no test subjects.

In addition to these four well-known innate abilities, after their physical bodies undergo transformation, Foundation Establishment cultivators also possess a variety of powerful abilities that far surpass those of ordinary people and Qi Refining stage cultivators.

For example, they have physical strength comparable to oxen and horses, can go seven days without eating after eating one meal, can breathe through their pores when in water, are not hot in summer or cold in winter, and are free from all diseases, etc.

In short, aside from the lack of reproductive barriers, Foundation Establishment cultivators and mortals can actually be considered a different kind of existence, no longer being mere mortals.

After testing various foundation-building abilities, Zhou Tai had consumed nearly half of his internal mana, so he sat down cross-legged to meditate and restore his mana.

As a result, he discovered during meditation that the "Minor Thunder Yuan Gong" he had been practicing was no longer suitable for his current level of cultivation.

He could inhale and exhale a large amount of spiritual energy into his body at once, but because his cultivation technique was inadequate, he was very slow in refining that spiritual energy, which caused a lot of the spiritual energy to dissipate and disappear.

It's like throwing someone into a large pool full of banknotes and giving them time to retrieve them. But because they only have a small bag, they can only fill it up, and then watch helplessly as the rest of the banknotes slip away.

Despite his discomfort, Zhou Tai spent more than two hours restoring his magical power to full strength.

Then he opened his eyes, sighing helplessly, "No wonder the ancient texts all say that the most important thing after successfully establishing one's foundation is to choose an advanced cultivation technique to switch to!"

Given the resources of Spirit Beast Mountain, there must be a lightning-attribute cultivation technique suitable for Zhou Tai, so he wasn't worried about that.

However, he did not rush to break through the barrier and leave the Foundation Establishment Cave.

Suddenly, he raised his hand and patted his storage bag, and a jade box appeared in his hand.

He then opened the jade box and took out the silver-purple metal piece inside.

This silver-purple metal piece, which was obtained from the Chongming ruins, has a very mysterious origin and is very likely a remnant from the war that wiped out the Chongming faction.

Zhou Tai's cultivation level was insufficient before, so he was unable to unveil its mystery.

Now that he has successfully established his foundation, it's time to give it another try.

>