A ruthless bandit from the celestial realm, he began his cultivation journey after kidnapping the Em

A continuous stream of pure spiritual energy gathers in the dantian...

Ye Chen vaguely sensed that he was about to break through again, and a trace of doubt flashed through his mind...

Logically speaking, shouldn't I be trying to break through to the Foundation Establishment stage at this point?

He remembered Lin Ningxue telling him before that the Qi Refining stage was divided into ten levels, after which one would condense the Dao Platform and achieve Foundation Establishment...

But the situation in his dantian was not like that at the moment.

The immense spiritual energy was still brewing, poised to break through the barrier of his realm, but showed no intention of forming a Dao Platform...

Ye Chen fell into deep thought...

Could it be that he cultivated incorrectly?

However, there was nothing wrong with the practice of the Supreme Induction Technique, nor were there any signs of qi deviation...

Before he could think any further, the immense spiritual power in his dantian surged forth once more...

"Snap!"

A powerful aura erupted from Ye Chen's body once again, even more terrifying than before...

He quickly withdrew his spiritual power to avoid destroying the entire house.

"This is..."

"Eleventh level of Qi Refining?"

Ye Chen murmured softly, his expression growing increasingly strange...

Didn't they say that reaching the tenth level of Qi Refining means entering the Foundation Establishment stage?

How did he break through to the eleventh level of Qi Refining?

Could it be that I'm unable to establish my foundation?

He was momentarily confused and wanted to ask Lin Ningxue, but it was too late to disturb her...

When he examined his dantian, he discovered that it seemed to have been reopened, capable of holding more than twice the spiritual energy it had when he reached the tenth level of Qi Refining...

Even after being refined by the Supreme Induction Technique, the spiritual power within his body became even purer and more profound.

Ye Chen's eyes lit up, and his worries immediately dissipated.

"Reaching the eleventh level of Qi Refining doesn't seem out of the question..."

For him, anything that could improve his strength was fine; otherwise, all the pills he had taken earlier would have been wasted...

He used dozens of pills in one go, all of them were fifth-grade spirit-replenishing pills.

Ye Chen sensed the changes in the spiritual energy within his body, looked down at the remaining Grade 5 Spirit Replenishing Pills in front of him, and muttered expectantly.

"Try again..."

"I absolutely must reach the Foundation Establishment stage tonight..."

He immediately grabbed the Spirit-Replenishing Pill and stuffed it into his mouth again. The moment he swallowed the pill, he quickly circulated his cultivation technique to refine its medicinal power, lest his body be overwhelmed...

This time, there was still no sign of a Dao Platform forming in the dantian...

Ye Chen felt a chill in his heart, wondering if he had made a mistake in his training.

Could it be a problem with the Supreme Response Formula?

Or perhaps... you lack spiritual roots, which prevents you from establishing a foundation?

Or did you take too many pills at once, and your dantian didn't have time to start building your foundation instead?

He thought about it from beginning to end, but still couldn't figure out which part had gone wrong...

"Could it be... that my junior sister remembered it wrong?"

"The Qi Refining stage actually has twelve levels, or even higher?"

Ye Chen pondered for a moment, even wondering if Lin Ningxue had misspoken...

He recalled that among the outer disciples he had encountered in the past few days, he couldn't recall seeing anyone who had reached at least the eleventh level of Qi Refining...

They're either at the tenth level of Qi Refining, or they've already successfully established their foundation...

As he pondered, more and more spiritual energy gathered in his dantian...

After the medicinal power of dozens of Spirit-Replenishing Pills was completely refined, the spiritual energy within his body reached an incredibly terrifying level. Even his newly opened dantian space was instantly filled with pure spiritual energy...

"Snap!"

A surge of powerful spiritual energy erupted from Ye Chen's body...

His entire aura suddenly changed; spiritual energy surged around him, and the oppressive aura he exuded was several times stronger than before...

"this..."

Ye Chen sensed the change in his cultivation level, and his expression became strange...

"Twelve levels of Qi Refining!"

"This is fucking..."

"What exactly happened?"

He originally thought that with his numerous Grade 5 Spirit-Replenishing Pills, he could directly break through to the Golden Core stage, but he didn't expect that the Foundation Establishment stage would be the first hurdle he encountered...

He broke through four minor realms in a row, but he still couldn't even touch the threshold of the Foundation Establishment stage...

Ye Chen was plunged into self-doubt for a moment.

If he hadn't felt his own strength increase several times over, he would have doubted whether he had cultivated a fake immortality...

His gaze fell on the remaining Grade 5 Spirit Replenishing Pills, there were still dozens left. He immediately grabbed them, put them in his mouth, and swallowed them all...

"I refuse to believe it..."

"A mere Foundation Establishment stage? Could it possibly be a problem for me?"

Ye Chen snorted coldly, intending to take another gamble...

Surely you can't just swallow over three hundred Grade 5 Spirit Replenishing Pills in one go and still not be able to break through to the Foundation Establishment stage?

He closed his eyes and circulated his cultivation technique again, rapidly refining the medicinal power of the Spirit-Replenishing Pill...

Time passed second by second...

This time, strands of pure spiritual energy flowed into his dantian and disappeared as if they had sunk into the sea.

The combined medicinal power of dozens of Grade 5 Spirit-Replenishing Pills, enough to break through a minor cultivation realm, had all vanished...

"What's going on?"

Ye Chen was stunned for a moment.

Although he hadn't quite reached the Foundation Establishment stage before, he had at least broken through a minor realm. Now, however, he couldn't even break through the bottleneck of his current realm...

He refused to believe it and continued to refine the remaining medicinal power...

After one cycle of circulation, the medicinal power of the Spirit-Replenishing Pill was completely refined.

Ye Chen's cultivation level remained unchanged, still at the twelfth level of Qi Refining, with no sign of a breakthrough whatsoever...

"Holy crap..."

"Who devoured my spiritual power?"

He couldn't help but curse under his breath.

After carefully sensing the changes in his dantian, he noticed a small black dot, though it was too tiny to discern. All the spiritual energy that had previously entered his dantian had been completely absorbed by this black dot...

"What...is this?"

Ye Chen frowned slightly, a hint of doubt flashing through his mind.

However, his cultivation level has improved considerably, so it seems that the medicinal power he refined was not wasted...

This gave him a slight sense of relief.

"What a pity..."

"Over three hundred Grade-Five Spirit-Replenishing Pills, and still not enough to break through to the Foundation Establishment stage..."

"No wonder those outer disciples haven't reached the Foundation Establishment stage after several years of cultivation; it's truly difficult without sufficient cultivation resources..."

Ye Chen muttered to himself, secretly regretting it.

Therefore, if he wants to break through to the Golden Core stage, he will need even more pills...

He glanced up at the shattered room. It was habitable, albeit a bit shabby. Luckily, the bed beneath him hadn't been destroyed by spiritual energy, otherwise he'd have to sleep in the guest room tonight...

"ha..."

Ye Chen yawned and prepared to lie down and go to sleep...

"Buzz..."

A slight sound rang out...

Ye Chen was startled for a moment, then instantly perked up...

"Someone's coming!"