On the way back, Shen Qiang received a phone call from Su Xiaonuan. She said there was an issue at her parents' house and she would not be returning to Jinyu Huacheng tonight.

This was good news, as her absence tonight allowed Shen Qiang to focus on Foundation Establishment.

Besides that, Shen Qiang also ordered takeout since there was another person working as a mannequin clothing expert at home, and since Shen Qiang did not allow her to go out, he naturally had to provide meals.

Actually, Shen Qiang was not short of money; he could very well afford to hire chefs and servants.

However, Shen Qiang had too many secrets.

Lingzhi and cicadas in the plantation, Qian Shanxue from the Dragon Group.

Cultivation, alchemy.

Many things could not be known to ordinary people.

Besides that, the cicadas loved cleanliness.

The home was always kept neat.

So in this respect, he thought better of it—Shen Qiang did not care about spending more money, but he was not foolish enough to trust just anyone.

Upon arriving home, Qingxuan's first set of clothes was also ready, and with her refreshing new attire, Qingxuan looked dashing and graceful, not at all inferior to Qian Shanxue.

After the mannequin clothing expert quietly had dinner.

Shen Qiang did not stay upstairs but went to the plantation downstairs.

The plantation was quite cool after nightfall.

Shen Qiang chose to come here because he did not want to be disturbed for any reason, as he only had one thing to do next, and that was Foundation Establishment!

Foundation Establishment is an essential process that every successful cultivator must experience, but there is only one opportunity.

Many people think that practicing Qigong is cultivation.

But in fact, this perception is incorrect.

The true meaning of cultivation is not merely about acquiring great power, but it is about the evolution of life.

Just like apes evolving into humans.

Completing evolution is the ultimate goal of cultivation.

The Qi Condensation stage is the first qualitative change for cultivators; it condenses True Qi into liquid, increasing the cultivated True Qi by tens of times, thus possessing power unimaginable to ordinary people.

Completing the Qi Condensation stage means completing the first stage of cultivation, refining essence into Qi.

Foundation Establishment, on the other hand, is the first stage of refining Qi into spirit.

Foundation is the base of the path, and also the furnace of the Pill.

After establishing the Foundation, one can sense and attract nature's spiritual energy into the body, perform Grand Circulation to transform it into Primordial Energy, condense a Golden Core above the Foundation in the Red Palace.

Simply put, before Foundation Establishment, cultivators can only rely on their own meridians to run cultivation techniques to become stronger, but after Foundation Establishment, they can attract nature's spiritual energy, which makes a world of difference in terms of the speed and power of cultivation.

And Foundation Establishment usually offers only one opportunity per cultivator in their lifetime.

Moreover, even though it's all Foundation Establishment, different outcomes may arise due to talent, cultivation techniques, and innate ability.

Generally, the potential for the future can be most easily judged based on the size of the opened Qi Sea.

According to the Medical Saint Inheritance's judgement on the potential after Foundation Establishment,

if visually comparable to within three courtyards, it is considered Lower Grade, if comparable to a Prime Minister Mansion, it is Middle Grade, and if comparable to a city, it is Top Grade.

This is the Human Realm Foundation Establishment.

Eight or nine out of ten cultivators are within this range.

Above this, are the cultivators of the Spiritual Realm.

Mountains, streams, lakes, forests, mythical creatures, etc., are judged by whether their entirety can be clearly seen.

Further up, is the King Realm.

Continuous green mountains, surging rivers, frost, rain, and dew that reach as far as the eye can see, and cause celestial phenomena, these are talents that are one in ten thousand.

When the Medical Saint established his foundation, his vision encompassed boundless grasslands; he was a supreme powerhouse of this realm, possessing impressive talents, otherwise, he wouldn't have become the widely respected Medical Saint of the Immortal Realm.

Above this.

Lies the legendary Supreme Talent, the Emperor Realm, which appears once in ten thousand years.

It is said that those who build foundations in the Emperor Realm see the cycles of the seasons, provoking the heaven's wrath.

But this is only a legend; what exactly happens during the foundation establishment of a true Emperor Realm is a subject of much debate, and no consensus has ever been reached because, even in the Immortal Realm, it's rare to see one every several tens of thousands of years. Moreover, before such people achieve fame and power, they do not share their foundation establishment experience with anyone.

And once they succeed, there is even less reason to do so; thus, foundation establishment in the Emperor Realm remains only in legends, full of controversy but never confirmed.

Pursuing something legendary that might not even exist is clearly not in Shen Qiang's character.

The more pragmatic Shen Qiang had imagined countless times what level his foundation establishment would be.

Because of his age and short exposure time, Shen Qiang, who knew not to reach for what was beyond his grasp, had previously set a goal for himself: to reach at least the upper-mid level of the realm would be enough.

But now it's different; Shen Qiang, sitting cross-legged in the plantation, looked at the Fetal Dragon Essence placed at his Dantian and made a silent resolution.

"The lifeless Fetal Dragon Essence is still Divine Dragon Essence. Now that I have it, even if I can't reach the King Realm's foundation like the Medical Saint, I must at least reach the middle or top grade of the Spiritual Realm, because only by doing so can I have endless possibilities and a brilliant future!"

Having clarified his goal, Shen Qiang slowly closed his eyes.

The True Qi, thick like liquid, instantly coiled around Shen Qiang, not only circulating in an orderly manner but also passing through the piece of Fetal Dragon Essence at Shen Qiang's Dantian during its flow.

Time ticked away.

Shen Qiang persistently built his foundation.

One hour, two hours, three hours.

Three hours after Shen Qiang began his attempt at foundation establishment, the Divine Dragon Essence, solid as agate, melted like a sugar cube under the astonished gaze of Jinchai, then the pale golden, syrup-like Divine Dragon Essence merged into Shen Qiang's True Qi and subsequently entered into his body.

"What on earth is this, such a terrifying aura!" Jinchai looked somewhat scared.

Yet Shen Qiang, who was still engaged in his foundation establishment, felt a surge of spirit; his True Qi, carrying a pale golden aura and mixed with uncontrollable furious power, not only rampaged around difficultly but also expanded his already solid meridians once more.

The fierce, burning sensation of being ripped apart made it impossible for Shen Qiang not to focus intensely.

A few minutes later, when all the Divine Dragon Essence had been absorbed into Shen Qiang's body, Jinchai, observing Shen Qiang practicing in Panxi cultivation garden, saw Shen Qiang's expression of pain and felt worried, not understanding what was happening to him and completely clueless about what to do.

Just then, the wind suddenly picked up, mixed with fine raindrops, thunderously beating against the windows.

In the plantation, Jinchai, with her hair blowing wildly, hurried to close the window and was astounded to see the sky outside not only filled with dense clouds swirling with lightning but seeming to rotate around Jinyu Huacheng as its center.

"Oh, is it going to pour?"

As Jinchai spoke to herself, in an office at the top floor of the Financial Building in Provincial City.

An authoritative elderly man, wearing simple clothes and writing something at his desk, put down his pen, looked through the glass window with a slightly astonished expression at the gathering, swirling, lightning-filled clouds in the distance, and murmured to himself.

"An heavenly tribulation?"

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