49: With a solid foundation, the peak is in sight.
The renovated Taoist temple welcomed its first midsummer.
The ancient cypress tree spread out its canopy-like green shade, shielding the temple from the scorching summer heat. The solar courtyard lights in the courtyard quietly absorbed sunlight during the day, and at night, they cast a warm glow, attracting many fireflies to dance gracefully around the edges of the light.
Li Muchen's life followed its usual routine, yet things were also a bit different.
With electricity, he could read at night—not scriptures, but an ancient book left behind by Master Lu before he departed, which discussed ancient architectural construction and garden landscapes. With the internet, he occasionally checked the news to understand the changes in the outside world, but most of the time, he just browsed quietly, without commenting or participating.
He still devoted most of his time to cultivation.
During the renovation of the temple, the Spiritual Qi in the mountain was not negatively affected; instead, it saw a subtle increase due to the construction team's restrained attitude and the workers' pious thoughts.
This night, the moonlight was like water.
Li Muchen sat cross-legged on the cold jade meditation cushion, his mind sinking into his Purple Mansion.
His Foundation Establishment Late Stage cultivation was already as stable as a rock. The drop of liquid gold True Essence within his Dantian was now the size of a thumb, with golden light flowing throughout, as heavy and dense as mercury. When the liquid gold rotated, the faint sound of wind and thunder echoed in his Dantian, a sign that his True Essence was filled to the extreme.
His Purple Mansion Spiritual Sense had grown several times stronger.
He had long since broken through the fifty-zhang perception range. Now, with a single thought, it could cover the entire Qingfeng Temple and even extend to the edge of Zhaojiaao Village at the foot of the mountain. The precision of his perception had also reached a new Realm—he could "see" the muscle contractions of an earthworm crawling in the soil and "hear" the faint sound of a dewdrop sliding off a leaf thirty zhang away.
What was even more marvelous was that his Spiritual Sense had begun to possess substantial interference capabilities.
Two days ago, a fledgling bird fell from its nest. With a slight thought from Li Muchen, his Spiritual Sense acted like an invisible hand to lift it up and slowly return it to the nest. Although it was still very weak and consumed a significant amount of mental energy each time it was used, this was undoubtedly a qualitative change. "Peak Foundation Establishment..." he murmured to himself.
Foundation Establishment is divided into four stages: Early Stage Liquid Condensation, Middle Stage Crystal Transformation, Late Stage Gold Formation, and Peak Perfection.
He was now standing at the threshold of "Perfection."
The so-called Perfection meant that the liquid gold True Essence was complete and without leaks, the Purple Mansion Spiritual Sense was harmonious and unobstructed, and the Dao Foundation was as stable as the pillars of Heaven and Earth, without the slightest flaw. Upon reaching this Realm, one could begin to glimpse the mysteries of "Refining Qi into Spirit," laying the most solid foundation for condensing a Golden Core.
But this step was also the most difficult.
It required not just the accumulation of True Essence, but also the tempering of one's state of mind and the comprehension of the "Dao."
Li Muchen closed his eyes and circulated the Supreme Clarity Purple Mansion Returning to Origin True Scripture.
The liquid gold True Essence began to accelerate its rotation.
At first, it was like a babbling brook, then gradually like a surging river, and finally like the raging waves of the ocean, stirring up a storm within his Dantian. With every rotation of the liquid gold, it released majestic energy that washed through his entire body, tempering his Meridians and bones.
The cool sensation from the cold jade meditation cushion firmly protected his mind, allowing him to remain absolutely clear-headed during this high-intensity circulation.
The Purple Mansion Spiritual Sense moved accordingly.
The ball of light at the core of his Spiritual Sense began to collapse inward and condense. It wasn't getting smaller, but rather more solid and pure. The light cluster, which was originally like mist and haze, gradually transformed into a brilliant "Spiritual Sense Seed," suspended quietly in the center of the Purple Mansion.
At the same time, the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi outside the temple began to gather toward the Main Hall.
This wasn't the pull of the Spirit Gathering Formation, but the gravitational pull generated by Li Muchen's own Breakthrough in cultivation. The Spiritual Qi was like a hundred rivers returning to the sea, seeping into the hall through the doors, window frames, and gaps in the tiles, merging into his body thread by thread.
The ancient cypress tree sensed this change.
This spiritual tree, which had lived for three hundred years, moved its branches and leaves without any wind, emitting a rich Green Wood Qi that blended with the gathered Spiritual Qi, making it even purer and easier to absorb.
In the Spirit Well, the well water rippled slightly, and the surface shimmered with a seven-colored glow. That was the Water Spirit Qi being drawn out, transforming into a misty vapor that rose up and nourished the entire Taoist temple.
The Spiritual Plants in the courtyard—Purple-Leaf Ivy, Seven-Leaf Lotus, and Dragon-Whiskers Grass—also stretched their leaves under the moonlight, breathing in this rare spiritual Opportunity.
For a moment, the Taoist temple became the center of a Spiritual Qi vortex.
Fortunately, it was late at night, and no one noticed.
Li Muchen was completely immersed in his Breakthrough.
He saw the change in the liquid gold True Essence within his Dantian—the drop of liquid gold began to collapse inward during its high-speed rotation. It wasn't becoming smaller, but rather denser and heavier.
Drop by drop, it condensed.
When the liquid gold, which was originally the size of a thumb, collapsed to the size of a soybean, it stopped.
But its weight did not decrease; instead, it became even heavier. This tiny drop seemed to carry a weight of a thousand jin, pressing down at the center of his Dantian, giving the entire Dantian a sense of sinking.
This was the first step of "Perfection"—True Essence solidification.
Next was the second step—Purple Mansion harmonization.
The Spiritual Sense Seed began to bloom with light.
It didn't bloom outward, but inward. The light rippled out like waves, and with each ripple, his Spiritual Sense became purer and more transparent. Those seeds of stray thoughts, dust, and Heart Demons melted away like snow under the brilliance of this light.
Li Muchen felt that his mind had never been so clear.
It was as if a dusty ancient mirror had been carefully wiped clean, finally reflecting the true world.
He "saw" his Dao Foundation—it was a pillar of light that reached from the heavens to the earth, standing in the center of the Purple Mansion, as stable as a mountain and as brilliant as the sun. Mysterious Dao patterns flowed upon the pillar; they were the brand of the Supreme Clarity Purple Mansion Returning to Origin True Scripture and the culmination of his more than six months of cultivation.
Around the pillar of light, threads of golden Power Of Will were entwined—these were the pious prayers of the pilgrims, which, under the refinement of the light of Karma, transformed into nutrients to nourish the Dao Foundation.
Deeper down, there was also a pale green "root" extending from the base of the Dao Foundation, buried deep into the earth below, connecting with the Spiritual Vein of Yuntai Mountain.
This was the effect of the earth vein suppression talisman and the proof of his destiny with this land.
"So that's how it is..." he realized in his heart.
Cultivation was not just about cultivating oneself.
It was also about the connection with Heaven and Earth, and the resonance with all things.
The Taoist temple, the ancient cypress, the Spirit Well, the mountain's Spiritual Vein, the villagers at the foot of the mountain, the distant pilgrims... all of these were a part of his cultivation.
He was not cultivating in isolation, but within a massive "ecosystem."
This ecosystem nourished him, and he, in turn, fed back into the ecosystem.
This was the true meaning of "The Dao follows nature."
As this realization arose, the Dao Foundation's pillar of light suddenly brightened!
The liquid gold True Essence, the Spiritual Sense Seed, the Power Of Will from Karma, the connection to the earth vein... everything perfectly merged at this moment.
Perfection.
True Perfection.
Without leaks, without obstruction, without flaws.
Peak Foundation Establishment, achieved!
Li Muchen slowly opened his eyes.
A golden light flashed and vanished in his eyes, then retracted, turning into an even deeper pitch-black. His entire temperament transformed once again—if he was like a deep, still pond before, he was now like the vast abyss of the ocean; calm on the surface, but with immense depth within.
He stood up and walked outside the hall.
The moonlight was like water, pouring over him.
Sensing its master's Breakthrough, the moonlight flowing cloud robe automatically manifested. The moon-white fabric flowed with a warm luster under the moonlight, and the dark patterns of clouds and water on the robe seemed to come alive, flowing slowly with his breath.
Li Muchen's mind moved slightly.
Without forming hand seals or chanting incantations, he simply raised his hand gently.
Ten zhang away, a half-person-high bluestone by the courtyard wall rose silently and suspended in mid-air. The stone weighed over a thousand jin, but under the control of his Spiritual Sense, it felt as light as nothing.
He crooked his finger slightly.
The bluestone began to rotate, faster and faster, finally turning into a blurred gray shadow. The wind generated by the rotation blew the fallen leaves in the courtyard into the air.
But strangely, there was no sound.
Not a single sound.
This wasn't ordinary telekinesis; it was Spiritual Sense interfering with reality to an exquisite degree—he had even controlled the vibration of the air.
Li Muchen withdrew his hand.
The bluestone slowly descended and gently touched the ground, without even raising a speck of dust.
He felt the majestic power within his body, the brilliant Spiritual Sense Seed in his Purple Mansion, and the drop of liquid gold True Essence as heavy as a mountain in his Dantian... Peak Foundation Establishment.
He was only one step away from the Golden Core.
But this final step might be more difficult than all the previous paths combined.
The Golden Core was a qualitative change of life, the starting point of the extraordinary.
It required not just cultivation, but also Opportunity, realization, and... a Tribulation.
He looked toward the night sky.
The stars were sparse, and the moonlight was cold.
Vague thunder could be heard in the distance—not heavenly thunder, but the muffled thunder of summer, rolling on the other side of the mountain.
The corners of Li Muchen's mouth curled up slightly.
A Tribulation?
Then let it come.
He walked back into the hall and stood before the newly renovated offering table.
On the table, the flame of the Ever-Burning Lamp burned quietly.
Under the lamp, the clay-sculpted statue sat quietly in the dim light, its features compassionate.
After more than half a year of nourishment from incense and Power Of Will, the "spirituality" of the statue had grown quite a bit. Li Muchen could feel that the ignorant "awareness" deep within the clay statue was growing slowly but steadily.
He sat down cross-legged and re-entered meditation.
Peak Foundation Establishment was only the beginning.
The road ahead was still very long.
But since he had chosen this path, he would keep walking it.
Walking until the end of time, until the seas ran dry and the rocks crumbled.
Walking until... the end of the Dao.
Outside the hall, the east was gradually whitening.
A new day had begun.
The Taoist temple woke up in the morning light.
The ancient cypress shook off the night dew, the Spirit Well shimmered with a faint light, and the vegetables in the patch stretched their leaves.
Everything was the same as usual.
But things were also different.
Because that person in the temple had taken another great step forward.
A great step.