Chapter 180 — Late Foundation Establishment

CHAPTER 180

Late Foundation Establishment

“One evening without knocking,” Shi Feng said.

Kang Liu looked at the closed room behind him, then at the note in his hand.

“Even if a sect delegate comes?” Kang Liu asked.

“They can leave a message,” Shi Feng replied.

“Even if Gu Zhan comes?” Kang Liu asked.

“Especially then,” Shi Feng said.

The innkeeper nodded, relieved to have a clear instruction for the visitor most likely to carry a spear through his front hall.

Shi Feng shut the door and checked the window latch. The room was clean, the sword pieces were packed away, and his cultivation medicines rested within reach.

Beneath the clean bandage on his left forearm, the hairline crack in his golden radius bone hummed with a fierce, living heat. Fighting an early Golden Core spear user at the edge of his strength had shaken loose the final barrier between mid and late Foundation Establishment. With the Clear Essence Pill prize in hand, tonight was the moment to break through.

He swallowed the first Clear Essence Pill and guided its medicinal force through the meridians.

The successful pill multiplied the effect of its ingredients. Its strength entered cleanly, without the resistance another cultivator might develop after frequent use.

Shi Feng absorbed it patiently.

His foundation needed more medicine than an ordinary one. That wasn't a sudden problem discovered after winning. He'd lived with the demand through every paid commission and every retained share.

Now the stored qi was close to completing the next change.

He let the first portion settle before taking another pill from his own accumulated stock. There was no reason to force the prize medicine through before the previous gain assimilated properly.

The process required control, not suffering.

Outside, footsteps crossed the corridor. Kang Liu's voice stopped a visitor near the stairs and explained that the champion was resting.

Shi Feng didn't listen for the reply.

He drew the medicinal qi inward and kept the flow even.

Hours passed.

The late stage didn't arrive with lightning or a heaven-shaking crack above the inn. Foundation Establishment didn't demand the Golden Core tribulation Gu Zhan passed that morning.

As the Clear Essence Pill's medicinal force surged through all three hundred and sixty-five meridians, it poured first into the hairline fracture in his left radius bone. The golden bone knitted shut, denser and brighter than before, and the combat insight from clashing head-on with Gu Zhan's early Golden Core spear fused with his accumulated qi.

With a deep inner resonance, the barrier gave way and the new stage settled into place.

Late Foundation Establishment.

Shi Feng opened his eyes.

His first feeling was satisfaction. His second was curiosity about how much finer the new qi would make the same alchemy method in his hands.

The final had tested his mid Foundation Establishment cultivation to its limit. The cracked arm showed where his control failed under the spear's pressure. Correcting that failure and assimilating the prize medicine carried the accumulated qi through the next barrier.

He'd won before the breakthrough.

The new stage simply extended his road.

Shi Feng stood and flexed one hand. A light pressure moved through the room, then disappeared when he withdrew it.

The table remained where it belonged. The window didn't explode. He had enough control to enter a new stage without buying the innkeeper another roof.

That pleased him almost as much.

He tested the finer qi through a short alchemy control sequence without lighting a furnace. The threads held their shape more easily. One split into two clean lines, then gathered again without scattering.

That would help the Golden Core formula he'd passed at Sky Pavilion. It wouldn't grant mastery of every medicine served by the same Mark.

Shi Feng wrote the change down before dressing. He wanted a proper practice session when the recruitment was settled, with enough ingredients to test the new control honestly.

His cultivation and alchemy could improve together. Neither needed a crowd to confirm the gain.

At dawn, he went downstairs for hot water and found Gu Zhan asleep on a bench in the front hall.

The spear lay across his knees. Kang Liu stood behind the counter with the exhausted expression of a man who'd argued against several different kinds of foolishness before sunrise.

“He came to ask whether you wanted breakfast,” Kang Liu whispered.

Shi Feng looked at the sleeping cultivator.

“With the spear?” Shi Feng asked.

“He said he carries it everywhere,” Kang Liu replied.

“That part's true,” Shi Feng said.

Gu Zhan opened his eye when they mentioned the weapon. He sat upright immediately.

“You're awake!” Gu Zhan said.

“Yes,” Shi Feng replied.

The spear user examined him for a moment. His expression changed into open interest.

“Late Foundation Establishment,” Gu Zhan said. “You advanced!”

“After the final,” Shi Feng replied.

Gu Zhan looked delighted enough to forget breakfast.

“So the next fight will be better!” Gu Zhan said.

“Not before eating,” Shi Feng answered.

Kang Liu hurried to order two bowls before either visitor could prove how large a courtyard a spear needed.

Duan Yichen arrived while they ate. He stopped beside the table, looked at Shi Feng's slightly changed aura, and shook his head.

“You won yesterday,” Duan Yichen said. “You could've waited a little before making the rest of us work harder.”

“I wasn't waiting for applause,” Shi Feng replied.

“That was obvious,” Duan Yichen said. “The rest of the city hasn't finished applauding.”

Gu Zhan was drawing a spear angle beside his bowl with one finger.

Duan Yichen moved the bowl away before the finger reached the soup.

“Eat,” Duan Yichen said.

Gu Zhan looked at him, then at the displaced food.

“You sound like my master,” Gu Zhan said.

“Then he must be tired,” Duan Yichen replied.

Shi Feng laughed softly and finished his own bowl.

He felt steadier than the previous morning. He still wanted a better sword, a proper furnace, and the chance to see Artificer Hall with his own eyes.

Zhou Ke appeared at the gate with a sealed invitation bearing all three sect marks.

“The recruitment hall,” Zhou Ke said. “They're waiting for your decision.”

Shi Feng wiped his hands, stood, and accepted the paper.

“Then I'll give it,” Shi Feng replied.