Longevity: Starting with an infant's innate growth potential

Chapter 192 A Fierce Competition to Take on Disciples
Inside the cave.

"I wonder what my spiritual liquid will transform into under the tempering of the Five Elements Spiritual Flame?"

Zhou Ling murmured.

At this moment, the spiritual energy absorbed into his body was like a wild horse, violently impacting Zhou Ling's acupoints and meridians.

It then flows into the Qi Sea, and under the operation of the Five Elements Spiritual Flame and the Five Elements Qianyang True Technique, it is continuously refined, turning into drops of spiritual liquid containing enormous power.

The spiritual liquid then flowed into the spiritual lake, causing the spiritual lake within the Qi Sea to continuously expand and solidify.

Boom!
Within the Qi Sea, the Five Elements Spiritual Flames radiated five-colored flames, continuously condensing and refining the spiritual liquid.

During this process, his spiritual liquid became increasingly pure, gradually condensing into dazzling five-colored hues.

Then, the Five Elements Spiritual Flames, like five different colored flame fish, swam and circled within the Qi Sea.

At this moment, the Qi Sea Spirit Liquid Lake gradually began to condense and take shape.

Five elements of light shone brightly on the lake's surface, profoundly mysterious.

"Bang bang bang!"

During the process of the Five Elements Spirit Lake being formed, Zhou Ling's meridians expanded, and his blood surged like a great river.

Each flash of the Five Elements light made his aura grow stronger.

"boom!"

It is unknown how much time has passed, but the Five Elements Spiritual Flames swirled above the Spiritual Lake.

The spiritual energy within the Spirit Lake displays the colors of the five elements.

In an instant, the light of the five elements shone out from his dantian and bloomed around him.

Accompanied by dazzling five-elemental light, a powerful and pure magical energy emanated from his body.

A vast and powerful force of the Five Elements circulated within Zhou Ling's body.

After several hours, the five elements' radiance gradually faded, and Zhou Ling opened his eyes.

"Foundation building complete!"

His pupils seemed to flash with five-colored light, bursting out with dazzling five-colored brilliance.

Zhou Ling felt a surge of immense power coursing through his body, and a relieved smile appeared on his face.

Heavenly Foundation Establishment, finally achieved!

"I feel that my spiritual power is more than ten times stronger than before."

Feeling the surging spiritual energy within his body's spiritual lake, Zhou Ling thought to himself.

After breaking through to the Foundation Establishment stage, he felt that his Five Elements magical power had greatly improved.

In particular, the Five Spirit Flames absorbed a large amount of spiritual energy during its foundation building process and integrated it into the Spirit Lake.

This also significantly increased the magical power within him.

At this moment, Zhou Ling was filled with excitement and confidence.

Not only did his magical power surge across the board, but his divine sense also more than doubled.

It reached about four hundred feet, which is comparable to a mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Immediately, Zhou Ling looked at the spiritual lake within his dantian.

The spiritual liquid within the spiritual lake is pure and rich, displaying five colors and radiating a faint five-colored glow.

"This is the Heavenly Rank Foundation Establishment, with the Qi Sea reaching over thirty inches and nearly a hundred drops of condensed spiritual liquid!"

As Zhou Ling sensed the condition of the Spirit Lake, a look of joy appeared on his face.

It should be noted that a typical Foundation Establishment cultivator's Qi Sea is only three inches in size, and they can condense more than ten drops of spiritual liquid, but no more than twenty drops.

Zhou Ling's Foundation Establishment this time, whether it's his Qi Sea or spiritual liquid, is directly ten times that of an ordinary cultivator.

Given the purity and richness of his spiritual power, he wouldn't be at a disadvantage against a cultivator in the mid-Foundation Establishment stage.

Then, he opened the panel.

[Spiritual Root]: Low-grade of the Five Elements 3/100
[Constitution]: Five Elements Thunder Body (32/100)

[Cultivation Level]: Foundation Establishment Level 1 3/100
[Divine Soul]: Four Hundred Zhang

[Body Refinement]: Early Stage 2 35/100
[Physical Attributes]: Comprehension (exceptionally outstanding 7120/10,000), Physique (amazing talent 91/100)

[Unique Talents]: Resilient to Adversity (Tier 3, 1300/10,000), Talent Fusion (Tier 1, 1/10)
[Growth Talent]: Danger Avoidance Deduction (Tier 3 1081/10,000), Physique Sublimation (Tier 2 876/1,000)...

"At fourteen years old, a Heavenly Rank Foundation Establishment cultivator at this age is probably considered to be in the top tier at Xuan Yuan Dao Academy."

"Fortunately, everyone entering the inner courtyard next will be a Foundation Establishment disciple, so it shouldn't have any impact!"

Looking at the panel, Zhou Ling murmured to himself.

"Upon entering the inner courtyard, the first thing to do is to become an apprentice."

"And since my master has already become an instructor at Xuan Yuan Dao Academy, I don't need to choose one myself, and I've also saved the apprenticeship ceremony."

"Life is getting better and better!"

Zhou Ling was making plans in his mind.

Now, in the Dao Academy, those with the status of Golden Core Seed receive a reward of 100 points every month, giving them a greater advantage in exchanging resources.

Upon reaching the Foundation Establishment stage, one can apply to the Heavenly Crafts Bureau to become a formal second-rank steward, which will improve one's benefits.

Although he had successfully achieved the Heavenly Rank Foundation Establishment, Zhou Ling did not dare to be careless, after all, he was cultivating the Five Elements Qianyang True Technique.

Cultivating all five elements simultaneously consumes a great deal of resources.

So next, we need to find ways to earn more spirit stones.

Moreover, he also needed to prepare Foundation Building Pills for his mother.

He then got up and left the meditation room.

But as soon as Zhou Ling stepped out of the cultivation room, he was startled.

There were seven or eight figures standing outside the training room.

It turned out to be Dean Zhong, Supervisor Zhang, and some instructors from the inner courtyard.

"Zhou Ling, congratulations on your successful Foundation Establishment at the Heavenly Rank!"

"congratulations."

Dean Zhong and others congratulated him.

Their expressions were full of praise; no one had expected that Zhou Ling would actually reach the Heavenly Rank Foundation Establishment stage.

This is something that hasn't happened in the Taoist academy for decades.

As for the disciple who successfully established a Heavenly Foundation Establishment last time, he is now the Chief of the Heavenly Crafts Department, holding a high position and great power.

Of course, the Xuan Yuan Dao Academy in Qingyun Immortal City is just a branch of the Xuan Yuan Dao Academy.

It is just an average institution among the many branches.

"Thank you, Dean and all the senior colleagues!"

Zhou Ling replied respectfully, somewhat flattered.

"Now that you have successfully established your foundation, you can go to the inner courtyard tomorrow to complete the formalities."

"Furthermore, you must formally become my disciple. How about it, are you interested in becoming my student?"

Dean Zhong didn't mince words; he was very direct. After congratulating Zhou Ling on successfully establishing his foundation, he immediately stated his intentions.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Ling was taken aback, not expecting Dean Zhong to raise this question so soon after leaving the cultivation room.

For anyone else to become Dean Zhong's disciple, it would be an incredible stroke of luck.

If you can't even get it by begging, why would you even consider it?

But since his master had already entered the Xuan Yuan Dao Academy, Zhou Ling naturally could not become a disciple of anyone else.

To Zhou Ling's surprise, other instructors also wanted to take him as their disciple.

"Dean Zhong, your major is alchemy, not weapon crafting. It would be safer for Zhou Ling to learn weapon crafting from me!"

Zhang Daojian spoke up.

"Who says I'm not good at weapon crafting? I'm a third-grade weapon crafter, after all!"

Dean Zhong shook his head.

Whether or not we forge weapons is not important; the key is to first take Zhou Ling under our wing.

A fourteen-year-old Foundation Establishment disciple of the Heavenly Rank, with remarkable technical talent, is absolutely worthy of being nurtured and has an unlimited future.

As for Zhou Ling, he has a low-grade spiritual root.

He absolutely does not believe that anyone with a low-grade spiritual root can achieve the Heaven-grade Foundation Establishment.

Moreover, the cultivation speed is so fast, and it even involves the five elements.

It must possess some kind of invisible constitution.

Dean Zhong thought to himself with certainty.

Zhou Ling's performance over the past year since he entered the Dao Academy has truly been astonishing.

Of course, he wasn't the only one; Zhang Daojian and the others shared the same idea.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have known that Zhou Lingtian was at the Foundation Establishment stage and would have come to wait outside the cave.

“Zhou Ling, your talent for weapon crafting is quite good. I noticed that you focus on crafting spirit swords when you craft weapons.” “I also craft spirit swords. If you become my disciple, I can pass on my sword crafting techniques to you. I can guarantee that you can craft a third-tier spirit sword in less than five years.”

Beside her, the beautiful Instructor Lin smiled and stated her conditions.

Zhou Ling was somewhat flattered to be sought after by so many instructors.

Could it be that this Heavenly Foundation Establishment has caught the attention of the academy's instructors?

Even the abbot and the Taoist priest personally wanted him to become their disciple.

"Regarding the third-order weapon refining and inscription, you can apply to the Dao Academy after entering the inner courtyard. However, once you become my disciple, I will not only teach you weapon refining, but also provide you with cultivation pills."

Hearing what Zhang Daojian and Lin Jiaoxi said, Dean Zhong had no choice but to swallow his pride and try to win Zhou Ling over.

Once inside the inner courtyard, all third-tier inscriptions can be obtained using points, and he can also guide Zhou Ling in cultivating inscriptions.

Moreover, he is a fourth-grade alchemist, which naturally gives him a greater advantage.

"Furthermore, you possess the five elements and are still quite young. If you are interested, I can also pass on my alchemy skills to you!"

Dean Zhong raised his stakes again.

Then, looking at Zhou Ling, he thought that with such generous terms, this kid probably wouldn't refuse.

However, Zhou Ling remained calm, seemingly unmoved.

He had already made his decision, and no matter how good the offers from others were, they couldn't change his mind.

I never expected that after successfully establishing my foundation, several instructors would offer me a position.

If it were before, he would definitely have chosen Dean Zhong, after all, Dean Zhong's status, cultivation level, and resources were certainly more than others.

But since my master has also come to the Taoist temple, there's no need to consider anything else.

"Thank you all for your kindness, seniors. I now have a master!"

Zhou Ling bowed to everyone and expressed his thoughts.

Zhou Ling's words immediately surprised everyone present.

Everyone turned their attention to Instructor Hu.

Instructor Hu also looked surprised.

Because he has not yet entered the inner academy, he is not qualified to take Zhou Ling as his disciple.

Moreover, it will be next year before we can enter the inner courtyard.

However, given Zhou Ling's current talent, he wasn't sure how much longer he could continue teaching him.

After all, he was only at the peak of the Foundation Establishment stage.

If we take Zhou Ling as a disciple, it might cause us to make a mistake.

That's why I haven't made a sound.

"Hmm, think about it some more. There's no rush. After all, it concerns your future cultivation. Think it through before making a decision."

"After all, Instructor Hu is not yet an inner court instructor!"

Dean Zhong reminded him.

Upon hearing Dean Zhong's words, Zhou Ling shook his head. "Dean, my master who helped me enter the inner courtyard is someone else!"

Upon hearing this, Dean Zhong was taken aback and asked directly, "Who is that?"

Unexpectedly, in addition to Instructor Hu, an inner court instructor had also made contact with Zhou Ling in advance.

He couldn't help but be a little surprised. Who in the inner courtyard had such good eyesight to see that Zhou Ling was capable of the Heavenly Rank Foundation Establishment?

After all, Zhou Lingyuan originally only had a low-grade spiritual root and had not yet passed the Foundation Establishment test, even though he had shown amazing talent in multiple assessments.

However, due to his limited qualifications, his future achievements will be limited.

Now that he has achieved the Heavenly Rank Foundation Establishment, coupled with his astonishing comprehension, his future is limitless.

The others looked at each other in surprise upon hearing Zhou Ling's words.

I couldn't help but wonder who it could be?

"She is my master, Instructor Ziling, in Lingxia Immortal City!"

Zhou Ling said with a respectful expression.

"Instructor Ziling, so it was her!"

Upon hearing this, Dean Zhong's expression first showed surprise, and then he said thoughtfully, "So you're Fellow Daoist Zi Ling's disciple, no wonder you're so powerful!"

"Now that you have a master, just focus on your cultivation from now on!"

Dean Zhong's smile returned, and he patted Zhou Ling on the shoulder, speaking kindly.

"Yes, Dean!"

Zhou Ling nodded in reply.

The other instructors also showed expressions of regret.

Afterwards, Zhou Ling bowed and thanked everyone again before taking his leave.

Walking along the road, Zhou Ling's steps were light and her whole body felt relaxed.

The foundation has finally been successfully laid!

This is what his parents have hoped for him since he was a child.

According to his father, the Zhou family has never produced a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

And once he established his foundation, it was a Heavenly Foundation Establishment.

"Tell Mom about this first! Let them be happy too!"

Walking on the clean and spacious road, Zhou Ling thought to himself.

During this period, he was practicing diligently at the Taoist temple and had not returned home for more than a month.

"Never mind, I'll give them a surprise when I get home!"

Thinking this, Zhou Lingxuan quickened his pace.

"Mother, I have great news for you! I've reached the Foundation Establishment stage!"

As soon as he got home, Zhou Ling couldn't help but tell his mother about his Foundation Establishment.

"Ling'er, really!"

Upon hearing this, Li Ru excitedly hugged her son, her eyes slightly red and blurred with tears.

She could sense from the completely different aura emanating from her son that he had already reached the Foundation Establishment stage.

But this moment still feels like a dream.

Zhou Shan, standing to the side, was also so excited he was almost at a loss for words. He exclaimed, "Grandpa, if you could see from heaven, your grandson has successfully established his foundation!"

"Ling'er, are you alright?"

Li Ru looked at her son again and asked with concern.

She had heard that Foundation Establishment was quite risky, and that Chu Xing had failed to establish his foundation, resulting in a significant drop in his cultivation level.

"No, and I'm already a Heavenly Rank Foundation Establishment cultivator!"

Zhou Ling said with a smile.

"Heavenly Grade Foundation Establishment!"

"Heavenly Grade Foundation Establishment!"

Both Mr. and Mrs. Li exclaimed in surprise, their faces filled with disbelief.

The son actually achieved the Heavenly Rank Foundation Establishment.

Doesn't that mean there's still a great chance to reach the Golden Core stage in the future?

"Good! Good! You truly are worthy of being my son, Zhou Shan's son!"

Zhou Shan's face was full of excitement.

"Ling'er, do Aunt Wang and the others know?"

After a while, Li Rucai gradually calmed down and asked her son.

Zhou Ling shook his head.

"Tell Xin'er to invite them over for dinner tonight, so we can celebrate!"

Li Ru said with a broad smile.

My son has now reached the Foundation Establishment stage, so we definitely need to celebrate properly.

If it were in Lingxia Immortal City, she would simply hold a three-day banquet and invite all the neighbors to drink.

After all, her son had reached the Foundation Establishment stage, and even the Heavenly Rank Foundation Establishment stage—something she never dared to dream of.

Zhou Ling nodded, then took out a communication jade, infused it with magic power, and sent a message to Wang Xin, "Xin'er, I have successfully established my foundation."

"Come over to my house for dinner tonight with Aunt Wang, let's celebrate!"

"Congratulations on your Foundation Establishment, Brother Ling! We're on our way!" Wang Xin's reply soon came through the communication jade.

After that, Li Ru's family got busy.

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(End of this chapter)