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Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

Zhang Lingyu has not gone out these past few days, focusing instead on cultivating the "Spiritual Profound Soul Nourishing Scripture" in his cave.

If it weren't for the Golden Elixir Master giving a lecture, he really wouldn't have wanted to go out.

"Brother Zhang, are you also going to listen to the Golden Elixir Master's sermon?"

I got up very early today to try and grab a good spot, and independent cultivators like Gu Dahai had the same idea.

Such an opportunity is extremely rare. You might gain a great deal of insight from listening to a lecture. In the cultivation world, there are many cultivators who have achieved enlightenment and breakthroughs on the spot while listening to lectures.

"Yes, such opportunities are rare. Shall we go together?"

Zhang Lingyu smiled and said:

"If you go too late, there won't be any good seats left."

"it is good."

Gu Dahai and the others nodded in agreement and headed together toward the square where the sermon was to be given.

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By the time Zhang Lingyu and the others arrived, Tianliu Square was already bustling with activity.

This enormous plaza, covering a thousand feet, was now filled with people, and in the center of the plaza stood a lectern about ten feet high.

The platform is carved with the sun, moon, stars, mountains, rivers, and peaks, and is surrounded by twelve jade pillars with coiled dragons, each holding a pearl in its mouth, with faint spiritual mist rising and falling.

"So many people?"

Gu Dahai was somewhat taken aback, while the rogue cultivator beside him laughed:

"Who can argue with that? Many cultivators arrived the night before to secure a spot in order to listen to today's Golden Core sermon."

"Is it really necessary?"

"Who says it's not that bad? Look over there, there are people ready to fight over a spot."

Zhang Lingyu was both amused and exasperated as she looked at the noisy scene before her.

Many independent cultivators sat cross-legged on their own prayer mats, with a photo stone in front of them, presumably intending to observe it properly later.

Some clever vendors weaved through the crowd, hawking their "energizing tea."

The sect disciples, dressed in uniform, stood at the very front of the stage.

As for the rogue cultivators, they could only rank behind them.

......

Less than half an hour later, a golden rainbow appeared on the eastern horizon and landed on the preaching platform in the blink of an eye.

The rainbow light dissipated, revealing a Taoist priest in a green robe.

"It's a True Immortal of the Profound Core Formation!"

Sharp-eyed cultivators in the crowd immediately shouted excitedly.

Following everyone's gaze, Zhang Lingyu looked up at the head of the table. This Xuan Dan Zhenren had a face like jade, a long beard that reached his chest, and a remarkably dignified and otherworldly appearance.

Judging from the Taoist robe he was wearing, it was the kind of robe that only elders of the Jade Light Pavilion could wear.

"We pay our respects to the Mysterious Elixir Master."

Everyone bowed respectfully, but the old man was very approachable. After gesturing for everyone to sit down, he smiled and said:

"I'm not very skilled, so I'll just talk casually today. I won't go into the profound stuff, I'll just talk about how to build a foundation."

"Does any young friend know the process of breaking through from Qi Refining to Foundation Establishment?"

"Forging bones, condensing fluids, tempering the soul."

Immediately, someone in the crowd stood up and answered loudly. Zhang Lingyu and the others looked in the direction of the voice and found that the person was a cultivator from the Green Serpent Fortress. His cultivation had reached the peak of Qi Refining, and he was only one step away from Foundation Establishment.

"That's well said. In that case, let me elaborate."

Master Xuanzhen nodded in satisfaction and said, "In this first step of bone forging, cultivators need to use their magic power to constantly cleanse their bodies and temper their entire being. Wealthy cultivators usually also take Marrow Cleansing Pills to reduce the pressure."

"This step is very difficult and painful. Often, half of the cultivators fall here. If they fail, their meridians will be damaged at best, and severed at worst."

"The Marrow Cleansing Pill?"

The Zhang family has many records of the process of Qi Refining cultivators breaking through to the Foundation Establishment stage. Every clansman who breaks through to the Foundation Establishment stage will record his experience and insights for future generations to study.

This Marrow Cleansing Pill is a second-grade top-quality pill, priced at around one thousand spirit stones, which is not very expensive.

Zhang Lingyu had already undergone bone forging once while cultivating the "Blood Demon Mighty Body," but that was done with the blood of a demon beast. He would have to go through it all again when he reached the Foundation Establishment stage.

The purpose of bone forging is to make the physical body purer, leaving no trace of impurity.

Fortunately, this pain is nothing to him now.

Seeing the thoughtful expressions on everyone's faces, the Xuan Dan Master on the platform continued:

"The second step is condensation, which is the most mentally and physically demanding. Cultivators need to compress the magical power in their Qi Sea into liquid true essence."

"This process cannot be stopped, otherwise it will cause a backlash, which could result in a decline in cultivation or even damage to the Qi Sea."

"It's time to take the Foundation Building Pill. It will protect your meridians, continuously replenish your mana, and ensure that all the mana in your dantian becomes liquid true essence."

"Although Foundation Establishment spiritual items have such effects, they are still inferior to pills in the end."

The rogue cultivators below the stage looked troubled after hearing this. Foundation Establishment Pills were hard to come by, and they didn't know when they would be able to obtain one.

No sooner had the old man finished speaking than someone asked, unwilling to give up, "May I ask, Master, what if you don't take either of these and break through directly?"

"sure!"

Master Xuandan stroked his beard and laughed, "Of course you can choose not to take it, but the prerequisite is that your magical power must be more than twice as strong as others of the same level, and you must have an extremely strong will."

"Many Qi cultivators in ancient times broke through to higher levels without taking any elixirs, and they all later became regional overlords."

"If any of you truly achieve Foundation Establishment without consuming elixirs or spiritual objects, I will have to address him as a True Lord or Venerable One in the future!"

"Ha ha."

This remark drew laughter from everyone. How could today's cultivators compare to the ancient Qi cultivators?

The spiritual energy in the cultivation world back then was more than ten times denser than it is now. If someone were born in that era and failed to achieve Foundation Establishment, they would probably be laughed out of the room.

After all, Qi cultivators consider Foundation Establishment to be the beginning of cultivation, while the Qi Refining stage was a realm that was defined later.

Nowadays, cultivators who don't take any pills to break through to the next level will only perish if they fail. On the contrary, taking spiritual items or Foundation Establishment Pills can save their lives and allow them to try a few more times.

"As for this third step..."

Master Xuandan gestured for everyone to be quiet and continued, "For a cultivator to achieve Foundation Establishment, the three elements of 'essence, energy, and spirit' must be balanced. The ancients also called them the Three Treasures."

"Essence and Qi refer to the physical body and magical power, while the latter refers to the soul. Completing this final step will enable one to achieve Foundation Establishment."

"If a cultivator has practiced a soul cultivation technique beforehand, this step will be much easier."

The crowd belatedly realized that the Divine Soul Cultivation Technique was extremely rare, almost unthinkable for independent cultivators; only disciples of major sects could cultivate it.

They should obediently seek out elixirs to aid in their breakthrough; that would be the right path for them.

"It seems I'm now a big step ahead of everyone else."

After listening, Zhang Lingyu nodded. He was currently cultivating the "Blood Demon Mighty Body" and the "Spiritual Profound Soul Nourishing Scripture," which involved both "essence" and "spirit." It could be said that his probability of breaking through to the Foundation Establishment stage was much higher than that of most of the people present.

"It's not just much more expensive, it also takes significantly less time."

The process of breaking through from Qi Refining to Foundation Establishment takes at least one to two years. If one further cultivates the technique and takes Foundation Establishment Pills, it can be controlled within six months to one year.

"I really benefited a lot from this sermon."

He looked up at Lingxuan Zhenren on the podium. This Golden Core cultivator did not continue speaking, but instead answered questions from other cultivators.

It was only when the sun set in the west that it transformed into a rainbow and disappeared.

The crowd in the square also got up and left, chatting and laughing in twos and threes.

"Let's go."

Watching the old man disappear into the distance, Zhang Lingyu slowly got up and walked towards the outer city with Gu Dahai and the others who were half-understanding.

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