These hundred spiritual energy cyclones had originally been slowly rotating around the yellow sprout inside her dantian, endlessly breathing in and out. But now, they floated quietly above the yellow sprout, merging into a single whole. At a glance, they looked like an incomparably magnificent crimson cloud.
The Heavenly Dao aura wrapped around the yellow sprout emitted a hazy, clear light.
At last, the cloud condensed and dropped the first drop of spiritual fluid, landing on the yellow sprout and sliding over the tender yellow leaves into the depression of the lakebed.
As the first drop fell, the second and third followed close behind. Before long, a pitter-patter of spiritual fluid rain began to fall inside her dantian.
Each drop of spiritual fluid was crystal clear and round. Gathering in the lakebed's depression, they formed a small pool of clear liquid.
Just as all the spiritual energy cyclones in Shi Yu's dantian were about to transform into rain, a breeze blew in from nowhere and brushed past the yellow sprout. The sprout's leaves trembled violently as its form suddenly grew illusionary—and Shi Yu suddenly found her arms pinned down, forcing her onto her knees on the ground.
Through her bloodshot, blurry vision, she saw several immortal sect elders glaring angrily at her.
“When a demon beast went wild, you actually pushed your senior sister in front of you to block it?! Is this how your teachers instructed you?!”
“Your Eldest Senior Sister possessed extraordinary talent, yet her spiritual meridians were completely shattered because of your actions! Look at what you've done!”
Shi Yu knelt on the ground. With both arms pinned firmly behind her back, her head was nearly pressed to the floor, leaving her able to look up only with great effort.
All she saw were cold, indifferent faces. The eyes looking down at her were filled with anger, disgust, and contempt.
“An ant from the mortal world truly cannot be presented in polite society.”
“Hmph! So fearful of death—you are truly a disgrace to us all.”
“What a pity for Senior Sister Yan Xiao, to have her spiritual meridians ruined over someone like this.”
Shi Yu opened her mouth to speak, but felt as though a lock had been placed on her throat, leaving her unable to utter a single word or explanation.
I didn't... I didn't push Eldest Senior Sister.
Beside her, an extraordinarily gentle and sweet yet weak female voice sounded: “Junior Sister didn't mean to. She has only been cultivating for a short time and was simply frightened when she saw the demon beast go wild—cough, cough!”
Shi Yu turned her head toward the voice and saw a stunning beauty frowning while clutching her chest, her severely injured body teetering on the verge of collapsing.
The woman possessed an exceedingly graceful beauty. Her face looked like it was carved from white jade, and her slender frame was endlessly elegant. Every gesture displayed a beauty capable of ruining nations. It was none other than Eldest Senior Sister Yan Xiao.
Shi Yu noticed that after Yan Xiao spoke, the expressions of disappointment on the surrounding people's faces deepened even further.
Despite being gravely wounded, Yan Xiao still defended the junior sister who had caused her injury. Compared to Shi Yu, the culprit, their characters became starkly contrasting in the eyes of the onlookers.
But it wasn't like that at all. Shi Yu thought to herself that it was actually Eldest Senior Sister who had grabbed her hand tightly and deliberately pulled her into harm's way.
But using blood as a medium, Eldest Senior Sister Yan Xiao had placed a restriction on her called Bound to Silence.
Bound to Silence—unable to describe, unable to depict, unable to explain.
Shi Yu had no way to defend herself. In the eyes of outsiders, it appeared as though she had tacitly admitted her guilt.
“Expel her from the sect! Expel her from the sect!”
“Get back to the Mortal Realm! Get back to the Mortal Realm!”
“Ah Yu, you are in the wrong here and must bear the consequences. As for your spiritual meridian... your master can only extract it.”
Shi Yu felt a sharp pain in her chest. The despair of being unable to speak and losing her master's trust almost consumed her entire body.
She watched as the master she had admired so deeply reached out toward her, intending to tear out her spiritual meridian and bestow it upon Yan Xiao. Powerless to resist, it seemed she could only accept her fate—her Dao path cut short, her vitality extinguished—
In the next instant, Shi Yu let out a soft laugh.
Gathering her mind, her eyes focused, and the scene before her shattered into pieces.
In just a few breaths, the mental barrier vanished completely without a trace.
Back in the Nightmare Realm, after observing and altering the life courses of several people, Shi Yu had questioned: “If I can alter the fates of others today, will someone else meddle with my fate tomorrow?”
“If an unjust world forces itself upon me, how shall I resist and overthrow it?”
And from that self-reflection, her Dao Heart was born.
“I cultivate the Dao not to stir up world-shaking storms or make a name across the realm, nor for longevity or endless freedom.”
“I cultivate the Dao so that if the world is unjust, I shall fight that injustice.”
“So that if the world wants me dead, I shall live.”
This was the foundation and entire belief of her cultivation path in this life.
Step by step, she would return to her enemies, strike down those who had brought her anguish and despair, and then step past them to keep moving forward along her own path.
How could things of the past become a mental barrier for her ever again?
With calm eyes, Shi Yu looked back at her Yellow Sprout Dao Foundation. By now, all the spiritual energy cyclones had completely transformed into liquid Qi and fallen into the lakebed.
Nurtured continuously by the spiritual fluid, the yellow sprout in the center of the lakebed swayed contentedly. The wisp of Heavenly Dao aura gifted by Fang Sheng that had been wrapped around it was long gone without a trace.
Newly generated spiritual energy flowed into the yellow sprout's leaves, swiftly traveling over them to weave a dense network of veins before gathering at the tip, gradually yielding a new drop of spiritual fluid. As the drop grew round and plump, dangling from the tip until the leaf bent and gently swayed, the newly formed fluid dropped into the spirit lake, expanding it drop by drop...
She stared at the surface of the spirit lake, quietly waiting.
“Heavenly, Earthly, or Mortal... what grade will my Foundation Establishment quality be?”
After waiting for about an hour, a phantom image of a Dao platform finally began to materialize above the spirit lake.
Here it comes. Shi Yu perked up.
The most direct way to distinguish between Mortal Dao Foundation Establishment, Earthly Dao Foundation Establishment, and Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment was to observe the Dao platform that emerged above the spirit lake once the spiritual energy liquefied.
The so-called Dao Platform was condensed above the spirit lake through the fundamental laws of heaven and earth during Foundation Establishment. Foundation Establishment was divided into the Heavenly, Earthly, and Mortal paths, each further categorized into nine grades. Depending on the quality, the appearance and luster of the Dao Platform varied.
The lowest Mortal Dao Foundation Establishment resulted in a colorless and turbid Dao Platform. Higher grades within the Mortal Dao path gradually took on a jade-white hue, becoming purer and cleaner the higher the rank.
For Earthly Dao Foundation Establishment, the Dao Platform displayed different colors based on the cultivator's spiritual meridian attribute—for instance, red for fire-attribute cultivators and yellow for earth-attribute cultivators. Likewise, the higher the grade, the purer and richer the color.
As for Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment, the Dao Platform possessed all five elements. It was said to interweave five distinct colors, creating a dazzling and radiant spectacle.
...
Looking at the phantom image of her Dao Platform, Shi Yu secretly felt a sense of anticipation.
She knew that having endured so many trials and tempered her foundation step by step with various means to aid her, her Foundation Establishment quality would surely not fall below Earthly Dao.
However, the exact grade could only be determined once the Dao Platform fully formed.
Under Shi Yu's gaze, the phantom platform solidified, densely covered with Dao runes, as its color finally became clear.
Yet upon seeing it clearly, Shi Yu's face filled with astonishment, and she couldn't help but gasp, “How is it... colorless?”
The Dao Platform before her was entirely colorless and turbid. According to the standard methods known to everyone, it could only be classified under Mortal Dao Foundation Establishment—and the lowest grade of it at that.
But how could that be possible? Shi Yu knew something must have gone wrong or that there was a secret she was unaware of. She pondered with a furrowed brow, but unable to figure it out, her expression soon smoothed over.
“Regardless, I have already established my foundation, and my cultivation level cannot be faked. As for the actual quality of this Dao Platform... I'll just ignore it for now.”
Normally, no one would randomly display their Dao Platform anyway. Since she couldn't make sense of it for the time being, ignoring it was the best choice.
“I'll stay here and cultivate for a few more days to stabilize my realm before leaving the spirit node.”
Now that she had reached Foundation Establishment, what was done was done. She couldn't alter the nature of her Dao Platform anyway; she could ask President Song and the others once she left to see if they had any insights.
Rate on N.U.
