Black Journey to the West: The Imposter Star Lord

Chapter 59: Flawless Foundation Building

Cao Xing fell silent instantly, his gaze fixed on Wei Zhijie in front of him.

Cao Xing's silence made Wei Zhijie's heart skip a beat. He quickly glanced at the magical artifacts on the table, but he was confident that the price was correct.

Thinking of this, Wei Zhijie's eyes became more honest: "What, isn't this price enough, fellow Daoist? These are all low-grade magic artifacts. Even if it's a dead sale, you have to give me some profit to make a living, right?"

This statement was very reasonable, but Cao Xing still felt that something was off.

The price was fine, but Bixia reminded herself that Wei Zhijie was lying.

That means there's something here that I've overlooked.

Thinking of this, Cao Xing's gaze fell back on the magical artifacts on the table. Just as Wei Zhijie said, ten thousand taels of silver was indeed a considerable price, considering that they were only low-grade magical artifacts.

What part did I overlook?

At this moment, Cao Xing's gaze suddenly sharpened, his eyes fixed on the Five Thunder Token, and a thought suddenly struck him: "That's right, how could I have overlooked this thing?"

In an instant, Cao Xing's doubts were resolved, and he immediately understood the problem.

He smiled faintly, placed his hand on the Five Thunder Token without making a sound, and said to Wei Zhijie, "Mr. Wei's price is very reasonable, but that's the price of the magic weapon, not including this token, right?"

Cao Xing held the Five Thunder Token in his hand and shook it, saying, "I wonder how the price of this thing is calculated?"

Upon seeing this, Wei Zhijie's expression immediately became awkward, but he quickly recovered. He glanced at the Five Thunder Token in Cao Xing's hand and bowed to Cao Xing, saying, "It seems I've met an expert. My apologies."

"The business has its own rules. If the customer doesn't ask, the merchant won't say. It's actually me who has caused the misunderstanding, sir," Cao Xing replied with a smile.

Cao Xing's words immediately won Wei Zhijie's favor; the way he offered Cao Xing a way out was too easy.

He reached out and took the Five Thunder Token from Cao Xing's hand, examining it carefully: "Fellow Daoist in yellow robes, the value of this thing is truly hard to determine. If you didn't know, you could have just given it to me, but since you know its wondrous uses, I'm afraid you won't be satisfied with any price I give you."

Cao Xing nodded in understanding.

He had overlooked the fact that the Five Thunder Token was not a magical artifact; it was just a token, but this token was crucial to whether or not rain would fall.

Once the Five Thunder Decree is issued, in conjunction with the Five Thunder Method, it can command rainfall in a region while ensuring procedural justice.

Even the Jade Emperor has to issue a written order.

These are the rules, the laws of heaven, but also the authority that Taoism left for itself at the beginning of the Heavenly Court.

Even in a place like Fengxian County, if you have the Five Thunder Token and use the Five Thunder Technique, the Jade Emperor will send rain. Of course, this is like dancing on the head of the Grand Duke Jupiter. The Jade Emperor doesn't even need to say a word; the Thunder God can easily strike you dead and then casually say, "Sorry, I missed."

Therefore, it is indeed difficult to determine the price of this item.

"Let me be frank. This Five Thunder Token isn't of high quality. I reckon it can only cover one county. It also requires the Five Thunder Technique. Five Thunder Tokens are hard to obtain, and Taoist priests who know the Five Thunder Technique are hard to find, so the price..."

Wei Zhijie paused for a moment, then gritted his teeth; "To my friend, 5000 taels."

"make a deal!"

Cao Xing didn't waste a single word and decisively made the deal.

This thing is useless to me. I don't need to open a temple or harvest faith. I'm already very satisfied with being able to convert it into 5000 taels of silver.

After all, only by turning it into money can it be quickly transformed into one's own potential for immortality.

"Fellow Daoist in yellow robes, our Wei family pawnshop has many branches in Rhinoceros Hezhou. If you need anything in the future, just mention my name, and I will certainly not neglect you."

Wei Zhijie handed the money to Cao Xing; it was a thick stack of silver notes, all in denominations of one thousand taels.

The money made Cao Xing feel much more at ease.

After exchanging a few words with Wei Zhijie, Cao Xing got up and left.

After leaving the pawnshop, Cao Xing immediately found an inn, ordered a meal, and asked for a room that cost fifteen taels of silver.

After entering the room, Cao Xing released Bixia and recharged her account with the necessary funds.

Although using the supernatural ability of disguise, she could evade Tianluo's detection and save money, Bixia was alive, her older sister, and a girl. It was too selfish of her to hide her in her sleeve in such a lively place.

"Sister, you eat first, and protect me while you're at it. After I break through, we'll go out and have some fun in the streets."

Cao Xing said to Bixia.

Looking at the table full of food, Bixia's chubby little face was already impatient. She nodded vigorously, "Okay!"

Cao Xing sat cross-legged on the bed with his eyes slightly closed. He then transferred a portion of his Yin virtue into the Crimson Blood True Understanding Profound Technique, intending to raise this profound technique to the tenth level in one go.

As the Yin virtue dissolved in his chest, a surge of spiritual energy, like a mighty torrent, rushed into Cao Xing's limbs and bones.

Cao Xing frowned, and crimson light surged from his body. He pushed the Crimson Blood True Understanding Profound Technique to its limit, and spiritual essence and true energy mixed together, filling Cao Xing's meridians.

"Huh!"

At this moment, Bixia suddenly stopped eating, looked up at Cao Xing, and a strange light appeared deep in her green pupils. But only for a moment, Bixia came back to her senses, stared blankly for a moment, and then continued to eat.

The crimson light emanating from Cao Xing grew increasingly intense, as if his entire body, bones, and flesh had been forged and tempered by the blood-red light.

In less than half an hour, he had already broken through to the tenth level of the True Mystery Technique.

"Phew~~"

Cao Xing exhaled a breath of stale air, and a look of joy appeared on his face.

Just as he was preparing to continue his cultivation and complete the Foundation Establishment, Bixia suddenly called out to Cao Xing.

"younger brother!"

"Huh??" Cao Xing looked up at Bixia and saw her put down the steamed bun in her hand, her little face frowning: "Can't establish foundation."

"What??" Cao Xing looked at Bixia in confusion.

Bixia frowned even more, and said with difficulty, "There's a voice in my head..."

Now Cao Xing was even more confused.

Bixia covered her head, and after a while, it seemed as if she had digested all the information: "To become a Celestial Immortal, one must have a flawless foundation, which you are not good enough for."

"To attain Celestial Immortal status? To achieve flawless Foundation Establishment?"

Cao Xing was shocked to hear this, and even more curious about how Bixia knew this information.

He pressed Bixia for an answer, asking, "Sister, what do you mean by 'Flawless Foundation Establishment'?"

Bixia shook her head: "I don't know either. These information just suddenly popped into my head, as if I was supposed to know them all along."

Cao Xing hesitated for a few seconds. Could it be that Bixia's ancient bloodline had awakened?

Cao Xing then asked Bixia some more questions about Foundation Establishment without flaws.

Bixia's information was incomplete, but it provided Cao Xing with a direction: to cultivate the Crimson Serpent Profound Scripture to the fifteenth level in one go before establishing his foundation.

Is it the 15th floor?

Cao Xing thought about it and realized that it wouldn't be difficult for him; it would just require spending some good karma.

Thinking of this, Cao Xing simply turned around and went to bed, continuing to bury himself in cultivating the Crimson Serpent Profound Explanation True Scripture.

After cultivating the Crimson Serpent Profound Scripture to the tenth level, the amount of Yin Virtue required to advance to each level increases.

Fortunately, Cao Xing possessed a considerable amount of virtuous deeds. After continuously investing ten units of virtuous deeds, Cao Xing finally cultivated the Crimson Serpent Profound Explanation True Scripture to the fifteenth level.

When Cao Xing broke through to the fifteenth level of the Crimson Serpent Profound Scripture, his breaths sounded like muffled thunder.

Cao Xing could even clearly feel that his muscles and bones were full of explosive power, as if a lurking ferocious beast was hidden within him.

But he didn't stop. Instead, he continued to transform Yin virtue into spiritual essence, and Cao Xing fully activated the Crimson Blood Spirit Transformation Technique.

In an instant, a large amount of spiritual energy was quickly transformed into true qi by Cao Xing and surged into his dantian.

Sure enough, it's much easier now.

Feeling his internal energy rapidly increasing, Cao Xing was overjoyed; this feeling was completely different from his previous cultivation.

Improving one's physical body greatly enhances the efficiency of converting spiritual essence. Even when fully utilizing the Crimson Blood Spirit Transformation Technique, one need not worry about being unable to digest it in a short time.

Previously, when I was cultivating, I needed to rely on the relic's inner core for assistance, but now I don't need it at all. In fact, even a portion of the spiritual essence transformed from Yin virtue is not enough for me to absorb.

Cao Xing continued to transform and increase his Yin virtue, converting all three portions of Yin virtue into spiritual essence at once.

With the blessing of three merits, the surging spiritual energy filled Cao Xing's meridians like a raging river.

Still not enough.

Cao Xing could clearly feel that these vast spiritual energies were nothing more than streams in a river compared to his now wide meridians and energy channels.

Plus!

After converting two more portions of virtuous deeds, the dried-up riverbed was only half filled.

A large amount of spiritual energy was transformed by Cao Xing and flowed continuously into his dantian.

However, his dantian was like an unfillable hole. Despite so much true energy flowing into it, Cao Xing only managed to raise his cultivation level to the eleventh level.

Something's not right?

Gradually, Cao Xing began to realize that something seemed wrong. With five portions of spiritual energy, according to his previous progress, he should have already reached the twelfth level of Great Perfection. Why was it that he was only at the eleventh level of Qi Refining?

Before the spiritual essence within his body could be fully refined, Cao Xing consumed another five portions of Yin Virtue.

However, the improvement brought this time was pitifully small. Five units of Yin virtue only raised him to the twelfth level of Qi Refining, and he had not even reached perfection yet.

"Is it that much different??"

Cao Xing felt a pang of panic, but gritted his teeth and said, "Whether it succeeds or not is entirely up to you!"

Cao Xing took a deep breath, and the last ten portions of Yin virtue were transformed into spiritual energy.

Instantly, Cao Xing felt a surge of heat in his chest, followed by a massive influx of spiritual energy that quickly filled his meridians.

The intense impact made Cao Xing feel somewhat overwhelmed.

Cao Xing let out a muffled groan, his body trembling violently, and the crimson light on his body suddenly surged, turning the entire room a scarlet red.

Under the frenzied operation of the Crimson Blood Spirit Transformation Technique, the spiritual essence was rapidly transformed into pure true energy. This true energy was no longer as gentle as before, but rather surged into the dantian like a flood.

The scene inside the dantian was even more terrifying. With the massive influx of true energy, a huge vortex of true energy was formed, with strands of crimson blood light swirling around the true energy flow, occasionally emitting thunderous booms.

Cao Xing's body trembled, as if he were being burned alive.

At the same time, a notification appeared in front of him that the money was being deducted continuously.

-10

-10

-10

-10…

Your Tianluo resource fee is about to run out, please recharge as soon as possible!!

I'll fuck your grandma!

Cao Xing couldn't help but curse inwardly. He hadn't moved an inch from sitting there, so why should he have his pay docked?

Despite his cursing, Cao Xing still swiftly pulled out a thousand-tael silver note and rushed forward.

Once the top-up was complete, a continuous stream of deductions began.

But now Cao Xing has no time to worry about that. He has reached the peak of Qi Refining and is focusing all his efforts on advancing to Foundation Establishment.

Hang in there! Hang in there, get through this!

The vortex of true qi in the dantian spun faster and faster, while its range continued to shrink.

At the center of the vortex, the needle-like blood-red light spot grew brighter and brighter, like a supernova being lit up.

"Freeze!!"

Cao Xing roared inwardly, focusing all his will on controlling the vortex in his dantian, guiding the massive amount of true energy to continuously converge towards its center.

As the spiritual energy within his body gradually thinned, Cao Xing reached the most critical moment.

But the more crucial the moment, the calmer Cao Xing became, and his mindset gradually calmed down.

As the last wisp of spiritual essence was refined into true qi and surged into the dantian, a dazzling red light suddenly pierced through the sea of ​​qi within the vortex.

hum!

Cao Xing felt a jolt throughout his body as an unprecedented feeling of power, completeness, and stability filled his mind and body.

Foundation Building, the beginning of the Immortal Path, the cornerstone of the Great Dao, the Five Elements converge at the origin, and the Three Yangs gather at the top.

The more stable the foundation, the higher the path.

The crimson crystal floating in the Qi Sea signifies that Cao Xing has successfully advanced to the Foundation Establishment stage.