Longevity with a Turtle

Chapter 69: Chapter 68: Foundation Establishment Conditions

”Fellow Daoist Chen, I heard that the Yun family’s Jingyue Marketplace will open on New Year’s Eve this year. I will be heading there when the time comes. Please invite Fellow Daoist Yu so we can gather together.

”Another thing—Peiyao sent a letter. However, it couldn’t be delivered directly to Jingyue Lake, so it was sent to Qinghe Marketplace for me to pass on to you two.”

The content of Zhou Miaoyun’s letter was concise and clear. It brought Chen Jianghe a surge of pleasant surprise, and he hurriedly opened the forwarded letter.

It was indeed Gao Peiyao’s handwriting. After a separation of seven years, there was finally news of her. Opening it, he read through it carefully. The letter stated that she had successfully joined the Celestial South Sect. The process had been somewhat complicated, but the result was good. She hadn’t passed the entry level assessment, but an Immortal Sect steward had taken her in as a direct disciple and brought her to the Celestial South Sect.

”Peiyao has good fortune,” Chen Jianghe murmured.

Back when Gao Peiyao went to the Celestial South Sect to participate in the entry level assessment, her age had already reached the maximum limit of the requirements. Furthermore, a Four-Element Pseudo Spirit Root was not considered an outstanding talent during Immortal Sect assessments.

The letter didn’t contain much, only conveying three pieces of information.

First, she had successfully joined the Celestial South Sect and was perfectly safe, so they didn’t need to worry about her.

Second, at the age of twenty-nine, with the help of her master, she had successfully broken through to the Seventh-Layer Qi Refining, becoming a Late-Stage Qi Refining Cultivator. Reaching the Seventh-Layer Qi Refining at twenty-nine might not be top-tier within an Immortal Sect, but in the outside world, she would absolutely be the chosen prodigy of an Immortal Race.

When he looked at the third section of the letter, Chen Jianghe frowned. This was not good news for him.

”If one lacks grand ambitions, they can rely on the Misfortune-Breaking Pill to break through to the Late-Stage Qi Refining.”

This was a direct quote from Gao Peiyao’s letter. She was warning Chen Jianghe, Zhou Miaoyun, and Yu Daniu not to use the Misfortune-Breaking Pill for their breakthroughs. Otherwise, it would reduce their success rate by ten percent when they attempted Foundation Establishment in the future.

Chen Jianghe was no longer the Cultivation novice he had been when he first transmigrated. He knew that attempting the Foundation Establishment Stage carried the risk of failure. Moreover, the consequence of Foundation Establishment Failure was usually the shattering of the Qi Sea Dantian, resulting in the cultivator’s body exploding. Even if one was lucky enough to survive, they would be reduced to a cripple.

Even with a Foundation Establishment Pill, success was not guaranteed. Foundation Establishment depended on multiple factors. Spirit Root talent, physical body constitution, soul essence qi, and the grade of the spiritual vein where the breakthrough was attempted—these all directly affected the success rate. A Genuine Foundation Establishment Pill could only increase the success rate by twenty percent.

Of course, there was another benefit to having a Foundation Establishment Pill: if the attempt failed, it would protect the Qi Sea Dantian from shattering. It would also make it more stable, and the cultivator’s magical power would become even more profound. Their magical power would be stronger than a Ninth-Layer Qi Refining cultivator, but without heavenly materials and earthly treasures, it would be extremely difficult to attempt a second Foundation Establishment. Even if they possessed heavenly materials and earthly treasures to try again, the success rate would be halved right from the start.

The conditions for attempting Foundation Establishment could be categorized into five types, with each contributing a twenty percent boost to the success rate. Achieving a one hundred percent chance required a Three-Element True Spirit Root, Body Refining Perfection, Spiritual Perfection, a Tier Two High-Grade Spiritual Vein, and a Genuine Foundation Establishment Pill.

Chen Jianghe had a Five-Element Mixed Spirit Root, which meant his Spirit Root talent only counted for a ten percent boost. Therefore, even if he obtained body refining techniques and a spiritual cultivation technique in the future and brought both to perfection, and even if he was lucky enough to obtain a Genuine Foundation Establishment Pill and broke through in a marketplace with a Tier Two High-Grade Spiritual Vein, he would still only have a ninety percent success rate. If he took the Misfortune-Breaking Pill on top of that, his chances would drop to eighty percent.

But who could be lucky enough to obtain a Foundation Establishment Pill? So many Foundation Establishment Immortal Races struggled to secure even one, making it nearly impossible for a loose cultivator like him, who had zero backing, to get his hands on one. As for body refining techniques and spiritual cultivation methods, the Yun Family Magazine recorded that while they were sold in large marketplaces, their prices were outrageously exorbitant. They were several times, even ten times, more expensive than a storage pouch.

The Cultivation Realm’s saying that ”loose cultivators have no hope of Foundation Establishment” was not without reason.

He thought, ”I didn’t expect the Misfortune-Breaking Pill to harbor such a massive hidden flaw.”

His lifespan was incredibly long, reaching up to three hundred and sixty years. Normally, a Qi Refining Stage cultivator’s vitality and blood would decline by the age of sixty, making Foundation Establishment difficult, but he didn’t have this problem. His vitality and blood would only begin to decline at the age of one hundred and eighty. He had plenty of time to grind through the bottleneck of breaking into the Late-Stage Qi Refining. If five years wasn’t enough to wear it down, he would take ten or twenty years.

As for the other Foundation Establishment requirements, he could slowly accumulate them over a long period. In contrast, an optional drawback like taking the Misfortune-Breaking Pill was something he could avoid entirely. However, for Qi Refining Stage cultivators with no hope of Foundation Establishment, the Misfortune-Breaking Pill truly was a Breakthrough Divine Pill.

He pondered, ”Daniu and Fairy Miaoyun should have also received Peiyao’s letter. I just don’t know what choices they will make.”

Yu Daniu’s vigorous efforts in his earlier years had caused him to lose too much vitality and essence qi. Even with slow recuperation, he would never return to a state of perfection. Furthermore, it was impossible for the Yun family to purchase a Foundation Establishment Pill for a live-in son-in-law. Therefore, Chen Jianghe guessed that Yu Daniu would likely take the Misfortune-Breaking Pill to break through his minor bottleneck and reach the Late-Stage Qi Refining. He could afford to spend five or ten years grinding away at a bottleneck, but others could not.

Only if one attempted Foundation Establishment before the age of sixty would the aforementioned hard requirements hold standard value. If attempted after sixty, the success rate plummeted exponentially, making it virtually hopeless.

As for Zhou Miaoyun, unless she became a High-Grade Talisman Master before the age of fifty, she had no hope of Foundation Establishment. Otherwise, it was entirely impossible. Moreover, Zhou Miaoyun wasn’t cultivating alone. She had a family, and the earnings from her talisman making had to be funneled back to them. This made Foundation Establishment even more difficult for her.

After weighing the circumstances, Chen Jianghe concluded that, as of now, he and Gao Peiyao were the only ones in the Mutual Aid Alliance with any hope of achieving Foundation Establishment.

Magical power flowed through his hands, and the letter crumbled into dust.

He wrote a reply to both Zhou Miaoyun and Yu Daniu, arranging to meet at the Jingzhe Jingyue Immortal Tower after the new year. As for why he didn’t arrange the gathering on the day the Jingyue Marketplace opened? The reason was simple: Yu Daniu was now a steward at the Jingyue Immortal Tower. On the opening day of the Jingyue Marketplace, he would likely be so busy he wouldn’t even have a moment to catch his breath. Why should he put Yu Daniu in a difficult position?

He didn’t write back to Gao Peiyao, as her letter did not include her current address. There were likely many restrictions within an Immortal Sect. In short, the three of them could only wait for Gao Peiyao to contact them on her own; they had no way of reaching her.

It was June.

Chen Jianghe consumed a Qi Storage Pill. Because Little Black had spent its resources in advance, it was out of sync with Chen Jianghe’s use of cultivation resources this time. Afterward, Chen Jianghe continued drawing spirit talismans. He didn’t attempt to draw the Five Elements Protection Talisman or the Five Elements Escape Talisman this year, focusing entirely on drawing his most proficient Water Arrow Talismans.

While this meant he had to share more spirit stones with Talisman Master Chu Lang, his own share of spirit stones also increased, allowing him to stockpile a few more before the Jingyue Marketplace opened. Although he didn’t know what kind of opportunity Yu Daniu meant regarding the opening of the Jingyue Marketplace, it couldn’t hurt to prepare more spirit stones.

It was nearing New Year’s Eve.

The Yun family’s large ship arrived to collect the fish. The chief ship steward this time was still Yun Wu. Just as Yu Daniu had predicted, Yun Wu didn’t deliberately suppress him, nor did he treat him with cold hostility. He simply wasn’t as close to Chen Jianghe as before. It was obvious that Yun Wu considered him the type of person who became overly ambitious after achieving a small amount of success.

Chen Jianghe didn’t say much about it. He maintained his respect for Yun Wu as always. The other man had a higher cultivation base than him and was a chief ship steward of the inner waters. He couldn’t afford to be disrespectful.

The large ship finished collecting the little cyan fish and departed.

Chen Jianghe had five more spirit stones in his hand. Thanks to Little Black’s diligent work—urging the little cyan fish to swim around immediately after eating, and feeding them again as soon as they digested their food—they had successfully raised four little cyan fish. There was also a bonus reward for the average weight that exceeded one catty.