**Chapter 80: Foundation Establishment**
Time flowed swiftly, and three years passed in the busy, fulfilling life at Noren Academy.
Jie Ming devoted most of his energy to studying potion-making and elixir crafting, while the Five Aggregates Rainbow Mirror, under his daily nurturing, grew more attuned. Its five light concepts flowed seamlessly within, ready for his command.
Now, he faced a pivotal step in his cultivation path—Foundation Establishment.
Foundation Establishment was the key to transcending mortal limits, laying the foundation for the Great Dao.
It meant a qualitative leap in true essence quantity and quality, a surge in divine sense, and a heightened sensitivity to the world’s spiritual energy.
Only by succeeding could one truly embark on the path of immortality, gaining longer lifespan and greater strength.
Jie Ming had long obtained the Foundation Establishment Pill’s formula from the Great Dao Book Pavilion.
Rather than a fixed recipe, it was a refining philosophy.
As a critical tool for low-talent cultivators to leap forward, the pill had countless variant recipes.Jie Ming still recalled searching for its formula, his consciousness overwhelmed by the dazzling streams of information from the pavilion.
In the cultivation world, any material reaching Foundation Establishment energy levels could serve as the pill’s main ingredient.
Paired with a few or dozens of auxiliary materials, it could be refined into a Foundation Establishment Pill.
Even highly toxic materials could work.
Knowing the two worlds shared few identical materials, Jie Ming never planned to follow the recipes exactly.
The cultivation world had mastered the pill’s refining principles thoroughly.
Its philosophy was dissected clearly: with materials of the right properties, paired with suitable auxiliaries, the pill could be crafted.
Guided by this robust philosophy and his three years of expertise in potion-making and elixir crafting, Jie Ming forged a unique path to refine his own Foundation Establishment Pill.
He spent months meticulously selecting and processing each material.
Using elixir crafting, he analyzed their properties in detail, understanding their synergies and conflicts.
He also drew on potion-making’s precise energy ratios and his mastered spell—Extraction Technique.
This technique allowed him to extract the purest energy essence from materials with high efficiency, filtering out impurities and negative effects.
Used on living beings, it could forcibly extract vitality.
But its greatest use was in potion and elixir crafting, giving him a near-cheating advantage.
After countless attempts and failures, through hundreds of exploded potion experiments and furnaces, Jie Ming successfully crafted a unique Foundation Establishment Pill.
Or rather, a drop of potion-style Foundation Establishment Liquid.
No longer a traditional pill, it was a viscous amber liquid, exuding the fragrance of herbs and the deep breath of the earth, with faint glimmers of boundless, restrained vitality.
It perfectly blended elixir crafting’s mastery of medicinal properties with potion-making’s precision, another embodiment of Jie Ming’s dual cultivation path.
During this process, with the successful construction of his third spell, Extraction Technique, his absorption of elemental forces accelerated, unknowingly pushing him to the peak of Qi Refinement.
With everything prepared, Jie Ming didn’t hesitate, deciding to break through.
In his private lab, after meditating to reach peak condition, he sat cross-legged and swallowed the Foundation Establishment Liquid.
The liquid melted instantly, transforming into a vast yet gentle energy torrent, surging through his limbs and converging in his dantian.
His true essence boiled like magma, coursing through his meridians, expanding them with intense pain.
His mental energy expanded, sensing the world’s energy veins more clearly.
His body strengthened, supporting the growing true essence and mental energy.
Despite the upheaval within, Jie Ming’s mind remained clear, everything under control.
Thanks to his solid foundation—his cultivation’s true essence purity and wizardly mental strength far surpassed his peers.
The Refining Essence into Qi system’s advantages shone during advancement, passively balancing mind, body, and true essence, allowing absolute control amidst the transformation.
Jie Ming’s initial estimation was accurate: with his foundation, he didn’t even need the pill to advance.
Without relying on its power, he felt his true essence compressing and condensing, his dantian reshaping under pressure, shifting from gas to liquid.
The process lasted a full day and night, completing the advancement without even tapping the liquid’s power.
Just as he prepared to sense the immense changes post-advancement, an accident struck!
The Foundation Establishment Liquid’s nearly untouched, boundless energy suddenly surged uncontrollably toward the depths of his lower dantian!
The force wasn’t violent but carried an irresistible pull.
In his lower dantian’s depths, a bottomless black hole seemed to appear! Exuding an all-devouring aura, it instantly absorbed the liquid’s remaining energy!
Not only that, but his newly enhanced true essence and mental energy, now several times stronger, were also uncontrollably drawn into this mysterious black hole!
This sudden change shocked Jie Ming!
He clearly felt his strength rapidly draining, the familiar emptiness returning.
Sensing something was wrong, he instinctively reached for a second Foundation Establishment Liquid, prepared as a precaution.
But the moment his hand touched the vial, the devouring force abruptly ceased.