Chapter 116: Cultivating to the Thousandth Layer of Qi Refinement, Forging the Supreme Foundation!

"Spare you?"

Jiang Yu chuckled, reaching out to brush the wrinkles from his clothes.

Wang Donglai lay prostrate on the ground. Once a formidable overlord in the secular world, this "Half-Step Great Master" was now trembling like a leaf. Before life and death, all men are equal; even a master of the Harmonious Realm was powerless against the flick of Jiang Yu’s finger. The repeated provocations from the three great clans had long since pushed him past his limit.

He was like a man bothered by the buzzing of a few mosquitoes. He might ignore them for a while, but if the pests grew too bold, he would not hesitate to swat them out of existence.

"I gave you a chance tonight. If my strength were inferior, facing the combined assault of your three clans would have left me with little hope of survival. More than that, knowing your nature, after killing me, you would have surely slaughtered my companions as well, wouldn't you?"

Wang Donglai’s face was ashen, his throat bobbing as he swallowed hard. He had just witnessed Qin Fenggu being refined into nothingness by a nameless flame, his soul failing to escape even the slightest fragment. That ability to kill without a trace had shattered Wang Donglai’s courage.

In the secular martial arts world, a Half-Step Great Master is akin to a dragon among men. It is easy to defeat one, but incredibly difficult to kill one who is determined to flee; to slaughter one as easily as a chicken or a dog was near impossible. Their formation tonight had been designed to take down a master of the Harmonious Realm. Even though they had repeatedly overestimated Jiang Yu, it was only when the fighting began that they realized his strength was but a hair’s breadth away from the Earth Immortal Realm.

"In consideration of the fact that you blocked a sword for me last night, I will spare a few of your clan's heirs to carry on your lineage."

With these words, Jiang Yu formed his fingers into a blade and sliced through the air toward Wang Donglai. Behind him, Wang Donglai’s head parted from his body, the terror in his eyes frozen in death.

Of the twenty-eight members of the three great clans—four Half-Step Great Masters, eight Qi-Refining Grandmasters, and sixteen Qi-Condensing experts—all but the Qin girl had been executed. Jiang Yu slaughtered them as if they were nothing more than livestock.

He plucked a wild flower and sniffed it, laughing softly. "You flowers are quite lucky to have so many secular experts as your nourishment."

The Qin girl sat shivering in the flowerbed like a lost chick. As a genius of the Qin clan, she had always been treated like a precious gem; when had she ever witnessed such brutal carnage? To this youth, a Half-Step Great Master was no more significant than a cabbage, offering no chance to resist.

"Do you know why I haven't killed you?"

Jiang Yu’s expression was neither joyful nor sorrowful; he looked perfectly harmless. Yet, this eighteen or nineteen-year-old boy had wiped out the three clans with cold, ruthless efficiency. The girl could feel no sense of respect for life within him.

Suppressing her inner terror, she whispered, "Why?"

Jiang Yu grinned. "Because I need you to show me the way. As the price for your clan’s provocation, I will leave one descendant behind for the Qin family."

Hearing this, the girl felt as if she had plummeted into an abyss. The implication was clear: killing these people was not enough—he intended to pay a visit to their clan and wipe them out entirely.

"But before that, I have other things to do," Jiang Yu murmured to himself while rubbing his chin.

Chen Chuwan and the others approached cautiously. After what they had witnessed, their view of him had completely shifted, changing from initial awe to profound reverence. Yan Xiaoxiao and the others, in particular, had thought Qin Ao was a monster who treated lives like blades of grass, but they hadn't expected the truly terrifying one to be among them—someone who could slay thirty people in a row without a flicker of emotion, as if he were just disposing of stray cats and dogs.

It was not the methods that were frightening, but the absolute detachment toward life.

Jiang Yu spoke up: "I leave this Qin girl to you. I have sealed her cultivation; if she attempts to escape, you don't need to ask me—just kill her."

Chen Chuwan bit her lip and nodded, her heart in turmoil.

Seeing the terrified expressions of An Ya, Yan Xiaoxiao, and the others, Jiang Yu smiled slightly. "What? Don't you recognize me? I will be staying here for a while; you may choose to leave now or wait for me."

With that, Jiang Yu left them behind and walked alone toward the Cold Pool.

They watched as he leaped into the icy water and vanished. Chen Chuwan looked at the Qin girl with a cold sneer. "Weren't you very arrogant the other day? The tides have turned; did you ever think you would end up in my hands?"

With her cultivation sealed by Jiang Yu, the Qin girl had no internal energy left; any ordinary man could pin her to the ground. Several unkind gazes fixed upon her shivering form.

...

After disposing of the three clans, Jiang Yu dove into the Cold Pool and reached the water-curtain cave dwelling.

The spiritual essence inside was so dense it was nearly liquid. A single breath left his lungs feeling invigorated. As the purest energy of life, spiritual essence could be absorbed by all living beings. If an ordinary person were left here, they could survive without food or water for a year or two, and over time, living to a hundred or two hundred would be well within reach.

The dense essence alone could replace all human metabolic functions. In simple terms, it could allow an ordinary person to bypass millions of years of natural accumulation and evolve to a higher level of existence in an instant.

For three or four days, Jiang Yu remained in deep meditation. Countless mists of essence poured through his pores, washing over his flesh and blood. Within days, he reached the eight-hundredth level of Qi Refining; once he broke through the thousandth level, he would reach the true Great Perfection.

In his previous life, when Jiang Yu ascended to the Foundation Establishment stage, he had only reached the five-hundredth level of Qi Refining. As a result, once he reached the Nascent Soul stage, his progress had slowed to a crawl, stagnating for over three thousand years no matter how hard he tried.

A tower rising ten thousand feet must have a solid foundation. Ultimately, his foundations had been unstable, and despite his rapid cultivation, he had eventually tasted the bitter fruit of that deficiency.

Time slipped away. Jiang Yu had been in seclusion for nearly ten days. Finally, the spiritual mist within the cave gathered above his head, forming a visible vortex that spun slowly like a funnel. Had anyone been there, they would have seen Jiang Yu’s skin gradually turn translucent, like jade and ice. Through his flesh, one could see the blood flowing in his veins, his powerful, beating heart, and the movement of his organs.

This was the sign of an Innate Dao Body. Only by forging such a body could one cross into Foundation Establishment. Otherwise, a mere mortal frame could never withstand the various supernatural abilities awakened during that stage.

In ancient times, it was said that great beings, when crossing into Foundation Establishment, would discard the Innate Dao Body to forge even more powerful physiques, such as the Undying True Demon Body or the Five Emperors’ Co-existence Body—supreme celestial physiques that possessed vast manifestations and great power.

While in seclusion, Jiang Yu pondered what physique he should cultivate.

"No matter, I shall decide when I return."

With a self-muttered word, he set those thoughts aside and focused entirely on his cultivation.

Half a month later, the spiritual essence in the cave grew thin. Jiang Yu’s body had become increasingly strange; his internal organs were now crystalline and transparent. At a glance, his entire network of veins and meridians was clearly visible.

As he absorbed the final trace of essence, he opened his eyes, and a beam of sharp light shot out, slicing the water. His spiritual power was now so potent that it could alter reality itself. It was no exaggeration to say that Jiang Yu no longer needed to move his hands; a single glance was enough to kill a Qi-Refining Grandmaster.

The surge in power brought with it various illusions, such as the feeling that he could punch through the heavens or collapse the earth with a stomp. His blood surged like a roaring river, and he could faintly hear thunderous echoes within him.

Jiang Yu stretched his limbs and whispered, "Today, I reach the thousandth level of Qi Refining and forge a supreme foundation!"

He lifted his head and let out a long cry. The sound shook the earth, piercing through layers of rock and soaring into the clouds. The cave trembled violently, stones fell, and the water erupted with a deafening blast.

Moments later, all signs of the phenomena vanished, and Jiang Yu’s body returned to its ordinary appearance.

Before leaving, he waved a hand, taking the Golden Flame Coral Fruit. He had intended to take the coral and the Azure Water Golden Flame as well, but he noticed a new flower bud appearing on the coral.

"When the next fruit ripens, perhaps another thousand years will have passed."

Jiang Yu shook his head and turned to leave. In a thousand years, if he were still on Earth, he might come back to check. Cultivators prize the "line of survival" and do not easily destroy rare herbs or treasures; even if they have no use for them, they leave them for those destined to find them. Just as the owner of this cave had not destroyed the coral before departing.

Before stepping out, Jiang Yu pressed his fingers together, shooting out a pulse of spiritual energy. Beneath the dense, ancient carvings on the wall, he added two lines:

"Ascension is a colossal lie. A warning to all cultivators: never ascend."

"May the destined one cherish this!"