Boom!
The medicinal power of the Foundation Establishment Pill surged, swiftly spreading throughout Li Ye's body.
The overwhelming energy stimulated his physical body, expanding his meridians and invigorating his blood, causing the strength of his body already at a peak to rise even further, nearing the threshold of Foundation Establishment!
At the same time, his pure spiritual power was refined once again, becoming more concentrated and approaching new heights.
With that, Li Ye's cultivation power broke through its previous limits, officially entering the phase of advancement!
Naturally, Li Ye had already set up a formation in this cavern deep within the mountain. Despite its limited space, the spiritual energy here was rich and pure almost at high second-tier quality, even surpassing that of second-tier spiritual fields.
As such, his body instinctively began absorbing vast amounts of external spiritual energy as his internal power surged.
The torrent of spiritual energy poured into him like a flood, madly rushing toward Li Ye.
This was when the first trial of Foundation Establishment the Blood and Qi Trial began!
An immense volume of spiritual energy, far exceeding his cultivation power, flooded into his body, filling his meridians, dantian, and even every inch of his flesh and blood.
At the same time, it bombarded his body and meridians relentlessly.
Li Ye's skin began to shimmer with a crystal-like glow as his blood surged fiercely, firmly withstanding the violent onslaught of energy without a single misstep.
At the same time, the "second trial the Spiritual Power Trial" was underway!
Li Ye had always relied solely on single-line pattern pills to cultivate, resulting in spiritual power that was pure, cohesive, and under his complete control.
Although the Qingyuan Technique he cultivated was incomplete, it was only lacking in supplementary secret techniques the spiritual power it produced was still of decent quality.
Even under the intense impact of the spiritual flood, his spiritual power remained intact and continued converting the energy, steadily growing stronger.
The soft cyan glow on Li Ye's body grew increasingly intense as his spiritual aura climbed to an almost frenzied level.
Ordinary cultivators without refined spiritual sense would be forced to rely solely on physical endurance, waiting for their spiritual power to transform naturally after reaching a certain threshold before guiding it forward.
But Li Ye's spiritual sense had long since reached a profound level.
Thus, the "third trial the Divine Sense Trial" was no obstacle for him either!
Swoosh
With most of the pill's power spent, the remaining trace of yin-yang harmonized energy rose to his mind, bringing a cool sensation that sharply refreshed his consciousness.
Already proficient in spiritual control, Li Ye now found it even more effortless.
His rapidly growing power was expertly guided, continuously refined, and compressed, pushing toward a higher tier.
Within his dantian, as his spiritual power accumulated and merged, a vortex gradually formed, drawing all his energy into it. During this process, the spiritual power began condensing.
Who knows how long had passed…
Finally, a single drop of liquid spiritual power slowly took shape at the center of the vortex and settled into his dantian's sea of energy.
With that transformation as a catalyst, the rest of the condensed spiritual energy followed quickly.
One drop… two drops… three drops…
Until the transformation was complete ten drops of pure, liquid spiritual power, each glowing like verdant leaves, floated in the center of his dantian.
However, they still swayed slightly, appearing unstable as if they might collapse if overdrawn.
A reborn body liquefied spiritual power, and a self-manifested divine sense!
His cultivation had succeeded. In a daze, Li Ye felt a shift in his mind's eye. His forehead pulsed, and his consciousness ascended to a new level one thought, and his divine sense burst forth as if gaining a new sense of sight.
It spread outward
one zhang… two zhang… ten zhang…
until it reached thirty zhang!
It barely extended beyond the mountain's surface, allowing him to catch a glimpse of the outside world and once again fully sense and control the state of the formation.
"Foundation Establishment… I finally made it!"
Li Ye whispered with joy on his face, savoring the unprecedented strength in his spiritual power, physical body, and divine sense.
He quickly calculated the time, somewhat surprised.
"This breakthrough only took around twenty days?"
Then, extending his divine sense further through the formation, he gained a clearer insight into the outside situation.
Sensing the obvious damage the formation had suffered and the presence of two Foundation Establishment-level auras outside, Li Ye couldn't help but sneer coldly.
"Xu Pingyang… so you finally couldn't hold back."
"But to kill me, you even went as far as inviting that person again what about me makes you so determined to kill?"
A wave of killing intent rose in Li Ye's chest, though a hint of confusion lingered too.
Still, since the formation remained intact, he was in no rush to confront them just yet.
Now that he had successfully broken through, it was time to consolidate his cultivation stabilize his spiritual power completely that would be the wisest course before any combat.
As for those two outside…
With a few tweaks to the formation, he could keep them at bay for now.
With that in mind, Li Ye began manipulating the formation's restrictions, making careful adjustments…
.....
"You said this formation wouldn't last long so how is it that even with Brother Ma and I working together to destroy it, its power hasn't diminished at all?!"
Xu Pingyang's eyes were cold as he scolded Tu Zhiyong, who stood silently before him with his head lowered.
"It's… it's because of my lack of skill I miscalculated…"
Tu Zhiyong looked aggrieved but didn't dare utter a word of protest.
"M-maybe… maybe the formation's core has some special reinforcement, making the array even more stable so with the same amount of spiritual energy, it can last longer than expected…"
He hesitated before adding, "Judging by how things are changing now, perhaps if we wait a little longer…"
"Enough! Give me a definite timeframe! If this formation still isn't broken by then, I'll be coming for you!"
Xu Pingyang slammed the table furiously, causing Tu Zhiyong to break into a cold sweat. He quickly nodded and bowed his way out of the room.
Now only two people remained.
"Brother Xu, why so anxious?" said the other man a thin-faced cultivator seated nearby, also at Foundation Establishment. "It's just a Qi Refining ninth-layer cultivator. Even if he's got some talent in formations, all he can do is hole up somewhere. Capturing him is only a matter of time… Is that worth getting so worked up over?"
This was Ma Ying the same cultivator Xu Pingyang had brought in earlier to help deal with the Chang and Luo families.
Xu Pingyang seemed calmer now. Upon hearing Ma Ying's words, he shook his head and replied in a low voice,
"Brother Ma, you know what a second-tier formation is capable of especially when actively controlled by a skilled formation master."
"Yet the first time I tried to break in, I failed. Even after inviting you to help, the formation's response still felt sluggish almost like it was running on passive defense, with no one controlling it. I nearly got caught the first time, and still no counterattack came…"
"At a moment like this, Li Ye is trapped inside, unable to escape, yet he doesn't even take command of the array to fight back. Don't you think that's… odd?"
"I can only think of one thing that might be more important to him right now…"
As he said this, Ma Ying's expression shifted slightly.
"You mean… he might be breaking through to Foundation Establishment?!"
"Exactly."
Xu Pingyang nodded firmly. "With his skill in formations, if he truly advances to Foundation Establishment, even if you and I join forces, we might only just be able to match him…"
"But more importantly, if he's discovered this place's secret, his efficiency in exploring it could easily surpass ours and the benefits he gains might outstrip ours as well."
"Brother Ma, are you willing to sit back and watch this place's buried secrets fall into his hands?"
"Of course not!" Ma Ying denied it immediately.
"Then we have to strike before his breakthrough is complete. If he fails, all the better. But if he succeeds, we must kill him before he stabilizes his cultivation!"
A flicker of killing intent flashed across Xu Pingyang's face.
"Even if there's the slightest chance there's no way I'll allow another competitor to rise!"
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