Deep within an unremarkable cave in the Great Desert, Su Min sat cross-legged in meditation.
"The five elemental treasures are gathered. But before breaking through, I must prepare the Foundation Establishment Pill. This seclusion will last years—fortunately, no one should disturb me here."
She retrieved her cauldron, eyeing the materials before her. The pill's rarity stemmed from its near-irreplaceable ingredients, though its Grade-3 mid-tier difficulty posed little challenge to her Nanming Lihuo.
"This should succeed in one attempt. I've burned through enough of Prince Yong's herbs these past months—failure isn't an option."
Unlike most pills, which allowed ingredient substitutions, this recipe was rigidly locked. Two sets of materials were all she had—a single misstep would spell disaster.
Three days passed.
"Huff... that was exhausting."
Clearly, Su Min had slowed down her process to minimize the risk of failure. Now, in her hand were two pills emitting a faint glow.
"Foundation Establishment Pills... If word of this got out, the world would be shocked. In realms with deeper legacies, a bloody conflict would likely erupt."
She chuckled to herself but wasn't in a rush to consume them. Instead, she brought out the five elemental treasures — this was the true headache of cultivating via the Heavenly Dao path.
Of the three cultivation paths — Heaven, Earth, and Man — the human path was the simplest: just break through. The Earth path required possessing at least three of the five treasures. As for the Heavenly path, all five were necessary.
The problem was that to establish a Heavenly Foundation, all five treasures had to be fully refined and absorbed — a process that could take ten to twenty years. But the reward was immense. Some could even begin to condense a phantom Golden Core, laying the groundwork for the next realm and gaining powerful divine abilities. The only downside was the time required.
By the time she emerged, others might've caught up in cultivation. But battle strength was another matter. Heavenly Foundation cultivators were exceedingly rare — perhaps only a handful per realm. In the Great Wei Dynasty, the starting zone for players, resources were thin and powerful beings scarce. Competition wasn't as intense. But in realms with deeper foundations, it was brutal — like a jungle where only the strongest survived.
In such places, without a dominant sect to regulate resources, it would be a bloodbath. Even the fight over the Five Elemental Treasures was terrifying. But here, she hadn't faced any competition — likely because no one expected to reach Foundation Establishment within decades, or even knew about the Heavenly Dao path.
"Whew."
With a long exhale, the five treasures slowly rose, glowing faintly and circling around Su Min. She needed to absorb their elemental essence fully before taking the pill. Heavenly Foundation wasn't something that just anyone with materials could attempt — one had to withstand the force of all five elements. Very few could manage that. But as a player, Su Min's body had unique compatibility — she could handle far more than most. Even the Five Elemental Forces were within her reach.
~Edit and rewritten by Rikhi, Reiya_Alberich, ReiNyam~
Time passed. The cave Su Min created was gradually buried under desert sands. But she had made thorough preparations — her cave remained untouched. In fact, the sands served as excellent cover. Even with modern technology, it would be nearly impossible to find her now. And so, the years slipped by. In this silent desert, twenty full years passed.
"Huu…"
With a deep breath, Su Min, still like a statue, slowly opened her eyes.
"How many years has it been? It feels like waking from a dream..."
Looking at the dusty cave, she grew a little emotional. Of course, her body remained spotless — spiritual energy flowed through her constantly, sweeping away dust. Her artifact armor made her look out of place amidst the ruin.
"Finally reached Foundation Establishment... Heavenly Foundation, even..."
Suddenly, Su Min clutched her head. A flood of unfamiliar information surged into her mind.
"Heavenly Dao Insight? No—this is... It's the Heavenly Dao's gift!"
She immediately sensed the source of the influx and beamed. She had endured so much for this moment — this was the true reward of Foundation Establishment. Though at the peak of the Qi Refining Realm she could defeat Fusion Realm cultivators, her combat ability lagged behind those who had chosen combat-oriented builds.
Just look at the others: Desolate Holy Bodies, Flameborne Physiques, Netherworld Death Bodies...
Pair those with compatible fates, and their power became absurd. Late Qi Refining beating late Foundation Establishment wasn't rare — even skirmishes with Golder Core cultivators were possible. Compared to them, Su Min's path was different. But theirs came with a heavy price — a lifespan limit. Spiritual energy revival came in waves, and though this era's energy was increasing, reaching Golden Core was already considered elite.
Above that, progress was impossible. This bottleneck would last nearly 500 years — the limit of the Golden Core stage. Thus, they would need to reincarnate. Fortunes carried over, but physiques did not. Creating a new body with the same constitution was incredibly difficult. Worse, once their bodies changed, the unique "compatibility physique" players started with would vanish — and that was Su Min's greatest strength.
Unfortunately, the game hadn't made this clear yet.
As for sealing themselves in treasures? Forget it. In-game, all such artifacts had long been looted. The real world wouldn't be much better. Look at how the Demon Queen ruined herself for one — the cost was enormous.