The aftermath of the battle had left the Celestial Formation Grounds fractured and unstable.
Lin Xuan sat cross-legged amid the rubble, blood dried on his robes, the stars above returning to their silent glow. Inside him, the Chaos Core spun faster than ever—gorging on residual energy left behind by the shattered souls of the Soul Binding Twins.
And yet, his expression remained calm.
Even now, he knew greater danger loomed.
---
[System Notification]
Time Remaining to Foundation Building: 6 Days
Incoming Threat: Blood Veil Envoy (Estimated Cultivation – Late Foundation Building)
Recommended: Reach Foundation Building – 100% Core Stabilization Required
Quest Reward: Chaos Refinement Method – Unlocks Core Evolution
---
Lin Xuan's eyes narrowed.
Foundation Building... that's my wall. And if I don't break through, I die.
But unlike others, his path was not built on Earth Qi or Fire Pillars. His core had to be forged in chaos.
And there was only one place nearby with enough raw, unstructured energy to attempt it:
The Forbidden Cavern Beneath the Sect.
---
The Cavern Below
Hidden deep beneath the Sect of Broken Stars was an old legend—of a cursed cavern sealed hundreds of years ago by the ancestors of the sect, where celestial and demonic forces once clashed.
Yue Lian met him at the cavern's entrance at midnight.
"You can't be serious," she whispered, her voice echoing off ancient stone. "No one has returned from down there. The elders sealed it for a reason."
"I'm not seeking to return," Lin Xuan replied. "I'm seeking to rise."
She looked at him for a long moment, then handed him a jade slip. "This contains formation sequences. If things go wrong, and you lose control, destroy the array and collapse the tunnel."
"You don't think I'll survive?"
"I think," she said softly, "that no one walks out of chaos unchanged."
Without another word, Lin Xuan descended into the dark.
---
Inside the Abyss
The air was thick. Not just with spiritual energy—but with distortion.
Here, fire flickered without heat. Stone melted like wax, then reformed. Gravity shifted with each step. It was a realm outside the natural Dao.
Perfect for forging chaos.
Lin Xuan found a cavern chamber saturated in wild qi—fragments of every element, twisted and broken.
He sat at its center.
The Chaos Core inside him hummed violently.
He bit his thumb and smeared blood in a perfect circle around him, activating the Chaos Compression Array—a technique he designed from ancient knowledge fused with chaos instinct.
[Foundation Building Attempt Initiated]
Stage 1: Compression of Qi—Begin Core Crystallization
Estimated Pain Level: 86% (Warning: Mortal bodies typically fail here)
Pain hit him like a tidal wave.
His meridians screamed as chaos energy condensed into his dantian—forming not a golden core, but a chaotic singularity, black and pulsating.
He felt time blur.
Hours passed like seconds. Or perhaps days.
---
Stage 2: Core Forging
Now came the hard part—stabilizing the singularity with intent.
Other cultivators used Dao hearts, elemental contracts, or spirit flames. Lin Xuan had none of those.
Only his will.
The Chaos Core created three trials—illusions crafted from memory.
Trial One: The moment of betrayal—his past self on the Ascension Platform, bleeding under the blades of his sect.
Trial Two: The Void—his drifting soul screaming in isolation after death.
Trial Three: His rebirth—watching his weak mortal body struggle to rise.
Each illusion tried to break him.
Each failed.
Because Lin Xuan no longer clung to the past.
He embraced it. Chaos was his pain. His strength.
---
Stage 3: Foundation Building
A final pulse echoed through the cavern.
The black singularity exploded—then reformed.
Not as a traditional core… but as something new.
[Core Evolution Complete: Chaos Seed Formed]
Stage: Foundation Building (Early)
Passive: Core Instability Immunity – Immune to Qi deviation or inner demon corruption
New Skill: Chaos Refinement Method (Lv. 1) – Allows absorption of corrupted or wild qi
Lin Xuan's body trembled—but he stood.
Lightning coiled around his fingertips. His bones were harder than steel. His senses extended across the entire cavern.
He had made it.
---
Back at the Surface – 3 Days Later
Elders gathered at the mountain's peak, sensing a shift in the heavens.
"Who… who broke through down there?"
"Such unstable power. It's not natural qi…"
"Could it be…?"
The Sect Master remained silent, his eyes glowing faintly like stars.
---
Far Away – The Blood Veil Envoy Moves
A woman in crimson armor stepped across a lake, not disturbing the water. Her eyes were covered in a red veil, but her cultivation rippled violently through the air.
She carried a blade made of condensed blood, humming with souls.
"Lin Xuan," she whispered. "Chaos-born. You will be offered to the Abyss."
---
[Quest Complete: Foundation Building Achieved]
[New Quest: Defeat the Blood Veil Envoy – Power Match Achieved]
Bonus Objective: Absorb her corrupted blood essence to evolve the Chaos Core