Chapter 167
At last...!
After five months of relentless cultivation, Baek Cheong had finally filled her dantian completely.
It was a dantian that had doubled in size upon reaching 10 stars.
It was so huge that even calling it as vast as the boundless sea would not have been an exaggeration.
Under normal circumstances, it would have taken ages just to fill it, but by gaining an early understanding of spiritual qi, her qi-absorption efficiency had improved.
'I finally filled it all the way.'
More than that, there was a reason she had finished so smoothly.
It was because she had continued drawing in qi while condensing it at the same time.
It had been a long time since her spiritual roots had grown, and the turbid qi in her mixed spiritual roots had diminished.
Since she no longer even had to expel turbid qi every night, there was no interruption in her cultivation.
She immediately condensed the spiritual energy she had drawn in, packing it tightly into every corner of her dantian.
Thanks to that, she was able to drastically shorten the time needed to fill a dantian as vast as the sea.
With everything filled, all that remained was Foundation Establishment.
'Now it's really right in front of me.'
But when Foundation Establishment was actually before her, that small chest began to pound.
No matter how she composed herself, the tension would not go away.
It was the gate from Qi Refining to Foundation Establishment, so that was only natural.
Come to think of it, she had already prepared everything that needed preparing.
From qi condensation to heavenly tribulation preparations, there was nothing left to fix.
And yet, deep in that small chest, everything kept shrinking and trembling.
'Why am I trembling this much?'
She felt a sneaking urge to log into the Nameless Forum for no particular reason.
While she was at it, she could check how much the top-grade Cloud Tribulation Pill she had listed on the marketplace had sold for.
It seemed like the perfect chance to ease her nerves with a little forum browsing before coming back.
'Should I just stop by for a moment...'
As soon as the thought reached that point, Baek Cheong shook her head hard.
If she stepped into the Nameless Forum, Foundation Establishment would undoubtedly be pushed to the back burner.
She could already picture herself using her nerves as an excuse to keep putting it off.
'No. Once I log in, it'll take ages to get back out.'
Hardening her heart, she put the Nameless Forum out of mind.
'Let's finish Foundation Establishment first.'
Normally, it would have been right to hole up in the cultivation room and wait for the right time.
A cultivation room with a Spirit Gathering Formation drawing in spiritual energy was the perfect place for Foundation Establishment.
But her situation was completely different from that of other cultivators.
Unlike an ordinary Foundation Establishment breakthrough, heavenly tribulation was certain to follow her.
The last time she had crafted a pill-pattern pill, the Heavenly Dao had only issued a warning and backed down.
But Foundation Establishment was different.
Since it was a proper realm breakthrough, the Heavenly Dao would have more than enough excuses to pick a fight.
She was already a being defying heaven by her very existence, and on top of that she carried the karma of the Nameless Forum.
It was as clear as day that lightning would strike the moment she began Foundation Establishment.
That was why she had prepared everything, from qi condensation to heavenly tribulation, down to the last detail.
The remaining question was where to face the heavenly tribulation.
'If I take it in the Eastern Quarters, that’ll be a headache.'
If, by some chance, the tribulation's power increased just to blow away even the Eastern Quarters, it would be hard to handle.
If the Eastern Quarters collapsed, she could always rebuild them, but life was precious.
Therefore, it would be best to complete Foundation Establishment and face the tribulation outside the Eastern Quarters.
She stood up and headed for the courtyard.
***
When she stepped out into the courtyard, the clouds wrapped around the peak had come right up to her face.
Baek Cheong took the Five-Elements Banner out of the storage pouch and was about to begin preparing for the heavenly tribulation.
But just as she gripped the banner, she stopped.
Unlike inside the Eastern Quarters, the courtyard was open on all sides.
If she was going to endure the heavenly tribulation, she would have to take out the Cloud Spirit Pearl, the pill-pattern Cloud Tribulation Pill, and everything else, without leaving anything out.
'I can take the tribulation, but I can't let anyone see how I do it.'
What would be troublesome if discovered was the way she was enduring the tribulation.
The Cloud Spirit Pearl had been secretly taken from the Cloud Sea secret realm, so there was no plausible explanation for its origin.
The pill-pattern Cloud Tribulation Pill was the same; since it had been made from Cloud Spirit Fruit, there was nothing good about letting it be seen.
If anyone saw her play all these cards, every secret she had kept hidden could be exposed.
Perhaps because the Eastern Quarters had been built deep in the estate, places like the Clan Lord’s Hall, the Grand Clan Lord’s Hall, and the Medicine Sage’s alchemy chamber were all nearby.
If an actual heavenly tribulation came down instead of a mere warning, anyone would surely rush over at once.
If they came running and watched from nearby, that would be the end of it.
Even the exquisite terrain could only hide her from eyes watching from far away.
It could not block eyes that came right up to inspect.
She had no choice but to add a screen herself and hide the sight of her enduring the heavenly tribulation.
'If I do it well, it might be possible.'
So Baek Cheong slowly looked around the courtyard and first gauged the terrain.
Because the courtyard had been leveled atop the peak, the lay of the land could be seen at a glance.
She subtly spread her divine sense over the courtyard and examined the flow of spiritual energy.
Beneath her feet, a transplanted quasi-2nd-tier spiritual vein stretched thickly.
Spiritual energy flowing along the vein pooled throughout the courtyard like ponds.
The color of the pooled spiritual energy differed wherever it gathered.
Under the fruit trees to the east, wood qi hung thickly.
Fire qi gathered on the sunny southern rise.
Metal qi spread over the rocky western edge, and water qi lay dormant in the shaded northern hollow.
In the broad open space at the center, earth qi quietly supported all five energies.
'So this is why they call it an auspicious site.'
The feng shui master had not called it an exquisite site for nothing.
It was rare to see terrain where the energies were so clearly divided into the five directions.
The spiritual vein beneath her feet branched into five and carried spiritual energy to the five directions.
Each branch took on a different hue from the soil, sunlight, and shade it reached.
This was where the payoff from her sharpened intuition, gained from compressed divine sense and grasping character forms, came through.
Since the terrain had already divided the five elements on its own, the blueprint for arranging a formation naturally came together.
'If I do it well, even a Nascent Soul grand cultivator might not notice.'
After quietly considering it, Baek Cheong let a confident smile slip out.
If she seated attribute-based puppets on terrain divided into the five elements, the five elements of the terrain and the five elements of the formation would mesh together, making the concealment even tighter.
'Let's give it a try.'
Once she had made up her mind, she immediately began preparing to set up the formation.
She took out five 2nd-tier Five-Elements puppets from the storage pouch.
First, she placed the wood-attribute puppet beneath the fruit trees to the east.
It was a spot dense with wood qi, so there was no mismatch with the puppet's own energy.
She repeatedly checked with divine sense to make sure she had set the puppet at the point where wood qi rose most thickly.
She corrected its slight offset and moved it to the very center where spiritual energy was fullest.
Next, she moved the fire-attribute puppet to the southern rise.
Placing it where sunlight pooled made the puppet's red energy stand out even more.
She brought the metal-attribute puppet to the rocky western edge.
She set the water-attribute puppet in the shaded northern hollow.
Finally, she placed the earth-attribute puppet in the broad open center, filling the fifth position.
With the five puppets arranged according to their attributes, a pentagon was drawn across the courtyard.
She stepped back a few paces and visually checked whether the pentagon was straight with no crooked parts.
Then she awakened the premium spirit stones embedded in each puppet.
Spiritual energy flowed without obstruction through every joint, and the puppets awakened.
The five elements gathered in the terrain resonated with the five elements contained in the puppets.
Next came the character-form talismans.
She drew character-form talismans, dividing the concealment-supporting character forms by attribute.
She took out five character-form talismans and attached one to each puppet.
As soon as the attribute-matched talismans touched them, they blended immediately with the energy inside the puppets.
As the talismans emitted a faint light, the puppets' outlines began to blur.
Finally, she raised the Five-Elements Banner and slowly infused it with qi.
The banner trembled lightly, and a formation vein linking the five puppets unfolded with a rustle.
The formation vein flowed along the pentagon, threading the five puppets into a single line.
As the five elements of the terrain supported the formation, the concealment formation ripened at once.
The clouds that wrapped the peak were drawn by the formation and gathered over the courtyard.
The outlines of the five puppets melted smoothly into the clouds.
Before long, the courtyard itself blended into one with the band of clouds clinging to the peak.
Clouds that swallowed everything in all directions like a sea of clouds aided the concealment.
'No wonder formations depend so much on location.'
On top of the concealment formation she had personally set up, the peak's feng shui added its strength as well.
At this level, even if someone came up onto the peak, they would hardly be able to see into the courtyard.
'I need to check it thoroughly.'
Baek Cheong walked around the courtyard, carefully inspecting the formation.
There was so much to feel guilty about that she could only keep pacing on numb feet.
Even after examining it that way with divine sense, she could hardly catch any trace of the courtyard.
The feng shui and the formation were perfect, leaving no visible gaps.
'As long as nobody comes inside, no one should be able to see in.'
Unless someone personally stepped inside the formation, the courtyard would only look like a cloud-wreathed peak.
With her mind much more at ease, she took the Cloud Spirit Pearl out of the storage pouch.
Even though she had fed it peak clouds whenever she could, compared to the sea of clouds it was nothing more than a tiny bite to satisfy hunger.
But the clouds contained in the Cloud Spirit Pearl were beyond what even her divine sense could measure.
If there was any sign that the heavenly tribulation was about to fall, she intended to have the Cloud Spirit Pearl release clouds.
By shaping the clouds expelled by the Five-Elements Tribulation Formation into a fake tribulation cloud, she could share the burden of the thunder tribulation.
She then took out the jade vial containing the pill-pattern Cloud Tribulation Pill and set it beside her.
The pill-pattern Cloud Tribulation Pill inside the jade vial gleamed clearly, as if holding milky clouds within it.
If the signs of heavenly tribulation striking became definite, she would toss it into her mouth and create a fake tribulation cloud inside her body as well.
But whether it was the Cloud Spirit Pearl or the pill-pattern Cloud Tribulation Pill, they were things to be used only once the heavenly tribulation arrived.
There was something else she needed to accomplish right now.
The gate she had to pass before the heavenly tribulation was Foundation Establishment.
'The heavenly tribulation is the heavenly tribulation. For now, Foundation Establishment first.'
Baek Cheong took a jade box from the storage pouch and opened its lid.
It was the pill-pattern Foundation Establishment Pill personally refined by the Medicine Sage.
It was a rare treasure that even 4th-tier alchemists could not easily refine.
It had no pill poison, and its medicinal properties were on a different level from ordinary Foundation Establishment Pills, making it a pill fit for Foundation Establishment under heavenly tribulation.
The pill-pattern Foundation Establishment Pill resting on her palm shed a faint light.
If she swallowed this, she would part ways with Qi Refining forever.
It was time to condense the spiritual energy stored in her sea-like dantian and ascend to Foundation Establishment.
That small chest trembled once more.
But this time, she did not hesitate.
'Yeah, let's do it.'
She immediately tossed the pill-pattern Foundation Establishment Pill into her mouth.
Sitting cross-legged in the middle of the cloud-shrouded courtyard, she slowly closed her eyes.