Chapter 73

Chapter 73: Foundation Establishment Thunder Tribulation

Yun Xi gave Jiao Zi two spirit stones and sent him away. Then she walked up and called out, “Senior, I want to rent a cave dwelling.”

The old man opened his eyes. Seeing Yun Xi, he yawned and asked, “Our shop has three tiers of cave dwellings, based on how rich the spiritual energy is and the spirit-gathering arrays set inside: upper, middle, and lower. Different tiers cost different spirit stones. Which one do you want?”

Wei Yun Xi grinned. “Senior, I’m short on money, so I can only rent the lowest-tier cave dwelling, but it must be safe.”

The old man glanced at Yun Xi and saw she was on the brink of a breakthrough. He lazily handed her a jade token. “Lower tier, Bing Si Cave Dwelling. It’s twenty low-grade spirit stones per day. Pay five hundred low-grade spirit stones first. When you leave, we’ll refund the difference or make up the shortfall.”

“But let me say this first. The spiritual energy in a lower-tier cave dwelling is very thin. It’s not good for your breakthrough.”

Yun Xi paid readily and took the jade token. Smiling, she said, “Thank you for the reminder, Senior. I know my own situation. This is all I can afford, so I’ll make do for now. Once I meet up with my companions, we’ll see. Maybe I can mooch one of their higher-tier cave dwellings.”

Yun Xi’s words were half true and half false. They made it clear she was not alone and that her companions had spirit stones. They were only separated for now, and she had entered the city first to break through.

The old man did not say anything else. After taking the spirit stones, he led her to the entrance of Lower Tier Bing Si Cave Dwelling and gave her another warning. “The jade token in your hand is the key to open the cave dwelling. The isolation array and spirit-gathering array inside are also controlled by this jade token. Do not lose it. If you do, your cave dwelling will belong to someone else. The cave only recognizes the jade token, not the person.”

“Yes. I’ll remember,” Yun Xi said immediately.

She used the jade token to open the cave dwelling.

Since it was called a cave dwelling, it really was a cave. The walls had obvious marks of being carved out, and there were only about ten square meters of space. A single meditation cushion sat in the middle, making the place feel cramped.

Yun Xi sighed inwardly that spending five hundred low-grade spirit stones like this was not worth it. But outside the sect, she had to keep things simple, so she could only make do. She slid the jade token into the slot on the inner wall. The cave door closed, and the isolation array and spirit-gathering array activated one after another.

When she saw the array patterns light up around the cushion, Yun Xi finally felt like the spirit stones had at least paid off a little.

Still, to be safe, Yun Xi took out her third-rank array plate and placed nine mid-grade spirit stones into it. Only then did she move the Immortal Spirit Grass out of her space.

The Immortal Spirit Grass stretched its leaves, sensed the spiritual energy in the air, and then asked, “Little Yun Xi, you’ve left the sect?”

“Mm. I’ve reached Bao Hua City at the foot of the Bao Hua Mountain Range, but I can’t suppress my cultivation much longer,” Yun Xi said honestly.

The Immortal Spirit Grass shook its leaves. “Then establish your foundation first. After you enter the Bao Hua Mountain Range, you’ll be able to go deeper.”

“Mm. That’s my plan too, which is why I rented a cave dwelling and planned to establish my foundation first,” Yun Xi said.

“Tsk, tsk. With the spiritual energy density in this cave dwelling, you must have rented the lowest-tier one,” the Immortal Spirit Grass said bluntly.

Yun Xi rubbed her nose. “You’re right. I’m poor. The spirit stones I saved up were spent on taking the teleportation array. If I hadn’t sold some of my stock, I wouldn’t even be able to rent the lowest-tier cave dwelling.”

“You’re a small Qi Refining cultivator. How did you dare take a teleportation array? Weren’t you afraid of being watched?” the Immortal Spirit Grass asked.

Yun Xi brushed past the point and said, “I originally wanted to take a normal flying boat to Bao Hua City, but I don’t know why. My sixth sense told me I had to leave as soon as possible. The teleportation array happened to be short one person, so I chose to take it.”

The Immortal Spirit Grass shook its leaves in understanding. This was a cultivator’s sense of danger.

“All right. Then I’ll help you establish your foundation first. The spiritual energy I’ve stored up is enough for your breakthrough.”

“Good. Let’s begin!” Yun Xi said.

Yun Xi did not waste words. She sat cross-legged on the cushion, placed the Immortal Spirit Grass beside her, closed her eyes, and began circulating her technique. One day earlier meant one day less of spirit stones spent, so of course she wanted it.

As soon as Yun Xi started circulating the Qi Refining formula, the Immortal Spirit Grass supplied the pure spiritual energy it had gathered to its little master. At the same time, it secretly extended its roots into the spirit vein beneath the cave dwelling and intercepted a portion of the spiritual energy there.

Yun Xi guided the spiritual energy in her body to slam into the barrier of the Foundation Establishment Stage, once, twice, three times… until the ninth impact, when the barrier cracked open. Then pure spiritual energy surged into her dantian.

The spiritual energy expanded her dantian, while also compressing the space inside again and again, until it was compressed into spiritual liquid that dripped to the bottom of her dantian. That meant Yun Xi had completely broken through to the Foundation Establishment Stage.

Right after that, winds rose and clouds gathered above the cave dwelling. Tribulation clouds formed quickly and locked onto Wei Yun Xi.

The old man who had been dozing behind the counter suddenly opened his eyes. Looking in the direction where the tribulation clouds gathered, he knew the little girl who had moved in three days ago was undergoing a Foundation Establishment Thunder Tribulation. He flashed outside Lower Tier Bing Si Cave Dwelling and watched the first tribulation lightning fall.

The instant Yun Xi was locked by the tribulation lightning, she waved her sleeve and took the Immortal Spirit Grass back into her space. She could not expose that treasure. Then she opened the cave dwelling and flashed to the open ground in front of it.

She did not want the tribulation lightning to smash someone else’s cave dwelling. That would mean paying spirit stones, and right now she wished she could split one spirit stone into two. She could not afford that kind of loss.

Those thoughts flashed by, and her first Thunder Tribulation did not feel quite as terrifying anymore. Then the first tribulation lightning fell and struck down from above, entering through the top of Yun Xi’s head.

The old man watching was surprised that Yun Xi took the Thunder Tribulation without any protection. Was this little girl stupid? She did not even throw out a defensive array plate. Stroking his chin, he decided she must be short on money, so she had to hard-tank the Thunder Tribulation.

That guess was half right. The other half was that Yun Xi knew she had a lightning spirit root, so she wanted to use the Thunder Tribulation to temper her body.

After the first tribulation lightning rushed into Yun Xi’s body, it started darting around. Fortunately, her divine sense was stronger than her cultivation, so in only two breaths, Yun Xi guided the tribulation lightning through her meridians. It tempered her meridians while also refining that trace of lightning power.

In the end, the refined lightning spiritual energy entered Yun Xi’s dantian and slowly sank into the lightning spirit root at the bottom. The lightning spirit root flashed with purple light and looked even more dazzling.

Refining the first Thunder Tribulation boosted Yun Xi’s confidence. Then the second tribulation lightning fell, and Yun Xi did the same, continuing to refine the power of the tribulation lightning.

But the intervals between the tribulation lightning strikes grew shorter and shorter, as if it stopped holding back once it confirmed the tribulation transcender could handle this level. In the end, the last three strikes descended almost at the same time.

Yun Xi gritted her teeth and hard-tanked them. In her mind, a whole herd of alpacas galloped past. She had not expected each Thunder Tribulation strike to be fiercer than the last, from the first one that only left her slightly numb to the later ones that felt like grabbing a high-voltage switch.