Chapter 88: Lying in Wait for Jiang Min

The black meteorite of the Deep Abyss was an ore found in a neighboring kingdom to the west.

It could not be refined, nor could it harmonize with spiritual power. It had only one virtue: it was hard, incomparably hard. Only cultivators above the Golden Core stage could employ their methods to shatter or cut it apart.

For that reason, some cultivators gathered this ore to build secluded mansions or tombs, or to fashion hidden chambers and secret passages. Unbreakable and able to seal off divine sense, it was, in truth, a rather useful building material.

"Could it be that all the mansions and tombs hidden in the mountain were made from black meteorite of the Deep Abyss?"

After Jiang Ziyi reached that conclusion, her mood plummeted.

Then what was there left to dig for?

It was all wasted effort.

She stared at the immense slab of black meteorite before her, her gaze dark enough to drip water, her heart seething with unwillingness.

"One more try. This time, start from the summit."

After some time.

Jiang Ziyi fled from the mountaintop, driving the Sky Net Silk, her figure in disarray.

Digging downward from the peak had unexpectedly revealed a set of vicious and powerful mechanisms.

What manner of person had the owner of this mansion or tomb been?

She had run into wall after wall.

Jiang Ziyi's expression had turned icy and livid.

That usual cold and haughty composure of hers had long since collapsed completely.

Since beginning her cultivation, there had never been anyone she could not kill. Yet now, she could not even kill a mere Qi Refinement cultivator?

Standing upon the Sky Net Silk, she looked down upon the mountain. Her cold eyes were deep and sinister, and the heaving of her chest betrayed just how foul her mood was.

"I will keep watch here. Sooner or later, I will wait for you to come out."

Having struck out repeatedly without even being able to kill a single Qi Refinement cultivator, this matter had gradually become an obsession.

If she did not resolve it, her Dao heart would be difficult to steady.

She had to kill Jiang Min in order to break this obsession and restore clarity to her Dao heart.

Jiang Ziyi turned away and, on the opposite mountain, carved out a simple dwelling. She brought out a defensive array disc and a spirit-gathering array disc and set them in place.

When all was done, she remained in the dwelling, meditating and cultivating, determined to keep watch until the day Jiang Min appeared.

...

And so she waited.

Three months passed quietly.

Inside the stone chamber, Jiang Min was still cultivating.

Within her dantian, vast Five-Element spiritual power circulated naturally, its phenomena manifesting in myriad forms. Amid the flow of spiritual power, a subtle and profound resonance of the Great Dao faintly emerged, as if something were about to appear, and yet not appear.

"When phenomena take shape and Dao resonance reveals itself, it is time to establish the foundation."

Jiang Min slowly opened her eyes.

But before that, there was one more thing she had to do.

She had to cultivate the Wind-Thunder Body.

"The Scarlet Flame Body is of too low a grade. Facing the Five-Element Tribulation, it may be somewhat inadequate. Even with the thunderfire furnace tempering my body, I still do not have much confidence. Better to cultivate another art, the Wind-Thunder Body. Though conditions are limited and I can only achieve the first layer, it should still raise my odds of surviving the tribulation a little."

The Five-Element Tribulation.

Life and death hung by a thread.

Among those with Five Spiritual Roots, few even reached the perfection of Qi Refinement within a hundred years, and of those, many perished in the Five-Element Tribulation. That alone revealed how perilous the calamity was.

Strengthening her body would improve her chances of surviving it. Jiang Min did not dare gamble with her life. More chips, more certainty; that was only wise.

More body-refining arts, then.

More healing pills, as well.

This tribulation was dangerous.

She would give it everything.

"The Wind-Thunder Body has four layers. The first layer tempers the body with the power of wind and thunder medicine."

Jiang Min lifted her palm.

A jade bottle, no larger than a hand, appeared there.

Inside it was the sinister thunder jade marrow she had gathered in the Soul-Burying Gorge.

"Let's see whether this thing can actually be consumed. I mustn't waste effort on nothing."

She opened the bottle and, touching the mouth with two fingers, drew out a drop of pitch-black thunder jade marrow, which floated up and hovered before her.

Within it, a chilling and wicked aura constantly radiated outward.

At first, Jiang Min had not understood where this sinister energy came from. Looking back now, it was likely the lingering resentment and yin energy of those bones, which over countless years had corroded the sea of thunder and turned the once-pure thunder ocean into something dark and malign.

She might not be able to endure such a sinister force.

Only by trying first would she know.

She opened her mouth and drew the sinister thunder jade marrow into it.

Having cultivated the thunderfire furnace for many years, she was completely immune to the thunderous power within the jade marrow. But before she could even feel its nourishing effect, the sinister force contained within it clashed at once with the thunderfire furnace and the Scarlet Flame Body in her body, violently repelling one another.

"Hng..."

Jiang Min let out a muffled groan, fine beads of sweat appearing on her brow.

Sizzle, sizzle.

The thunderfire furnace she cultivated was a thing of balanced yin and yang, yet its nature leaned toward the bright and the masculine, best suited to restrain evil things. Added to that, the Scarlet Flame Body was also a method of pure righteousness and blazing yang, and was highly averse to sinister auras. Thus, the malicious energy in the thunder jade marrow was immediately and fiercely repelled by the righteous force within Jiang Min.

Hastily, she controlled that sinister energy and expelled it.

"Haah."

A mass of black, foul qi slowly flowed out through her mouth and nose, and only then did Jiang Min relax, feeling the pain recede.

"No good. I can't take it directly."

Frustrated, Jiang Min knitted her brows and studied the bottle of sinister thunder jade marrow in her hand. The thunderfire power within her and this kind of sinister aura were utterly incompatible.

How was she supposed to consume this?

But if it could not be consumed, did that not mean that she had risked her life to venture deep into the Soul-Burying Gorge and gather these thunder jade marrows for nothing?

After thinking for a moment, Jiang Min's bright eyes rolled, and she suddenly had an idea.

"What if I purify it?"

She would see whether she could strip away the sinister aura and restore the thunder jade marrow to its original purity.

Once again she drew out a drop of the sinister thunder jade marrow. Then, purple lightning sprang up in her palm, wrapping around it.

Crackle, crackle.

Sizzle, sizzle.

Under the refining power of the Five Thunder Method, one could clearly see strands of cold, black qi rising from the sinister thunder jade marrow and gradually separating from it.

Seeing this, a smile appeared on Jiang Min's face.

"It seems to work. Then I shall purify all the thunder jade marrow tainted with sinister energy and gather enough medicine for body refinement."

Several days passed, and Jiang Min finally had half a bottle of pure thunder jade marrow, enough for body tempering.

She immediately prepared the body-refining spirit medicine.

Then she began cultivating the first layer of the Wind-Thunder Body.

...

Cultivating in the mountains, she lost track of time.

Another two months passed.

On the mountain opposite, in the dwelling Jiang Ziyi had carved out, she suddenly opened her eyes. A formidable surge of spiritual power rippled outward from her, with herself as the center, shaking countless碎 stones loose.

"I've reached the minor completion of Foundation Establishment."

Jiang Ziyi murmured, her eyes cool as snow.

She had kept watch here for five months without waiting for Jiang Min to emerge, but instead had used the chance to enter prolonged seclusion and raise her cultivation to minor completion of Foundation Establishment.

"How can she stay hidden for so long?"

Frowning, Jiang Ziyi once more summoned the Soul-Chasing Black Bird and asked, "Tianji, is Jiang Min still in the mountain?"

"Tweet, tweet~"

The Soul-Chasing Black Bird cried out, indicating yes.

Had Jiang Ziyi not trusted it greatly, she would have suspected that it had made an error in its judgment.

Half believing, half doubting, she followed the bird's conclusion and thought it over.

"Has she been in seclusion for so long because she intends to establish her foundation in the mountain? But where would she get a Foundation Establishment Pill?"

As she thought of this, a trace of impatient irritation appeared in Jiang Ziyi's brows and eyes. Ever since she established her foundation, she had always kept her mind calm and composed, never allowing anger to disturb her heart. Yet now she had been reduced to such a sorry state by a low-born outer sect disciple...

"Then I shall wait one more month."

"If, after one month, I still cannot wait for her, I will find another way to deal with her."

In her vexation, Jiang Ziyi suddenly thought of something, and the irritation between her brows gradually faded. Inwardly, she said to herself, "Why should I worry so much over a Five Spiritual Root? I only disturb my Dao heart for nothing."

"I have heard that when they establish their foundations, they must undergo the Five-Element Heavenly Tribulation. That is a calamity with nine chances in ten of dying. Perhaps that vile girl Jiang Min will be unlucky enough to die beneath the tribulation..."

At this point, she could only comfort herself in this way and force her mood to settle.

...

Inside the stone chamber, Jiang Min suddenly opened her eyes.

In the depths of them, wind and thunder surged, then slowly faded away.

She carefully sensed her body, and felt that under the nourishment of the wind-thunder medicine, her bones, flesh, meridians, and apertures had all become somewhat stronger. Satisfied, she said, "As expected, it required many precious spirit medicines. Now that the first layer of the Wind-Thunder Body is complete, my physique has indeed grown considerably stronger."

"It is time to begin foundation establishment."

Before this book was written, the plan had been to reach Foundation Establishment at two hundred thousand characters, and that goal has now more or less been achieved according to plan.

These past two days I have been thinking hard about how to write the foundation-establishing breakthrough. It is not only about an increase in strength, but also about showing a transformation in the level of life itself. But... the author's ability is limited, so it can only be written like that for now. Please bear with it. The next chapter will reach that point.

—

The small boss has taken the stage.