Mortal Mirror

Inside the house, Li Ergou took out an item: a Returning Origin Pill from Ximen Shang's Qiankun bag. This item could help people increase their chances of establishing a foundation.

The last time he played the 'eat chicken' game with Liu Zhiyu, he casually asked about it and learned that this pill was incredibly precious and could be used to break through to the Foundation Establishment stage.

This one was quite valuable, actually worth ten Dao Repository Golden Coins. When he heard this price, he was really frightened, thinking, 'Isn't it just a pill? Why is it so expensive?'

Liu Zhiyu, however, didn't think much of it and told him, "This kind of pill for breaking through to Foundation Establishment is still cheap. A truly peerless treasure pill might require thousands or even tens of thousands of Dao Repository Golden Coins."

Li Ergou was almost scared silly. He originally thought he was very rich, but upon hearing this news, he immediately felt that the chicken leg in his hand was no longer fragrant.

From then on, he realized that the richest people in this world were actually pill cultivators. Once they refined a peerless treasure pill, they would suddenly become extremely wealthy, which made him very tempted. However, to become a pill cultivator, one needed not only extraordinary talent but also countless resources to provide support, and ultimately, an incredibly powerful master.

These conditions were indispensable, so Li Ergou gave up without even thinking about it.

This time, he not only prepared the Returning Origin Pill, but also planned to use the power of the Karma Golden Pill in his sea of consciousness in order to break through to the Foundation Establishment stage in one go. If the Returning Origin Pill didn't work, he would use the Karma Golden Pill, even though this Karma Golden Pill was extremely precious, he had no choice but to take a gamble.

At this moment, he took out the Returning Origin Pill, and it could be seen that the pill was about the size of a pigeon egg, with a blue-purple color and a faint light on it. After being replicated by him, there were now two pills.

Looking at the second Returning Origin Pill, there was actually a red line in the center. At this moment, he also knew that this was called a pill pattern. Having this pattern proved that the pill was more potent than the original, meaning it was of a higher grade.

Usually, only intermediate and above-intermediate alchemists could refine such pills.

The more pill patterns there were, the more the power of the pill would increase exponentially. This was the terrifying aspect of pill cultivators.

He felt that these preparations were not enough. He had heard that at the moment of breaking through to the Foundation Establishment stage, a massive amount of spiritual energy was needed. Now he still had forty Dao Repository Golden Coins. This was not the time to be stingy, so he took them all out in preparation for any unexpected needs.

With preparations complete, Li Ergou took out the original Returning Origin Pill and swallowed it in one gulp. He immediately felt the pill begin to release a powerful medicinal effect.

Immediately, this pill was able to emit a powerful suction force, sucking the surrounding spiritual energy into Li Ergou's body. He quickly circulated his cultivation technique and began to impact the Foundation Establishment stage.

What is Foundation Establishment? Foundation Establishment is the foundation of a cultivator. Like building a house, if the foundation is unstable, everything is fleeting. The collapse of a building can happen in an instant.

Therefore, Foundation Establishment is like laying the foundation for a house. It must be extremely solid and indestructible.

You must know that the Qi Refining stage condenses a Qi vortex. When entering the Foundation Establishment stage, these spiritual energies must be condensed into liquid. This requires building a foundation field in the dantian. This foundation field can be any shape—round, square, rectangular, or even pentagonal—the only requirement is that it must be solid.

In this way, it can withstand powerful forces and compress the Qi vortex into liquid. This is also the reason for the existence of the foundation field. Without a foundation field, the dantian cannot withstand the force, so all foundations do not exist, and how can one advance upwards?

At this moment, it could be seen that the spiritual energy vortex in his dantian began to rotate faster and faster. They were shaping the foundation field, allowing the foundation field to slowly take shape.

Li Ergou planned to condense his foundation field into a round shape, for no other reason than he simply liked it. Under his constant efforts, the shape of the foundation field began to slowly take shape, and at this moment, the foundation field was transparent.

At this time, it was necessary to use spiritual energy to continuously thicken it, compress it, thicken it, and compress it again. It was necessary to make the foundation field extremely hard and indestructible.

At this moment, he realized that doing so required a massive amount of spiritual energy.

In less than half a day, the energy of the Returning Origin Pill was exhausted, but at this moment, the foundation field only had a rough outline.

He immediately swallowed the replicated Returning Origin Pill. Because this Returning Origin Pill had pill patterns, its potency was almost half as strong as the original.

As the dantian Qi vortex rotated faster and faster, the power of the pill began to be released quickly, and this time, under the traction of the Qi mechanism, he had already attracted the spiritual energy within a thousand zhang radius for his own use.

He felt that his foundation field was becoming more and more stable, looking like a piece of land, but at this moment, the land was still transparent, like an invisible object. It must be completely compacted and transformed into a visible, tangible object.

With the deepening of cultivation, his foundation field became more and more solidified. It could be seen that his foundation field had basically taken shape at this moment, turning into a circle, like a plate.

But all of this was just the beginning.

As spiritual power continuously poured into the foundation field, mysterious patterns began to slowly replicate on it, extending outwards. They looked extremely mysterious, as if carrying a special energy, strengthening the foundation field.

They extended from the surroundings and eventually merged at the center point of the dantian, just like mysterious array patterns.

These mysterious lines were not man-made, but were blessed by the Dao of Heaven, called Dao patterns. Even Li Ergou didn't know how these lines were produced.

Anyway, they just appeared. As more and more patterns appeared, they became more and more complex, and this was also the most critical moment. Once it stopped, the foundation field would be annihilated, and all efforts would be in vain.

But he felt that the power of the Returning Origin Pill was about to be exhausted, and he was about to unseal the Dao Repository Golden Coins.

Immediately, an extremely rich spiritual energy emanated out, and Li Ergou began to absorb the spiritual energy from it.

And the powerful Qi mechanism actually began to attract all the spiritual energy within ten thousand zhang to come here. Unfortunately, the spiritual energy around this Bitter Mountain was thin, even the spiritual energy within a ten thousand zhang distance was very scarce.

But it was better than nothing.

Time passed little by little, and in the blink of an eye, three days had passed. Li Ergou did not expect that Foundation Establishment would be so difficult. The more mysterious patterns on the foundation field became more complex towards the center, and the slower the progress became.

Looking at the foundation field from a distance, it looked like a light golden disc, but upon closer inspection, the complex patterns on it were dense and extremely mysterious.

But soon, he discovered that the spiritual energy in the Dao Repository Golden Coins was about to dry up.

But the patterns on the foundation field were only two-thirds complete. He was horrified, not knowing whether it was because his roots were too poor, or what, but this consumption was too great.

No wonder cultivators either join the imperial court or join a sect. Foundation Establishment is really difficult. Without a certain amount of financial resources, wanting to cultivate is simply wishful thinking.

There was no time to think too much, because at this moment, the spiritual power in the last Dao Repository Golden Coin was also exhausted, and he had to burn his boats.