THE RULE KING

"Not at all." Lu Xiangjun shook his head. "It's not that serious during the Foundation Establishment stage. Once you take the Foundation Establishment Pill, when the medicinal power dissolves and reaches its peak, with your own foundation, just let the spiritual power flow freely throughout your body, and you will break through to the Foundation Establishment stage. However, this process will be a bit painful. You must stay conscious, otherwise, all your efforts will be in vain."

"Also, find a small river away from the crowd to break through. There's a river in the back mountain, and it's the most suitable place."

A small river? Xu Shan was taken aback and said, "Is it because impurities will be excreted from the body by the river or something?"

"Well, every breakthrough is equivalent to a body purification. The process of washing the marrow and cleansing the meridians will be a bit indecent..."

Hehe, the classic "excreting impurities through pores"! Xu Shan has read countless online novels and is very familiar with this. He didn't expect that the classic setting turned out to be real!

Xu Shan stroked his chin and said, "Then... if you hold in your stool before the breakthrough, will you still want to poop after the breakthrough?"

"Huh!?" Lu Xiangjun's expression twisted, as if struck by lightning. He was completely stunned by Xu Shan's train of thought. But he couldn't help but start thinking about it... Obviously, some things couldn't stand close scrutiny. Lu Xiangjun's face gradually turned pale.

"You'd better relieve yourself before the breakthrough..."

"Ah...."

Both of them fell into silence at the same time.

"Senior Brother Lu, is this the new junior brother who just joined?"

While the two were silent, a soft female voice sounded. Xu Shan looked up and saw a sweet-looking female cultivator standing not far away. He immediately greeted her, "I, Xu Shan, just entered the Inner Sect today. I pay my respects to you, Senior Sister. May I ask how I should address you?"

"Li Ting." The female cultivator smiled, and her eyebrows curved like two crescents. "Xu Shan... Was it you who was shouting in the sect just now?"

Li Ting... What a coincidence. This is the Taoist companion that Senior Brother Lu is pursuing? His taste is not bad.

"So it's Senior Sister Li Ting...."

"Let's go. This has nothing to do with you. I'll show Junior Brother around. If you have something to do, go and take care of it yourself." Before Xu Shan could finish his words, Lu Xiangjun waved his hand to shoo her away.

Li Ting's beautiful eyes were immediately filled with confusion. Senior Brother Lu had actually spoken to her in such an attitude. This had never happened before. What was going on today?

"Senior Brother Lu, are you okay?"

"How many times do I have to say it! Just leave quickly!" Lu Xiangjun said impatiently.

The dog that used to fawn over her has turned against her! Li Ting's pretty face darkened, and she immediately turned around and left without looking back.

Standing aside, Xu Shan hesitated and said, "Actually, there's no need to suppress her so harshly..."

"It's not about suppressing her. I just suddenly think she's a bit dirty.. Hmm..." Lu Xiangjun looked at Xu Shan expressionlessly. A shadow was visibly cast over his face, indicating that the Foundation Establishment and marrow-washing process now had a whole new concept in his mind...

"Let's go, Junior Brother. I'll take you to your residence first." Lu Xiangjun took a step ahead, and Xu Shan let out a sigh. Maybe he shouldn't have been so curious. Come to think of it, it's really disgusting.

"Junior Brother, up ahead is the residence of the Inner Sect disciples... There's one more thing I don't know whether I should tell you or not." Lu Xiangjun asked tentatively.

"Senior Brother, please go ahead and say it."

"Well... Can you cook a few dishes when you have time? I've tasted your cooking once, and you know how delicious it is." Lu Xiangjun winked vigorously.

Xu Shan couldn't help but laugh.

"Sure, it's no big deal. Once I recover from my injuries, Senior Brother, feel free to come to me. But it's better to keep a low profile. I lost my spiritual root because of cooking. You can just enjoy the food by yourself."

"Deal!"

... Inside the bamboo house in the Inner Sect, Xu Shan was lying on the bed, staring fixedly at the dark purple pill between his two fingertips. So many things had happened this day, and he had finally entered the Inner Sect. The treatment was quite good. He was assigned a separate residence as soon as he came in. The bamboo house was fully furnished with all kinds of furniture, and there was also a flower garden courtyard outside, giving it a rather pastoral and rustic charm. The treatment of Inner Sect disciples was indeed much better than that of Outer Sect disciples.

But if he wanted to truly settle down here in peace, he still had to break through to the Foundation Establishment stage. As long as he broke through to the Foundation Establishment stage and obtained a more advanced cultivation technique and practiced honestly. With the items derived from the Azure Seal in his hand and Zhang Biao's help, it shouldn't be difficult to make a name for himself. In the future, if there was a chance, he would find a way to improve his own spiritual root. When his strength was promoted, he would surely be able to unlock the secrets of the Azure Seal.

The biggest hidden danger now was the origin of Zhang Biao... But after so much time had passed and there was still no movement, there probably wasn't much to worry about. In a few days... his injuries would recover almost completely, and then he would start preparing for the Foundation Establishment!

..... Seven days passed quickly. As expected, Xu Shan's injuries had recovered to a large extent. Except for the deeper injuries on his ankle and right arm that hadn't fully healed yet, the other minor wounds had already returned to normal. But overall, it didn't have much of an impact anymore.

By a stream in the Inner Sect, Xu Shan took off all his clothes, sat cross-legged, and held the Foundation Establishment Pill in his hands. He circulated the Qi Refining Technique of the Outer Sect several times in succession before exhaling a long breath. He picked up the pill and put it into his mouth with great care...

Xu Shan concentrated all his attention on the inside of his body. As the medicinal power slowly dissolved, a warm current poured down from above and then dispersed into the four main meridians and eight collateral meridians. The spread of the medicinal power gradually became more intense, and the originally stable and peaceful spiritual power in Xu Shan's Dantian began to throb like a heart. With each throb, a large amount of spiritual power was pumped out, surging together with the medicinal power towards the meridians throughout his body.

A wonderful feeling gradually emerged in Xu Shan's body. For the first time, he felt that he could control the spiritual power in his body, which he had never felt before. This was like an ordinary person who couldn't control the beating of their pectoral muscles, but a fitness enthusiast with well-developed pectoral muscles could master this somewhat cheesy skill through simple practice. In the past, his spiritual power wasn't deep enough and had always been hidden in his Dantian. Now, with the support of the medicinal power, the strengthened spiritual power could be easily controlled by him.

The medicinal power was still surging, and a trace of pain began to appear in Xu Shan's body...

Pain! Intense and severe pain had spread throughout Xu Shan's body. The surging spiritual energy was running wild uncontrollably in various parts of his body, and all his meridians were being violently stretched and washed. The Dantian was the hardest-hit area, as if a ball of blades had been stuffed into it and was constantly being stirred.

Xu Shan bit his tongue tip, his pupils and lips were shaking violently at the same time, sweat was trickling down his forehead, and his whole body was shaking uncontrollably. But soon, his body regained stability again!

Although the pain was extremely intense, this pain was completely different in magnitude from the pain caused by Zhang Biao's pulling of his spiritual root last time. He could endure it!

At the same time, a light black, sticky substance began to seep out from all over his body....

In the sky above, Jin Yangqiu stood on a flying sword with his hands behind his back. He observed Xu Shan's reaction below with a serious expression.

When breaking through to the Foundation Establishment stage, the higher one's talent, the easier it is. Xu Shan... Judging from his expression during the breakthrough, he was in so much pain that it was as if he was being tortured. It showed how poor his aptitude was, and the process of washing the marrow and cleansing the meridians was much more difficult than that of other Inner Sect disciples.

...