Chapter 111: Foundation Building: The Mysterious Art of Standing Still like a Mountain

Ask Jinfeng.

A cave with extremely abundant spiritual energy.

It is a bit inappropriate to call it a cave. It is more like a platform the size of a small village dug directly on the mountain.

Pavilions, stone tables, alchemy furnaces, houses... everything is available.

Chu Ning was standing here at the moment, and he could feel a burning breath emanating from the cave in front of him.

Earth fire.

It is rumored that there are two underground fires in the Wenjin Sect. One is on the top of the mountain, enjoyed exclusively by the fifth elder, and the other is in the villa below, which Chu Ning has felt before.

Earth fire may not have much effect on low-level elixirs, and may even increase the difficulty of operation for the alchemist, but earth fire is indispensable for refining high-level elixirs.

Chu Ning still knows these theoretical knowledge.

Xie Shouping did not take Chu Ning into the cave, and said directly: "I have already accepted you as my disciple in the competition, so there is no need for any apprenticeship ceremony. From now on, you are my disciple, Xie Shouping."

"Thank you, Master, for your appreciation."

Chu Ning nodded. According to his own judgment, his master seemed to have a hot temper. This was verified from what he said when they first met to his subsequent behavior.

"Don't say these polite words. Tell me first, and then ask if Jinzong has any enemies."

"You are my disciple. If you have an enemy, I will naturally help you to eliminate him, so that he won't plot against you one day."

Chu Ning was stunned. Is it so direct?

However, it seems that Bao Huining and Qiong Liangyou are the master's registered disciples.

Is it appropriate to say it yourself?

"Why are you hesitating? You are my only disciple. If anyone in this sect dies in front of me, I won't even look at him."

As soon as these words were spoken, Chu Ning understood.

Therefore, Bao Huining and other registered disciples were nothing.

"Master, I feel wronged."

…

"Bao Huining and Qiong Liangyou, right? I can kill them, but it's not right for me to do it. So, I will assign a task to these two people. Once we leave Wenjin City, I will find a Jindan strongman to do it."

Listening to his master's words, Chu Ning was a little confused. Are Jindan powerhouses cabbages?

Hearing the teacher's words, it sounded as if the Jindan strongmen were thugs, ready to come at any time.

"The most powerful thing about an alchemist is his connections. If he is facing a Nascent Soul expert, no matter how strong his connections are, they will be useless. But they are just two Foundation Establishment juniors. The Golden Core experts who originally asked me to make alchemy for them and owed me a favor are very happy to repay the favor."

Xie Shouping saw Chu Ning's confusion and explained: "When more people come to you to make pills, you will understand what the teacher means."

Chu Ning nodded. He actually understood it. He knew that the alchemist must have a wide network of contacts, but he didn’t expect it to be so powerful.

All I can say is that the monks are used to taking drugs.

"If you have any questions, just ask them all."

Hearing what his master said, Chu Ning did not hide his feelings and asked curiously, "Master, why are you holding this Alchemist Competition?"

According to Chu Ning's principle, it is to stay out of the spotlight as much as possible. This time, he signed up for the Alchemist Competition purely for the purpose of saving himself.

If you want to take me as your disciple, there's no need to make such a big fuss.

"That was to help you gain power." Xie Shouping had a look of pain on his face, and said, "A hundred years ago, I accepted a disciple, your senior brother. His alchemy talent is a little worse than yours, but not worse than You Xing."

"I was very excited to see your senior brother. Your senior brother's situation is similar to yours. He has no background and is only a first-class alchemist. Being accepted as a disciple by me is a step to heaven."

A quick step to success.

Chu Ning knew that his master was right. Compared to before the alchemy competition, his current situation could indeed be said to have improved significantly.

"At that time, I only thought about training your senior brother, but I ignored the human heart. The alchemists in the sect were very upset about your senior brother being accepted as a disciple by me, and many of them were even jealous..."

After listening to Xie Shouping's story, Chu Ning knew why his master did this.

In order to convince other alchemists.

When the master accepted me as his disciple, he did not take those first and second rank alchemists seriously at all, because with the master's strength, he did not need to explain to these alchemists why he accepted me as his disciple.

This made the alchemists very dissatisfied with the senior brother. Not long after, the senior brother went out to pick a herb, but he encountered a monster in the late foundation building stage and died at the hands of the monster.

If it were just this, it would only mean that Senior Brother had really bad luck, but at that time Senior Brother went down the mountain gate with other alchemists in the sect.

The master suspected that his senior brother’s death was related to these alchemists.

It’s not that these alchemists dared to harm Senior Brother. They just chose to stand by and watch, or not tell Senior Brother about the situation in the mountains, allowing Senior Brother to mistakenly enter the territory of the demon beast in the late foundation building stage.

And it's not that the master is suspicious. After investigating the cause of death of the senior brother, the master found out that the demon beast in the late foundation building stage had appeared in that mountain range as early as two years ago, and there was an alchemist in the sect who knew this information.

After the master caught the alchemist and interrogated him, he got the truth. The reason why the second-grade alchemist did not tell his senior brother this information was that he was not convinced by him.

Of course, in the end, this group of alchemists were secretly dealt with by the master.

The master suddenly understood a truth from his senior brother’s experience: he should not consider his disciple’s affairs from his own perspective.

The road to becoming an immortal is full of obstacles and difficulties. Disciples will eventually have their own social circles. No one can achieve success in cultivation by hiding in a greenhouse.

If you ask the alchemists in the current sect, they would be much less jealous if they knew about the talent of their senior brother or even witnessed his ability in alchemy.

Because they will give up and will not think that the master accepted their senior brother as a disciple because the senior brother was lucky, but that the senior brother’s talent in alchemy is much stronger than theirs.

They will know clearly that even if their senior brother dies, the master will still look down on them.

This is the purpose of Master holding this Alchemist Competition, which is to let the alchemists of Wenjin Sect, and even the alchemists of Wenjin City and other cities know about it.

The master accepted me as his apprentice because of my talent.

These alchemists will feel jealous and envious, but they will not hate themselves, and certainly not set traps for themselves when they encounter such people in the future, because setting traps for themselves will not bring any benefits to them.

On the contrary, if he makes friends with me, it is equivalent to making friends with a third-grade alchemist who has a backer.

As long as you are not an extreme monk with a mental problem, you know what to choose.

Chu Ning said: "Master, your intentions are good, and I will keep them in mind."

As for what happened to his senior brother, Chu Ning felt that it would not happen to him. With his master as his backer, why would he need to look for herbs himself?

He won't do that anyway. All he wants to do is live off his parents.

If you really need any medicinal herbs, you can just spend spirit stones to buy them.

"Disciple still has one thing that I don't understand. What was the message you gave me in the last round?"

"That was a bet between Master and Zhao Yangming. You Xing is Zhao Yangming's disciple. He came here on purpose to sabotage Master's Alchemy Competition. How could Master let him off easily? If he loses, he will have to give you the Unmovable Mountain Technique, which is just right for you to practice after you build your foundation."

Xie Shouping did not hide it, and his expression became serious: "The reason why I made a bet with him is because of this Unmovable As A Mountain Technique. This technique has a special origin, but I cannot tell you its origin now. If you can practice this technique, it will be of great help to your future cultivation."

"Thank you for your kindness, teacher."

Chu Ning was not being polite when he said this. If the Unmovable As A Mountain Technique was really that powerful, then as a bet, the teacher would definitely have to take out a treasure of corresponding value.

"Don't be happy too soon. Not everyone can practice the Unmovable Mountain Technique. Otherwise, Zhao Yangming would have practiced it himself. I, the master, also think that the Unmovable Mountain Technique is quite suitable for your personality. You may be able to practice it successfully, so I accepted this bet."

"Your personality is somewhat compatible with that of my disciple?"

"Well, don't you like to hide your talent? Being an alchemy slave is so dangerous, but you don't show your talent for alchemy. And this technique of being immovable like a mountain has another nickname, called the "Hundred Patience Technique."

Hundred Patience?

Hearing this name, Chu Ning felt that they seemed to be a good match.

"You should first build your foundation steadily. Then, Bao Huining and Qiong Liangyou, have you ever thought about doing it yourself when you reach the late stage of foundation building?"

Chu Ning was stunned. He had never thought about it.

"I'd better trouble you, Master, to help me."

Don't keep enemies that can be dealt with early. What if you keep them around and end up raising them and they become a threat? "Very good. You are better than your brother in this respect. Just build your foundation in the bamboo house. I have set up a formation here. No one can disturb you."

Xie Shouping glanced towards the bamboo house with a hint of nostalgia in his eyes. Chu Ning understood that the bamboo house should be where his senior brother lived back then.

"By the way, Master, I was able to escape this time because there is an alchemist named Huang Fei in the sect who did me a favor. I was afraid that Bao Huining would take action against him."

"Huang Fei, Master understands. Just focus on building your foundation."

Xie Shouping's figure disappeared from the spot, and Chu Ning was indeed relieved. His master was a powerful Jindan master who had lived for hundreds of years, and he would handle such things more thoroughly than he thought.

Chu Ning flipped his right hand and took out two pills from the storage bag, one foundation-building pill and one foundation-extending pill.

Well, this foundation-renewing pill is just like this foundation-building pill, both are freshly made from You Xing.

It was given to me by You Xing, and he left a message: I look forward to studying alchemy with you again in the future.

The top-grade foundation-building pill had already increased the chances of building a foundation by more than 80%. With the addition of this foundation-renewing pill, the foundation-building was stable.

"Old Black, it's finally time to build the foundation."

There was a hint of anticipation in Chu Ning's voice, building a foundation... building the foundation for cultivating immortals.

If cultivating immortals is compared to building a building, then condensing Qi is equivalent to practicing the technique of building a house. Only after laying the foundation can one truly begin to climb the peak of cultivating immortals.

"In the past, people had to choose an auspicious day to lay the foundation for a house, but we don't play that game."

Originally, Chu Ning could build his foundation without the foundation-building pill, but because he signed a life contract with Lao Hei, the difficulty of building a foundation increased. Without taking the foundation-building pill, it would take more than ten years to build his foundation.

Chu Ning did not enter the bamboo house, but chose an open space and sat cross-legged, putting the Foundation Establishment Pill and the Foundation Extension Pill into his mouth.

The first level of foundation building.

The gate of spiritual consciousness.

That is to say, to strengthen the soul so that it can perceive external objects.

This level was not difficult for Chu Ning, as his spiritual sense had already been able to sense a distance of thirty meters.

At this moment, as the foundation-building pill began to take effect in his body, Chu Ning did not have the tearing feeling that other foundation-building cultivators experienced when they were building their foundation.

This kind of tearing is for the spiritual consciousness to emerge, but some people with poor spiritual souls will have their spiritual souls damaged by this tearing, and thus fail to build the foundation.

There was no tearing feeling. Chu Ning just felt his spiritual consciousness begin to expand continuously. With himself as the center, his spiritual consciousness continued to spread in all directions.

Ten meters, twenty meters, thirty meters, forty meters, fifty meters...

It was not until eighty meters that the growth began to slow down, but it did not stop.

After seven days, when the spiritual consciousness expanded to a hundred meters, it completely stopped growing.

A distance of one hundred meters is already within the range of the spiritual awareness of the middle stage of foundation building.

Chu Ning was very satisfied. What Lao Hei said was right. Although the difficulty of building the foundation has increased, the rewards are also huge?

Now it’s time for the second step.

Aura liquefaction.

Under the effects of the Foundation Establishment Pill and the Foundation Extension Pill, the gaseous condensation in Chu Ning's body was already being compressed madly.

The gaseous spiritual energy leaked out during the compression process and impacted his meridians. Fortunately, he had the Xuji Dan to protect his meridians.

This is where the difficulty of the second level lies. One is afraid that the impact of spiritual energy will damage the meridians, leading to failure in building the foundation.

As long as the meridians can be protected, liquefaction is just a matter of time.

One drop, two drops...

The moment Chu Ning experienced the effect of the fake realm pill again, at the same time, the spiritual energy around him rushed towards Chu Ning at a rapid speed and instantly enveloped Chu Ning.

The platform of this cave is already filled with rich spiritual energy, but so much spiritual energy is still pouring in. One can imagine how terrifying the amount of spiritual energy Chu Ning has absorbed to build his foundation is at this moment.

After Chu Ning absorbed all the surging spiritual energy, the surrounding spiritual energy was immediately replenished.

The cycle repeats itself.

Halfway through, Xie Shouping appeared on the platform. Seeing Chu Ning's condition, his old eyes lit up. He thought that his disciple's foundation was somewhat unusual.

Xie Shouping formed seals with his hands, and the spiritual energy from the area within a few miles seemed to be attracted here. At the same time, the spiritual energy from farther places was also flowing towards this side rapidly.

"This is enough for Chu Ning to absorb."

After a few breaths, Xie Shouping put down his hand seal and nodded with satisfaction.

He asked about the caves of several other elders of Jinfeng. After they took a look at the direction of the flow of spiritual energy, they understood what was going on.

This is Xie Shouping's new disciple Chu Ning who is going to build his foundation. It's just a foundation building, does he need so much spiritual energy from heaven and earth?

A month later, Chu Ning's whole body was covered with a lustrous luster, which could be best described as patina.

It was covered with spiritual energy.

There are a full 170 drops of spiritual fluid in his body.

This number is close to the middle stage of foundation building.

And just when Chu Ning decided to attack the third level, energy flowed out from his dantian.

"He's here. Big Brother Bang is here with gifts."

Chu Ning's heart moved, and he felt expectant. After the late stage of Qi Condensation, the Longevity Fruit provided him with spiritual energy every day. It cannot be said that it was useless, but after he went to the outside world, where there was the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, the effect was somewhat small.

"Immortal Fruit, Immortal Fruit, I have been feeling very frustrated during this period. If I don't give you some support, the position of the top brother on the list will be that of the Manifestation Mirror."

Perhaps it was because he heard Chu Ning's thoughts, the energy that appeared in his dantian was very special. It was neither spiritual liquid nor spiritual energy, but a warm current. However, after flowing through his body, it suddenly disappeared.

Chu Ning: "Kung Fu, you are now lacking the skills after foundation building. The energy provided by this longevity fruit this time seems to be related to the skills."

Lao Hei reminded Chu Ning in his mind at the right time.

The latest novel is published first on Liu9shuba!

"Is that so..."

Chu Ning ignored the longevity fruit and continued to the third level.

Expand Dantian.

In the foundation-building stage, spiritual liquid is stored in the dantian, and the size of the dantian determines the upper limit of the spiritual liquid that can be stored.

As you enter the foundation-building stage, your realm will gradually improve and your dantian will gradually expand, but this expansion will be based on the original proportion.

The wider the Dantian is expanded during the foundation-building period, the higher the potential will be in the future.

The reason why it is difficult for independent cultivators to practice is that it is difficult to build a foundation.

Even if you get the foundation-building pill, it is just an ordinary foundation-building pill, and its medicinal effect is almost gone at this point.

…

…

One month later.

There was spiritual energy rippling with Chu Ning as the center, hitting the entire platform like a strong wind.

Chu Ning opened his eyes.

Chu Ning's twelve-year calendar, twelve years of practice.

At this moment, he finally entered the Foundation Establishment Stage.

Looking back on the past twelve years, Chu Ning felt dazed.

There is a sense of unreality.

There was even a moment when Chu Ning felt that this was all a dream. There was no such thing as the immortal fruit, no such thing as a cultivator, no such thing as a foundation-building master...

All this was just a dream I had after getting drunk at the dinner table.

"wake up!"

A solemn voice rang in his ears, like a slap in the face that woke Chu Ning up instantly.

Looking forward, the master was standing in front of him.

"Master, my disciple has successfully established his foundation."

"Your foundation-building movement is greater than I imagined. You are actually approaching the middle stage of foundation-building."

Xie Shouping did not ask his disciple what he was thinking at that moment that led to his Tao disappearance.

Everyone has their own secrets, and it seems that this disciple of mine is far from as simple as I have investigated.

Fortunately, this situation only occurs during the foundation-building stage. If you encounter it again, you will have to be in the Nascent Soul stage, which is still a long way off.

"This is the Art of Standing Still like a Mountain. You should study it carefully first to see if you can practice it. I have already sent Bao Huining and Qiong Liangyou out of the city as soon as possible. As for Huang Fei, since he has done you a favor, I will accept him as my registered disciple."

"I'm sorry to trouble you, teacher."

"You are my disciple. If I don't worry about you, who else can I worry about? There is no need to say these polite words in the future."

Watching his master's back disappearing quickly, Chu Ning felt touched. He was blessed by God and met two good teachers along the way.

"Unmovable as a Mountain Technique, listen to Master, this technique is extremely extraordinary."

Chu Ning put his spiritual consciousness into the jade slip, but was surprised to find that there was no direct record of the martial arts method in the jade slip, but instead there was a scroll inside the jade slip.

Controlling his spiritual consciousness, he slowly opened the scroll, and it turned out to be a picture of a green mountain.

The towering green mountains rise high into the clouds. The misty clouds cover the top and the bottom of the mountain, making it impossible to see the entire picture of the green mountains.

Only the mountainside can be seen.

Outside the platform, Xie Shouping did not leave, but stood side by side with another figure.

"Do you really think that your disciple can practice the Unmovable Mountain Technique?"

If someone who is familiar with Xie Shouping saw the person standing next to Xie Shouping, he would probably be surprised.

This person turned out to be Zhao Yangming.

Everyone in the Jindan circle knew that Xie Shouping and Zhao Yangming did not get along, and whenever they met, they would always clash.

"I'm not sure, but Chu Ning's personality is most suitable for practicing the Unmovable Mountain Technique. He is humble, patient, and has a strong heart. This is all the information I have found about my disciple."

Xie Shouping raised his hand, and a jade slip fell into Zhao Yangming's hand.

After Zhao Yangming finished reading it, a look of emotion appeared on his old face.

"It is said that the path of cultivation is difficult. You, as a disciple, have also suffered a lot. When I was young, I depended on the old man for survival. Although the content of this letter is suspected of being exaggerated, it is also from the heart."

"The more respectful you are, the more polite you are. I dare not say a word in reply..."

Zhao Yangming could imagine a young man working hard to change his fate and seizing every opportunity to climb up.

It's not just Chu Ning, all of these cultivators are like this.

This letter was originally written by Chu Ning to Huang Zhongtai, but it is unknown how Xie Shouping got it.

"You are a young master, but you don't show off your talents. You are unknown in the Liang Dynasty. No wonder you are willing to bet with me. This technique of being immovable like a mountain really suits him."

Zhao Yangming knew where Xie Shouping got his confidence from.

"Just relying on one's character may not be enough. After all, this is the Art of Being Unmovable as a Mountain."

Other cultivators did not know what the Art of Immovable as a Mountain meant, but Zhao Yangming and Xie Shouping knew clearly the origin of the Art of Immovable as a Mountain.

"Try it. If it doesn't work, try another method."

…

…

The mountain was obscured by clouds and mist, but the next moment, in Chu Ning's sight, the clouds and mist slowly dissipated, revealing the true appearance of the mountain.

It was not the clouds on the mountains in the painting that faded away, Chu Ning knew that it was his secret mirror that began to work.

The secret mirror allowed him to see the true appearance of the mountain.

Boom! The moment the full view of the mountain appeared, Chu Ning's Dantian spiritual fluid suddenly rippled, and under the waves, a ray of mountain peaks slowly emerged.

But it was this little bit of mountain peak that drained all the spiritual fluid from Chu Ning's Dantian.

The spiritual fluid was drying up, and the top of the mountain was about to dissipate. A heat current appeared in the Dantian.

The energy of the longevity fruit appears.

It was neither spiritual liquid nor spiritual energy. This hot current flowed on the dantian and on the top of the mountain, causing the top of the mountain to rise continuously, and the entire mountain was slowly taking shape.

Outside the platform, Xie Shouping and Zhao Yangming's pupils suddenly shrank, as if they had seen an incredible scene.

Although Xie Shouping asked Chu Ning to practice the Unmovable Mountain Technique, in fact he was not very confident and just wanted to give it a try.

“I really got it right.”

Zhao Yangming whispered, even if he was observing the Unmovable Mountain Technique, he couldn't see the full view of the mountain. How did Chu Ning do it? "Old Zhao, you haven't revealed the true origin of the Unmovable Mountain Technique to anyone, right?" After being shocked, Xie Shouping looked at Zhao Yangming with a serious expression.

"Don't worry, apart from you and me, no one in this world knows the true origin of the Unmovable Mountain Technique."

Zhao Yangming knew what Xie Shouping was worried about.

This Art of Being Unmovable as a Mountain was obtained from a special place when he and Xie Shouping were still in the Foundation Establishment Stage. In order to deceive some Jindan powerhouses at that time, the two lied and called it the Art of Being Unmovable as a Mountain, but the real name of this Art is not this.

"You're not going to tell your disciples?"

"It's too early to tell you now. It won't be too late to tell you after he reaches the Golden Core stage."

"Yeah, it's not a good thing to know it too early." Zhao Yangming agreed with Xie Shouping's words.

…

…

Spring goes and autumn comes.

This time of training took Chu Ning a full year.

Eventually this green mountain will evolve.

Chu Ning didn't know how much energy flowed out of the longevity fruit, but if one looked at the fact that a mountain peak had drained out 180 drops of spiritual liquid from his dantian, the energy to evolve this green mountain would probably require tens of thousands of drops of spiritual liquid.

The top brother on the list really suffered a heavy loss this time.

"Is this still a foundation-building technique?"

Tens of thousands of drops of spiritual liquid are needed to get started. Chu Ning is now extremely confused. Is this "Moving Like a Mountain" really a foundation-building technique? Which foundation-building cultivator can do this? In the middle stage of foundation-building, there are only two hundred drops of spiritual liquid. The more powerful ones can have dozens of drops, and in the late stage of foundation-building, there are only six hundred drops.

As for the Golden Elixir...

Then it is not calculated according to the amount of spiritual fluid.

"This mountain seems to have some history!"

For some unknown reason, a black snake appeared on this green hill and coiled around it.

"Can you reach my dantian?"

Chu Ning was shocked. After Lao Hei signed a life contract with him, he could hide in his body, but he could not enter the Dantian position.

"I don't know how I got here. I just looked at this green mountain and my mind moved and I appeared here. It was as if this mountain existed in reality."

"Damn, I found the power of the Longevity Fruit. It's on the mountainside. Chu Ning, can you see it?"

Without the black snake's reminder, Chu Ning had already noticed that there was a waterfall hanging down from the mountainside.

There is no waterfall in the entire green mountain, so the only possibility is that it is related to the longevity fruit.

The black snake climbed several times, but the green mountain seemed to have an invisible barrier. No matter which direction it came from, it could not go up the mountain and could only hover at the bottom of the mountain.

"So, what is so special about this Unmovable as a Mountain Technique?"

After spending such a huge price, and even though it is very likely that the energy of the longevity fruit will be gone in the future, Chu Ning has not yet discovered the benefits he has gained.

Just when Chu Ning was confused, the mountain in his dantian suddenly moved, and a huge amount of information flooded into Chu Ning's mind.

After a cup of tea and digesting this information, Chu Ning's eyes were shining with stars.

Mountain power.

The power of mountains is greater than human power.

The first level of the Art of Standing Still like a Mountain: When you activate a spell, its power will be doubled.

Calendar of the thirteenth year of Chu Ning.

Getting started with the first level of foundation building and the technique of being unmovable like a mountain.

At this moment, in the distant Sun and Moon Mountain, a woman also entered the Foundation Establishment Stage.

A month later, after asking the elders of the sect for a foundation-building pill, the woman boarded a flying boat, left Sun and Moon Mountain, and headed south.

It’s almost the end of the month, please vote for next month... 14,000 words...

(End of this chapter)