Trying to suppress his excitement, Qin Chen hurried back to his quarters under the still shocked gaze of Elder Lan Yue.
The three Foundation Establishment Pills lay in Qin Chen's palm, radiating faint medicinal energy. The sheer purity of the pills was undeniable—their surfaces smooth and flawless, a testament to the perfection of their refinement.
Qin Chen's golden eyes flickered with anticipation.
Foundation Establishment.
This was the first true step into the path of power.
The Qi Refinement Realm was merely a preparatory stage, a period where cultivators gathered and refined spiritual energy. It was like filling a container with water—limited, fragile, and easily disrupted.
But Foundation Establishment?
It was the moment that water transformed into a vast, roaring river.
It was the stage where cultivators no longer just contained Qi—they embodied it.
At this level, the dantian underwent a complete metamorphosis.
Instead of simply storing energy, the cultivator would construct an internal foundation, a spiritual core that could withstand far greater amounts of power.
This was the realm where true cultivation began.
Qin Chen sat cross-legged, his breath slow and steady as he placed the first pill between his lips.
Fwoosh!
The moment he swallowed, the pill melted into pure essence, surging down his throat and exploding within his dantian like a tidal wave of energy.
Qin Chen's body shuddered, his Fire Sovereign Dao Body instantly absorbing and refining the medicinal power.
Boom!
A roaring inferno erupted within him, his meridians expanding to accommodate the sudden influx of Qi.
His golden eyes snapped open as he felt his body transforming.
His bones vibrated, his blood hummed, his muscles coiled with newfound strength.
It was working.
Crack!
Within his dantian, the accumulated Qi of his Qi Refinement Realm compressed violently, preparing to shatter the old structure and form something new.
His body strained, as if the very fabric of his existence was being rebuilt from the inside out.
Then—
Nothing.
Qin Chen's brows furrowed.
The transformation halted.
The power within him had reached a bottleneck, unable to push past the threshold into Foundation Establishment.
His Fire Sovereign Dao Body… demanded more.
A normal cultivator would have already broken through.
But he wasn't a normal cultivator.
His physique was a bottomless furnace, a vessel of endless potential—yet it also meant he required far more energy than anyone else.
One pill wasn't enough.
Without hesitation, Qin Chen retrieved the second pill and swallowed it whole.
BOOM!
This time, the force was even more intense.
His veins burned, golden flames erupting from his pores as the medicinal power was absorbed at an insane rate.
His entire body was like an unstoppable sun, greedily devouring every last ounce of energy from the pill.
Then—
CRACK!
The first shattered chain within his dantian broke apart.
A storm of energy rushed through his meridians, igniting every cell in his body.
Qin Chen clenched his fists.
The first barrier had been broken.
But it still wasn't enough.
His Fire Sovereign Dao Body demanded more, refusing to be confined to a weak Foundation.
His foundation needed to be perfect, unshakable, overwhelming.
And so—
He took the third pill.
The moment the final pill dissolved into his system—
BOOOOOOM!
A pillar of golden fire erupted from his body, surging high into the sky, illuminating the sect grounds like a second sun.
Elder Lan Yue, still recovering from the shock of his alchemy prowess, gasped audibly as she felt the sudden surge of energy and stared at the sky in the distance.
"This… this isn't a normal Foundation Establishment breakthrough!"
Other sect elders across the sect turned their heads, their eyes widening as they felt the violent disturbance in the spiritual field.
"What monstrous energy is this?"
"Is this an elder breaking through? No—this… this is coming from the outer disciple quarters!"
"What kind of insane foundation is being established here?!"
Qin Chen, oblivious to the commotion he was causing, was entirely focused inward.
His dantian had completely collapsed—only to be rebuilt.
His old Qi pool was gone.
In its place—
A Foundation.
Unlike normal cultivators, whose foundations formed in the shape of simple cores or lakes of Qi, Qin Chen's was something else entirely.
Within his dantian, a golden flame lotus began to take form.
A three-petaled lotus of pure flame essence, its glow pulsating with divine power.
This wasn't just any Foundation.
This was the mark of an elite, a supreme prodigy—the kind of existence that would send shockwaves through the cultivation world.
His Fire Sovereign Dao Body had not just absorbed the pills—it had refined and evolved them into something beyond normal comprehension.
This was the majesty of The Fire Sovereign Dao Body.
Ding!
Breakthrough Achieved!
Qi Refinement Stage 10 → Foundation Establishment (1st Stage)!
At that moment—Qin Chen's entire existence changed.
The weight of his own body felt lighter, as if he had shed his mortal constraints.
His Qi was no longer wild and unstable—it was pure, dense, and infinitely more refined.
His spiritual sense sharpened, extending outward, allowing him to perceive the world with terrifying clarity.
He smelled a foul odor and looked down at himself to discover a dark, sludge like substance covering most of his body.
These were the impurities being purified during the breakthrough process, he hurried to wash himself off.
10 minutes later, he stood in front of the mirror soaking wet and with a slight release of his flame energy all of the water on his body instantly evaporated revealing his flawless appearance.
Damn, it's still hard to get over that I look like this.
As if he had somehow become even more handsome than before, his frame was perfectly symmetrical, carrying perfectly defined, but not large muscles.
His face could only be described as celestial at this moment.
Whatever, I guess it's not a bad thing to be handsome.
Eager to see his gains, he focused his energy.
His eyes snapped open.
The world itself… felt different.
Stronger. Clearer. More vivid.
Qin Chen opened his palm—
Fwoosh!
A flicker of flame danced in his palm—but unlike before, this flame wasn't just ordinary fire Qi.
It carried weight.
It carried power.
This was the true beginning of his cultivation path.
His lips curled into a satisfied smirk.
Foundation Establishment.
It was done.
But Qin Chen…
Was just getting started.