Chapter 222: Apprenticeship

Chen Mobai floated through the room.

He observed himself sitting on the meditation cushion, his skin radiating a crystal-clear luminescence.

This sensation of observing himself was incredibly peculiar, leading him to happily orbit himself, moving up, down, left, and right without tiring.

He then permeated his out-of-body consciousness into his physical form, and the sensation became even more extraordinary.

He observed every detail of his body as it operated according to the Everlasting Scripture. He also noticed that his water and wood-element organs—specifically his kidneys, bladder, gallbladder, and liver—were slightly impaired due to his cultivation of the Pure Yang Dharma Body.

However, his heart and Sanjiao (Triple Burner) were like oil ablaze, radiating vigorous and robust vital energy.

Just as he intended to delve deeper and verify the Five Element spiritual roots hidden within, a wave of fatigue washed over him.

Having only just completed Foundation Establishment, his consciousness lacked the strength to sustain an extended out-of-body experience.

Chen Mobai calmed his racing emotions, and his consciousness returned to his body.

After a long while, he slowly opened his eyes. Feeling the Everlasting spiritual energy in his Dantian Sea of Qi—five times more potent than before—he instinctively clenched his fists.

The final hurdle of Foundation Establishment, the out-of-body consciousness, proved far simpler than he had anticipated.

It was as if he had already reached the threshold of this stage; the medicinal properties of the Foundation Establishment Pill merely provided a gentle final push, effortlessly enabling him to overcome this obstacle and breakthrough what should have been the most challenging phase of Foundation Establishment.

With his consciousness now detached from his body, his physical form and spiritual energy came under its command.

Under the unified trinity of Essence, Qi, and Spirit, Chen Mobai effortlessly advanced to the tenth level of the Everlasting Scripture, thus successfully completing Foundation Establishment.

The remaining medicinal power of the Foundation Establishment Pill was not wasted; he directly used his consciousness to guide it into his physical body, fortifying his kidneys, bladder, gallbladder, and liver.

As a precaution, Chen Mobai waited another three days, only rising with satisfaction after confirming that his cultivation realm would not regress.

“Check out!”

At the front desk of Building Nine, the two work-study students were still there. Upon seeing Chen Mobai energetically place his student ID on the table, both were visibly moved.

“You… you succeeded?!”

“A fortunate breakthrough,” he replied humbly.

Chen Mobai remained as modest as ever, but the joy and delight in his eyes clearly conveyed his inner happiness to the two girls.

“Congratulations, junior brother.”

“Congratulations, senior brother!”

Upon hearing this, both girls simultaneously rose, raised their right hands to their chests, and performed an ancient half-bowing rite.

This was a custom passed down by Daoist Yun Ya, the founding patriarch of the Wuqi Dao Academy, a rite to congratulate disciples on successfully completing Foundation Establishment and truly stepping onto the path of immortal cultivation.

Chen Mobai had also been taught this ancient rite and the proper way to return the salute when he enrolled.

“I hope the next ones to successfully complete Foundation Establishment will be you, senior sister, and you, junior sister.”

He opened his left hand, placed it flat on his chest, and gently raised it, returning the salute with a smile.

After checking out, Chen Mobai exited Building Nine into the sunlight, bathed in the admiring gazes of the two girls.

Foundation Establishment was a success!

This had been his lifelong dream, shared by his parents, his maternal grandparents, and even his paternal grandparents, whose memories had begun to fade.

Over a century ago, the Chen family had indeed produced a Foundation Establishment True Cultivator—Chen Mobai’s great-grandfather.

Unfortunately, he succumbed to qi deviation during a period of secluded cultivation.

After the family dispersed, following the death of Old Ancestor Chen, his six descendants each went their separate ways. Chen Mobai belonged to the lineage of the third-ranked descendant, which has continued to this day.

If he wished, he could immediately reunite the Chen family.

However, he found that prospect unappealing. Moreover, in modern society, large family clans are rare; typically, once a patriarch passes away, the family tends to disperse.

Oh, he suddenly realized, he hadn’t yet shared this good news with his family!

Standing on the steps at the entrance of Building Nine, Chen Mobai suddenly remembered this crucial detail and chuckled to himself.

He took out his phone and dialed Chen Xinglan’s number.

“Hello, son, what made you suddenly think of calling me?”

He heard his father’s voice, a sound he hadn't heard in a long time. Ever since Chen Mobai’s previous failure at Foundation Establishment, his parents had been traveling across the country with Tang Pancui.

They knew Chen Mobai’s cultivation had reached a critical juncture, so they rarely called him unless there was an urgent matter.

“Hello, hello, son, why aren’t you speaking? Your father and I are currently in Lanka City. The wish-granting talismans here are supposedly very potent, and your father and I were just planning to buy one, hoping you would successfully complete Foundation Establishment…”

Before Chen Mobai could speak, Tang Pancui’s voice came through; she seemed to have snatched Chen Xinglan’s phone.

“Mom, Dad, I’ve successfully completed Foundation Establishment!”

That single, simple sentence silenced the previously incessant Tang Pancui as if she had been struck by a silencing spell.

A profound silence fell over the other end of the line.

After a long moment.

“You… you’re not joking, are you…?”

The trembling words betrayed a profound disbelief.

“Yes!”

That single, decisive word caused Tang Pancui to shriek on the other end of the line!

“Ah…!”

Chen Mobai instinctively pulled the phone away from his ear; the sound was simply too loud.

“Son, where are you? We’ll come to you right away.”

After the initial excitement, Chen Xinglan immediately asked. Chen Mobai could also hear Tang Pancui’s joyful sobs on the other end.

“Of course I’m at Mount Chicheng, but there’s no need for you to come. I’ll return to Danxia City for the semester break this year. Oh, and please inform Grandpa, Grandma, Aunt, and Uncle; we can all gather then.”

Even after hanging up with his parents, Chen Mobai’s surging inner joy hadn't been fully expressed.

He then thought of Qing Nü.

“Congratulations…”

As they chatted, time slipped away unnoticed.

By the time he hung up, Chen Mobai had already received congratulatory text messages from his uncle and sister.

After replying to each, he finally remembered the pressing matter at hand.

While the Heavenly River Realm might not track when Foundation Establishment occurred, the Immortal Sect, however, required it to be officially registered.

Building One.

Che Yucheng sat in his office, gazing with satisfaction at the elegant young man before him.

“Excellent, excellent.”

He repeated the compliment twice.

“My achievements today are largely thanks to Teacher Che’s guidance,” Chen Mobai replied.

“Are you interested in becoming my disciple?”

This ‘student’ was, of course, not a mere pupil but a true personal disciple. Without any hesitation, Chen Mobai immediately performed the master-disciple prostration.

After all, he owed half of his current success to Che Yucheng’s direct guidance.

“Greetings, Master!”

“Excellent,” Che Yucheng said, helping Chen Mobai to his feet. “This is a gift I’ve prepared for you.”

Che Yucheng smiled as he helped Chen Mobai to his feet, then pulled a long, rectangular box from under his desk. It seemed he had prepared it in advance; it appeared to contain a puppet.

“Thank you, Master. What is this?”

“An Anamorphic Puppet!”

Che Yucheng’s casual words, however, made Chen Mobai’s hand go limp; he was almost afraid to accept it.

The Anamorphic Puppet, renowned as the pinnacle of puppet mastery, was valued at no less than tens of millions of merit points.

“Master, this is far too valuable.”

“If I give it to you, just accept it. Now, I’ve already updated your cultivation realm in the system. You can now apply for a new student ID, which will grant you access to the back mountain.”

Che Yucheng, however, treated the gift as casually as if it were a sheet of paper. After gesturing for Chen Mobai to accept it, he recorded his disciple’s successful Foundation Establishment into the archives and then issued a notification on the campus network.

Congratulations to Chen Mobai, a student of our school’s Class of 5012, on his successful completion of Foundation Establishment.