Chapter 59: Breakthrough to Foundation Establishment

The two observed for a while longer.Confirming there were no remaining Blood Bat Palace remnants in the area.

Chen Zheng said, "Let's go. We'll continue to stake out the three-star Soul Master and that peerless genius from the Ascending Dragon Path."

He was riding his blue eagle, preparing to turn back.

Suddenly, the jade pendant at his waist began to flash rapidly, emitting a buzzing tremor.

"An urgent message from the Pavilion Master?" Chen Zheng's expression subtly changed.

The Pavilion Master would not send an urgent message unless it was a matter of extreme importance.

He quickly took off the jade pendant and crushed it between two fingers.

The lingering tremor condensed into a short message.

"A beast tide has suddenly appeared! Return at once!"

Chen Zheng's face drastically changed. "A beast tide? After a hundred years, is the beast tide reappearing?"

He didn't dare to hesitate, saying, "I must return to the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion immediately."

"I can no longer stake out that Soul Master."

"And you, I believe, will soon be summoned back by the Azure Cloud Sect."

Liu Qingxian's gaze was solemn.

A beast tide was a catastrophic disaster; no faction could remain unaffected.

She nodded and said, "Uncle Chen, you go back first. I... I'll go find that Ninth-Rank Spirit Root and then return too."

She had waited for that peerless genius from the Ascending Dragon Path until she felt desperate.

She could only settle for the next best thing: finding that Ninth-Rank Spirit Root.

She had met this person once; if they met again, she would certainly recognize them.

Chen Zheng nodded. He took her back to Solitary Boat City, then ascended into the clouds and left.

Meanwhile, the strong practitioners of Solitary Boat City returned to the city, feeling invigorated.

That evening, City Lord Ye Jifeng announced that the Blood Bat Palace's branch was completely annihilated!

And a grand banquet was held.

The old cultivators who had previously emerged from seclusion to welcome Lu Zheng, the "Ninth-Rank Spirit Root," couldn't help but come out of seclusion again.

To personally attend the banquet.

Their purpose, naturally, was not to eat and drink.

But rather, they were curious about the young genius who had single-handedly slain the branch master!

At the banquet.

Xu Yining, now awake, watched the Number One Shadow Guard beside her, receiving respectful toasts from all the city's powerful figures, and couldn't help but feel a sense of trance.

They were of the same age group.

Why was the gap between them so vast?

She had thought that once she broke through to the Foundation Establishment stage, she could contend with him.

Yet, in the end, she had been saved by him once again.

Before she was knocked unconscious by the branch master, she had seen the Number One Shadow Guard's figure rushing towards her.

Had he not intervened in time, she would most likely have smashed onto the steps and fallen to her death.

Looking at the mask before her, she desperately wanted to know what face lay beneath it.

When did Solitary Boat City produce such a genius, one she could only look up to?

Sadly, she would never have the chance to find out.

Because the original purpose of forming the Shadow Guard team was to eradicate the Blood Bat Palace remnants.

Now, the remnants had been cleared.

After the banquet, the Shadow Guard team would disband on its own.

A wave of melancholy washed over her. She raised her wine cup and asked, "Will we meet again?"

Jiang Fan's lips curled into a grin.

"Aren't we meeting every day?"

"Perhaps fate," he replied calmly.

Xu Yining became even more disheartened. Raising her cup, she said, "Alright, I hope fate allows us to continue working together. To you."

Jiang Fan drained his cup.

As expected, the Shadow Guard team silently disbanded after the banquet.

Ye Qingxue allowed them to keep their masks as souvenirs.

After all, these masks represented the glory of Solitary Boat City's young geniuses.

Late into the night.

Jiang Fan deliberately slowed his pace, waiting until Xu Yining had returned to the Xu Residence long before taking off his mask in an alleyway.

He then casually returned to his own residence.

Unexpectedly, Xu Yining hadn't gone to sleep. Instead, she was drunkenly practicing swordplay in the central courtyard.

She seemed to be venting her emotions.

Seeing Jiang Fan return, her expression subtly cooled. "Where have you been? Why are you back so late?"

Jiang Fan rolled his eyes and wrote, "None of your business."

Without a word, Xu Yining flicked her toe, picked up a spare sword from the ground, and tossed it to Jiang Fan. "Practice swordplay with me."

Jiang Fan held the sword, a look of speechlessness on his face.

Who wants to practice swordplay with you?

He turned to leave, but Xu Yining, regardless of his agreement, lunged at him with her sword.

Jiang Fan was both annoyed and amused.

He wondered what had gotten into her tonight.

Before, there was no way she would have asked him to practice swordplay with her.

Seeing her lunge, Jiang Fan instinctively performed 'Lone Star Piercing Azure,' sending her sword flying from her hand.

Xu Yining froze. "This sword style... why does it resemble the Number One Shadow Guard so much?"

Uh—

Jiang Fan wished he could slap himself.

He had completely forgotten to switch identities!

Fortunately, Xu Yining had drunk a lot at the banquet and was clearly intoxicated, her mind not entirely clear.

"You must be mistaken. How could you possibly know the Number One Shadow Guard's sword style?"

"He's so powerful, and you're just..."

She paused, then stopped speaking.

She listlessly dropped her sword. "Never mind, I'm not practicing anymore."

Watching her leave.

Jiang Fan sighed, looking up at the moon. Holding the sword in his hand, he fluidly performed all three stances of the 'Seven Star Sword Art' once.

His posture was graceful, and his sword momentum was like a rainbow.

Back in his room.

Jiang Fan tossed the branch master's head under his bed.

He then took out a bottle of Foundation-Opening Pills.

"It's time to break through to Foundation Establishment."

Jiang Fan felt a surge of excitement. Ever since the moment the seed sprouted, he had dreamt of successfully reaching Foundation Establishment.

Only by reaching Foundation Establishment could he pick the various mysterious fruits from the Primordial Void Ancient Tree.

Filled with excitement, he swallowed the Foundation-Opening Pill in one gulp.

The powerful and fierce medicinal energy raged through his body like a flood.

It caused an intensely painful swelling sensation throughout his body.

"Agh! Breaking through to Foundation Establishment is this painful?"

Beads of sweat, as large as beans, soon appeared on his forehead.

But thinking of the benefits after Foundation Establishment, he endured the severe pain.

The powerful medicinal energy continued until midnight.

By the time his face was pale and his entire body drenched, a spring well appeared in his dantian.

This was the hallmark of Foundation Establishment — the Spirit Pool!

The spiritual energy previously stored in his meridians had all liquefied and gathered in the Spirit Pool.

At this moment, his spiritual energy was also twice as potent as when he was at the perfected ninth layer of Qi Condensation.

"If I were to encounter a master like the branch master again, I wouldn't dare say I could win, but at least it wouldn't be so difficult."

Jiang Fan's confidence soared.

Immediately after, he eagerly utilized an ability only Foundation Establishment cultivators possessed.

Internal Sight!

As he closed his eyes.

His consciousness gradually penetrated his skin and flesh, delving deep into his organs, and within them, he saw a space as black as ink.

A spring well was gurgling water.

It was indeed the Foundation Establishment Spirit Pool.

Next to the spring well, an ancient tree soared heavenward, piercing the clouds.

He excitedly approached the ancient tree.

Looking at a fruit on the tree near the ground, and the High-Grade Profound-tier cultivation technique, 'Dragon Seeking Scripture,' sealed within it, he couldn't help but feel parched.

He attempted to leap up.

This time, unlike before, there was no invisible force suppressing him.

He leaped effortlessly and immediately grabbed the fruit.

With a strong tug, he plucked it off.

"I finally have it!" Jiang Fan exclaimed excitedly.

He couldn't imagine how incredibly fast cultivating with this High-Grade Profound-tier cultivation technique would be.

But just then.

He suddenly heard a whooshing sound from above.

It sounded as if something was falling!