Chapter Fifty-Nine: The Three Thousand Great Daos

Song Changsheng was not one to settle for mediocrity. The very fact that he was a traveler from another world gave him a pride unique to himself, and the Daoist scripture that accompanied him to this new realm became his greatest source of confidence.

His vision reached far beyond the present. Foundation Establishment was not his destination—he aimed to venture further, to step out of Lingzhou, even to leave the nation of Qi behind so that he might compete with the disciples of the great sects.

Therefore, he had to lay the most solid foundation for himself. Only with a stable base could a hundred-story tower be built.

Among the human race, the path of cultivation changed a person’s very essence the moment one began to draw spiritual energy into the body, setting them apart from ordinary mortals; yet this was merely an initial glimpse into the profound mysteries of the way.

Only upon entering the Foundation Establishment stage could one be said to have truly set foot on the path to immortality—only then could one be called a “cultivator.”

Foundation Establishment—its very name implied the act of laying the groundwork. The higher the quality of one’s Dao Foundation, the greater their potential would be in the future.

It was said that the family’s patriarch, Song Taiyi, had formed a “Windwalking Dao Foundation” when he reached the pinnacle of Qi Refinement. This was achieved by absorbing the essence of the northern wind, harmonizing with his spiritual roots.

This type of Dao Foundation belonged to the attribute category. With it, Song Taiyi’s swift swordsmanship became renowned throughout the entire Qi cultivation world, and he became famous for overcoming the strong while being weaker himself.

If Dao Foundations were divided into basic, intermediate, and advanced levels, then those without attributes would be basic; cultivators forming such foundations would likely fail to comprehend true intent upon breaking through to Foundation Establishment.

This meant their combat strength would always lag behind, and breaking through to the Purple Mansion stage in the future would be far more difficult.

Song Taiyi’s attribute Dao Foundation was intermediate; only geniuses could form such foundations, and after breaking through, they could comprehend the true intent corresponding to their spiritual root attributes, massively enhancing their strength and easing the way to the Purple Mansion stage.

Beyond that, the highest level was the Dao Foundation of the Three Thousand Grand Daos. Out of a thousand Foundation Establishment cultivators, not one might achieve this. To call it a rarity would be an understatement.

By forming a Grand Dao Foundation, one would comprehend the true law of a Grand Dao upon breaking through—such as the intent of slaughter or of fate—each containing mysteries outsiders could not fathom.

Song Changsheng’s goal was the Yin-Yang Dao Foundation among the Three Thousand Grand Daos.

Thanks to his unique cultivation method, he could absorb both the essence of the sun and the radiance of the moon—one yin, one yang—fulfilling one of the methods for achieving the Yin-Yang Dao Foundation. For him, it was straightforward.

All he needed to do was practice his cultivation technique at certain times each day, and the essence of sun and moon would gather in his dantian, slowly forming his Dao Foundation.

Without such a special method, obtaining both yin and yang energies would be nearly impossible. Even with the support of elders, it might be manageable, but for disciples of minor factions, it would be a lifelong impossibility.

In this world, it was nearly impossible for those at the bottom to change their fates. Song Changsheng was simply a lucky exception, impossible to replicate...

With a long exhale, Song Changsheng finished his morning cultivation and “looked” at the Dao Foundation in his dantian, now almost fully outlined. A satisfied smile appeared on his face.

Though it was still far from complete, he was already content, for his progress was remarkable.

“It’s time to visit Fifth Uncle. That batch of refining materials should be ready,” Song Changsheng murmured as he rose.

A few months prior, he had requested a batch of first-grade supreme and second-grade low-tier refining materials from Song Luzhou to improve his artifact forging skills.

But second-grade materials were exceedingly rare, and the family’s reserves were limited, so Song Luzhou needed time to gather them. By now, the materials should be ready.

He strolled to the Hall of Hundred Arts, where Song Luzhou was already waiting in the stone pavilion at the entrance.

“Nephew greets Fifth Uncle,” Song Changsheng said, bowing with meticulous courtesy.

“Here, the materials you requested,” Song Luzhou replied curtly, placing a storage pouch before Song Changsheng.

Though he appeared calm, Song Changsheng noticed a trace of pain on his uncle’s face.

Song Changsheng chuckled inwardly. His Fifth Uncle was famously stingy and tightly controlled the family’s finances; usually, extracting anything from him was harder than snatching food from a tiger’s mouth.

To offer such a large batch of high-quality materials for Song Changsheng’s practice was almost as painful as cutting flesh from his own body.

If not for Song Changsheng’s status as a Purple Mansion seed, he probably wouldn’t have been able to wring these materials from his tight-fisted uncle.

Opening the pouch, Song Changsheng frowned slightly. “Fifth Uncle, why are there only twenty sets of second-grade low-tier materials? That’s far less than I expected.”

Had he kept silent, all would be well; but at his words, Song Luzhou nearly exploded on the spot. Pointing a chubby finger at Song Changsheng, he roared with the wrath of a guardian deity, “Twenty sets and you say it’s too few? What do you think this is, cabbages at the market?

Do you know, these twenty sets would allow Sixty-First Uncle to forge at least five second-grade low-tier artifacts! Do you realize how much money that is? In your hands, will even one succeed? Truly, you sell the family’s fields without a care!”

Song Changsheng retorted, “Fifth Uncle, have you considered that once your nephew advances to a second-grade low-tier artifact refiner, I’ll be able to contribute much more to the family?”

Song Luzhou said nothing, glaring at him, cheeks puffed in indignation, as if Song Changsheng had committed some heinous crime.

“Fine, fine, you might as well hatch spirit stones instead,” Song Changsheng said, snatching the pouch and bowing before making a quick escape, lest his uncle change his mind.

Watching Song Changsheng’s departing figure, Song Luzhou couldn’t help but break into a smile. “That brat dares mock me now.”

But just as quickly, his smile faded to bitterness.

As an alchemist, he well knew that to improve one’s crafting skills, vast amounts of materials were essential for practice.

He wished he could provide more support, but the family’s finances were stretched thin. In order to purchase Foundation Establishment Pills from the main branch, the family’s coffers had been all but emptied.

If not for his years of scrimping and saving, even these twenty sets would have been impossible to gather.

“Let’s hope you can give this old man yet another surprise,” Song Luzhou murmured softly, then returned to the hall, sinking back into his favorite chair in the corner...

Returning to his courtyard, Song Changsheng began forging artifacts to improve his skills.

Though one could not rise in rank simply by forging more, without practice, improvement was impossible.

Second-grade materials were scarce, but there was an ample supply of first-grade supreme materials—fifty sets in total. Song Luzhou truly had made a great sacrifice this time.

Time slipped away in busyness. In the blink of an eye, half a year had passed. Song Changsheng’s artifact-forging skills were nearly at the level of a second-grade low-tier refiner, but he could not cross that final threshold.

He attempted to forge second-grade low-tier artifacts five times, but each ended in failure...