I Shall Seal the Heavens - Volume 1 - Chapter 76

Chapter 76

Chapter 76: Beyond Flawlessness

The two wooden swords circled around, emitting a shocking sword aura . They sped toward Shangguan Xiu’s head, one from the left, one from the right, carrying Meng Hao’s killing intent with them . This time, it was clear that Shangguan Xiu would not be able to evade .

“There is something more precious than a Flawless Foundation,” shrieked Shangguan Xiu in a piercing voice . “It’s something that in the Southern Domain, in fact in all the four continents, is a hundred thousand times more rare than your tenth level of Qi Condensation . I’m talking about a Perfect Foundation!! Meng Hao, you… . ” Then Meng Hao’s two swords stabbed into his head, sending fountains of blood in all directions .

Shangguan Xiu died instantly . He had not lived past one hundred years, but rather, had died feeling infinite grievance .

His non-reconciliation to death was due to his great plans, and due to the fact that he was in the middle of establishing his Foundation . But then his head exploded, and his body dropped down off of Mount Daqing and splashed into the river below . His aspirations, and his body, floated away into the distance .

Meng Hao snatched his dark green bag of holding as he fell . He didn’t look at it, but instead tucked it into his robe .

He panted . Despite having reached the tenth level of Qi Condensation, he had just wielded the two wooden swords to slay someone who was on the verge of reaching Foundation Establishment . He now felt extremely drained .

He watched Shangguan Xiu’s body disappear in the distance, and then turned and hopped onto a wooden sword . His body transformed into a beam of light, and he shot down the mountain to where Little Tiger lay unconscious .

The boy’s face was as pale as death, and his eyes were tightly shut . The Qi in his body was like gossamer threads, and his life force flickered like a tiny flame that could be extinguished at any moment .

Meng Hao looked at Little Tiger thoughtfully, and then glanced at the pearl which floated in the air next to him . The power of the pearl was shocking to the extreme, and was truly a treasure . Its power could even be compared to that of the copper mirror .

“To duplicate it would cost an astronomical amount of Spirit Stones… what a pity . ” Meng Hao sighed and looked up into the sky .

He’d known from the beginning that the pearl was linked to Little Tiger’s life force . If he stole it, then Little Tiger would die .

“You entrusted me with your life . How could I, Meng Hao, act the villain? If I did, it would plague my conscience for the rest of my days . I would never be able to think clearly, and my days of Cultivating would come to an end . ” His eyes glittering, he flicked his sleeve, and tapped Little Tiger’s forehead .

Little Tiger’s body spasmed, then his eyes snapped open . He was instantly on guard, getting to his feet and retreating backward several paces . He glanced at the pearl in Meng Hao’s hands, and his body began to shiver slightly . A look of despair crept into his eyes .

Meng Hao lifted the pearl with a finger, causing it to shoot straight toward Little Tiger, who snatched it out of the air . A complex expression filled his face, and he stared at Meng Hao blankly .

“Many thanks for your assistance . This treasure is astonishing . You need to be cautious and take care of yourself . ” As soon as the pearl left his hand, Meng Hao’s body began to grow weaker . The telltale signs of the tenth level of Qi Condensation began to disappear . As his Cultivation base dropped, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth which had just been cut off from him, slowly began to return .

The unbridled suction force within his body slowly vanished .

Meng Hao didn’t regret his decision . There were some things that he just couldn’t do . He refused to defy his own conscience in such a way .

The Blood Globe that Shangguan Xiu had used to threaten the lives of the people of the three counties was instantly smashed between Meng Hao’s fingers . It transformed into a vast amount of Blood Qi, which floated back toward the three counties .

As far as the common people went, all they knew was that for the past two months, they had felt somewhat dizzy, and now were much more clear headed . They also felt a bit weak . This was because, unbeknownst to them, their longevity had been damaged, and close to five years had been taken from the life spans .

Meng Hao could see this, but there was nothing he could do except sigh to himself . He flicked his sleeve and made to leave .

“Elder Brother Meng,” said Little Tiger, “Shangguan Xiu… . ”

“There is no such person in the world anymore . ” He didn’t look back, just continued off into the distance . The battle here would definitely attract the attention of the three great Sects . And Meng Hao could guess why they had permitted Shangguan Xiu to cast this massive spell here; it was because of Meng Hao . Shangguan Xiu wanted his bag of holding, and the three Great Sects wanted him . At the moment, he had no way to deal with the situation . The only thing he could do was go somewhere remote to hide and think for a while .

Little Tiger didn’t say anything more . He watched Meng Hao leaving, and then a look of determination filled his eyes .

“Meng Hao, you didn’t covet my most valuable treasure . I, Dong Hu, am not a good person . But you can rest easy . In this life, I will never do anything to let you down . ” He turned, casting his vision into the town far off in the distance . He caught sight of his father and mother, and a gentle look filled his eyes . Then the warmth vanished . Lowering his head, he quickly made his way off into the distance .

At that exact moment, the sky filled with countless beams of prismatic light . In the lead was none other than Liu Daoyun from the Cold Wind Sect .

“Meng Hao, you won’t escape this time!”

Meng Hao frowned, turning into a flash of light as he sped off into the distance . He used the last remaining vestiges of the power of the tenth level of Qi Condensation to instantly put a vast distance between himself and the pursuers . Far off in the distance, he had caught sight of more disciples of the three great Sects, and among them had been Foundation Establishment Cultivators and Core Formation Eccentrics . They had obviously been unwilling to show up themselves, and had instead sent some lower level disciples over to check things out . But now that Meng Hao’s presence had been confirmed, they would surely make appearances .

“Shangguan Xiu was backed by Milky Way City . It seems that power was not small… . The three great Sects must have stayed away because that was their agreement . When they felt the battle magic disappear, then they could approach . Shangguan Xiu had his secrets, and didn’t want people to see what was happening . He was even careful about the people from Milky Way City . He didn’t let them know his true purposes either . ”

He left Mount Daqing, passing the North Sea and crossing the wide wilderness, heading in the direction of the Reliance Sect .

About half way through the wilderness, in a random mountain range, Meng Hao sped along at top speed, an indistinct expression on his face . As he raced along he would occasionally look down at a piece of turtle shell which he held in his hand . This was an item he had taken out of Shangguan Xiu’s bag of holding .

It was about the size of his palm, and its edges were rough . Obviously it had been broken off from a larger turtle shell .

It surface was inscribed with rows and rows of small characters . They were difficult to make out . Only by infusing his eyes with spiritual energy was he able to read them clearly .

“In the Cultivation world, it is possible to achieve the so-called… Perfect Foundation!” Meng Hao gasped .

On the surface of the turtle shell were two medicinal pill recipes . One was for a Perfect Foundation Pill, the other was for a Perfect Gold Core Pill .

“The turtle shell spells it out clearly . The Foundation Establishment stage doesn’t just have three types, the Flawless, Cracked and Fractured . There is a fourth type, the Perfect Foundation . It’s extremely rare, being seen only one ten thousand cases… . ” Meng Hao breathed rapidly, staring down at the turtle shell and thinking back to what Shangguan Xiu had said before he died . Now he understood his opponent’s regret at being forced to ascend to Foundation Establishment after being poisoned . And now he understood the raging hatred in Shangguan Xiu’s eyes .

Meng Hao contemplated things silently . He had read a lot about Foundation Establishment back in the Magic Pavilion of the Reliance Sect .

In Foundation Establishment, Dao pillars would come to being within the Core Lake . Because Foundation Establishment increased one’s longevity, it was categorized as stealing luck and defying the Heavens . As a result, the Dao pillars could never be perfect, but would always contain cracks . This was in accordance with the Dao of the Heavens . It could be summed up in the expression, “you get some, you lose some” or perhaps “when something comes in, something goes out . ” It was part of the cycle of heaven and earth, and was permitted to exist .

Foundation Establishment consisted of early, mid and late sub-stages . In total, nine Dao pillars would appear . If each pillar had one crack, it meant a total of nine cracks would appear . This is what is referred to as a Flawless Foundation . A Flawless Foundation contained the least amount of cracks, and leaked the least amount of spiritual energy . After long periods of breathing exercises, the body would become incredibly powerful, much more so than other Foundations .

In the modern Cultivation world, this was the most powerful Foundation type . The special methods to achieve it could only be found amidst the clues in the great classic scriptures, for example the Qi Condensation manual of the Sublime Spirit Scripture . Such secrets could lead to horrific bloodbaths . In fact… that was why the Reliance Sect had been disbanded .

Without such a scripture, the only way to have a chance at establishing a Flawless Foundation was to have incredible latent talent or outstanding luck . Most often, it was a Chosen who could piece together the clues to do so .

If an additional crack appeared on each of the Dao Pillars, this was called a Cracked Foundation . Although this type of Foundation was weaker than a Flawless Foundation, it could not be looked down upon . Usually, only disciples of the great Sects were able to achieve it .

Last, of course, was the Fractured Foundation . This was when, after reaching late Foundation Establishment, more than eighteen cracks existed on the Dao pillars, which is too much . This Foundation could be considered nearly shattered . In terms of both Cultivation speed as well as battle prowess, both were much weaker . With this type of Foundation, the chances of forming a Core were much lower .

Meng Hao thought about all of this and then looked down at the turtle shell . According to the description here, by concocting and consuming a Perfect Foundation Pill, there was a high probability of establishing a Perfect Foundation . In this case, no cracks whatsoever would appear . This was a type of Cultivation that defied the Heavens, and was a path that could not be returned from .

Because this Foundation was not permitted by the Heavens, it would provoke Tribulation Lightning . True success required defiance of the Heavens . In this respect, it was similar to the tenth level of Qi Condensation .

“From what Shangguan Xiu said, it seems the tenth level of Qi Condensation is not tolerated by the Heavens . Apparently, establishing a Perfect Foundation is the same… . ”

“If you have a Fractured Foundation and then consume this pill, you have a ten percent chance of establishing a Perfect Foundation . With a Cracked Foundation, you have a thirty percent chance, and with a Flawless Foundation, a sixty percent chance . The pill repairs the cracks, enabling you to establish a Perfect Foundation . But… you have to be particular about when you consume the pill . The sooner you take it after Foundation Establishment, the better . If too much time passes, the effectiveness will be reduced . And it takes two months to concoct the Perfect Foundation Pill . ” Meng Hao’s heart raced as he sped along .

“No wonder Shangguan Xiu wanted to join the Reliance Sect… Just like Wang Tengfei, he wanted a chance to get the Qi Condensation Manual of the Sublime Spirit Scripture! After establishing a Flawless Foundation, his chances would be much higher… It’s also no wonder he disappeared on the day the Sect was disbanded . With secrets like this on his person, he didn’t dare to show his face…” Meng Hao clutched the turtle shell tightly in hand, continuing to race forward .

In addition to the turtle shell, Shangguan Xiu’s bag of holding also contained a small pill furnace fashioned from translucent green crystal, about the size of a hand . He also had large quantities of medicinal plants, all of them placed in jade boxes . There were hundreds of different types .

Many of the medicinal plants were unfamiliar to Meng Hao, but thankfully, there was also a jade slip in the bag of holding with complete records regarding identification methods for all of the plants . Perusing this, Meng Hao grew more and more excited .