Chapter 240: Breaking through the bottleneck in a moment

Jiao Xiuyuan regarded Li Fan's numerous suggestions as invaluable. He delightedly bid farewell and promptly went to make the arrangements.

"Cough, cough..." The clone coughed, spitting out another mouthful of blood.

"No wonder only theoretical research remains, with no one truly practicing this Secret Human Body Art. Compared to the new method, which guarantees 100% advancement upon meeting the conditions, developing the Secret Human Body Art is not only slow, but it also relies entirely on self-exploration. A slight misstep can lead to severe qi and blood deficiency and significant vital energy depletion. Fortunately, it's just a clone, so there's no need to worry about after-effects. As long as I can accumulate cultivation experience, it's a gain."

Li Fan purchased a Dragon-Tiger Pill to replenish qi and blood and swallowed it. His complexion quickly became rosy, and the clone resumed its experimental exploration.

The rest of Anchor Year 15 passed quickly.

In Anchor Year 16, aided by two sudden surges of cultivation feedback within his body, Li Fan jolted, awakening from his seclusion. He could cultivate no further; he could not advance by even an inch. Li Fan knew that he had reached the perfect Foundation Establishment stage. He only needed to break through the bottleneck to begin forming his Core.

The two significant surges of cultivation feedback came from Ye Feipeng and Xiao Heng, respectively. With a thought, he checked the events concerning the two that were recorded in the blue crystal within his Sea of Consciousness during this period.

Since consuming the Azure Wind True Intent, Ye Feipeng's cultivation speed had significantly increased. He quickly reached the perfect Qi Refining stage. As if bottlenecks didn't exist, in just under half a year, he imitated Zhang Haobo from his memories, establishing his Dao Foundation with the Azure Wind Sword Intent.

Having successfully established his foundation, Ye Feipeng returned to the desolate island, gloating and showing off to everyone. He even put on airs, lecturing Xiao Heng and others in the tone of an "elder." Spurred by this, Xiao Heng cultivated even more selflessly.

A month later, after reaching the perfect Qi Refining stage, Xiao Heng, in the White Bone Vanguard Realm, obtained the high-grade Human Oddity, the Buried Sea Bone Sword, through an altar. He successfully entered the Foundation Establishment stage. This wondrous Foundation Establishment item was, of course, prepared by Li Fan for him.

After establishing his foundation, the first thing Xiao Heng did was to seek out Ye Feipeng again for a sparring match. Both had just recently advanced and could not yet precisely control their power. After a long battle, neither could claim victory. They had to settle for a draw. Xiao Heng sighed, the joy he had just felt instantly vanished. A sense of crisis resurfaced in the heart of the once smug Ye Feipeng. He no longer stayed on the desolate island but went out, cultivating while searching for opportunities based on his memories of the previous life.

Li Fan then checked the situations of the other individuals. Among them, Su Xiaomei progressed the fastest and had the highest cultivation level. Although still a child who spent most of her days playing, lacking any subjective drive for diligent cultivation, her talent was simply too exceptional. She was already at the late Qi Refining stage, and it was believed she was not far from breaking through to Foundation Establishment. Next was Zhang Haobo, who was at the mid Qi Refining stage. Su Changyu and the Yin family sisters had both cleansed themselves of miasma and officially embarked on the path of immortality.

Feeling the varying amounts of cultivation feedback from the others constantly emerging within him, Li Fan felt like a diligent old farmer. He saw lush green chives eagerly sprouting from the ground, their growth pleasing to the eye. It was also like seeing a golden wheat field in autumn, a bountiful harvest with heavy wheat ears bending the stalks. The joy of the harvest was evident in his expression.

In his joy, he suddenly had an epiphany, and his heart relaxed. The persistent bottleneck broke without effort. There were no more obstacles ahead, only an open path. As long as he "perceived the laws of heaven and earth," he could naturally condense a Golden Core. He hadn't expected this attempt to be so smooth, which gave Li Fan the feeling that his luck had turned.

Fortunately, Li Fan remained very clear-headed. His long stay at the late Foundation Establishment stage was primarily about building up a strong foundation. Moreover, he had only just broken through the bottleneck; he was still some distance from truly condensing a Golden Core.

"Perceiving the laws of heaven and earth..."

Recalling the various materials he had read previously in the Heavenly Xuan Mirror, and the scene from his previous life when Zhang Haobo condensed a pseudo-core using the Water-Wind Sword Art, Li Fan mused inwardly, "With my accumulated experience, condensing a Golden Core will be easy. Whether it's the Law of Water related to the Stratus Cloud Sea, the Law of Sword related to the Twenty-Eight Stratus Cloud Swords, or the Law of Wind that both Zhang Haobo and Ye Feipeng have touched upon... Choosing any one of them and studying it briefly, I should be able to form a Core without much trouble.

"However, a Golden Core formed in such a way would be far from worthy of my True Reversion Dao Foundation. 'What comes from nothing, or what is false, can also be true.' This is the basis of my True Reversion Foundation Establishment. Because of this, I can transform True Reversion into any wondrous item of heaven and earth that I have absorbed. 'All wondrous items of heaven and earth are for my use.' Applied to the method of Golden Core formation, it would be..."

Li Fan's thoughts paused.

"'The Laws of the Heavenly Dao are all my laws.' If an ordinary cultivator forms a Golden Core by condensing only one or a few pure powers of law, then, what I need to do is condense a... Myriad Law Golden Core."

Li Fan took a deep breath, suppressing the sudden tremor in his heart.

"For other cultivators, no matter how talented, this task would be impossible, even if they spent their entire lives trying. But for me, possessing True Reversion, as long as I can ensure successful cycles of reincarnation, it's a certainty. However, this process will undoubtedly be extremely long. Perhaps I can first choose a suitable method to break through to the Golden Core stage, and then consider this further. Ideally, it should maximize my combat power."

Regarding the strongest destructive power, among everything Li Fan had experienced and witnessed since entering the cultivation world, the Heavenly Fiend Sword and Mo Sha were the most terrifying.

"'Mo Sha is a pure destructive force that annihilates everything.'"

The blue crystal in his Sea of Consciousness slowly glowed, clearly replaying the scene of Mo Sha's all-encompassing annihilation in his mind.

"At that time, the one who witnessed this world-ending scene was merely a Qi Refining clone. My comprehension was not yet sufficient to support me in condensing a Golden Core with this method. However, when Mo Sha descends again in this lifetime, it will be an excellent opportunity to remedy this. I can observe it anew. As for the Heavenly Fiend Sword..."

Thinking of this, Li Fan's brow furrowed slightly. This sword was imbued with intents of slaughter, chaos, madness, and tyranny. Its origin was unknown. But merely its broken hilt could contend with Azure Wind at the Dao Integration stage. Its original complete power was truly unimaginable.

"To form a Golden Core using the Heavenly Fiend Sword Art, my previous accumulation is not sufficient."

Li Fan's eyes flickered as he recalled the previous sight of the Master's forceful intrusion into the Cloud-Water Heavenly Palace. A green ox pulled a cart, and the Master forced out the Heavenly Physician's avatar. Afterwards, all the strange entities within the Heavenly Palace rioted simultaneously. Among them, deeply embedded within the turtle-snake monster's body, was the Heavenly Fiend Sword's blade.