Chapter Twenty-Eight: Righteous Qi Forges the Foundation, the Dark Soul Will Not Rest

Yue Rongshan suddenly asked, "How many years has Xiao Lin been at Sword Mountain?"

Tang Qianxue replied without hesitation, "Three years."

"Three years to establish a Dao foundation..."

Yue Rongshan fell silent.

The live stream comments exploded with laughter.

"Hahahaha."
"Yue Rongshan: He's cheating."
"I told you Shen Wuya wasn't dead, didn't I?"
"The old ghost of Sword Mountain is making his move."
"Is it funny? All I see is someone who went back to train desperately for revenge, only to see Xiao Lin spinning like a top at her same cultivation level."
"Sister Top: The sky has collapsed."

[Popularity +1...]
[Popularity +1...]

After a long silence, Yue Rongshan suddenly smiled with relief. "Do not compare yourself to a monster; comparing yourself to a monster only brings unnecessary frustration."

"Let's go, Xiao Xue."

"But..."

"Do you really worry that someone would dare to disrupt his breakthrough? Who would dare to act recklessly before the Sect Master’s tablet? Besides..." Yue Rongshan paused, sighing, "The Sect Master's cultivation is beyond our comprehension. To think he has truly perished and vanished completely? I don't think so, I really don't think so..."

That gentle breeze from earlier had clearly carried a trace of the Sect Master's true sword intent.

Hearing this, Tang Qianxue also suddenly realized.

Indeed, who would dare to be insolent in front of the Master's hall?

"It's just this commotion..." Yue Rongshan clicked his tongue in secret. "This isn't the kind of activity a normal foundation establishment breakthrough should have. It's common for spiritual energy within a ten-mile radius to surge here, but this black mist..."

"The Ultimate Qi only divides into righteous and evil. When it manifests, it takes this form. Rather than calling it black mist, it would be more accurate to call it mysterious mist—vast and upright."

Hearing the familiar cold voice, Yue Rongshan and Tang Qianxue turned to look. It was none other than Yue Suxian.

Just as Yue Rongshan was wondering, the other three elders arrived late.

He immediately understood.

Naturally, how could such a commotion not alert them? It was just that Yue Suxian had arrived the fastest.

"Wasn't it said that it would take three days for foundation establishment? How is it that in less than an hour..." one elder said.

Yue Rongshan shook his head, gesturing. "Well, you can't deny it's still within three days, can you?"

It really was...

Jiang Taiyi was slightly puzzled. "But this black mist..."

"Ah, you don't understand that, do you?"

With that, Yue Rongshan repeated what Yue Suxian had said.

Yue Suxian glanced at him but said nothing more.

"I have only heard of Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment; I never thought I would witness Righteous Qi Foundation Establishment with my own eyes today."

As the group sighed in wonder, several more figures arrived one after another.

Those Sword Mountain disciples were stunned at the sight. With all five elders gathered, only the Sect Master was missing; the top brass of Sword Mountain were practically all here.

What could possibly warrant the presence of all five elders?

"Greetings, Elders!" the disciples said in unison, their curiosity growing stronger.

Yue Rongshan saw right through their thoughts and said calmly, "Since you are so curious, I shall enlighten you."

"Your Junior Brother has attained enlightenment and reached the Foundation Establishment stage."

"Junior Brother?" a disciple mused. "Could it be the Sect Master’s direct disciple, Xiao Lin?"

"Naturally."

The disciples blinked.

"But I recall Junior Brother has only been at Sword Mountain for three years..."

"Foundation establishment in three years, this..."

"Senior Brother Zhang is the most gifted among us, and how many years did it take him?"

"Seven years..."

Watching the juniors ask each other about their own years of cultivation and then fall into shock, Yue Rongshan smiled and said nothing.

That's right. If he were the only one shocked, what would that look like?

"It is merely foundation establishment, nothing of great importance. You may disperse."

The disciples couldn't help but mutter to themselves, "If it's nothing of great importance, why are all five of you here?"

Despite this, they bowed and replied, "Yes," before taking their leave.

Yue Rongshan and the others also prepared to depart, but before doing so, they discussed placing a restriction around the area to prevent curious disciples from wandering in and disrupting anything.

While they were discussing, Yue Suxian flipped her wrist, and a silver light flickered over the gate of the side hall, causing ripples to spread.

"There, now one can only exit, not enter."

"Elder Yue is indeed the most skilled in this art; this ensures complete safety."

The four elders nodded slightly.

Only Tang Qianxue wore her emotions on her face, lightly curling her lips.

...

A month passed in the blink of an eye.

When Xiao Lin opened his eyes, they appeared ordinary, devoid of any sharp edge. He had long since mastered the art of concealing his aura, keeping it from showing on the surface. Sometimes, his eyes flashing like lamps was purely for the audience—it was simply for the sake of looking cool.

However, since no live comments were popping up, it meant the camera wasn't focused on him, so there was no need for pretense.

Xiao Lin let out a breath, finally relaxing.

"This is the Foundation Establishment stage."

Xiao Lin felt his Dao foundation. The sheer amount of spiritual energy contained within it was many times greater than that of a peak Qi Condensation practitioner. The quality was even more incomparable.

If one were to use Qu Ziyao as a unit of combat power...

He figured he could easily suppress ten of her right now... No, never mind, they were fellow disciples; he would give her some face—let's say five Qu Ziyaos.

Invincible at the same level was not just an empty claim.

Furthermore, he had a Righteous Qi Dao foundation...

Xiao Lin had never imagined that his own Righteous Qi could merge with spiritual energy to forge a Dao foundation. Compared to the Heavenly Dao Foundation, which was stronger?

"If I had known the difference between foundation establishment and Qi condensation was this great, I shouldn't have delayed it for so long," Xiao Lin sighed softly.

Heaven knows how much mental effort he had expended in every fight just to maintain his persona of being invincible at his level. The gap between major realms was truly a chasm; one could not defeat a superior unless they were a monster.

Fortunately, he was indeed a monster.

Xiao Lin smiled confidently.

But then again, if he hadn't found the perfect moment to break through, it would have been a waste of this opportunity. Although this breakthrough had cost him 100,000 popularity points, he had earned 30,000 back.

More importantly, many new viewers had started watching "Chronicles of Sword Mountain Romance." The scenes and plot twists he had carefully designed had naturally attracted a large wave of fans. In total, he had received over 100,000 points.

In other words, his foundation establishment breakthrough hadn't been a loss at all; he had actually gained tens of thousands of popularity points.

Xiao Lin opened his panel.

[Name: Xiao Lin]
[Age: 16]
[Cultivation: Early Foundation Establishment (Righteous Qi Foundation)]
[Talents: Righteous Aura, Holding the Origin]
[Techniques: "Asura Heaven-Suppressing Art," "Five Luminaries Emperor Sutra"]
[Popularity: 346,000]

Beyond that, there was an additional category.

[Divine Ability: "Asura Soul-Slaying Domain"]
[Asura Soul-Slaying Domain: The Asura Righteous Qi radiates outward, shrouding a region and forming its own heaven and earth. By standing within it, one can use the Righteous Qi to manifest objects and defeat enemies.]

Xiao Lin wasn't surprised by this. He had already gained insights into domains. The "Suppress" and "Destroy" character techniques he used against Li Changhe and Qu Ziyao were the prototypes for this. Now that his realm had reached this level, it was only natural that the divine ability would manifest itself.

"Alright, let me check the rest."

Xiao Lin seemed to recall something and opened the advanced spoilers he had purchased regarding the Fallen Sword Immortal.

The first sentence that caught his eye was:

The Fallen Sword Immortal self-severed his origin, clinging to life...

Xiao Lin was speechless.

He knew the production team wouldn't come up with anything good!