“During the breakthrough to Foundation Establishment, the pills are the most costly part. A Five-mark or higher Foundation Establishment Pill costs six million spirit stones on the market— valuable but hard to come by. Because such Foundation Establishment Pills must be crafted by an Alchemist of at least seventh rank. And they require enormous time and effort.”
“So, what rank are you?” Cluru asked, eyes sparkling with curiosity.
“Guess.”
“Five hundred?”
“…Not that high.”
“Oh, noob.”
“…It’s impossible to explain this to someone like you who thinks rockets burn firewood. Anyway, the Clear Heart Pill for stabilizing the Dao heart, the Foundation Establishment Pill for the breakthrough itself, and the Vital Essence Pill to enhance the effect— I’ve already refined all of them. You just saved the boss a lot of money!”
Cluru looked half-understanding, half-confused. Having never seen the Cultivation World, none of this made much sense to her.
Still, she drooled obediently, looking rather foolish.
Otherwise, wouldn’t that make Xiao Luo Xian look stupid?
“Before we start, are you sure your emotions are stable?”
I held Cluru’s cheeks seriously, making her look me straight in the eyes.
“I think so,” Cluru hesitated.
Her emotions were always hard to read.
She was no longer as shy as when we first met, seemingly always brave enough to ‘express herself’ to me, but my intuition told me… something was off. I just endured it.
“Foundation Establishment isn’t a joke. When you condense your Spirit Platform, the Demonic Heart begins to stir, releasing your negative emotions and intensifying them greatly.”
The Demonic Heart at Foundation Establishment isn’t too strong, but it can still be fatal, even destroy your foundation…
“I’m fine.” The girl smiled faintly. “Let’s go.”
“Alright, I’ll guard you.”
I handed Cluru the three pills.
Nine-Pattern Clear Heart Pill, Nine-Pattern Foundation Establishment Pill, Nine-Pattern Vital Essence Pill.
I had stayed up half the nights over the past two weeks, spending 90% of that time preparing these pills.
Using Earth’s common herbs to refine the top-tier Nine-Pattern pills was incredibly difficult.
If it weren’t for the little black hole inside me helping to draw and dissipate the lightning, the Divine Retribution alone would have turned me to ash.
Cluru popped the pills into her mouth one by one and swallowed.
The pills hadn’t taken effect yet.
“Want to meditate?”
“No need. Just do whatever feels comfortable.”
“Can I hold you?”
“Fine, if it improves the success rate.”
They say an enemy’s enemy is a friend. I had become a vegetable because of the Mu Family’s conspiracy, and now the Mu Family was also Cluru’s enemy. We were united in hatred.
An ally is always a good thing.
As an ally, I didn’t want anything to happen to Cluru.
Suppressing my embarrassment, I lowered my head, like a devoted servant before an evil god, willingly offering my body and soul, letting Cluru entwine herself all over me.
We lay on the bed side by side, facing each other.
“Guu—” Cluru closed her eyes, frowning slightly in pain. “My lower belly feels swollen.”
“That’s the Foundation Establishment Pill kicking in. Stay focused on your heart and mind, maintain inner vision, and follow the rhythm of the pill to compress the spiritual energy into the Qi Sea.”
This was the first stage of Foundation Establishment: compressing spiritual energy to form the Platform.
This stage was the easiest.
With the support of the three Nine-Pattern pills, Cluru’s Spirit Platform was growing smoothly.
“When the Spirit Platform takes shape, the second step is to inscribe runes on it. You don’t need to do this actively—the Nine-Pattern Foundation Establishment Pill will forcibly seize a thread of Heavenly Dao Resonance and inscribe them for you.”
I tried to keep my tone gentle and calm so as not to disturb Cluru’s state.
Ah, so tense.
I could feel Cluru’s nervousness and pain firsthand. Her tentacles were all tense and rigid, almost digging into my bones.
But I dared not speak.
Afraid she might lose focus and something would go wrong.
“Mom, Dad…” Cluru muttered, her long and enchanting lashes trembling painfully.
It seemed the Demonic Heart had started stirring.
Trembling, I tried to keep my voice steady and reminded her again: “Cluru, that’s an illusion. Don’t get lost in it.”
Cluru nodded faintly, seeming to regain some willpower after my reminder.
“The path of cultivation goes against the heavens, seizing the Heavenly Dao to strengthen yourself. The Nine-Pattern Foundation Establishment Pill takes the Heavenly Dao Resonance, and the Demonic Heart is the Dao’s punishment. You must endure and not believe in those illusions!”
“Mom, Mom… you… don’t! …Teach! Save me!”
Cluru suddenly trembled violently, her face pale as death, already on the verge of fainting.
“Cluru! No matter what you see, it’s an illusion!”
“No… it’s not an illusion… they’re dead.”
“Everyone dies! They just left early. Don’t worry, death isn’t the end of life— you’ll see them again.” I hurriedly comforted her.
Nervously, Cluru’s tentacles squeezed even tighter.
Even if it meant risking being strangled here, I had to help her overcome the Demonic Heart.
Click—
Damn, my ankle was turning white from the pressure.
“Not the end?” Cluru murmured.
“Yes. I have a connection with Jiuzhou Houtu. If you want to see them, there will be chances in the future. But first, you must survive this trial, strengthen your Dao heart, and not indulge in the illusionary world.”
“Mm…” Cluru bit her lip hard, seeming to make up her mind.
She muttered to the air, “Sorry, I have to go now. Xiao Luo Xian is waiting for me.”
After saying this, her breathing gradually steadied.
The tentacles on her body relaxed slightly.
I finally breathed a sigh of relief.
“Hopefully, it’s over.”
Back when I was establishing Foundation, my Spirit Platform was barely a third-rank piece of trash.
Perfect Foundation Establishment was something I never even dared to imagine.
I’d never witnessed the process of Perfect Foundation Establishment or knew what might happen.
So if there were any accidents, I wasn’t exactly sure what they could be.
“Cluru?”
Seeing the girl still motionless for a long time, I tentatively called out.
“!”
Bang!
A surging aura suddenly burst out from Cluru, shaking the entire room into chaos!
Windows shattered, and even the load-bearing walls showed fine cracks!
What was going on?!
Buzz—
I carefully observed the surroundings. The sky seemed to glow faintly purple.
That was a dome centered on Cluru, separating us from the outside world.
Uh-oh! Big trouble!
I stared in horror at the dome before me.
This wasn’t a defensive barrier.
I had been lucky enough to see it before.
This was Cluru’s Dream Domain!
This domain combined hypnosis, dreaming, paralysis, and other effects, where I had suffered greatly.
Damn, sleepiness was already creeping in.
I couldn’t fall asleep! I’d only dispelled one-sixth of the karmic debt so far; if I slept now… the consequences would be unimaginable!
“Cluru! Wake up!”
“Cluru! What are you doing?! What did you see… let go… uh… let me go!”
Cluru’s pupils glowed faintly with an evil charm that could shake even an Immortal Lord’s Dao heart.
And this time…
She was Foundation Establishment stage.
I was still in Qi Refinement.
.
“What’s happening?”
“Did the girls’ Dormitory just explode?”
“No, no one knows what’s going on.”
Cluru’s explosive aura had made a huge noise, waking half the school in the early morning.
I heard sounds from the Playground and exhaled in relief.
The students were all awake now, and the teachers should be rushing over.
I had previously estimated Shi Tian’s strength; once healed, he’d be roughly mid-Foundation Establishment level, enough to take down Cluru.
Cluru’s foundation was unstable; she wouldn’t stand a chance against Shi Tian.
That should mean she’d be saved, right?
But…
Cluru stood up.
Now transformed into a regal older sister aura, she easily lifted me, making me feel like her little pet in her palm.
She didn’t say a word and leapt out the window, disappearing into the shadows outside.
At the speed of Perfect Foundation Establishment, she even emitted a rush of wind as she tore through the air, quickly leaving the school far behind.
“What are you doing?!”
“Where are you going?”
“Ugh—!”
A tentacle sealed my mouth.
I could only helplessly let her carry me, tilting my head back in terror, staring at Cluru’s lower jaw and her half-hidden, mysteriously glowing, seductive eyes.
No, this wasn’t Cluru’s conscious action.
From her gaze, she clearly hadn’t fully awakened.
The Foundation Establishment wasn’t complete!
Her Spirit Platform was still in rune inscription status, and the Demonic Heart continued to corrupt her mind.
She was acting instinctively while resisting the Demonic Heart.
Where was she going?
This action must have been influenced and disturbed by the Demonic Heart, so the place she wanted to go was surely the one with her deepest obsession, the place most imprinted on her heart.
Where could it be?
The site of her parents’ car accident?
Or the place where she was ostracized by the Mu Family, called a monster?
She had too many regrets, too many experiences that could be called Demonic Heart moments. I couldn’t guess which one she cared about the most.
The one she cared about most…
The scenery flashed past my eyes quickly, and I silently marveled at the speed of a Perfect Foundation Establishment practitioner.
She hadn’t even completed Foundation Establishment, yet she was already far beyond where I was back then.
So, where exactly?
Bang! Creak—
The rusty iron door was kicked open.
I stared in shock.
This familiar door, this familiar room.
This was the basement where Cluru had hidden herself and lived day and night for seventeen years with my body.
The starting point of our adventure.
Well, unexpected…
I didn’t really want to admit it, but I had spent the longest time with Cluru—longer even than her parents, longer than anyone else in this world.
But that me was just Cluru’s imagined version of me—how could that be considered me?
So Cluru’s greatest Demonic Heart and regret… was here?
.
By my reckoning, Cluru and I had left here a month ago.
In that time, the basement had gathered some dust from neglect.
There had been a lot of rain these past few days, and the water basin was dripping, collecting quite a bit of water.
Cold and damp.
This place was clearly not suitable for living.
Yet, after Cluru closed the iron door, plunging the basement into total darkness, she showed a content and satisfied smile.
Slowly, she hugged me and crawled into the faded little bed.
The girl closed her eyes, her breathing becoming steady, her mind calm.
As if a little octopus had closed the shell it had found.