Chapter 156: Chapter 156: The Thought of Going South, Late-stage Foundation Establishment

Donglong Island.

Night fell, the cold moon hanging in the autumn-like sky.

Beside the jade bed, white silk stockings and a female cultivator’s robes lay scattered.

The storm of passion had just subsided. Luo Qing’e’s waterfall of long hair cascaded down, her eyes filled with the languid contentment of being thoroughly satisfied.

She curled up in Su Ye’s arms, nuzzling his chest affectionately as a warm fragrance wafted from her.

"It’s not like we haven’t seen each other in years."

"Normally, don’t you visit my cave abode every month or two?"

Su Ye chuckled, stroking Luo Qing’e’s beautiful back.

"It’s different..."

Luo Qing’e murmured sweetly, shifting her body in enjoyment.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Over the past few years, Luo Qing’e had been busy with her cultivation, so her interactions with Su Ye had naturally decreased.

Now that she had reached Foundation Establishment, she was determined to make up for it, clinging to him like glue.

After a long, tender moment, Luo Qing’e’s brow furrowed slightly. "Speaking of which, something rather strange happened when I broke through to Foundation Establishment," she whispered.

A sense of unease crept into her tone, and she tightened her grip on Su Ye’s hand.

"What is it?"

Su Ye’s heart skipped a beat as he asked with concern.

"Of the three trials of Foundation Establishment, there’s the physical body trial. I’m in my prime, with strong qi and blood. Then there’s the Mana Barrier, for which I had the Foundation Establishment Elixir and True Dawn Spirit Liquid. Neither of those was too difficult."

"But the final trial, the Consciousness Barrier..."

Luo Qing’e took a deep breath, a lingering fear on her face.

"My foundation was still a little lacking."

"In fact, from what I felt, I shouldn’t have been able to pass it."

"But...?"

Su Ye raised an eyebrow, his gaze on Luo Qing’e turning grave.

There was no doubt that the Luo Qing’e before him now had passed the three trials and become a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

’Then... what helped her pass the Consciousness Barrier?’

Luo Qing’e herself wasn’t entirely sure.

"For some reason, just as my Divine Sense was failing its transformation and about to revert back to Spiritual Sense..."

"...some invisible force stabilized my Divine Sense, and I seized that opportunity to pass the Consciousness Barrier."

"And ever since, a certain thought keeps popping into my head."

"What thought is that?!"

Su Ye knew this was the crucial point and asked with a solemn expression.

The Cultivation Realm was full of strange and bizarre occurrences.

Getting involved with something like this, even if it allowed her to break through to Foundation Establishment, was not necessarily a good thing.

Perhaps, by relying on a mysterious power to pass the Consciousness Barrier and reach Foundation Establishment...

...Luo Qing’e had paid a price she wasn’t even aware of, but one that was extremely critical!

"’Go south.’"

"That thought is constantly urging me... to travel south."

Luo Qing’e said, biting her lip.

’Travel south, huh...’

Su Ye frowned and murmured to himself, his eyes filled with contemplation.

Donglong Island, as well as the entire sea region of the Cyan Profound Sect, was in the southeastern part of the Yaoguang Islands, on the very edge.

It was newly pioneered territory from the expansion wars.

This place was already close to the border of the immortal cultivation civilization.

And south of this sea region lay the boundless, lifeless Mist Sea.

The Mist Sea had always been known as a place of no return.

It was rumored that a Crystal Core master from the Cyan Profound Sect had once tried to explore the Mist Sea, only to get lost within it and never be heard from again!

The dangers within were self-evident.

...

Luo Qing’e’s urge to "go south."

This put Su Ye on high alert.

A thought appearing from thin air and influencing one’s mind...

...was every bit as bizarre as the strange stirrings he felt after changing his class to Pastor of the Sea!

Fortunately, Luo Qing’e’s urge to "go south" wasn’t overwhelmingly strong.

With her mental fortitude, she was able to suppress it.

Furthermore, Su Ye taught her the *Six Desires Secret Scripture*, using one of its Divine Soul Secret Skills to calm her soul and steady her mind.

This allowed Luo Qing’e to temporarily bind the thought within her heart.

’But this is just a temporary solution, not a cure...’

’South, is it?’

Su Ye muttered to himself, his gaze flickering as he looked south of Donglong Island.

’What exactly is in the Mist Sea?’

Exploring the unknown is one of humanity’s most primal desires.

Su Ye couldn’t help but feel his curiosity piqued.

Of course, curiosity didn’t mean he planned to investigate the Mist Sea right now.

That would be suicide.

’I’ll endure for now.’

’When I’m strong enough, all the secrets of this world will be open to me.’

...

「The seasons turned, one after another. In the blink of an eye, several years had passed.」

Inside the cave abode.

Su Ye opened his eyes, and an azure spiritual light almost overflowed from them!

An incomparably tyrannical spiritual pressure swept through the room, forcing the array patterns on the surrounding stone walls to appear in self-defense.

Even so, the array patterns sizzled and crackled as if under immense pressure!

"Heh... I’m having a little trouble reining in my power..."

The handsome, spirited young man in black robes, who now looked a few years younger, smiled at the sight.

He stood up, and the spiritual pressure receded like a tide, retracting back into his Qi Sea Dantian!

"Hooo..."

"Forty years old, and Late-stage Foundation Establishment!"

A look of delight flashed in Su Ye’s eyes!

After several years of painstaking secluded cultivation.

His Liquid Magical Power had been rapidly increasing at a rate of nearly ten drops per year!

In just a few short years, right as Su Ye turned forty.

He had reached the Peak of Mid-stage Foundation Establishment, with one hundred and fifty drops of Liquid Magical Power!

Then, as a matter of course, he charged the bottleneck and broke through to Late-stage Foundation Establishment in one fell swoop!

With the Harmony from his spirit ship...

...during his breakthrough to Late-stage Foundation Establishment...

...the most difficult part was actually setting up an Array to prevent any disturbance from leaking out.

The bottleneck that stumped countless cultivators, driving them to despair and almost making them cough up blood, was something he had crossed with ease!

’Now that I’ve broken through to the late stage... it’s best to conceal it.’

Su Ye thought for a moment, then activated the Illusion Spirit Pearl, concealing his cultivation aura to appear as if he were at Mid-stage Foundation Establishment.

Next, Su Ye inspected himself inwardly, feeling the changes brought about by his breakthrough.

First, the most direct change was his Magical Power!

Within his Dantian Qi Sea, there were now a staggering two hundred and forty drops of Liquid Magical Power.

They flowed with brilliant light, shimmering with a magnificent azure hue, like a lake!

Breaking through the bottleneck to Late-stage Foundation Establishment had increased his Magical Power by ninety drops!

’My Divine Sense... it now covers a three-mile radius. That’s an increase of nearly half, but it’s still weaker than an Early-stage Crystal cultivator. However... it’s far stronger than someone at Foundation Establishment Perfection!’

An ordinary Early-stage Crystal cultivator’s Divine Sense could scan an area five miles across.

’My physical body... seventh level of Body Refining. Huh? My lifespan...’

Su Ye was a little surprised. He could feel that his lifespan had increased by another thirty years.

Reaching a total of three hundred years!

’Is it because of the Frigid Jade Dao Body? As my Body Refining advances, the life force within me grows stronger and stronger.’

’Does this count as... getting younger the longer I live?’

Su Ye touched his face.

He could feel that his face had grown younger again, almost resembling how he looked when he was twelve or thirteen, just after he was initiated into the Dao.

’If I break through to the Crystal stage, will I... turn directly into a rosy-lipped, pearly-toothed little pretty boy?’

Su Ye couldn’t help but laugh.

This sort of thing happened when one’s cultivation speed was too fast, causing one’s lifespan to increase far more than one’s physical age.

The woes of a genius, he supposed.

However, the solution was simple.

With a slight stir of his Magical Power, Su Ye adjusted his muscles and bones.

He restored his appearance to that of the seventeen- or eighteen-year-old youth in black robes he was before his seclusion.

"Mm, not bad."

He summoned a water mirror and nodded in satisfaction, muttering to himself.

"I’ve been in seclusion for a while. Later, I’ll head out to sea and take a look around the south..."

"Hm... Wait a minute?!" Su Ye’s expression suddenly changed.