Xu Qing was extremely cautious when it came to choosing a place to build his foundation.
There were many things he had to consider. For example, he had to check if there were people following him in the dark. At the same time, he had to check if there were any powerful factions around him.
He also had to consider the spiritual energy. It couldn't be too dense or too sparse.
In addition, the location couldn't be close to forbidden areas or cities. The wilderness was his first choice.
However, there weren't many places that met all the requirements.
Finally, he still had to consider whether the place he chose based on his needs had been chosen by others before.
All these appeared in his mind. He also thought about the forbidden area of the scavenger camp. However, the surroundings were too dangerous and the strange singing made Xu Qing hesitate. In the end, he gave up.
At this moment, as he was teleported, the first place he went was a branch city of the Seven Blood Children near the Purple Land. This place was in the center of the human territory of the Southern Phoenix Continent. There were fewer forbidden areas and it was relatively safer.
But at the same time, there were more and more people here.
At this moment, as the teleportation light disappeared, Xu Qing walked out of the teleportation formation. He didn't leave the city immediately. Instead, he found an inn and after resting for a night, he changed his appearance with a talisman treasure and continued to teleport away.
Just like that, he teleported seven or eight times in the next half a month. Each time, he changed his appearance and scanned the entire region of the Southern Phoenix Continent to make sure that no one was following him.
This made Xu Qing heave a sigh of relief.
At the same time, his injuries had also recovered by about 70% to 80%. This made his battle prowess comparable to when he was on the Mermaid Island.
The recovery of his injuries also allowed Xu Qing to leave the city in the subsequent teleportations. He went to the wilderness to find a suitable place to build his foundation.
After searching for another half a month, Xu Qing finally found a place.
This place belonged to the southeast region of the Southern Phoenix Continent. It was a mountainous area.
There were many mountains here and there were often forests between the two mountains. However, it wasn't a forbidden area. Instead, it was like a rainforest with a lot of miasma and mud.
This also made it so that there were very few cities nearby. The nearest one would take seven to eight days to travel.
The heterogeneity wasn't very dense, but it was the same for spiritual energy. Therefore, there weren't any major factions here. However, to Xu Qing, although the overall situation wasn't very suitable, he still felt that this place was more suitable.
The place he chose wasn't a mountain but a rainforest between two mountains.
Based on his previous experience in the jungle, Xu Qing found a place and began to dig.
The soil on the ground was soft and not easy to dig. However, with Xu Qing's Sea Transformation Scripture, he managed to extract more than half of the water in the area he had chosen. In the end, he managed to dig a cave deep underground.
After covering the entrance, Xu Qing added a sufficient amount of poison powder into the wine. Finally, he sat down cross-legged in the cavern and sensed his surroundings. Then, he took out the five formations he had bought and activated them.
At the same time, he took out a set of array formations that could conceal one's aura and fluctuations, and placed spirit stones inside to disperse it. After doing all this, Xu Qing, who was sitting cross-legged in the cave, let out a deep breath.
A sense of security that he hadn't felt in a long time surfaced in his heart.
"I built my foundation here.
Xu Qing lowered his head and looked at his storage bag. He had bought different amounts of food in different cities, and this amount of food was enough for him to survive here for half a year.
He didn't know how long it would take for him to build his foundation this time, but Xu Qing had already made a plan. From now on, he decided not to go out and think about anything related to the outside world.
He wanted to immerse himself in the breakthrough.
However, before he started cultivating, Xu Qing felt that he still had two things to take care of.
Therefore, he took out the black metal skewer and made a hand seal with his left hand. Psionic energy surged into the skewer and pressed down hard on the Diamond Sect's old ancestor who was in a deep sleep.
"Master, what's going on? I was wrong, I was wrong. Don't kill me. Tell me what I did wrong and I'll change!"
Xu Qing ignored him and continued to suppress him. He only stopped when the Diamond Sect's old ancestor was extremely weak and unconscious from the continuous rumbling.
He was worried that the Diamond Sect's old ancestor would interfere when he was breaking through. Now that the place was so weak, Xu Qing felt that there wouldn't be much of a problem.
Then, he made a hand seal and used his psionic energy to seal layer after layer. After his heart calmed down, he put the skewer away.
At the same time, the shadow at the side was clearly aware of his actions. Thus, it began to tremble with self-awareness.
Xu Qing looked down at the shadow with an expressionless face.
The shadow's trembling grew more intense. Finally, under Xu Qing's gaze, it began to tear itself apart. As if it was harming itself, several cracks appeared on its body.
"Not enough."
Xu Qing spoke calmly. The power of the purple crystal in his body turned into a suppressive force that crashed down, causing the shadow to grow dimmer and dimmer. It was only when it was about to completely collapse that Xu Qing stopped and spoke slowly.
"If I fail to establish my foundation, you'll be the first to be killed before I die!"
With that, Xu Qing ignored the shadow. Now that he had weakened the two hidden dangers in his body, he was completely relieved. He took out the Spirit Breath Lamp and lit it.
In an instant, the dim light spread out and enveloped Xu Qing.
Normally speaking, this kind of protective artifact would consume itself every time it was lit. Therefore, cultivators would only activate it when they were about to break through to establish their foundation.
Even the seven blood children were rich and imposing. Most of their disciples would rent a place to establish their foundation when they were about to break through. They would not be as extravagant as Xu Qing.
However, Xu Qing felt that it was unnecessary.
Even if he didn't intend to break through immediately and wanted to push his spiritual ocean to the limit, this Spirit Breath Lamp didn't cost him any money to light. What it consumed was the lamp's own spirituality.
After Xu Qing sensed it, he found that the lamp's spirituality was still abundant. Therefore, he didn't feel the pinch and took out two jade boxes.
One contained three Foundation Establishment Elixirs, and the other two contained two.
The former came from the captain, while the latter was obtained from the storage bag of the unlucky person who had broken through in the Foundation Establishment Pagoda of the Mermaid Clan.
The other party's status was obviously very high. He must have eaten a few and left two as a backup.
After putting away the five Foundation Establishment Elixirs, Xu Qing looked satisfied.
He took a deep breath. Under the cover of the Spirit Breath Lamp, he closed his eyes and began to cultivate.
Time passed slowly. Soon, seven days had passed.
During these seven days, Xu Qing was completely focused on cultivation. As the Sea Transformation Scripture continued to operate, the spiritual energy from the surroundings surged rapidly. The spiritual ocean in his body was rolling.
Its range grew bigger and bigger, from two hundred and ninety feet to three hundred and forty feet!
This range had surpassed the highest range in the history of the seven blood children's Seventh Peak. Back then, the Seventh Master had only reached two hundred and seventy feet.
Before the Seventh Master, no one had reached this height. Now that sixty years had passed, Xu Qing had increased the range of the Sea Transformation Scripture in this unknown underground cave.
A Spirit Sea of three hundred and forty feet was extremely majestic. If Xu Qing displayed it, it would definitely cause an uproar in the forest. If the seven blood children knew about this, they would probably be shocked from top to bottom.
However, although this result would attract the attention of the seven blood children, it was hard to say what would happen to the seven blood children who were united by benefits.
Therefore, Xu Qing didn't have any intention of making it public. He just wanted to live well. He didn't care about his reputation. He only cared that he could live smoothly and live a better life.
In this cruel world, the only way to do this was to become stronger.
He would be safe after killing all the enemies who threatened his life.
Of course, if revealing his Spirit Sea could achieve some of his goals, Xu Qing would still consider it.
Otherwise, before he had the power to suppress all directions, he would restrain his sharpness and only unleash it at the moment of killing. This was his way of survival.
Xu Qing took a deep breath. His expression was calm as he continued to cultivate.
Days passed like this. Every day, his Spirit Sea would increase by a hundred feet, as if there was no limit. This made Xu Qing even more excited.
Three hundred and fifty feet, three hundred and seventy feet. After the second seven days, Xu Qing's Spirit Sea had reached four hundred feet. This was four times more than the Spirit Sea of the seven blood children when they were at the Great Fulfilment.
In the light of the Spirit Breath Lamp, one could see that Xu Qing's body had become much more crystalline at this moment. It was as if there was an endless amount of seawater flowing through his body. Even the water vapor around him became thicker.
"I can still increase it a little more!"
"Yes."
Xu Qing opened his eyes. He stopped cultivating and ate some food. Then, he checked the array formation and the poisonous powder outside.
After making sure that everything was normal, he rested for a moment and continued cultivating.
Four hundred and ten feet, four hundred and twenty feet, four hundred and thirty feet.
When the third seven days passed, Xu Qing's Spirit Sea had reached four hundred and seventy feet. At this moment, he finally felt a stabbing pain that his body couldn't bear.
It was as if his body had become a bag of water, filled to the brim with water. He felt like he was about to burst open.
Xu Qing's breathing grew ragged. After muttering to himself for a moment, he gritted his teeth and began to cultivate once more. This time, his speed was much slower, and his Spirit Sea had decreased from thirty feet to fifteen.
The further he went, the slower it grew, and the more he felt like he was about to explode. Half a month later, he finally pushed his Spirit Sea to a shocking fifteen hundred feet.
Such a range was shocking. Xu Qing's entire body was filled with stabbing pain, as if he were about to shatter, and the violet crystal was frantically repairing him.
"It's the limit," he murmured.
He felt like even moving was incredibly difficult. It was as if he were carrying mountains and seas on his back. It was incredibly heavy, and there was even a feeling of oppression.
Although the violet crystal was doing its best to restore him, Xu Qing knew that he wouldn't be able to maintain this state for much longer.
"Then let's begin Foundation Establishment!"
Xu Qing's eyes flashed with decisiveness. Without the slightest hesitation, he picked up a Foundation Establishment Pill and swallowed it.
Like water falling into a pot of oil, his fifteen hundred foot Spirit Sea exploded, forming a monstrous wave that crazily surged through every part of Xu Qing's body.
The first Foundation Establishment induction had begun!
Yesterday, all of you were too strong. I admit defeat.