Fangxian Heretical Path

Chapter 305 Foundation Building at Little West Mountain: Stealing from Heaven and Earth
Returning to Xiaoxishan, the servants of the Five Stomachs Temple were still stationed there, just like usual, without any panic.

This must be news from outside the mountain, and has not yet reached the ears of the servants.

Fang Shu only paid a little attention before effortlessly disappearing into the depths of Xiaoxishan.

Returning to the dragon's lair below, although he was no longer covered by the embroidered robe, he had newly cultivated the Peach Blossom Cloud Protection Technique, so he was no longer afraid of the foul air below.

Enveloped in a misty haze of white and pink peach blossoms, Fang Shu walked through the heavy, foul air and soon found the location of this underground dragon vein.

Compared to the last time, he had gone much deeper underground, and estimated that he had gone at least another hundred feet deeper.

Compared to the anus, the foul air here has disappeared, and what remains is pure spiritual energy.

Shedding the misty peach blossoms, Fang Shu took a breath of the spiritual energy of this place and immediately showed an excited expression.

He secretly thought to himself, "Compared to before, the spiritual energy here is even more abundant. Is this the scene of Lushan's flourishing fortune that the five sect leaders were talking about?"

After a brief moment of contemplation, Fang Shu composed himself and began setting up a quiet room underground.

He briefly cleared out a three-zhang-long cave, which was neither too big nor too small. After setting up the Five-Colored Spirit Gathering Array, on a whim, he suddenly took out the five-colored soil from his bag and poured it directly into the center of the cave, forming a five-colored earthen altar.

Although the purpose of this five-colored earthen altar is still unknown.

However, this soil has been bathed in the teachings and instructions of the five sect leaders, and it was collected from the top of Mount Lu and used to build the altar. It might just help with the breakthrough.

At least, given Fang Shu's whim, this matter should be harmless.

Having done this, he sat cross-legged on the earthen altar and began to regulate his body and mind.

And so, another three days passed.

Fang Shu was at the bottom of Xiaoxi Mountain, and he was already familiar with the concentration of spiritual energy in this place. He also confirmed that the spiritual energy and spiritual pressure here were completely in line with the foundation building environment described in various Taoist books.

And during these three days, no thieves came to disturb him.

So it was midnight that night.

He slowly opened his eyes and uttered, "Breakthrough to Foundation Establishment, right now."

As soon as he said this...

His vital energy surged and churned, and the spiritual energy in the cave, under the influence of the spirit-gathering array, swirled into a vortex and even condensed into mist.

Instantly, Fang Shu felt pressure all over his body, as if he were underwater, his body felt heavy, he had difficulty breathing, and his internal energy felt like it was about to explode.

Seeing this, he quickly grabbed a Golden Crystal Glazed Pill, tilted his head back, and swallowed it.

This elixir can nourish the physical body, so it's best to use it as a foundation first, just in case.

As soon as the pill was swallowed, its rich medicinal power spread, and Fang Shu suddenly felt an unbearable heat in his body cavity. His true energy was boiling even more, and he had an urge to roar to the sky.

But he did not do that. Instead, he calmed his mind and guided all the blood, qi, and medicinal power in his body to the spiritual root in his forehead.

The cordyceps spiritual root that was supposed to merge with Fang Shu now seemed to have come back to life. It broke through the skin on Fang Shu's forehead on its own and slowly sprouted a yellow-red bud, like a sprout emerging.

At the same time, wisps of divine energy were also growing wildly from Fang Shu's body surface, appearing in every pore.

Compared to before, the color of the divine silk is no longer transparent and whitish; it has turned yellowish-red, just like the cordyceps spirit itself.

This change is perhaps because Fang Shu's spiritual root was nourished by the blood lotus seed.

In less than half an hour, not only did Fang Shu himself grow red hair all over his body, but the earthen altar beneath him and the three-zhang-high, wide quiet room where he was located were also covered with dense divine silk, like a spider's cave.

Furthermore, the spread of the divine threads has not yet ended; it continues to expand along the underground spiritual veins, gradually extending into the entire underground area of ​​Xiaoxishan.

The dense, intricate threads stretched for over a thousand feet.

During this process, even more abundant spiritual energy is continuously drawn in by the divine threads and accumulated on the five-colored altar by the spirit-gathering array.

Three days later.

The spiritual energy inside the cave was no longer just mist, but had condensed into snowflake-like fragments that slowly surrounded Fang Shu.

Inside the Three-Zhang Cave, even the air had been completely expelled, leaving only divine threads and spiritual energy.

At this moment, Fang Shu's thoughts slowly awakened from his meditation.

His eyes seemed dazed.

During the three days he occupied the spiritual vein, he felt as if the entire Little West Mountain had become his body.

And this is not an illusion.

During this process, as soon as Fang Shu had a thought, the cordyceps spiritual root in his body could take root in this spiritual vein and replace it, transforming from a spiritual root into a spiritual vein.

And Fang Shu will henceforth take control of the entire Xiaoxishan Mountain, ruling over the entire mountain, with life and death at his beck and call.

Moreover, as long as his body stands on Little West Mountain and the spiritual veins in the mountain are not destroyed, the spiritual energy around him will never cease and his true energy will never be depleted.

This is the way to live forever, and is called an Earth Immortal!
Even now, recalling such a mysterious feeling, Fang Shu still feels a strong urge to immerse himself in it.

When people and mountains are in harmony, compared to Qi Refining Immortals, Foundation Establishment Immortals are truly among the immortals!
But he quickly murmured to himself:

"Unfortunately, although the location is good, it is not what I wanted."

next moment.

Fang Shu's gaze suddenly turned sharp.

The countless strands of divine energy around him seemed to come alive, trembling and surging in rhythm with his breathing.

Even more abundant spiritual energy surged forth from all directions, continuously pouring into Fang Shu's body.

Or more accurately, it was infused into his spiritual roots.

On the center of his forehead, a cordyceps spiritual root had sprouted, eagerly absorbing the rich spiritual energy without hesitation. Its small body seemed like a bottomless pit.

During this process, the shape of the cordyceps root also changes; in just a few breaths, it transforms from a sprouting state into a fully formed state.

However, the shape it grows out of is not that of grass or trees, but rather resembles a living thing.

From Fang Shu's perspective, this thing resembled a small, sturdy dragon, with even two small protrusions sprouting from its head, like horns.

Seeing this, he was surprised:

"Cordyceps, Cordyceps... If this spiritual root refines a spiritual vein and transforms into a spiritual vein, will it transform from an insect into a dragon, evolving into a complete insect-dragon grass?"

It is said that Fang Shu once stumbled upon a herb in an ancient book, which was rumored to have existed in ancient times. It was said to be able to undergo seven cycles of rebirth and nine refinements, and could even transform into a real dragon, swimming between life and death. His current cordyceps spiritual root showed signs of having a similar effect.

If we add to that the fact that his physical body has cultivated the Dragon Whale Nourishing Method, it does indeed increase his chances of becoming a dragon, and his spiritual root attribute is also exactly Yin and Yang.

With the two factors combined, he might actually be able to cultivate a dragon-worm spirit vein within his body.

With this dragon vein by his side, his future magical power and potential will surely be extraordinary!

But as Fang Shu admired the cordyceps root emerging from the broken skin on his forehead, he thought to himself again:
"Although this dragon vein is good, it is still not what I want."

Its eyes were empty and its face expressionless, as if it were a bystander, allowing the cordyceps spiritual root to absorb its nutrients at will, even destroying the spiritual veins beneath Little West Mountain.

No matter how perfect the dragon-like form of the spiritual root became, or how thick and robust its root became, he was not happy about it.

However, Fang Shu did not obstruct the Cordyceps Spirit Root from consuming the Little West Mountain Spirit Vein in the slightest.

He even took out a lot of mid-grade spirit stones, crushed them one by one on the five-colored earthen altar, and released the pure spiritual energy inside them to nourish the cordyceps spiritual root between his forehead as much as possible.

As time goes by.

The cordyceps spiritual root became increasingly rampant and unrestrained, and the wisps of divine threads it extended had already covered the entire spiritual vein of Little West Mountain.

If not for Fang Shu's intervention, it would have even extended the divine silk beyond the mountain's borders.

At this moment, the entire spiritual vein of Xiaoxishan is like prey that has been parasitized and bound by it, with the spiritual energy underground being frantically squeezed out and incorporated into the cordyceps spiritual root.

This kind of destructive practice, while able to extract unimaginable spiritual energy from the spiritual veins, will also extinguish the spiritual energy of this place, as if it had been completely cut off.

Unless it undergoes a long period of nurturing and receives some kind of opportunity, spiritual energy will sprout again in this place, giving birth to new spiritual veins.

Even according to the "Dragon Whale Nourishing Method" in Fang Shu's possession, the enormous spiritual energy squeezed out is actually only secondary.

In the context of the outside world, spiritual veins are equivalent to the meridians and blood vessels in the human body.

To devour the spiritual veins of heaven and earth with one's spiritual root is equivalent to directly cutting off the entire blood vessel.

Although the area that was cut off will not die and will slowly form tiny blood vessels and meridians in the future, no matter what, this place has ultimately lost a portion of the vital energy of heaven and earth.

This primordial energy of heaven and earth is formless and intangible, and cannot be fathomed. Even Golden Core Immortals find it difficult to detect, but according to various signs, it does indeed exist.

The reason why immortals who establish their foundation by walking on the ground can use their physical bodies as spiritual grounds is because they have absorbed the primordial energy of heaven and earth into their bodies. This is how they can join the ranks of those who establish their foundation and are able to compete with those who establish their foundation by sitting on the ground.

Fang Shu is now using the method of building a foundation by walking on the ground to devour and harvest the spiritual veins of the entire Little West Mountain. This is undoubtedly also devouring the spiritual energy of heaven and earth in this place and stealing it into his body.

This gave him a sudden thought, and he pondered to himself:

"This primordial energy of heaven and earth is formless and intangible, seemingly existent yet not truly existent, and unfathomable. It is quite similar to the fortune of Mount Lu mentioned by the five sect leaders."

What followed made his mind wander even further.

It was he who continued to devour the spiritual veins of Xiaoxishan and steal the secrets of heaven, even though the spiritual energy of the entire spiritual vein showed a visible decline.

The backlashes mentioned in the "Dragon Whale Nourishing Method," such as the evil energy from the earth, the foul energy of the dragon vein, and the divine punishment and inner demons, did not appear in the slightest.

This greatly surprised Fang Shu.

It should be understood that those who encroach upon the heavens and earth will inevitably suffer the backlash of the heavens and earth. This is precisely the biggest hurdle that immortals who cultivate their foundation on earth will encounter during the foundation-building process.

Only by persevering and overcoming adversity can we lay the foundation for success.

However, the spiritual veins of Xiaoxishan are now at his disposal, and he has not made any demands whatsoever.

"Is this because I am a descendant of Lushan and possess the fortune of Lushan?"

He pondered to himself, a thought suddenly struck him, and he couldn't help but look down at the five-colored earthen altar built beneath him, imitating the mound atop Mount Lu.

For some reason, Fang Shu vaguely felt that the earthen altar beneath him had become more vivid in color, and at the same time had a kind of rustic texture.

However, when he used his divine sense to probe around, the earthen altar showed nothing unusual; it was completely unremarkable.

Therefore, he had no choice but to put down his investigation, sit cross-legged on the five-colored earthen altar, and concentrate on refining the spiritual vein of Little West Mountain.

Until the spiritual energy of this spiritual vein was almost completely drained by his spiritual root, Fang Shu remained free from demonic influences and his mind was completely clear.

On the contrary, when the external spiritual veins dried up and the internal spiritual veins grew, he focused his consciousness on the spiritual root between his foreheads, and the root actually resisted.

Although this spiritual root was refined by Fang Shu using the Gold-Seeking Insect as its base, after so many years of nurturing and cultivation within his body, it should have long since become one with Fang Shu, like flesh and blood.

But now, faced with Fang Shu's attempt to interrupt its final "dragon transformation," it actually developed its own will to live and began to resist before Fang Shu could make any move.

This made Fang Shu's eyelids twitch, and he felt suspicious and even cold.

Even if it is personally refined and planted in the body, and has been cleansed by the blood lotus seed, this spiritual root is still an external thing in the end!

A multitude of thoughts surged through Fang Shu's mind.

He also thought of the immortals' disdain for pseudo-spiritual roots.

However, in just a breath or two, he regained his composure and came back to his senses.

A gentle smile suddenly appeared on Fang Shu's face.

Whether or not there is a problem with the spiritual root is something that immortals who are building their foundation on the ground should care about. The foundation that they are building is neither sitting on the ground nor walking on the ground.

next moment,
He grabbed his own spiritual root, pulled it from his forehead, and refined it in an instant!

After the spiritual root was pulled out, Fang Shu's forehead was hollow, like an eye socket where the eyeballs had been gouged out. Moreover, if someone were here, they could see the bones, flesh, and even the white brain matter inside his brain through the hollow.

At this moment, intense pain swept over Fang Shu's entire body.

It should be known that the spiritual root is just like a person's arms and limbs, and the pain of removing it is no different from having one's own heart ripped out.

Besides the pain, there was also a feeling of emptiness that filled Fang Shu's mind and body, leaving him feeling lost and disoriented.

Fortunately, Fang Shu had anticipated this.

He simply closed his eyes, savoring the feeling of utter loneliness—a feeling of being devoid of spiritual roots and seemingly rejected by heaven and earth.

Before he could savor the moment, an immense pressure of spiritual energy surged forth from the tiny insect-grass spiritual root, or rather, the quasi-insect-dragon spiritual vein, washing over his entire body like a waterfall, penetrating every pore and blurring his consciousness.

This surging spiritual power directly caused Fang Shu's skin to crack inch by inch, and even his soul was cut apart.

However, a powerful aura of a Foundation Establishment Immortal also rose from Fang Shu's body, vast and mighty.

(End of this chapter)