Living as a Mortal: Grinding Experience Starting from the Underworld

"Young friend Zhang, this is the Foundation Establishment Pill that I promised beforehand."

A streak of light escaped from Wan Qing's storage bag and flew into Zhang Feng's hand; it was a jade box.

Then Wan Qing spoke up with considerable regret:

"I just tested your spiritual root talent. It's a pseudo-spiritual root with four elements. Your talent is extremely poor, and I'm afraid you will have difficulty successfully establishing your foundation."

She did consider recruiting Zhang Feng in the Netherworld, but she gave up the idea after testing his talent.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Feng remained expressionless. He had heard countless times about pseudo-spiritual roots and poor talent since he began cultivating immortality.

However, this did not hinder his pursuit of immortality, especially since he also had an experience panel in his mind.

Seeing that Zhang Feng remained unmoved, a hint of appreciation flashed in Wan Qing's eyes before she continued speaking:

"Fellow Daoist, the spiritual energy in your body is mixed and contains the Yin-Yang power of the Yin-Yang Land. Once the spiritual energy flows in disorder, it will inevitably cause serious internal injuries."

These words made Zhang Feng's heart stir; the problem of mixed spiritual energy was something that needed to be paid attention to.

In the Netherworld, he urgently needed to improve his strength to protect himself, which is why he used Netherworld Beast Crystals instead of spiritual energy for cultivation. Now that he has returned to the outside world, it is time to correct this behavior.

"Thank you for informing me, senior!"

Zhang Feng, standing on his flying sword, bowed and expressed his gratitude.

"No need for that. We've settled the matter, and I request that you keep my whereabouts a secret!"

"By the way, I believe this place is in an outer star sea. There is a large island due south. I have something to attend to, so I will leave first. Please make your own way, fellow Daoist."

Wan Qing waved her hand decisively, her tone gradually turning cold. Even though Zhang Feng's personality and actions suited her, his pseudo-spiritual root was still inferior.

Giving away all the Foundation Establishment Pills he had left was already within his power, and he had a clear conscience. As for whether Zhang Feng could successfully establish his foundation, that was up to fate.

After uttering his last words, Wan Qing transformed into a streak of light and vanished.

Realizing that Wan Qing had disappeared without a trace, Zhang Feng reached out and opened the jade box. Inside, four pills lay quietly, their color lustrous and emitting a rich medicinal fragrance.

High-quality goods, and three extra of them! Wan Qing is a good cultivator! Zhang Feng secretly noted this in his heart.

As for why he didn't open and inspect it in person, the reason was simple: Zhang Feng couldn't guarantee that Wan Qing would actually give him the Foundation Establishment Pill.

Low-level cultivators have no say when facing high-level cultivators, and if they are not careful, they may not survive.

Take Wan Qing for example. If she doesn't give him the pills or gives him fake ones, and Zhang Feng carelessly opens them, what will happen if an unpleasant situation arises?

Fortunately, Wan Qing is not only a trustworthy person, but also a very good person!

It should be noted that Han Li, who also possessed a pseudo-spiritual root, had to consume no fewer than ten Foundation Establishment Pills to achieve Foundation Establishment.

And I suppose I'm not much different from Han Li.

This time, Wan Qing gave me four pills directly, and they were even top-grade Foundation Establishment Pills. The favor is immense, and I will definitely repay it many times over next time we meet.

Zhang Feng accepted the Foundation Establishment Pill, determined the direction, and flew towards the nearest island described by Wan Qing.

……

Three days later, Zhang Feng found the island described by Wan Qing.

It was none other than Qiyuan Island, one of the many islands in the outer sea.

Qiyuan Island is a large island inhabited by both humans and demons, and it is relatively safe compared to other offshore islands.

Blackstone City is the only city for cultivators on Qiyuan Island, and Zhang Feng quickly rented a cave dwelling belonging to the Biyun Sect, which belonged to the human cultivator faction.

The reason is simple: his cultivation level is too low. Even with dual cultivation of body and spirit, Zhang Feng is no match for a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

The most urgent task is to quickly change the cultivation method, expel the Yin and Dark forces from the body, and fully infuse it with spiritual energy.

After mastering the Langshui True Essence Technique to perfection, one can then begin preparations for Foundation Establishment.

As for the storage bags and high-level cultivator magic treasures brought out from the Netherworld, Zhang Feng, who was only at the Qi Refining stage, didn't dare to take any of them out.

After making a plan in his mind, Zhang Feng went into seclusion.

First, he expelled the Yin energy from his body. His mastery of the Netherworld Body Refining Technique made it easy for Zhang Feng to control and expel the Yin energy from his body.

However, it is easy to expel the Yin and Yang power that forms patterns in the body, but it is difficult for the body to recover from the transformation caused by the Yin and Yang power.

For three whole months, Zhang Feng completed the replacement of Yin-Yang power with spiritual power, and his body refinement cultivation also reached the first level of perfect body refinement.

After completing the spiritual energy replacement, Zhang Feng also comprehended a body-refining divine ability from the cultivation technique, called the Blood Demon Body, which can greatly enhance the body's self-healing ability.

Secondly, the Liver Full of Langshui True Essence Technique is a beginner-level technique that can only be cultivated to the point of Qi Refining Perfection. Zhang Feng spent three months directly cultivating it to the point of Proficiency Perfection, and his cultivation level also smoothly reached the peak of Qi Refining Perfection.

Only then did Zhang Feng fully understand the proficiency levels, which were divided into five levels: beginner, proficient, master, advanced, and perfect.

Zhang Feng checked his panel one last time.

Name: Zhang Feng

【灵根天赋：水（40/100）、火（20/100）、土（25/100）、木（25/100）】

[Cultivation Level: Qi Refining Perfection (&) First-Tier Body Refining Perfection (&) First-Tier Soul Refining (1/1300)]

[Cultivation Techniques: Langshui True Essence Technique (Perfected), Netherworld Body Refining Technique (Mastery 99/100), Demon Soul Undying Technique also arrives (Mastery 99/100)]

【技艺：渔猎（熟练32/100）水遁术（熟练9/100）驱物术（熟练3/100）】

Qi Refining, Body Refining, and Soul Refining are the three pillars of cultivation. Zhang Feng has already mastered two of them, leaving only Soul Refining.

In order to achieve perfection before Foundation Establishment, Zhang Feng decided to first grind Soul Refining to the first level of perfection.

However, because the cave on Qiyuan Island lacked the dense Yin energy of the Yinming Land, Zhang Feng's progress in refining his soul was very slow.

It took Zhang Feng a full year to complete the Soul Refining skill.

With the three pillars complete, Zhang Feng decided to take the Foundation Establishment Pill to attempt the Foundation Establishment stage.

Zhang Feng reviewed once again the foundation-building insights and experiences he had obtained from the Netherworld.

There are three key steps to Foundation Establishment: First, one must endure the impact of the massive spiritual power of the Foundation Establishment Pill on the dantian barrier and bottleneck.

Secondly, it withstands the cleansing and purification of the body's meridians and vessels after the spiritual energy breaks through the barriers and bottlenecks.

Third, the liquid spiritual energy is compressed into the dantian to form a stable liquid true essence pool in order to complete the foundation building;

In short: stay calm and don't be afraid of pain.

The first Foundation Establishment Pill entered Zhang Feng's stomach. Perhaps it was because the Foundation Establishment Pill given by Wan Qing was of such high quality that as soon as he swallowed it, the enormous medicinal power released a huge amount of spiritual energy, which continuously impacted Zhang Feng's dantian and even broke through the dantian barrier in one fell swoop.

After the second Foundation Building Pill entered his stomach, the bottleneck was broken through.

Perhaps because his body had been tempered by the invasion of Yin and Yang power, Zhang Feng did not feel much pain when his dantian broke through the barrier or his bottleneck.

This pain is less than one-tenth of the pain from the body tempering with the power of the underworld.

After the third Foundation Establishment Pill entered his stomach, spiritual energy began to temper and cleanse Zhang Feng's entire body.

Zhang Feng thoroughly enjoyed this process, feeling a tingling and itchy sensation in his bones and flesh, as if something was repairing and growing.

After swallowing the fourth pill, Zhang Feng began to compress his spiritual energy. With the help of the first-stage Soul Refining Perfection, this stage went very smoothly.

As Zhang Feng felt the abundant spiritual energy within his body, he experienced a sense of unreality for the first time.

Two years ago, he risked being swallowed by the ghost mist and piloted his spirit ship to catch spirit fish in order to get a chance to use the Foundation Establishment Pill.

Unexpectedly, he was betrayed by the Li siblings and his own junior sister, and fell into the underworld.

However, this misfortune turned into a blessing, as it awakened the proficiency experience panel.

During this time, in order to save his life, he endured the pain of absorbing the power of the Yinming Beast Crystal to refine his body and cultivate.

After killing the Li brothers, he encountered the upheaval in Huangtu Village and killed Li Ning. Later, he formed a team to climb Storm Mountain and witnessed his junior sister's accidental death again.

He was fortunate enough to receive Wan Qing's help, which allowed him to escape the Netherworld and obtain the Foundation Establishment Pill.

His years of arduous practice paid off, and his troubled thoughts were finally resolved.

Now, I have finally shed my mortal body and embarked on the true path of cultivation.

That year, Zhang Feng was thirty years old and broke through to the Foundation Establishment stage with the talent of a pseudo-spiritual root.