In truth, the Ling Family was merely a low-tier Foundation Establishment clan. Obtaining a Foundation Establishment Pill was far from easy for them.
They had no ability to refine such pills themselves.
The only way was to spend enormous sums of spirit stones at auctions—and even then, what they obtained were merely low-grade Foundation Establishment Pills with three pill patterns.
Such pills only gave a thirty percent chance of breaking through to Foundation Establishment.
At best, if the breakthrough failed, the cultivator's body and cultivation would remain unharmed.
Even if one succeeded, the resulting Dao Foundation would only be low-grade—leaving almost no hope of ever reaching the Golden Core Realm.
Compared to that, a mid-grade Foundation Establishment Pill was far superior.
Not only did it increase the success rate to over forty percent, but even if the breakthrough failed, the cultivator would still reach Qi Refining Layer Ten—Great Perfection.
At that level, with just one more Foundation Establishment Pill, the next breakthrough would almost certainly succeed.
Moreover, building one's foundation with a mid-grade pill meant a high probability of forming a mid-grade Dao Foundation—a path that held real hope for longevity.
And the pill in front of Luo Nishang…
was even more extraordinary.
A six-pattern mid-grade Foundation Establishment Pill, the finest among mid-grade pills.
There was even a slight chance of forming a high-grade Dao Foundation.
At an auction, even if the entire Ling Family sold everything they owned…
they still wouldn't be able to afford one.
"That's right. A Foundation Establishment Pill."
Ji Chang smiled faintly as he watched the excitement in Luo Nishang's eyes.
"And I can guarantee that you'll reach Foundation Establishment."
He flipped his palm.
Three more brocade boxes appeared in his hand.
Each one contained the same six-pattern mid-grade Foundation Establishment Pill.
Resources like this were only considered rare because the upper ranks tightly controlled them.
For large sects and powerful forces, they weren't truly precious.
Take the Shendao Sect, for example.
An outer sect disciple who cultivated to Qi Refining Layer Nine could exchange 3,000 contribution points for a mid-grade Foundation Establishment Pill.
With 10,000 contribution points, they could even obtain a high-grade pill.
In the original story, the protagonist Ling Feng had exchanged for a high-grade Foundation Establishment Pill, forming a high-grade Dao Foundation.
From that moment onward, he soared like a carp leaping through the dragon gate, shining brilliantly within the inner sect.
Eventually, he even reached the final round—competing with Ji Chang for the position of True Disciple.
But if nothing unexpected happened…
the winner would undoubtedly be Ji Chang.
Because—
Inside his Qi Sea and Dantian, a massive ancient cauldron quietly released strands of purple energy.
Purple Pattern Dao Cauldron.
Among high-grade Dao Foundations, it was considered a top-tier existence—just a step away from becoming a perfect Dao Foundation.
And when combined with his Innate Dual Pupils, Ji Chang's combat strength far surpassed that of ordinary cultivators with high-grade Dao Foundations.
Not to mention the powerful techniques and divine abilities he possessed.
No matter how one looked at it, the recently rising protagonist Ling Feng was still no match for him.
"I… I…"
One Foundation Establishment Pill still carried risk.
But three… four pills…
That was more than enough for her to successfully break through.
Luo Nishang's eyes wavered visibly.
Seeing this, Ji Chang suddenly stepped closer.
His dual pupils locked onto her gaze.
"Now…"
"Kneel."
"And serve me properly."
Those pupils seemed like swirling vortexes, pulling Luo Nishang's attention deep inside them.
Her eyes became dazed.
Almost unconsciously, she began following Ji Chang's command.
This was the Soul-Capturing Eye Technique.
A Profound-rank spell.
Combined with the overwhelming gap between Foundation Establishment and Qi Refining—and the psychological defenses Ji Chang had already shattered—it produced a terrifying effect.
As a Longevity Clan, the Ji Family might not possess techniques specifically designed for dual pupils, but they certainly had many ocular techniques in their library.
Among them, the Soul-Capturing Eye was the highest-ranked one.
In the cultivation world of Qingyuan, power levels were divided into Heaven, Earth, Profound, and Yellow ranks.
Because the world could only sustain cultivators up to the Divine Transformation Realm, truly high-grade treasures and techniques rarely existed.
Usually, Earth Rank was the absolute peak.
Each rank was further divided into low, mid, and high tiers.
The Soul-Capturing Eye was a mid-tier Profound-rank technique.
The Foundation Establishment Realm, as its name suggested, was the stage where one built the Dao foundation for future cultivation.
Ji Chang had broken through to Foundation Establishment five years ago.
Even though he was still at the early stage, his true combat strength had increased hundreds—perhaps thousands—of times compared to before.
Only mediocrities obsessed over minor breakthroughs in cultivation realms.
Those people often stalled at the later stages of cultivation, unable to even form a Pseudo Core.
—
Fengming Peak.
At the foot of the mountain, a figure dressed in a dark Daoist robe hid quietly in the shadows.
His eyes were fixed on a strange centipede-like insect crawling in his palm.
This person was none other than the protagonist of Records of Fairies in Their Splendor—
Ling Feng.
To ensure the success of his plan, he had used a Profound-rank Invisibility Talisman he had painstakingly acquired.
Even then, he only dared hide near the base of Fengming Peak.
Earlier, he had watched with his own eyes as his mature and alluring foster mother changed into a half-transparent gauze robe before entering Ji Chang's cave dwelling.
The expression hidden beneath the shadows of the trees had twisted almost beyond recognition.
She was the one who had raised him.
The one who had taught him the basics of cultivation.
And now—
he could only watch helplessly as she walked into the tiger's den.
How could he not hate it?
Yet when the Void Centipede Mother Gu in his hand suddenly began hissing excitedly, a trace of excitement appeared within his grief and resentment.
"Tomorrow's final match…"
"It's secure."
Once the poison was activated, the mother gu would react.
"Ji Chang."
"Today's humiliation—I, Ling Feng, will remember it."
"One day in the future, I will make you repay this blood debt in full!"
If it weren't for tomorrow's battle for the True Disciple position, he would never have resorted to such a method.
Born into a small clan.
Father dead since childhood.
No backing.
Bullied and humiliated everywhere.
If he had insisted on righteousness and morality under such circumstances…
he would never have even found the gates of the Shendao Sect.
Only by abandoning everything and using any means necessary could Ling Feng one day soar to the heavens.
The great cultivation clans would rather let their techniques and pills rot in their treasure vaults than share even a fraction with lower cultivators.
If he had been born into a family like Ji Chang's…
why would he ever have needed to sacrifice his own foster mother?
She was the only person who had ever given him warmth during his childhood.
Thinking of this, Ling Feng clenched his teeth so tightly they creaked.
He stared at the hissing Void Centipede Mother Gu in his hand.
After a moment of silence, unease still lingered in his heart.
The mother gu would react once the poison activated—but from this distance, he wouldn't be able to determine whether the poison had truly taken effect.
He needed to get at least halfway up the mountain.
Using the invisibility talisman, he cautiously crept forward dozens of meters.
Suddenly—
a powerful sense of danger exploded within his heart.
Whoosh!
He instantly maximized the talisman's concealment and flattened himself into the shadow of a rock.
Moments later—
a powerful divine sense swept across the area.
Ling Feng felt his scalp go numb.
"Hm… strange."
"It felt like something moved just now."
Several Foundation Establishment inner sect patrol disciples murmured to themselves.
They scanned the area two or three more times.
Finding nothing unusual, they finally moved on.
Only after they disappeared did Ling Feng carefully retreat back to the mountain's base.
He glared hatefully at the summit of Fengming Peak.
Everyone in the Shendao Sect knew one thing.
Ji Chang wasn't a True Disciple—
but his status was practically equal to one.
The moment he entered the inner sect, countless cultivators had flocked to his side.
He had even spent an enormous amount of wealth to rent an entire mountain peak as his personal cave dwelling.
Normally, only True Disciples were allowed to possess an entire peak.
Inner sect disciples could rent one as well—
but the price was astronomical.
For ordinary disciples, it was simply impossible.
Yet Ji Chang had done it without hesitation.
Because of that, the number of followers under his command continued to grow larger with every passing day.