Under the Void Realm Tree.
Li Ye stood, his gaze lingering on the palace atop the mountain, eyes deep and distant.
Of the four handmaidens he had once taken in, two had now failed to establish their foundations. Their vitality had been severely depleted, and even the effects of beauty-preserving pills had been greatly diminished, leaving them haggard and no longer beautiful.
Li Ye, however, didn't mind this all that much.
If they were willing, he had ways to help them recover their former states maintaining their youthful appearance until the end of their lifespans.
Even if they no longer wished to serve him personally, they could take on other responsibilities within Pingyang Mountain and live out their remaining days in peace.
But Xia Qiong and Ruan Jin, one after the other, had made their stances clear they had no desire to remain.
Perhaps to them, the ever-encroaching passage of time, the growing signs of aging, and having to face Li Ye's eternally youthful appearance each day… was its form of torment.
Though Li Ye could not fully understand that sentiment, he chose to respect it.
In light of their many years of companionship, he had also given instructions for their families and affiliated forces to be well cared for, and he often sent people to check in on them.
He had even visited in person during his free time, though the two had avoided him, unwilling to let him see what they had become.
And now, it was Hong Yao's turn…
Li Ye had already provided all the help he could. Whether or not she could succeed in her breakthrough now depended entirely on her fate and fortune.
Compared to them…
Li Ye suddenly thought of Lan Xinyi.
Ever since they parted ways years ago, he had never seen her again. He only heard occasional news of the Lan Clan through the documents compiled and submitted by Luo Feibai.
Although he had severed ties with the Lan Clan, who in the Chidi Mountains didn't know of his past connection with Lan Xinyi?
Thanks to Pingyang Mountain's deliberate goodwill and protection, and with time passing, more and more descendants of the Lan Clan had begun to show signs of spiritual roots. The family had gradually started to rise again.
They were showing signs of returning to their former glory.
Lan Xinyi, the clan head, had become more reclusive with age, seldom appearing in public. Now, she lived in quiet seclusion on the mountain, and news of her had grown scarce.
"If things continue like this… when I finally perfect Foundation Establishment and step into the Golden core stage, how many of those from my past will still be around?"
Li Ye sighed softly.
In truth, for someone at the Foundation Establishment stage, he was still quite young not yet a century old.
He hadn't even needed to rely on the spirit essence of the Void Realm Tree to extend his lifespan.
Still, as a transmigrator who had once been just an ordinary person in his past life, now a cultivator whose aging had completely halted
He had begun to feel the cruelty of time, and the loneliness of the cultivation path.
Perhaps, aside from his chosen Dao and the panel he relied upon, there was truly nothing else that could accompany him to the end.
As his thoughts drifted, Li Ye's eyes suddenly flickered.
"It's begun."
Under the array formation's coverage, he could sense spiritual energy rapidly converging toward Hong Yao's secluded chamber a small spiritual vortex had already formed within.
Though he wasn't physically present for her breakthrough, the formation acted as an extension of his senses, allowing him to grasp her condition in real time.
If anything went wrong, he could intervene immediately preventing a repeat of what had happened to Ruan Jin, who had suffered disastrous consequences due to unstable emotions.
With his attention focused, he observed as Hong Yao's aura steadily climbed, repeatedly condensing and stabilizing.
Finally, she pushed through the most difficult stage. Her spiritual power underwent a sudden transformation, and her ability to absorb spiritual energy increased significantly.
As time ticked by, her spiritual energy gradually settled and stabilized she had successfully reached the Foundation Establishment stage!
"She made it…"
Li Ye murmured, a small smile forming on his face.
No matter what else, with Hong Yao's breakthrough, there was now one more person by his side who could accompany him a little farther down this long path.
.......
Among the four handmaidens who served Li Ye, two had successfully broken through to the Foundation Establishment stage. As a result, their respective families and affiliated forces had also risen with them like the old saying goes, when one man achieves enlightenment, even his chickens and dogs ascend to heaven.
Such a ratio was enough to stir both envy and awe across the various factions of the Chidi Mountains.
Even the two who had failed their breakthroughs were still well cared for by Pingyang Mountain after resigning and returning home, enjoying countless benefits.
All it took was gaining Li Ye's favor, and the possibility of such an opportunity existed. Across the Chidi Mountains and beyond, countless hearts yearned for it.
Before this, among Pingyang Mountain's stewards, only Luo Feibai and Wen Chu, who had later proven their loyalty and competence, had been rewarded by Li Ye with the chance to establish their foundations.
Counting it all, Li Ye had only been the master of Pingyang Mountain for a few decades, yet he had already nurtured four Foundation Establishment cultivators.
Including himself deliberately revealing his status as a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator his faction's power was on par with elite forces just below Golden Core sects, even within the Four Kingdoms!
In the rural region of the Chidi Mountains, this was something most people wouldn't even dare to dream of.
Now, the various powers of the Chidi Mountains had long given up any thoughts of rivalry. Their sole focus was on finding ways to align themselves with Pingyang Mountain and curry favor with Li Ye.
Over the years, many clans had sent their most beautiful women to Pingyang Mountain, hoping that if one caught Li Ye's eye, their family might be the next to rise.
The families behind Xia Qiong and Ruan Jin were even more eager, trying to rekindle ties by sending girls who looked almost identical to how the two women had appeared in their youth hoping Li Ye would take them in as handmaidens.
But Li Ye paid little attention to such things, leaving it all to Rong Yue and Hong Yao, who had succeeded in their breakthroughs, to manage.
To him, the only things that truly mattered were cultivation and the search for third-grade spirit plants.
One year later
Within a grand hall cloaked in layers of protective formations
Li Ye's blood energy surged. Black dragon scales and striped tiger fur flickered in and out of sight, completely fused and integrated into a crystalline membrane beneath his skin.
Though outwardly invisible, they had reinforced his body to its peak.
Behind him, the power of his bloodline and his martial intent manifested as a black flood dragon and a fierce tiger, coiling and intertwining.
The cold, yin energy of the dragon and the blazing, yang energy of the tiger clashed and merged, creating wave after wave of pressure throughout the hall.
Like mutual creation and destruction, they evolved into a visual embodiment of a Taiji diagram of yin and yang in perfect balance.
In this ever-cycling force of water and fire, yin and yang, Li Ye's body was continuously refined, his physique and blood energy constantly ascending.
His life force became perfectly balanced and harmonious, as if it were one with a great elixir a unified whole.
He was on the verge of Blood Qi Golden Core.
Compared to a few years ago, this Dragon-Tiger martial intent had been fully mastered, reaching the precise state Li Ye had long envisioned.
This state persisted until, with a sudden jolt, Li Ye's body erupted with power breaking through a bottleneck in a thunderous surge.
Accompanied by a dragon's roar and a tiger's howl, he ascended to the peak level.
With a single thought, the dragon and tiger phantoms vanished into his body.
His raging blood energy instantly calmed, becoming still and unshakable.
Joy spread across Li Ye's face.
"Ten years of cultivating mana to reach the late Foundation Establishment stage… yet I'm not even halfway to peak completion. But this path of body cultivation has soared ahead without pause…"
"Now that it's fully completed, I finally qualify to attempt Blood Qi Golden Core…"
"Though I don't intend to form a core through this path, having such a powerful physique combined with the [Vitality] blessing even a direct strike from a Golden Core cultivator might not threaten my life…"
"The threat posed by Golden Core cultivators to me… is growing smaller by the day!"
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