Foundation Establishment. The first true step on the path of cultivation.

Qi Condensation was the realm of beginners — gathering spiritual energy and refining it within the body. Foundation Establishment was the realm of builders — using that energy to create the spiritual foundation upon which the rest of cultivation would be constructed. A good foundation could support a tower that reached the heavens. A poor foundation would crack under the weight of later breakthroughs.

Meng Hao sat in the meditation chamber he had borrowed from an Outer Sect senior in exchange for a month's worth of pill-refining labor, and prepared himself.

'You're going to try all three at once,' the bronze mirror said — actually spoke, which it did only when it was very pleased or very alarmed.

'Is that bad?'

'Most cultivators attempt Foundation Establishment once every three years and are advised to rest between attempts for at least six months.'

'I don't have six months. The competition is in two weeks.'

The mirror was silent for a long moment. Then it pulsed — which, with the mirror, meant resigned acceptance.

Meng Hao crushed the first batch of Seven-Leaf Spirit Grass and dissolved it in purified spiritual water. The liquid glowed pale green, like spring sunlight filtered through new leaves. He drank it, and the energy hit his dantian like a thunderbolt.

The foundation was building itself — but wrong. The spiritual energy was too weak, the structure too fragile. He forced more energy into it, and cracks began to appear in the emerging foundation. By the time he finished, the foundation existed, but it was riddled with hairline fissures.

'Again,' he said, and crushed the second batch.

The second attempt was better. The foundation built itself stronger this time, with fewer cracks, but still not enough to support the weight of his future cultivation. He crushed the third batch without hesitation.

By dawn, he had used all three batches of Seven-Leaf Spirit Grass, and his foundation was solid enough to pass through the barrier between Qi Condensation and Foundation Establishment. It was not a perfect foundation. It was, by elite sect standards, embarrassing.

But it was his. And for the first time in his life, Meng Hao felt like a real cultivator.