Chapter 155: The So-Called Foundation Establishment

Seeing the look of sudden realization on Catherine’s face, Ling Mo smiled and said, “Do you understand now? Isn’t the foundation of martial cultivation much simpler than you imagined?”

With a click, Catherine closed the demonic eye elf, ending the live stream. Her expression was complex: ever since she had advanced to Senior Martial Artist and her luck energy could ‘see’ outward, the entire world had transformed drastically before her eyes. The nearby green tree emitted faint blue glimmers within, mostly near its roots, indicating abundant water magic elements. The fruits bore a deeper purple glow, suggesting a stronger affinity with dark elements. In the distance, the gorillas were shrouded in a thin black mist, and near their kidneys, there was a dense purple-black radiance—almost all the dark elements concentrated there.

Turning her gaze to Vane, she could clearly see a dazzling white light at Vane’s heart. With every heartbeat, the faint light-element energy traveled through her body’s channels to every limb and corner, subtly fusing with her form. However, this fusion was painfully slow and nearly ineffective; her entire body remained dim, even the black mist surrounding the gorillas was thin. The only part glowing faintly was the five lobes of Vane’s lungs, where specks of white light clung to her abdomen, indicating a deep fusion between the light elements and her lungs. Once this fusion reached a certain level, Vane’s lung function would likely surge dramatically, enabling mastery of breathing techniques and advancement to Intermediate Martial Artist.

Looking down at herself, Catherine noticed all her organs emitted a red glow, clearly deeply fused with fire elements. The heart, lungs, and skin surface shone most intensely, their fusion far surpassing that of other organs. When Catherine closed her eyes, she could almost sketch every detail of these organs in her mind. The kidneys and liver, however, flickered with red light and were barely perceptible; she could scarcely sense their contours, let alone their details.

“So, the foundation of martial cultivation isn’t complicated at all. Essentially, it’s about thoroughly transforming the target’s heart, right?” Catherine asked Ling Mo. “Now that I think about it, most ingredients in that red pill I took were superfluous—just to purge impurities from my body. Actually, this process could be completed slowly by the transformed heart itself, couldn’t it?”

“Exactly right,” Ling Mo nodded. “But you should understand that the freshly transformed heart’s energy output is limited. Purging all impurities and advancing to ‘Junior Martial Artist’ is a long, arduous process. The ‘Foundation Pill’ is just an acceleration method when necessary.”

“So, if I forcibly inject energy into someone else’s heart, can I complete their foundation of martial cultivation?” Catherine’s voice was dry. “What’s this? Isn’t it said that magic entering the body turns one into a monster? Those ruthless fiends, doomed to the same fate as the rotting corpses in the corrupted lands! That’s absolutely true. There are countless such cases across the continent. Besides, if martial cultivation were this simple, wouldn’t someone have thought of this method long ago in thousands of years?”

“That’s because they never imagined it,” before Ling Mo could reply, Vane interjected, “The part of the human body most compatible with magic elements is the ‘spirit force,’ with an affinity hundreds of times greater than the flesh. If you train without external assistance, whether you like it or not, your spirit force will be the first to fuse with magic elements, and those elements first enter your brain.”

“Exactly. If unrefined magic elements enter your brain, you become a mindless monster,” Ling Mo shrugged, then corrected his expression, pointing to his chest. “Your idea of ‘injecting energy into someone’s heart’ to complete foundation building is completely wrong. Simply injecting energy will only blow their heart to pieces. The correct method is to implant a ‘refining formation’ into their heart—that’s how you succeed.”

As Ling Mo spoke, he opened his right palm, and a formation diagram composed of cyan-green light appeared in his hand. At first glance, it resembled a level-four magic circle of moderate complexity, but the longer one gazed, the more profound its mysteries became, as if the secrets of the entire world were contained within.

Seeing this formation, Vane’s expression shifted abruptly, her eyes burning with fervor. Flames seemed to blaze within her gaze, and her face radiated the light of a fanatic seeing their god. Her mouth hung open, drool trailing over half a foot without her noticing. As if her soul were drawn away, she stared fixedly at the ‘refining formation,’ murmuring in a trance:

“Perfect! Absolutely perfect! It can even do this! Could this really have been created by humans? I want it! I need it! If I could apply this to my puppets, my beloved treasures would become the most perfect ‘Alice’! No, not just ‘Alice’—something far more perfect, hehe… hehehe…”

Although Catherine could vaguely sense the profundity of the ‘refining formation,’ her level was far below Vane’s, so her impression was much shallower. Ling Mo, however, paid no mind. In a flash, he appeared before Catherine and with a backhand slap, imprinted the entire ‘refining formation’ onto her forehead.

Catherine’s mind went blank as a gentle power enveloped her head. Suddenly, her mind was flooded with inexplicable information. Whenever she recalled it, every detail of the refining formation would appear vividly—how it was inscribed on the heart, the exact location, everything—as if she had practiced it hundreds of times, leaving an indelible impression.

“How... how is this possible!” Vane screamed hysterically, her voice on the verge of breaking. “I—I haven’t even seen enough yet! Such a brilliant formation, and it’s just given to that silly senior sister!”

“When you reach Senior Martial Artist, I’ll also implant the ‘refining formation’ into your mind,” Ling Mo answered concisely, calming her down. Then, his expression grew contemplative. “For years, I’ve been waiting for the third ‘Senior Martial Artist’ to appear. Only with the energy purity of Senior Martial Artist or above can one successfully build a foundation for others. My dear disciple, once you reach the Scarborough Market and begin accepting disciples, you only need to channel your energy and inscribe this ‘refining formation’ onto the disciple’s heart to complete it. Remember, it must be your own energy. If you lazily use external magic elements, that’s outright murder.”

“This task… doesn’t seem too difficult. It should be easy to accomplish,” Catherine said, eyes closed as she recalled, nodding affirmatively. Then, with a strange expression, she asked, “Master, I have a question.”

“Speak.”

“If martial cultivation is transmitted this way, then who invented this ‘refining formation’? Also, if only Senior Martial Artists can build foundations for others, then how did the first ‘Senior Martial Artist’ come about?”