Chapter 135: Cabbages

With the Foundation Establishment over, the spectating disciples quickly dispersed. After meeting his master, Bian Chunzhou came down the mountain, only to find Wen Xuxu waiting alone at the bottom. He looked behind him. “Where is Chen Zuizui? Hasn’t he come out of the Back Mountain Secret Realm yet?”

“No, he’s probably still pushing himself.” Wen Xu, putting himself in Chen Zui’s shoes, could easily guess his thoughts. “Congratulations on successfully establishing your foundation.”

“Hehe, I can fly on a sword now too.” Before joining Yonglu Mountain, the most valuable thing Bian Chunzhou owned was the low-grade spiritual sword his father had left him. Now, that sword could finally be put to use. “Come on, let’s go. I’ll take you back to my cave dwelling so we can chat. Actually, I have something to tell you.”

What was it? Wen Xu was a bit puzzled. But seeing Chunzhou stammer, uncharacteristically at a loss for words, Wen Xu thought for a moment and asked, “Didn’t your master tell you?”

Bian Chunzhou blinked. “Tell me what?”

“Perfect Foundation Establishment isn’t as rare as the rumors make it out to be.” On the contrary, Wen Xu felt there were a bit too many of them, to the point where they were hardly special anymore.

“Huh?” Bian Chunzhou accepted this explanation instantly. “So you achieved Perfect Foundation Establishment too? But you never mentioned it!” Right after his exclamation, he immediately understood. Wen Xuxu was thoughtful, and he had been the first of the three of them to establish his foundation. If he had told them about the Perfect Foundation Establishment back then, let alone Bian Chunzhou himself, even Chen Zuizui would probably have overthought things and got stuck in a rut.

“Wen Xuxu, you’re the best!” But thinking about it, it seemed Perfect Foundation Establishment really wasn’t that rare. Could it be that everyone achieved Perfect Foundation Establishment, and only that blockhead Chen Zuizui had blabbed about it? Were the schemes in this cultivation world really this deep?

Wen Xu coughed lightly. “Not exactly, but there should be quite a few. Oh right, Bushi of Kudu Temple should be one as well.”

The face of a handsome, immortal-like monk immediately popped into Bian Chunzhou’s mind. “Oh? How do you know?”

“My master said that after achieving Perfect Foundation Establishment, a cultivator doesn’t need to spend much time stabilizing their cultivation. Judging by Bushi’s behavior, although he hasn’t said it aloud, he might as well have.” Looking at it now, the monk was probably doing it on purpose. But whether it was intentional or not, Wen Xu wasn’t the least bit interested in Bushi. “Also, our Sect Master is a Perfect Foundation Establishment cultivator too.”

Bian Chunzhou: Confirmed. Perfect Foundation Establishment was a total scam! And it was a cabbage-level scam^[1] where everyone got one! From now on, anyone who hid their breakthrough would be assumed to have achieved Perfect Foundation Establishment.

Just now, he had thought that out of the three of them, only Wen Xuxu wasn’t a Perfect Foundation Establishment cultivator. On second thought, how could that be? Wen Xuxu was the most talented among them, and with a divine dragon teaching him Daoist methods, what kind of Foundation Establishment could he not master!

“Let me tell you, when I established my foundation, the glowing light…” Bian Chunzhou had always loved sharing things. Except for his embarrassing past from modern times, which he couldn’t speak of, he would tell everything else without holding back. “I feel like Foundation Establishment is so different from what others say. I originally thought the second glow would be very difficult. After all, as you know, I have a Water-Fire Spiritual Root. If the cultivation method I practice turned out to be total garbage, wouldn’t I be finished? Who knew it would actually be… surprisingly forgiving. I even feel that after Foundation Establishment, the circulation of the entire cultivation method has become much smoother.”

Hearing this, Wen Xu couldn’t help but feel happy for his friend. “Doesn’t that mean the direction of your cultivation method is correct?”

Bian Chunzhou scratched his head and grinned. “I don’t know either. When Chen Zuizui successfully established his foundation, I even teased him for doing it in a muddle-headed way. Now that it’s my turn, I seem to be about the same. I didn’t even understand what the third glow was, I just remember that I…”

However, the more Wen Xu listened, the more astonished he became. It was no wonder he reacted this way. His master had just discussed the Dao with him recently, and he himself had no clue what Dao he wanted to cultivate in the future. Yet, he hadn’t expected that Chunzhou had already found his during Foundation Establishment.

“Wen Xuxu, what’s wrong? Did I say something wrong?”

“No, no, no, let me process this for a moment.” Wen Xu reached out and pushed Chunzhou’s head away as he leaned in. “Did you just say that in a deep sea, you found the Dao you will cultivate in the future?”

Bian Chunzhou nodded obediently. “Yeah, what’s wrong?”

Wen Xu hesitated, not knowing how to put it. After a long pause, he asked, “Can you describe it in detail?”

“Sure. I was just thinking that my spiritual root is too special. In the long run, it definitely needs to be kept in balance. But then I thought, water and fire aren’t completely incompatible, so why must they be balanced? At that moment, I…”

So, deciding which Dao to walk starts from one’s own actual circumstances?

Wen Xu asked himself: What shape was the wind? It had no shape. It was unfettered, free, and wild. None of these words fit him. His similarity to the wind could be said to be… completely nonexistent.

So from the very beginning, he had never considered paths like the Dao of Freedom or the Dao of the Heart. He had also looked into some mainstream paths of cultivation, such as the Dao of Justice or the Dao of Protection, but he seemed to lack interest in all of them.

“Wen Xuxu? Wen Xuxu? What’s wrong? Did I say something wrong?”

Wen Xu shook his head. “No, it’s just… I don’t quite understand.”

How was that possible? Bian Chunzhou’s eyes widened. Oh no. “I…”

“Did you not tell your master about this?”

“I did, but Master just told me to keep it up and not let other things disturb my state of mind. Is there a problem?”

“No. Chunzhou, you’re amazing.” Wen Xu had always known that Chunzhou possessed a boundless vitality that others lacked. “Understanding the Dao you want to walk is the first step for a cultivator to advance to the Golden Core stage. Congratulations, Chunzhou, you have already…”

“No, no, no, wait!” What did he mean by the first step to Golden Core? Bian Chunzhou was so shocked he put his hand to his mouth. “I, Bian Chunzhou, cleared the path to Golden Core while establishing my foundation?”

Seeing Wen Xuxu nod honestly, he felt completely overwhelmed. “Am I… really that amazing?”

“Don’t doubt yourself. You deserve it.”

Bian Chunzhou thought to himself, This isn’t a matter of deserving it or not. This is… He would never call Chen Zuizui the illegitimate child of the Heavenly Dao again. He now suspected that he was the one.

“I’m… so amazing, no one would believe it if I said it aloud.” Bian Chunzhou then added rigorously, “Oh, except for you and Chen Zuizui.”

Wen Xu couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re not the type to show off anyway.”

“Who says I don’t? I actually… fine. When Lin Congcong comes out of seclusion, I’ll go show off in front of him. Hehe, it’ll annoy him to death!”

Wen Xu couldn’t help but feel curious. “You actually knew he went into seclusion?”

“Of course. He even sent me a Transmission Talisman before going into seclusion, saying he would definitely establish his foundation before me. But now, hehe!” Bian Chunzhou rubbed his hands together, already imagining how Lin’s nostrils would smoke with rage when he came out of seclusion.

“The two of you seem to have a really good relationship. But how are you sure you’re ahead of him?”

Bian Chunzhou smiled. “It’s simple. He didn’t even come to watch my Foundation Establishment, so he’s obviously still in seclusion.”

Wen Xu: …Well-reasoned, impossible to refute.

**

Chen Zui only emerged from the Back Mountain Secret Realm in the second month after the New Year. By then, Bian Chunzhou had long stabilized his cultivation and had significantly pushed forward the progress of improving the Transmission Talisman. Needless to say, with a higher cultivation level, both improving the Transmission Talisman and crafting talismans with his bare hands yielded much better results than during the Qi Refining Stage.

As his master put it, if advancing one’s cultivation was useless, why would she work so hard to reach Soul Transformation? It was clear that even a professor of talismanology in the cultivation world had to improve her cultivation to produce experimental results.

“You’ve advanced to Foundation Establishment? Congratulations! I knew you should work harder, Junior Brother Bian.” Chen Zui happily reached out to pat his friend’s shoulder, but… Junior Brother Bian actually took three steps back. “What are you dodging for?”

Bian Chunzhou thought to himself, Anyone who saw that palm-leaf-fan-sized hand of yours would find it hard not to dodge, okay? “What… what exactly did you do in the secret realm?”

“What did I do?” Just thinking about it made Chen Zui angry. “Looking for a jade pendant. It wouldn’t let me out until I found it. I even offered to chop the place open with my saber to look for it, but it wouldn’t let me, so I…”

“So you did what?”

“So I stopped looking. Since it was all Body Tempering anyway, I just practiced my saber inside. The Body Tempering effects in the secret realm are actually really good. Now that you’ve reached Foundation Establishment, you should go in and try it too.”

In fact, Bian Chunzhou had intended to do just that. However, he had recently been struck by a burst of inspiration and couldn’t bear to abandon his current research to enter the secret realm for Body Tempering, so he had postponed it for three months.

“So you ended up looking like this?”

Chen Zui was completely oblivious. “Like what?”

Bian Chunzhou searched for the right words. “Well, like an uncivilized, blood-drinking prehistoric savage.” With this skin tone, these muscles, this beard, and these tattered clothes, he could go beg outside Langyuan City without any issues. As for why outside the city? Because with this look, the guards at the gate would definitely stop him.

“It’s not that bad. Worst case, I’ll just take a bath and change my clothes.”

“Go on, hurry up. Remember to trim your hair and beard before you go see your master. Got it?”

Although Chen Zui found it troublesome, he did as he was told. Only when Venerable Yanshan saw his clean-cut youngest disciple did he finally register the fact that this disciple of his was only in his twenties. However, this disciple was incredibly literal-minded. After just a few words, the master was so irritated that he sent him away.

He was afraid that listening to any more would shorten his lifespan. Although cultivators were tough, he still wanted to live a few years longer.

By the time Chen Zui reached the designated meeting spot, Wen Xu had already arrived. Although both of them had already achieved Inedia, neither of them could possibly refuse Bian Chunzhou’s celebratory Foundation Establishment hotpot.

For once, the three of them walked down the mountain together.

“Time flies. They’re actually opening the mountain gates for recruitment again this year.” Bian Chunzhou’s tone was filled with nostalgia. “Six years ago, we walked up this very path. Back then, even though I said I had a thing for prestigious schools, I didn’t actually have much hope of successfully joining Yonglu Mountain.”

“Not me. My mother said that with my talent, if Yonglu Mountain didn’t accept me, it would be their loss.” Speaking of his mother, Chen Zui finally remembered something. “Wen Xu, you promised to help me vet the gift for my mother.”

Wen Xu: …You actually remembered.

“Alright, but since I can’t see, you’ll have to describe it to me before I can help.”

Chen Zui nodded. “No problem.”

“No problem? Like hell you have no problem. Wen Xuxu, let’s not help him. The things he picks are really… even if you try to pick the best of a bad bunch, you won’t be able to. You’ll just find that everything else besides what he chose is actually top-tier!”

Wen Xu: “…Isn’t that a bit of an exaggeration?”

“Not at all! If I’m exaggerating, I’m a puppy!^[2]“

Actually, all three of them were already skilled at flying, but today they were in high spirits, and no one brought up riding their swords. By the time they reached Gongshang Bistro, the lunchtime rush had already passed. Fortunately, hotpot was a meal that didn’t care about the time of day; you could eat it whenever you arrived. Besides, he was the owner, so there was never a problem with the owner wanting to eat.

“It’s a bit late, but congratulations!”

“Same to you, same to you!”

They clinked their cups. None of the three drank alcohol, so they toasted with tea as usual. However, now that they had reached Foundation Establishment, the ingredients for their hotpot had finally taken a massive step up. The table was filled with spirit vegetables and spirit meats. Although they couldn’t eat like this for every meal, their wallets could easily handle it once in a while.

After all, after reaching Foundation Establishment, not only did the sect’s monthly stipend increase, but their monthly cultivation resources also grew significantly. Coupled with the rewards for advancing to Foundation Establishment, even Chen Zui had quite a few spirit stones in his pocket lately.

So, after eating their celebratory hotpot, the three of them went to wander around the market. However, having learned their lesson, they wore their Yonglu Mountain disciple robes directly this time instead of changing into ordinary clothes.

“There are so many more people in Langyuan City lately. Are they all here to prepare for the sect entrance exam?” Bian Chunzhou was slightly puzzled. Had there been this many people when he came for the exam? It was only February, and registration didn’t even start until March 1st. Were they really coming this early to scout the place out?

Thinking back to how poor he had been, unable to even afford an inn, it really felt like a stroke of fate. If he hadn’t run into Wen Xuxu, he would probably still be drifting around some obscure, tiny sect right now.

“Probably,” Chen Zui said after a moment’s thought. “I came very early six years ago too, mostly because my mother thought I was an eyesore at home. There were just as many people back then. Honestly, most of them were incredibly annoying. When I was staying at the inn, people would constantly show up at my door out of nowhere, asking if I needed to be sponsored with spirit stones. Why on earth would I take their spirit stones for no reason?”

…Could it be that they just wanted to invest in him early?

Well, Chen Zuizui probably had absolutely no concept of such a thing. Still, that explained it. “It’s all because I arrived too late. Otherwise, I could have gotten a taste of those free spirit stones too.”

Wen Xu, on the other hand, had no such exam prep experience. Mainly because… he had essentially ‘smuggled’ his way into the exam grounds. If Chunzhou hadn’t saved him, he would have died in the Poyun Secret Realm long ago.

Speaking of the Poyun Secret Realm, Wen Xu actually had a lingering doubt that had never been resolved. “Chen Zui, you entered the Poyun Secret Realm back then too. With how straightforward you are, how did you pass the secret realm’s trial?”

Bian Chunzhou: “Actually, now that you mention it, I’m really curious about that too!”

Chen Zui didn’t really remember much about it. He scratched his head. “Well, after entering the secret realm, I didn’t see anyone else for the longest time. When I finally ran into someone, they said everyone was looking for some King Danxiang Grass. I didn’t recognize it, so I just picked a couple of herbs I did recognize, and then I passed.”

“…Herbs you recognized?”

Chen Zui nodded. “Yeah. My mother planted them all around the house, saying they were for incense. Personally, I didn’t think they smelled very good.”

…He understood now. So it was just the deep pockets of a second-generation cultivator.