Chapter Thirteen: Foundation Establishment

Suddenly, the golden vortex in the sky halted abruptly, ceasing its rotation without any warning, leaving Wang Luo feeling discomfort. The stopped golden vortex resembled a massive cone, swiftly drilling toward the ground, disappearing from the sky in moments. The two moons resumed their gentle illumination without complaint.

The little white lion, seeing the golden vortex above the Lion’s Cave vanish, immediately began urging Wang Luo with soft whimpers. Wang Luo patted the little lion’s head, preparing to head toward the cave.

A pair of mighty roars echoed across the sky, brimming with authority, and a powerful pressure radiated outward. All the flowers, grasses, and trees bowed under its force, and even the waterfall over the pond momentarily paused.

Wang Luo, who had just taken a step forward, suddenly changed expression and collapsed to the ground with a thud, his face pale as death. The little white lion, delighted in Wang Luo’s arms, nearly tumbled face-first into the mud, but landed safely and looked at Wang Luo in confusion.

With furrowed brows, Wang Luo glanced at the unharmed little lion, then immediately sat cross-legged and entered a state of cultivation, leaving the white lion utterly baffled. The little lion scratched its head with a paw, looked at Wang Luo, then turned to the cave, unsure what to do. In the end, it stayed by Wang Luo’s side, pacing anxiously.

Seated on the ground, Wang Luo felt as if a mountain was crushing him. Unprepared, he had been forced down, unable to resist in the slightest. What terrified him was that the mountain’s weight was still increasing, threatening to shatter him completely.

Wang Luo had no time to wonder why the little lion was unaffected; he poured all his strength into controlling both the nameless cultivation technique and the body-refining method, urging them to accelerate and resist the sudden, overwhelming pressure.

Within his meridians, green, mist-like wood energy surged, absorbing external wood energy nonstop. The blood energy in his veins spread throughout his body, both forces working together to withstand the mysterious pressure.

Gradually, Wang Luo felt the familiar agony of his body being refined by blood energy, like countless ants tearing at his flesh. His dantian and meridians, overfilled with absorbed energy, throbbed with pain, as if forcibly expanded.

The unexpected pressure continued to intensify. Wang Luo gritted his teeth, persevering as more uncontrollable energy poured into him. He felt his dantian and meridians on the verge of bursting from the wood energy.

Crack—

Suddenly, Wang Luo heard a faint cracking sound from within, as if something had shattered. Instantly, his spirit soared and his body felt lighter. The pressure’s grip lessened considerably.

Just as he relaxed, the pressure surged again, mercilessly grinding him, as though determined to crush him completely. Wang Luo had no choice but to push his cultivation technique to the limit, streams of green wood energy flooding into him even faster.

Unbeknownst to Wang Luo, at the moment he heard the crack within, the dense wood energy stored in his dantian began to churn, finally condensing into a tiny droplet of green liquid. Almost as if in chain reaction, more droplets formed, as the mist-like energy in his meridians rushed into his dantian and transformed into liquid.

At some point, the mysterious pressure vanished. Wang Luo felt as if he had survived a disaster, his whole body brimming with power and an indescribable freshness.

Only then did he notice the pain in his dantian and meridians was gone, along with the mist-like energy within. A thin stream of green liquid now flowed cheerfully through his widened meridians, and at the bottom of his dantian lay a miniature green pool, with only a scant amount of water, above which hovered a deep red flame.

Seeing this, Wang Luo was stunned. The transformation of mist energy into liquid was the hallmark of Foundation Establishment. He had unknowingly broken through, achieving the Foundation stage.

“Hiss~~~~~~”

As Wang Luo savored the liquid energy within, he suddenly felt as if thousands of ants were crawling and biting through his body. Their sharp jaws tore away chunks of bloody flesh, the pain unbearable; their tiny feet agitated his nerves, itching beyond endurance. These ants seemed poisonous; wherever they roamed and bit, a strange and indescribable numbness spread.

“Ah…”

Unable to endure, Wang Luo cried out, his anguished screams echoing as he suddenly opened his tightly shut eyes, a cold, bloodthirsty aura radiating from him.

With blood-red, emotionless eyes, he glanced at the concerned little white lion in the distance, then leapt beneath the waterfall, settling cross-legged upon a massive stone.

The torrent, several meters high, mercilessly crashed down upon Wang Luo, whose body was covered in blood. His skin was split and his veins exposed, blood mixing with water and flowing into the pond.

Who knows how much time passed before the bleeding stopped. At some unknown moment, his exposed veins receded, and his torn skin was replaced by a layer of tender, fair flesh. His brows relaxed, and his face glowed with a radiant brilliance.

“Damn, that nearly killed me! This body-refining technique truly isn’t for everyone. I almost broke down, but thankfully it stopped, and now I feel amazing…”

Remembering the agony of being devoured by countless ants, Wang Luo couldn’t help cursing, but as he reveled in the newfound comfort and formidable power, he was glad the suffering hadn’t been in vain. The body-refining technique had also reached Foundation Establishment.

He glanced again at the wood energy flowing happily in his meridians, sensing the immense power within, and suppressed the urge to continue cultivating. Now was not the time.

Wang Luo, who had been motionless under the waterfall, opened his eyes and looked toward the pond’s edge, momentarily bewildered.

He blinked hard, feeling the slight pain from the falling water, and confirmed he was neither dreaming nor hallucinating. Everything by the pond was real.

At that moment, a woman stood by the pond, and the little white lion was comfortably curled in her arms. Seeing Wang Luo open his eyes, the lion joyfully called out to him.

Staring at the woman who had appeared so suddenly, Wang Luo was at a loss for words.

Otherworld Azure Dragon 13: Chapter Thirteen—Foundation Establishment, update complete!