Chapter 39: Foundation Establishment Stage

"Take the medicine. Your experience of taking the medicine has been cleared, so there is no need to worry about the toxicity compounding; each administration is completely isolated. As long as the pill is fine, your condition should be identical to the previous one."

"Yes, Lady Phaethon." Just as he did the first time, Thales cupped the pill in both hands and swallowed it—

A blinding, towering light burst from his body. White. The entire room was illuminated in brilliant white. White mist billowed forth, and foul, turbid impurities oozed from his exposed skin. Thales's face contorted in extreme agony, yet it was mingled with a bliss akin to ultimate enlightenment. His body grew weightless, his breathing lightened, and his five senses sharpened to an acute degree. He could even feel that with every inhalation and exhalation, his breath was transitioning from turbid to clear.

"He is establishing his foundation!" Wen Yuan stood up. "He is truly establishing his foundation! And a flawless foundation at that! This foundation establishment pill actually works! This is real! Shang Luo, how on earth did you refine this? How did you use a bunch of random junk to brew a genuine foundation establishment pill?!"

"I... I don't know either. I just figured it out by myself."

"Grasp it!" Ignoring what the two of them were shouting, Phaethon thrust forward her spear.

This time, however, Thales did not obey her command.

"You heard me, didn't you? You can hear!" Phaethon said sternly. "According to the oath, regardless of the outcome, you must restore everything! Whether you have suffered an impact or attained 'foundation establishment,' you must spit it out!"

Thales's eyes twitched slightly, yet he still did not extend his hand. He spread his arms wide, and the filth he had just excreted was fading from the surface of his skin. As if ascending into the realm of celestials, his body maintained its purity, refusing to sink back into defilement. Even his feet slowly grew buoyant, lifting upward...

The radiance grew ever more intense, nearly blinding anyone from looking in.

"It's not over yet! He is comprehending the Heavenly Dao! The Heavenly Dao is obscuring our vision to prevent us from prying into heavenly secrets. This isn't just a foundation establishment pill; you've even enlightened his consciousness! He is still breaking through! If this continues, he will comprehend one of the Great Paths and solidify his Dao foundation! From then on, his path to ascension will be completely unobstructed!" Wen Yuan grabbed Shang Luo's hand. "Get ready to run! She can no longer control this situation."

"You have violated the oath!" Phaethon's entire attention was locked within the sphere of light.

"I know... I know everything now... Everything." Within the orb of light, an ethereal voice echoed faintly. Unlike the voice of the Divine Machine, this voice resonated directly with the space of this world. The tables, the chairs, the stools, and even the entire building vibrated in rhythm with his tone.

Phaethon took a step forward, causing the floorboards to crack. She threw a punch, sending the massive office desk along with the alchemy cauldron flying toward the light sphere mere inches away. Yet the moment it touched the outer edge of the light, the entire desk was pulverized into dust—though the cauldron flew right through.

With a loud clatter, the cauldron struck a solid entity, producing a resonant and distant sound, much like the tolling of a bronze bell at the Grand Bao'en Temple.

"Phaethon, are you trying to stop me?" The sphere of light slowly turned. The breakthrough was not yet finished, but Thales was already able to control his aura. Within the radiant orb, his features gradually materialized.

He looked at Phaethon: "Your power is already beneath mine. You can no longer stop me. Considering that you were once my employer, and that we once served the Grand Plan, I can spare your life."

"Silence, oath-breaker." Without hesitation, Phaethon thrust her spear straight ahead.

"Seeking death!" Inside the luminescent sphere, a hand resembling dark jade swept outward, striking directly at the incoming golden spear. Phaethon's power was far below his; a single palm strike was all he needed to send her flying.

Golden light appeared once more. Shang Luo instinctively closed his eyes, for this brilliance was far more searing than any before.

"Ahhhhh! My cultivation!! My Dao foundation!"

Shang Luo was startled by the cry. When he opened his eyes again, the jade-like right hand had already been shattered by the Spear of the Sun. Shards rained onto the ground, dissolving like dry ice. The fragrant aroma of the Dao Fruit drifted into the air—that hand, representing his cultivation, was truly and utterly shattered.

"No!" The sphere of light recoiled a step, terror flashing across his face, yet Phaethon's spear showed no intention of stopping.

She thrust forward, piercing the outer edge of the orb, driving straight into a physique comparable to a Foundation Establishment cultivator, and impaled him right through.

"No!!!" A roar of bitter reluctance erupted from Thales's throat. Reflexively, he reached out to block the spear, but his other hand shattered upon the Sun's spearhead just as easily as ice hitting a red-hot iron.

Phaethon planted her feet firmly, hoisting the "oath-breaker" upon her spear. Her entire body trembled as the phlogiston within the spear steadily drained away. Every oath must be executed, but enforcing a contract upon a Foundation Establishment cultivator demanded an immense toll.

*Puff.*

A wisp of light smoke drifted away. Nothing remained on the other end of the spear. Yet the desk had somehow returned to its original place, and the red pill Shang Luo called the "Foundation Establishment Pill" lay quietly inside it.

"Is he dead?" Shang Luo asked softly.

"He broke the oath and has been burned to ashes by the light of the sun. But..." Phaethon released her grip. The Spear of the Sun clattered to the floor.

It landed lightly, as if it weighed no more than a clothes hanger.

"Why... why does it end up like this..." Leaning against the table, an exhausted Phaethon barely managed to stay on her feet. "Why is every single time different? Why the first... the second... the third time, why is it different every time! Why can't a pattern be found? Why!"

There were no more chances. The Spear of the Sun, light enough to be lifted with a single finger, lay on the ground. Right now, it could do nothing; it was merely a somewhat sharp spear.

"We have fulfilled our promise, Lady Phaethon." Shang Luo stood up. "I have given you all the information, and you have still failed. Can my friend and I leave now? In your current state, you are probably incapable of continuing the experiment anyway. So, what about my reward? As I said before, it's something you cannot crack."

"No." Phaethon raised her head. Her eyes were filled with anger and reluctance, yet a flame of hope still burned within them.

"What do you want to do?"

"And... myself."

"Hey! Don't do anything reckless!" This time, Wen Yuan raised his hand. "I told you long ago, the heavenly secrets laid down by the Dao Ancestors are beyond your ability to pry into! Do not persist in this obsession! If you keep messing around, you might get us all killed! You must not eat that!"

"Shut up!"

"I'm not joking! You can't go back on your word! And if you do this, you will—"

Before he could finish, Phaethon picked up the "pill" and swallowed it.

"—suffer a qi deviation," Wen Yuan finished his last few words, but the "metamorphosis" had already begun.

Her pupils turned pitch black. Black aura materialized, surging forth like dark mud. The temperature in the room plummeted sharply—within the wine glasses, ice crystals rapidly spread.

The bottles shattered, the glasses shattered, and the wine spilled across the floor froze into jagged ice shards.

"Hey, Shang Luo... you know how to tell fortunes, right?"

"Yes..."

"Quickly cast a hexagram and see if a miracle will happen..."