At this moment, Wen Lan was sitting cross-legged in a secluded room filled with dense Spiritual Qi. This room was equipped with isolation formations, making it impervious even to the Divine Sense of a Golden Core cultivator.
He began by meditating, circulating the Spiritual Energy within his body. Once everything was ready, he tilted his head back and swallowed a Foundation Establishment Pill.
As the pill entered his stomach, it immediately transformed into a vast amount of Spiritual Energy, flowing into the vortex in his dantian, causing it to spin rapidly.
His entire body's Spiritual Energy surged, causing his limbs to ache as if they were being twisted like knives. After a quarter of an hour, the Spiritual Energy dissipated into nothingness, and his attempt at Foundation Building had failed.
Wen Lan didn't immediately take a second Foundation Establishment Pill but instead pondered carefully, reflecting on his gains and losses from the previous attempt.
Six hours later, Wen Lan finally consumed a second Foundation Establishment Pill, once again converting it into a massive surge of Spiritual Energy that flowed toward his dantian.
A day later, at a teahouse across from the temporary Foundation Building cave mansion, various major powers had already gathered detailed information about Wen Lan in Boundary City.
"This person is just a guard for a small shop. It's unlikely he'll stay in the same shop after succeeding in Foundation Building," said a cultivator in green robes, discussing with a burly man in crimson robes.
"Even if it's just a small shop, he won't receive much recognition. We can offer him one Nourishing Essence Pill every month, plus a hundred Spirit Stones. For a new Foundation Building cultivator, this is an irresistible offer," the burly man responded.
Major powers welcomed the addition of Foundation Building cultivators, and smaller factions went to great lengths to recruit them. Cultivating a Foundation Building cultivator from scratch was exceptionally challenging, requiring the cultivation of a group of Qi Cultivation cultivators before selecting the best candidate for Foundation Building.
For any faction, obtaining Foundation Establishment Pills was a significant challenge for most cultivators trying to advance.
Therefore, directly recruiting Foundation Building cultivators was far more cost-effective than starting from Qi Cultivation stage.
Three days passed, and Wen Lan had still not emerged from the Foundation Building cave mansion. Cultivators at the teahouse began to grow concerned.
"Could this person be planning to cultivate inside and never come out?" one cultivator wondered, as the rent for such a place, despite its rich Spiritual Qi, was exorbitant.
"Perhaps there was an issue with his cultivation," another speculated.
Three more days passed, and Wen Lan was still absent.
"Is this cultivator stuck inside, unable to leave after failing in Foundation Building?" one cultivator suggested with a hint of schadenfreude. Though such a thing rarely happened, it couldn't be ruled out, considering the time that had passed without any news.
"Maybe he failed to break through, suffered severe injuries, and is now lying motionless in the secret room," another cultivator speculated. Observers tended to lean toward negative assumptions when it came to others' affairs for added excitement.
Just then, a figure walked out of the temporary Foundation Building cave mansion, and it was none other than Wen Lan, confirming or dispelling the speculations. His body exuded the aura of a successful Foundation Building.
At the same time, a shadow leaped down from a teahouse window and approached Wen Lan. It was the cultivator who had previously speculated about his death.
"Congratulations, Friend Wen, on your successful Foundation Building! I knew you were destined for greatness and would smoothly reach Foundation Building. As for those who were gossiping earlier, they must be feeling embarrassed right now," the cultivator said, glancing at the group of cultivators who were now approaching.
Wen Lan had just emerged, and seeing the group closing in on him, he was a bit bewildered. He hadn't been in Boundary City for long and wasn't familiar with this situation. However, sensing that they meant no harm, he relaxed.
"Friend Wen, I am Qian Bozhu from the Wantong Trading Company. I would like to extend an invitation on behalf of our company. We hope you'll become a guest member of the Wantong Trading Company and receive a monthly stipend of seven hundred Spirit Stones," Qian Bozhu said, trying to downplay the competition and quickly presenting their attractive offer.
At first glance, this offer seemed more generous than what Wang Hong received at the Qingxu Sect, where he could only collect two thousand Spirit Stones annually. However, that was just the surface. Wang Hong also had access to spirit fields covering tens of acres, could exchange contribution points for pills and other spiritual objects, and had access to the sect's various legacies that smaller factions couldn't provide.
"Qian! How can your few hundred Spirit Stones a month compare to the cost-effective offer of one Nourishing Essence Pill we provide at the Gu Ling Sect?" another cultivator chimed in, wanting to seize the opportunity.
"Friend Wen, I'm Gu Yun from the Gu Clan of Cultivation. I see that you're a talented individual, and I'd like to introduce my younger sister to you. Would you be interested in visiting our residence for a meeting?" the clan cultivator proposed, using his sister as an enticement.
"Gu, don't deceive Friend Wen. Your sister looks just like youshort and muscular," someone immediately countered.
As everyone chimed in with their comments, Wen Lan finally understood what was happening. These smaller and medium-sized factions were trying to recruit him.
For these factions, every additional Foundation Building cultivator represented a significant boost in their power.
"Ahem! May I offer my opinion?" Wen Lan felt like he couldn't get a word in, so he cleared his throat and spoke up, raising his voice.
Everyone heard him now and turned their attention to Wen Lan.
"Yes, yes! Let's not interrupt. We should listen to Friend Wen's opinion," Qian Bozhu quickly added.
"Yes, please, Friend Wen, speak your mind! We're all ears!" others echoed.
Wen Lan found himself still unable to speak, so he stood in the middle, smiling silently, observing the back-and-forth among the others.
Since he had just successfully reached Foundation Building, he was in a good mood and didn't mind listening to everyone argue on his behalf.
After about fifteen minutes, they realized that something wasn't quite right and gradually fell silent. The scene finally quieted down, and you could hear a pin drop.
Seeing that it was finally his turn to speak, Wen Lan didn't want to waste any more time. He bowed to the four directions and began, "Thank you, friends, for your kind offers. I'm truly honored, but I owe a great debt to my East Master, one that I can never repay even a fraction of in this lifetime. I cannot betray his trust, and I hope you understand."
Wen Lan spoke firmly and sincerely, not showing any signs of deception. The onlookers hesitated to persuade him further, as it wasn't appropriate to try to convince someone to betray their benefactor in such a public setting.
Wen Lan bid farewell to everyone and returned on his way.
The reason it had taken him so long to achieve Foundation Building this time was twofold. First, he lacked Spiritual Roots, so he needed more pills, which naturally took more time. Second, even though Wang Hong had given him ten Foundation Establishment Pills at once, he didn't dare to waste too many of these precious resources.
Therefore, after each failed attempt, he carefully contemplated, reflected on his gains and losses, and only then took another pill to try Foundation Building. Those without Spiritual Roots had very few chances for cultivation, and even fewer succeeded in Foundation Building. With little experience to draw from, he had to rely on his own exploration.
However, legend had it that tens of thousands of years ago, there was a Lin cultivator without Spiritual Roots who not only achieved Foundation Building but also reached a Realm above Soul Transformation. Afterward, he left this realm, but whether the story was true or not, there was no way to verify it now.
Wen Lan finally succeeded in Foundation Building after taking seven Foundation Establishment Pills, and even he thought that Wang Hong had invested too much in cultivating them. With these resources, Wang Hong could have cultivated several Foundation Building cultivators.
In the eyes of others, they were considered worthless, and they probably didn't even qualify to be cannon fodder. But Wang Hong, due to their friendship, was unwilling to give up on them.
Thinking of this, Wen Lan straightened his resolve. He had to work even harder in the future to repay Wang Hong for his kindness.
Upon his return to their residence, Wen Lan found Yin Ze with some free time and greeted him.
"Friend Wen, it's been a few days, and you look much more spirited! Ah! Senior... you've already achieved Foundation Building?" Yin Ze's words were cut short as he realized that Wen Lan had already succeeded in Foundation Building. He couldn't believe that it had only been a few days since they last met, and Wen Lan had already achieved this milestone.
He couldn't help but feel a sense of inadequacy within himself. Among the disciples of East Master, every one of them seemed to be a genius, advancing quickly in their cultivation, and achieving Foundation Building in one go.
This made him feel somewhat inferior. As a Three Spiritual Roots cultivator, he was the most common type in the Cultivation World, found everywhere.
If he knew that even among Wang Hong's original team, the best Spiritual Roots cultivator, Zhang Chunfeng, also had only three Spiritual Roots, he might have felt differently.
"No need to be so polite. I only succeeded by chance," Wen Lan waved his hand and replied.
Wen Lan chatted briefly with Yin Ze before returning to his cultivation to consolidate his newfound realm.
[Read at /shanefreak, and heartfelt thankyou for your support!]