Night settled over Qingyun City like a heavy curtain.
Lin Yuan sat alone in his room, the single oil lamp casting a steady glow over the table before him. The jade slip lay at its center, its surface cool and faintly luminous. This was not a complete cultivation method—far from it—but even an incomplete Foundation Establishment technique carried weight.
For ordinary Late Qi Condensation cultivators, such a fragment was dangerous.
For Lin Yuan, it was raw material.
He picked up the jade slip and let his consciousness sink into it.
The information flowed in uneven bursts—broken circulation routes, incomplete compression principles, vague descriptions of condensing Qi into liquid form. Whoever created this method had either lacked understanding or deliberately withheld critical parts.
"This would cripple most people," Lin Yuan judged calmly. "They'd force the breakthrough and destroy themselves."
He did not discard it.
He activated the system.
[Target identified: Foundation Establishment method fragment]
"Improve quality," he commanded. "Remove contradictions. Preserve viable structure."
The response was immediate.
The chaotic information within the jade slip reorganized itself. Broken passages aligned. Redundant steps vanished. Dangerous compression stages were corrected, reshaped into something workable.
Not complete.
But safe.
Lin Yuan absorbed the refined information fully, his expression unchanged.
"So this is the real gap," he thought. "Qi Condensation compresses energy. Foundation Establishment changes its state."
That understanding was critical.
Qi at the Condensation realm was gaseous—dense, active, but unstable.
Foundation Establishment required turning that gas into liquid Qi.
Most cultivators failed here because their Qi quality was insufficient, their bodies unable to withstand the pressure, or their methods flawed.
Lin Yuan had none of those problems.
He closed his eyes and turned inward.
His dantian was filled with dense, refined Qi, rotating steadily. The pressure was already close to what most Late Qi Condensation cultivators could tolerate.
"Others need years to prepare."
"I don't."
He did not begin immediately.
Instead, he checked himself carefully.
His bones were reinforced.
His meridians were stable.
His Qi circulation was efficient.
The only remaining concern was control under extreme compression.
Lin Yuan focused again.
[Target identified: Qi compression tolerance]
"Improve quality," he ordered.
A subtle change rippled through him.
His meridians thickened slightly. The internal walls of his dantian strengthened, becoming more resilient rather than more rigid.
"This prevents collapse," he concluded.
Satisfied, he finally began.
Qi circulation accelerated.
Not violently.
Deliberately.
Qi gathered inward, compressing tighter and tighter at the center of his dantian. The pressure rose rapidly, far beyond what Late Qi Condensation cultivators normally dared to reach.
Pain surfaced briefly.
Then vanished.
His body adapted instantly, reinforced structures distributing pressure evenly.
Lin Yuan did not stop.
"This threshold was never meant to hold me."
The gaseous Qi began to change.
Density increased until movement slowed.
Then—
A drop formed.
Liquid Qi.
It hovered at the core of his dantian, heavy and luminous.
The moment it stabilized, everything changed.
Pressure disappeared.
Qi circulation smoothed.
His entire body felt grounded, as though it had finally found its true center.
The system interface appeared.
[Qi Cultivation: Foundation Establishment — Initial Stage]
[Foundation Stability: Extremely High]
[Qi State: Liquid]
Lin Yuan opened his eyes.
No backlash.
No instability.
No exhaustion.
"So this is Foundation Establishment," he thought calmly.
In Qingyun City, this realm meant authority.
It meant immunity from casual provocation.
It meant standing at the top of the outer districts.
He stood and released a trace of Qi.
The difference was absolute.
Liquid Qi flowed with crushing density. Even a small amount carried more power than vast quantities of gaseous Qi.
"This isn't an increase."
"It's a transformation."
Lin Yuan withdrew the Qi immediately.
He had no intention of announcing his breakthrough.
Not yet.
Foundation Establishment cultivators were noticed.
And attention invited questions.
At dawn, he left the inn.
The city felt different now.
Sharper.
Smaller.
The cultivators around him—Early, Mid, Late Qi Condensation—felt fragile, their Qi thin and turbulent by comparison.
None of them realized why they felt uneasy.
They only knew to avoid him.
He walked toward the inner city.
This time, the guards at the boundary stopped him.
One of them was Late Qi Condensation. The other—
Foundation Establishment.
The man's eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at Lin Yuan.
"Your cultivation is concealed," he said slowly. "State your realm."
Lin Yuan met his gaze calmly.
"Foundation Establishment."
Silence followed.
The guard studied him for several breaths, then stepped aside.
"Proceed."
No further questions.
Lin Yuan entered the inner city.
Here, everything changed.
Qi density was higher. Buildings were better constructed. Cultivators moved with restraint rather than arrogance.
Power here was controlled.
Calculated.
He felt it immediately.
"This is where things become interesting."
He did not head toward clans or sects.
He went straight to the Inner Auction Hall.
Foundation Establishment cultivators belonged here.
As he stepped inside, several gazes lifted toward him.
They lingered.
Measured.
Then moved on.
Lin Yuan took a seat calmly.
Tonight's auction had not yet begun.
But he already knew something important.
Late Qi Condensation had been his preparation phase.
Foundation Establishment was the point where the world would start pushing back.
And that was exactly what he wanted.
Lin Yuan closed his eyes briefly.
"Let's see how strong this city really is."
The lamp flickered.
Outside, Qingyun City carried on, unaware that one of its quiet thresholds had already been shattered.