Yun Qiang walked west, his injuries didn't bleed anymore yet they still hurt, making it difficult for him to move.
He suddenly stopped, the moon was already high in the sky. It was time for him to rest. Like a machine with precise orders he sat down behind a series of bushes then took out a few pieces of dried meat from Voss's old space ring and ate them.
After that he lay down and fell asleep. His mind too tired to dream, his body too tired to complain about the hard and humid ground.
At dawn he woke up, took a few sips of water from his reserves then started walking west.
This routine was something that Yun Qiang kept doing for an entire week, with no pause or exception in between.
Only now at the seventh did he make an exception, deciding to settle down during midday.
As he sat down in a hidden corner of the forest he let out a long heavy breath.
"I guess this is the day...." his voice was almost inaudible.
As he stabilized his mind he stared at Voss's space ring. Only four items were inside of it.
The first one was a normal iron pendant with the shape of a butterfly, probably a gift from before Voss became soldiers,
The second and third items were two manuals called "Spear shield" and "Sacred knife", the former was a technique that Voss had inherited from his master, the latter was a technique he had taken from one of his enemies. Anyway he doubted a technique with "Sacred" in the name didn't come from the "Sacred empire".
And lastly the fourth item was a Qi gathering pill. The reason why Yun Qiang had decided to stop in the middle of the day.
Every cultivation realm was divided into six stages that could be achieved in any order. Two of them were related to the body, two were related to Qi accumulation and two were related to a cultivator soul strength.
Yun Qiang had already passed the levels related to body and soul. As for the levels related to Qi accumulation, he had completed the first level for free like everyone did when going from mortal to cultivator. Now he only needed to complete the last level.
This level was considered relatively easy to complete since a cultivator only needed to sit down and cultivate. Yet for people like Yun Qiang who had a low quality spiritual root, this was the most difficult level to pass.
So cultivator with low spiritual roots could only search for alternative ways like treasures or pills.
And the pill that Voss had left him was exactly what he needed.
Yun Qiang played with the pill in his hand, it had a dark yellow color and a series of strange circles that could be seen only when he squinted his eyes.
"Should I do it now?"
From the moment he had found the pill Yun Qiang had decided to consume it and reach the foundation realm, however he couldn't afford to waste this opportunity. Consuming this kind of pill was something that required a cultivator full attention.
He had to eat the pill, digest it and then guide the energy trapped inside the pill towards its dantian.
This process took a different amount of time depending on the grade of the pill, the higher the grade the more it took for someone to absorb it.
Since this level of pill was considered low it wouldn't take long. Only a couple of hours, however during this period of time Yun Qiang had to focus completely on the absorption. This meant becoming vulnerable to any kind of attacks.
For this reason he had waited an entire week, making sure that nobody was following him, all trying his best to recover from his injuries.
It's time....
Yun Qiang checked his body condition and his surrounding one last time, then he let out a turbulent breath of air, and swallowed the pill whole.
He started absorbing the pill.
Two hours later Yun Qiang was still sitting there, he had almost finished the absorption of the pill, and he could feel his Qi reserves reaching its limits.
I'm almost there.
Burning desire filled his mind as he drove the last bit of energy towards his dantian.
Then in a single moment it happened. Yun Qiang felt his mind being pulled into a meditative state, there he could see the rings that represented his cultivation.
All of them were neatly arranged from small the bigger, each circle containing the smaller ones. From small to big these circles were the circles that represented his soul, the circles that represented his body and finally the two circles that symbolized his Qi reserve levels.
Suddenly a golden dust came from an unknown space and deposited itself on the last circle completing it.
A wave of energy invaded Yun Qiang mind, temporarily shocking him while emping from useless thoughts.
In the rush of the moment Yun Qiang felt that he was close to something important, he felt like a realization was in front of him. He only needed to take a step forward and claim this knowledge for himself.
However this feeling instantly disappeared. The entire thing was extremely fast and in the span of a few milliseconds Yun Qiang had already forgotten that feeling, not even remembering that something like this happened.
He opened his eyes. Letting out a rough breath full of vitality.
His pupil shrank from the shock, the forest around him seemed different from before. It seemed more detailed than when he was in the Qi gathering realm.
His eyes had changed and now he could see the details from his surroundings more clearly. Taking a deep breath he stood out leaving his hidden spot.
A layer of dead skin fell from his arm, showing the cleaner and tougher beneath it.
He smiled.
Yun Qiang had done it, he had reached the Foundation realm.
However his happiness didn't last long, this pill wasn't obtained through his own effort but was something that his mentor had left him.
Yun Qiang's face hardened, his mind returning to his current condition; he couldn't afford to stay in this place for too long.
After only a few minutes, Yun Qiang had already restarted his travels.
Meanwhile...
In a luxurious mansion a young man opened his eyes. His gaze was filled with youthful innocence.
"I did!"
As his smile widened, he couldn't help but jump for the excitement, his expensive robe following his every move.
As he came out of his cultivation room, a series of servants was already waiting for him.
They shouted in unison.
"Congratulations master Nian"
He was Yun Qiang's younger brother, after spending months cultivating his soul he had finally done it, he had reached the Foundation realm.
Yun Nian now called Liang Nian did a small bow towards his loyal servants. He blushed a little.
"Thank you, please call for my master. I want to share the good news with him"
The servants quickly did as ordered and started leaving the room.
Only two girls didn't leave, instead they stood there waiting for Nian's next order.
Nian briefly looked at them, and couldn't help but blush, he still wasn't used to this kind of attention from these two beautiful servants.
The girls bowed, making their clothes move, seductively letting some of their skin show.
Nian's face reddened even more, his voice started stuttering
"P-please, go and prepare some tea"
The girls bowed and started to slowly exit the room. As the girls exited, Liang Nian couldn't help but be mesmerized by their slow, and synchronized walk.
Only when they left did he manage to calm down.
He took in as much air as he could then exhaled, returning to his normal color. He straightened his robes.
"Master will be here soon. I have to go"
What Nian didn't know was that his master had left a spiritual imprint on his robes. The moment Nian had left the room, his master had already known of his breakthrough and was waiting for him in the guest room.