Chapter 28

Amidst the thunder and lightning, dark clouds rapidly devoured the sky, and the scorching sun vanished without a trace. The thunder roared incessantly, shaking the valley. Inside the cave, the stone bowl in front of Bai Shi finally began to show signs of change as he infused it with his spiritual energy.

The medicinal pill soaked in blood slowly began to rotate in the stone bowl. Under Bai Shi's watchful eyes, the speed of rotation gradually increased. In the blink of an eye, it formed a red vortex, emitting a mysterious heat.

Sweat continued to bead on Bai Shi's forehead. When he opened his eyes, a drop of sweat trickled into his eye, causing a sharp sting.

As the first raindrop seeped through the cave's crevices and fell inside, Bai Shi suddenly let out a soft cry. It seemed as if he was invoking some unknown law of nature. As he raised his hand, the contents of the stone bowl suddenly flew out, hovering between his palms under his spiritual control.

Even so, the object continued to rotate rapidly between his palms. Unlike before, the small red vortex was now compressing itself into a small red sphere.

Holding his breath, Bai Shi continued to channel his spiritual energy into his palms. Although it was just a thin stream, it already made him feel utterly exhausted. If he gave up now, all his efforts would be in vain!

He slowly closed his eyes, gritting his teeth, and seemed to be drawing on all the spiritual energy left in his body. At the moment when the rain began to pour, and his eyes snapped open, Bai Shi suddenly clenched his open palm, then released it again. Two almost transparent streams of energy shot out from his palm, striking the small red sphere.

"Boom!"

As the almost transparent energy hit the small red sphere, it emitted a dull sound and exploded. A mist of medicinal fragrance spread out, and the original sphere transformed into several smaller spheres, like pills.

Sitting on the ground, Bai Shi suddenly fell over, gasping for breath. It seemed that this alchemy session had drained all his spiritual energy, leaving him utterly exhausted.

After resting for a moment and taking several deep breaths, Bai Shi could clearly feel a tingling sensation all over his body. Struggling to his feet, he picked up the pills that had fallen to the ground—there were nine in total.

"Fortunately, what I'm refining now is just the Hehe Powder... required for the Fourth Level of the Foundation Establishment stage. If I were to refine higher-grade pills, the spiritual energy in my body would not be enough to refine them..." After a moment of contemplation, Bai Shi placed a pill in the stone bowl and crushed it into powder.

Carefully pouring the Hehe Powder into his palm, Bai Shi gazed at it for a moment, then fell silent, as if hesitating about something.

He knew that the next step was to take the Hehe Powder, but the strain it would put on his body might cause him to endure pain he had never experienced before.

The white fox looked up at Bai Shi, its eyes darting and occasionally blinking, as if curious about something.

Bai Shi's brows were tightly furrowed. At a certain moment, the desire to enhance his strength finally made him make a resolute decision.

Throwing the Hehe Powder into his mouth, Bai Shi made a pained expression. Although the powder emitted a medicinal fragrance, it tasted extremely bitter and had a strange flavor that made him feel nauseous.

Bai Shi knew that this strange taste was the taste of blood!

Next, Bai Shi had to sit cross-legged and use the remaining spiritual energy in his body to accelerate the effects of the Hehe Powder.

As he sat in silence, the tension in his brows eased, but his calm face took on a mysterious solemnity. As he placed his hands on his knees, a faint energy wave began to ripple out from his body.

The white fox, seeing this, retreated timidly and let out a faint, startled howl.

At this moment, Bai Shi could clearly feel a gradually strengthening force coursing through his muscles, causing a faint flush to appear on his cheeks. At the top of his head, a vortex seemed to be forming, with a thin mist beginning to swirl.

Upon closer inspection, it was clear that this mist was not emanating from his body but was the spiritual energy from the heavens and earth being absorbed and channeled into his body through the energy waves emitted by Bai Shi!

With his eyes closed, Bai Shi could clearly feel the spiritual energy flowing into his body, but he also felt the rapidly expanding internal force squeezing every muscle cell in his body. This force seemed to be about to burst out of his body, but it did not, giving him the illusion that his body was about to explode.

This illusion caused his flushed cheeks to show signs of intense pain.

His tightly closed lips began to tremble, and the spiritual energy flowing into his head increased. In an instant, the mist turned into thin white rays, continuously pulsating above his head!

Perhaps because of the excessive spiritual energy, Bai Shi's body could not bear the load, and the pressure made his tightly closed eyes suddenly open! A look of pain flashed in his eyes the moment they opened, but more than that, it was a look of determination and perseverance, which, in that instant, turned into endurance!

Even the hands on his knees, which he had clenched, released a powerful energy wave. Within the energy wave, four white lines began to wriggle, as if trying to break free from the energy's restraint!

However, outside these four white lines, a faint white line was slowly becoming solid!

"Foundation Establishment Fifth Level... I'm coming!" Seeing this, Bai Shi, enduring the pain, released a look of madness in his eyes. This madness made him let out a soft cry, and his seated body suddenly stood up, looking at the gradually solidifying line. With his mad consciousness, he seemed to be trying to etch this line!

He clenched his fist again, but at an extremely fast speed. As a thread of spiritual energy entered his body, he suddenly clenched his fist. The energy wave around his fist trembled, and a dull sound was heard. The white line had already become half solid!

Despite this, the pain in Bai Shi's body intensified, as the spiritual energy continued to flow into his body. His strength, beyond his control, began to rise, and he slowly floated in the air!

But Bai Shi was not surprised; instead, he felt a strange excitement. This excitement made him suddenly open his clenched fist again, and as a thread of spiritual energy entered his body, he clenched it with a loud sound.

The air trembled, and the white fox retreated timidly, looking up to see Bai Shi's face, which was even more painful.

This time, as he clenched his fist, he gritted his teeth, and the veins on his forehead bulged, and his muscles swelled, as if they might burst through his clothes at any moment!

What excited Bai Shi was that the faint line finally turned solid under the pressure of his clenched fist!

But the pain did not subside, even though he had reached the Fifth Level of the Foundation Establishment stage. He could still clearly feel the powerful force coursing through his body, causing even more intense pain!

His body did not fall to the ground; instead, more spiritual energy continued to flow into his head, and his teeth, clenched tightly, began to bleed. The veins on his forehead seemed ready to burst, and his appearance was extremely fierce and terrifying!

"What... is happening?" In his anxiety, Bai Shi could not understand.

"Could it be... that the power of the Hehe Powder is too much for my body to bear?" Despite the intense pain, Bai Shi, floating in the air, was still speculating about the various reasons for this abnormality!

However, as he speculated, a faint line began to form around the fifth solid line under the energy wave of his fist!

"Foundation Establishment Sixth Level!" Seeing this, Bai Shi seemed to forget the pain for a moment. In his excitement, he let out a soft cry, a twisted smile on his face, with blood still on his lips.

"So, this is a bottleneck... a bottleneck at the Sixth Level of the Foundation Establishment stage! I can get through this, I can do it!" He roared, and the pain in his body seemed to ease slightly. He clenched his fist again, and the sixth faint line began to change as the air trembled.

Bai Shi knew that if he did not seize this bottleneck now, it might take him years or even decades to break through the Sixth Level of the Foundation Establishment stage!

Bai Shi's face was both fierce and excited, a contradiction.

But in his heart, there was a belief, an unshakable belief—Foundation Establishment Sixth Level!

With a soft cry, Bai Shi endured the pain in his body. Under the urging of this pain, a buzzing sound seemed to echo in his mind, making his consciousness waver.

If he were to break through by absorbing spiritual energy on his own, his body would not experience much pain. But if he relied on pills, the pain would be excruciating, like a heart-wrenching agony. Not to mention the pain of breaking through two levels at once, which Bai Shi was very clear about!

Time passed as Bai Shi endured the pain. At this moment, the sixth line was almost completely solid, but the pain in his body made Bai Shi tremble slightly, as if he had lost sensation.

Focusing on the sixth line that was almost solid, Bai Shi seemed to use all his cautious strength. Under his control, he clenched his fist again, and the energy wave trembled, spreading out with a booming sound. The sixth faint line under the energy wave turned solid in that moment.

His body felt as if it had been freed from a restraint. As Bai Shi's heavy eyelids saw the sixth solid line appear, they finally closed decisively. His body, which had been floating in the air, fell to the ground, and he fainted...