18:00, Bamboo Rain Pavilion

　　The Grand Desolate War Institution had a wide-range of staff, as well as many residential areas for the staff scattered all over Wild Waves City.

　　At the beginning, Li Yao believed that Ding Lingdang, a new professor, would be residing in the dormitory; however, the Bamboo Rain Pavilion’s environment was too good and only a senior professor would have the qualifications to reside in such an extravagant area.

　　The entire Bamboo Rain Pavilion was extensively covered in restrictive spells, and in addition to those restrictive spells, the weather array glyphs formed a unique microclimate.

　　As Li Yao stepped into the Bamboo Rain Pavilion, he felt a humid wind blowing on his face as a calm sea of bamboo came into view while a continuous drizzle poured down from the sky.

　　Scattered in between the bamboo forest were a couple quaint villas. As Li Yao attentively gazed upon one of them, a white light suddenly bloomed before his eyes as a burst of a faint tingle appeared in his brain.

　　The villas were surrounded by restrictive spells to prevent others from casually spying on them.

　　Li Yao dared not to act rashly again and honestly walked towards Ding Lingdang’s residence.

　　The two had not seen each other since Floating Spear City.

　　Ding Lingdang said that she had a premonition that she was about to breakthrough, so she asked for a leave and went to the depths of the Wasteland to cultivate.

　　“Has she successfully built her foundation?”

　　Li Yao felt a burst of joy in his heart as he sped up his footsteps.

　　In a short while, a small two-story villa next to a hillside appeared amidst the sea of bamboos.

　　From outside, the villa looked as though it had been completely built from bamboo which had lost its luster and faded away over the long passage of time, integrating completely with the surroundings, giving off an appearance as though it was naturally formed.

　　“Hiss!”

　　Right when Li Yao crossed a bamboo fence surrounding the villa, a Seven Star Silver-Ringed Horned Snake suddenly sprang out from the bamboo leaves in the surroundings and wrapped itself around his neck.

　　Li Yao was caught off guard; his entire body seemed to be petrified.

　　A Seven Star Silver-Ring Horned Snake was not a powerful demon beast at all and did not have any demonic skill that could conceal its aura.

　　At any rate, he was a 3rd level Refinement Stage cultivator, so why didn’t he sense it a moment ago?

　　Contrary to expectations, the Seven Star Silver Ring Horned Snake didn’t launch an attack and just used its glossy and green pair of eyes to scan his face.

　　Li Yao kept on gazing at the Seven Star Silver Ring Horned Snake before his eyes suddenly become transfixed.

　　The gaps between the scales of the Seven Star Silver Ring Horned Snake were flashing with a faint metal gloss, and its pair of eyes were crafted from crystals.

　　To Li Yao’s surprise, it was a non-living being; it was a special magical equipment that had been refined through the fusion of flesh and blood of an actual Seven Star Silver Ring Horned Snake with heaven and earth treasures!

　　“Good gracious!”

　　Li Yao was secretly rendered speechless.

　　It was very common to use the flesh of demon beasts to refine with heaven and earth material, but for the refined magical equipment to come out so vividly and lifelike, seemingly filled with life and color, it was truly unfathomable!

　　“Hiss! Hiss! Hiss! Hiss!”

　　The Seven Star Silver Ring Horned Snake flicked its tongue, which was as soft as a real tongue, as it started licking Li Yao’s face.

　　Li Yao’s pupil suddenly constricted.

　　He discovered that its forked tongue was actually made from countless sheets of Gold Stone that were connected in series.

　　Gold Stone was an extremely rare material which possessed the characteristics of both metal and stone and thus has high rigidity and low tensile strength. With the slightest mistake, it could very well be broken; it was a material which is very difficult to process, thus a vast majority of refiners would be reluctant to make use of this heaven and earth material.

　　The Gold Stone was dissected and cut into tens of thousands of 0.1 mm thin slices, thereafter holes were cut open before they were connected in series. Furthermore, they also had array glyphs engraved upon them so that it was as flexible as the forked tongue of a real snake…

　　“Unfathomable! The person who refined this piece of magical equipment truly had unfathomable skill!”

　　“Who the hell actually refined this Seven Star Silver Ring Horned Snake? He is definitely a peerless master refiner!”

　　The Seven Star Silver Ring Horned Snake slithered on Li Yao’s neck for while before it lightly sprang back into the bamboo leaves and disappeared.

　　Meanwhile, from the birdcage at the top of the porch rang a sweet and melodious twirp:

　　“Li Yao, come in! Li Yao, come in!”

　　The door opened as it made a “squeak” sound before a rainbow flew out from the birdcage and circled around Li Yao’s head, giving him directions.

　　Having swept a glance, Li Yao discovered that it was a rainbow-colored, gorgeous parrot, and just like before, it too was a fusion of flesh and blood of a demon beast with heaven and earth treasures.

　　At first glance, one could simply not tell the difference between it and a living being.

　　Li Yao was simply flabbergasted. The two magical equipment’s refining style was completely different than with that of grassroots; they were simply exquisite and extravagant, meticulous and time-consuming, and they could be even called a work of art. They were definitely worth a couple of towns together, and yet, much to Li Yao’s surprise, they were actually used for guarding and welcoming guests!

　　“What exactly is Ding Lingdang’s background? Is her family that rich?”

　　Li Yao muttered for a while before he walked in with large strides.

　　Contrary to his expectations, the decor within the villa was very modern; it was simple and concise, with a fierce and masculine feeling.

　　It was as though a few chairs and tables were casually thrown inside a cultivation gym, while the rest of the space was completely packed with training equipment of all shapes and sizes. It was the complete opposite of its natural and ancient feeling that was present on the outside.

　　When Li Yao stepped into the living room, he had been shaken to the core by the entire wall opposite to the door.

　　Over a hundred heads of demon beasts which were baring their teeth and looked extremely fierce, revealing their most brutal side, were helplessly hung on the wall and were reduced to nothing but decorations.

　　Under the head of each demon beast, there was also an engraving in small characters.

　　“Flintstone Demon, hunted in Wildfire Mountain Range, blasted its heart in three punches!”

　　“Herculean Bear Devil, hunted in Wailing Caverns, took 47 seconds!”

　　“This is ridiculous!”

　　Li Yao wryly smiled. Anyhow, Ding Lingdang was still a young lady in her early twenties, so how could she hang these kinds of things? Not only that, but she had also casually written the hunting process. Did she fear that others would not know how incomparably mighty and fierce she was?

　　“Sister Ling, I’m here!”

　　Li Yao walked in, following the sounds coming from the corner of the living room.

　　Ding Lingdang had just returned from the depths of the wasteland. Clearly, she was not someone who would clean the house, as the clothes she had worn when she went to the Wasteland were thrown here and there, making quite a mess. Li Yao was extremely embarrassed to see a couple of undergarments casually lying around on the floor.

　　The air was filled with a faint sweaty smell; however, it was not unpleasant at all, rather a bit strange.

　　“Oh, you’re here? Come, eat with me!”

　　Dressed in a crop top and small shorts, Ding Lingdang sat on the ground very aggressively with her slim and slender legs apart. Placed in front of her was a few dozen high-energy foods which a normal girl would not even dare to look at. While she ate, she was watching a battle video that was shot in first-person view with great interest.

　　The video was shot by a cultivator wearing a recording magical equipment on his forehead when he was hunting a demon beast in the depths of the Wasteland. It was especially stimulating, giving the viewer a feeling as though it was happening to him.

　　“Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!”

　　The cultivator in the video was incomparably brutal; the brain of a charming and delicate iron armored warthog beast was splattered all over the ground as it breathed out its final breath.

　　Having cheered to her heart’s content, Ding Lingdang grabbed a piece of mutton chop and stuffed it into her mouth, whereupon she wiped her greasy hands on her ass before she pulled Li Yao.

　　“Quickly sit down! First, do not move the chopsticks. Tell me, do I look any different!?”

　　If it was an ordinary girl who had asked a boy this question, the boy would just answer: “Hey, have you done your hair? What did you do? You look truly beautiful!”

　　That was normally the correct answer.

　　However, when such a question came from Ding Lingdang, Li Yao immediately understood—

　　“Have you established your foundation?”

　　“Hahaha, that’s right! Tell me, quickly, on a scale of one to ten, how cool does sister look?”

　　Ding Lingdang unscrupulously started laughing to the point that her eyes had gone white, and of course, her mouth was wide open. She had laughed herself into fits, having not even the slightest bit of care for her image.

　　Along with her laughter, a thick mass of spiritual energy writhed out of her body and gradually surrounded her into a layer of mist which slowly turned into small, gorgeous beads of water, with each glowing in resplendent colors.

　　“Liquefaction of spiritual energy!”

　　When Li Yao perceived them with his spiritual roots, it was even more shocking than looking at them with the naked eye. It was as though tens of thousands of colors fiercely shot out from Ding Lingdang and grabbed ahold of his mind in the blink of an eye.

　　Refinement Stage cultivator had very low control over spiritual energy and could only stimulate spiritual energy, which was why it was called the “refinement of energy” stage.

　　However, once they could master the ability to liquefy their spiritual energy, they would step onto the Building Foundation Stage, taking a completely new road of evolution!

　　Ding Lingdang flaunted herself as she executed seven or eight stances one after another. Only then did she withdraw the liquefied spiritual energy back into her body, converging her aura, as she stuck out her tongue and said, “Alright, I can only do this much. I have just established my foundation, so I can not show off often. Otherwise, I would injure my soul. Wait until I have completely consolidated my state, then I will let you study it slowly. Now, come and eat the Foundation Building Egg with me!”

　　While laughing, she took out a shimmering demon beast egg which had already been cooked. A sweet smell greeted his nose.

　　“This is a Foundation Building Egg?” Li Yao curiously inspected the demon beast egg.

　　The ancient cultivation world of forty millenniums ago was not clearly aware of various cultivation laws; cultivators knew many cultivation principles were so, but as for why they were so, they didn’t know

　　For a Refinement Stage cultivator of the ancient cultivation world to advance to the Building Foundation Stage, besides cultivating madly, they also happened to need heaven-defying luck as well as taking a pill called the “Building Foundation Pill”. Only then could they have any hope to succeed.

　　The Building Foundation Pill was refined using over a hundred priceless treasures and were tremendously rare. God knows how many time just a small Building Foundation Pill had raised a sanguinary slaughter, bringing forth countless disputes.

　　It was only during the modern era when civilization had developed, thereby giving birth to various skills and countless synthetic drugs that could help establish the foundation in an endless stream, was there no longer any need for cultivators to go all out for a Building Foundation Pill.

　　However, the importance of the Building Foundation Pill was still carried down from ancient times, evolving into a very interesting custom.

　　After a cultivator had established his foundation, he must personally go to seek out a demon beast egg in order to cook and eat it.

　　This egg was called “Foundation Building Egg” and signified that cultivators had not forgotten the tradition at all.

　　Moreover, not just any egg given by a demon beast could become a Foundation Building Egg. For it to become a Foundation Building Egg, it was better to have its color as close to gold as possible after it was cooked.

　　A golden egg was synonymous to the golden core and it was also a blessing, signifying that after eating this “golden egg”, you could smoothly march all the way to the Core Formation Stage and become a Golden Core powerhouse.

　　“Quickly eat it, Sister Ling! May you form the golden core as soon as possible and become unparalleled in the world!”

　　Li Yao sincerely wished her.

　　“En!”

　　With a light tap, Ding Lingdang peeled the Foundation Building Egg. The egg shell was very soft; it was completely peeled as if it was the peel of a fruit.

　　Whereupon, a round golden bead appeared in her palm.

　　It was the egg of a Golden-Spotted Finch. The egg shell as well as the albumen(egg white) were both glittering, implying it was extremely good and high-grade among Foundation Building Eggs.

　　It spread out a faint, delicate fragrance. Ding Lingdang, having taken a deep whiff of the fragrance, had an intoxicated look her face. Opening her mouth, just as she was about to swallow the entire Foundation Building Egg, it seemed as if she thought of something as she pinched a small piece of the wiggling golden albumen and sent it towards Li Yao’s mouth.

　　“Why?” Li Yao was flabbergasted.

　　“I want to share a bit with you so that you can also be smeared with this Sister’s divine energy. Maybe you can also form your golden core a little earlier!” Ding Lingdang pursed her lips into a smile.

　　“How can that be ok? According to the custom, the Foundation Building Egg must be swallowed whole! The golden egg is the golden core. Have you seen anyone cultivate a half golden core?” Li Yao didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

　　“Stop with all this nonsense! How can just swallowing the golden egg allow you to be able to form a golden core? It’s just symbolic. Besides—”

　　Suddenly, she took a glance a Li Yao’s left side in surprise.

　　In a moment of surprise, while Li Yao was distracted, a soft mass was stuffed into his mouth and rolled down his throat as though it was tender tofu.

　　“Hahaha, fooled you!”

　　Ding Lingdang stupidly laughed and casually said:

　　“The road of cultivation is very long. Isn’t one person walking alone lonely and boring? Clearly, isn’t it better to find a few friends and brothers to walk together, with everyone talking and laughing along the way? You address me as sister, so how could I let you call me such in vain? If I have good stuff, then I am certainly going to share it with everyone!”

　　Li Yao scratched his head; he didn’t know what to say.

　　Between the two, Ding Lingdang was also endlessly chatting, while he did his part of listening to her attentively.

　　“Quickly eat and drink to have some energy. Sister will take you to her bedroom and let you thoroughly enjoy a bit!” Ding Lingdang said proudly.

　　“Cough! Cough! Cough! Cough!”

　　A piece of lamb skewer was stuck in Li Yao’s throat, making him cough to the point that tears were flowing out of his eyes.