I glanced over to see Unyielding Firestorm throw a fire dragon at another small group of archers. Could I really just leave these kids here fighting for me while I went to create my foundation? I grimaced.

::Great Martial Aunt! Go. We’ll be fine here.::

Clear Eyes and Spear That Weaves started flying over. “We’ll act as your Dao protectors!”

These guys!

I grabbed the brat and rushed to the rock cave I’d set up. Once inside, I closed it up, activating my defensive formation, and sat back-to-back with Little Spring.

Since I never had the chance to give a lecture on how to create a foundation, I would have to walk him through it. Hopefully, I didn’t cause him to fuck up his base.

I breathed out a calming breath and allowed my body to absorb the heavenly energy and bring it into my dantian to circle.

“We’re about to form our twelve foundational pillars.”

“Yes, Sister Lin!”

“The essence of cultivation is walking a path of improvement. To become the best version of yourself whether that means becoming a powerful swordsman or an amazing chef. It’s perfectly acceptable to change over time, but the foundation you build here will be with you always, so it’s best to lay an excellent one.”

“Sister Lin, could you hurry up? I’m not sure I can keep holding back.”

“There are three main types of illusory pillars. The first is minimalist. It is a sturdy base that uses basic cylinders to represent a foundation. Cultivators who use this kind will never fear their foundation crumbling. They can also learn almost any technique without it damaging their cultivation base.”

“So we’re creating those?”

“No. I’m giving you options. If you don’t choose wisely, you could fuck yourself over.”

He nodded, but his jerky movements showed how strained he felt.

“Those who apply the first type often develop an unbending personality.”

“That’s a good thing, right?”

If we weren’t back to back, I’d flick his glabella. “Things that cannot bend, break.”

I thoroughly believed that this style was why this Xianxia universe had a bunch of dumb and unreasonable people everywhere. Their foundation was too stiff. I also suspected Bloodsword used it in his past.

“Of course, there is nothing inherently wrong with choosing this kind.”

The kid shook his head. “That’s not for me. What’s the next?”

“Ornate and aesthetic. These pillars allow you to become more powerful at the cost of narrowing your path.”

“And the drawbacks?”

“You add limits to yourself and you’ll have to focus on a specific style. This isn’t inherently a bad thing; however, the foundation itself won’t be as stable as the other types. For example, you cannot accidentally learn a technique that goes against your cultivation style or it will ruin you.”

He swallowed. “Does that one have any weird personality quirks?”

“People with this type of pillar regularly think too highly of themselves. Whether that’s from believing that they’re stronger than everyone or something else, I don’t know. I haven’t done enough research on it.”

This was also the pillar style most young masters and geniuses used. Of course, those types of cultivators usually had strict inheritances, so it was fine for them to use it.

“What’s the next?”

“Self-expression.”

“That one isn’t really self-explanatory.”

I grinned. “Instead of creating a traditional architectural-type pillar, you create symbols of things that represent yourself and your path up till now. Each pillar can be as simple or detailed as it needs to be.” This was also the style I chose.

“If you go with this one, you have to be very confident with yourself. While these types of pillars are both powerful and sturdy, you’re taking a risk that the things you make part of your foundation will continue to affect you throughout your life.”

“And what’s the downside?”

“Well... Ah. That changes from person to person. However, I found that this kind of foundation makes it difficult to change some habits that others don’t exactly appreciate.”

The kid jerked his head around.

“What’s wrong?”

“Just... That explains so much.”

Brat! “Like I said, it varies.”

“Is there another style?”

“These are the only ones I’ve encountered that don’t leave your foundation significantly vulnerable.”

“Then I’ll go with the last.”

“Then what are the twelve aspects of yourself that have helped you grow?”

“Not sure. What are yours?” The strain in his voice was becoming obvious.

“Well, we can’t keep putting it off, so I will go over mine. If you feel like it’s part of your journey and important to who you are, then you can also make it a pillar for yourself.”

I looked inside my dantian, where the ball of internal Qi had melted to form a lake and merged with the heavenly energy. I grabbed a small portion of it and built an illusory sword. When I originally created my foundation in my previous life, I’d made it look like the blade I imagined I would wield in the future. In this life, I sculpted it to resemble the one I kept with me for the past three years. While it wasn’t mine, it had brought me to this point, and I would remember it fondly.

I filled the pillar with spiritual energy until it glowed.

“My first pillar is always the sword. One of the martial arts I put most of my time in. Practicing it has shaped who I am.”

“It’s the same for me.”

“Next is alchemy. It has consumed most of my attention throughout the years. I create a cauldron for its pillar.”

He nodded.

“Just as important as swords are inner energy techniques, also called spells. The way I fight has always relied on these two aspects the most. To represent them, I use a hand creating the seal for directing a technique rather than focusing on one in particular.”

“That should work for me, too.”

“The next is a formation flag and then a forge.”

“Same.”

I was actually surprised by that. The kid had only just started learning item forging techniques. To suddenly make it a pillar of his foundation must mean he enjoyed it a lot.

“In this life, I’ve decided to include body cultivation in my foundational pillars. While I’m not certain that I’ll continue it past Foundation Establishment, it is an important part of my cultivation’s groundwork.”

“What are you using to represent it?”

I cleared my throat. “Ah, um. A perfectly proportional muscular body.”

“Whose?”

I considered just using Leonardo da Vinci’s The Man, but I should put more thought into it.

“My own, as an adult. But you can use what you imagine you’ll look like. Pillars don’t have to be exact, as long as they approximate what they’re representing.”

I grudgingly sculpted an illusory image of my own perfect form, with good proportions and bodybuilding musculature wearing an exercise outfit from my past-past life. Also, beautiful abs because I happened to be fond of muscles. I frowned at my carving and stared at it for longer than I should have.

There was something wrong with it… Oh, right. The goddamn chest area. Even though the size I created it at was my ideal, it just didn’t look normal if it wasn’t the same as my past life.

Grimacing, I forced myself to change it. My eyes relaxed when I studied the new larger version.

Fuck. This had to be a curse or something from that dumbass harem author and his ‘twin peaks with no equal’ bullshit.

Or maybe I’d just grown too used to seeing myself with these proportions. Goddamn it!

Whatever. Just because my pillar looked like this didn’t mean I would. There was a significant chance I’d have a more manageable size in this life. Which would be a nice 'fuck you' to the original author.

“What’s next?” Little Spring said, reminding me that this wasn’t a good time to throw well-deserved shade at the universe’s creator.

“A vine with a flower.”

“For the plague you cured?”

“That’s one meaning, but mostly it’s for practicing horticulture. Our knowledge of spiritual plants and our willingness to plant seeds to replace what we took.”

He nodded.

The brat would remember every time we marked the ingredients we collected on a map.

“This is where we’re going to diverge. Because my next pillar is in the shape of a physician's acupuncture needles.”

“Then mine will be a bowl.”

“For… immortal cooking?”

“For the space. A small ancient bowl that holds a mustard seed space.“

Right! That disappeared after Little Spring was acknowledged as the space’s owner.

“I’ll create a brush. The kind that creates complex seals.” Like the one I used to hide my massive Immortal Ascension soul.

“Mine needs to be a wok for immortal cooking.”

I grinned when I decided on this next one. “Tribulation lightning, to represent overcoming my fears.”

“For me, it would have to be the wave symbol. So I’ll never forget to find those people and ruin them.”

Oh right! This kid still had the goal to find the assholes who murdered his mother.

“If you decide to use that as a pillar, you might find it difficult to reach immortality if you don’t succeed in your revenge. I can’t recommend you do that, but I won’t stop you.”

Everyone’s path was different.

He cleared his throat. “If I can’t take out the clan that murdered my mother, then I don’t deserve to ascend.”

The kid sounded firm. It might cause problems in the future, but we’d deal with that when we got to it.

“My next pillar is something only I can make, because it’s a clock. A time-keeping tool that only exists in the world I originally came from. It represents my return to my past.” Out of every event in my life, that was the most significant. And now I could openly talk about it since the kid had figured it out… It also reminded me that we still needed to sit down and have a conversation about that.

While he’d obviously read my letter, that wasn’t enough to clear up this mess.

“Hmm. Then mine will be Xiao Bai.”

The dog?!

I coughed. “Ah, why?”

“Well, I considered having you as a pillar, but then I figured you’d tell me no.”

I scowled. No shit.

“So then I chose Xiao Bai because I want to continue to raise spiritual beasts in the future.”

“It is your path. I can’t choose it for you.” While it might make me uncomfortable, if the kid found his calling as a beast tamer, then I wouldn’t stop him. Though I would have to add some boundaries, so his monsters didn’t try to murder me. “It’s better than having me as a pillar. If I ever betrayed you, your foundation could crumble.”

He nodded.

“My last pillar will be a phoenix to represent my special constitution.”

“I should make one for my bloodline… but what should I use?”

I cleared my throat. “Well, I’m not sure exactly what your bloodline is.”

“Then I’ll represent it with a dragon.”

That… made sense. And made me want to murder the original author all over again because that was just the sort of blatant Easter Egg bullshit he would include in his dumbass setting.

As soon as I filled up the last illusory figure with energy from my pool, all twelve pillars glowed brightly. A small amount of gross impurities left my body through my pores.

My internal Qi condensed and thickened. My body and mind became stronger, even more so than when we’d been bathed in the light of heavenly energy. My life expectancy increased by 50 years.

I had officially become a Foundation Establishment cultivator!

Considering how easy it was to spread my divine sense through the cave, I could now use it at the beginning of Nascent Soul without hurting my body… However, that would break the seal on my soul. That was something I would only do in the direst circumstances.

“Done!” Little Spring said, then jumped to his feet and grinned down at me excitedly. “Now, how do we get to Golden Core?”

I very carefully stood up, lifted my chin, and crossed my arms. “It’s too soon for you to think about that. There are important steps you need to take in Foundation Establishment first. You still need to grow up more!” This kid was only 9... well, almost 10. Before he thought about the next realm, he had to experience more. The last thing I wanted was for him to become an unbalanced, impatient person. And now that I knew my tribulations would be less deadly when we worked together, I’d have to consider the pros and cons of possibly going through the next tribulation with the brat.

There was a chance I’d have to slow down my own cultivation speed to let the brat experience some hardships.

Wait a minute. Didn’t we make a wager about this shit? Fuck! This kid would win if I did that! He may have won a spiritual tool from me this round but I wouldn’t let him win the next even if I made my tribulation more difficult!

I glared at him like the imposing little master I was. “Before you think about Golden Core, I should teach you the technique for Foundation Establishment. It's slightly different from Qi Condensation. Then you’ll have to continue to absorb spiritual energy, purifying your body and turning it into internal energy. Once you have enough, you have to create another pillar.”

“And how many pillars do we need?”

“A total of 144.”

The kid looked at me like he’d been scammed.

“Hey, we already have the first twelve.”

He scowled. “How are we supposed to come up with all those different pillars?! I had to try hard just to think of those!”

I aggressively smoothed a strand of the brat’s hair that refused to stay down. It popped back up. “We don’t have to make unique ones. They should be copies of the original twelve. This is why you should only choose things that resonate with you.”

I cast a cleaning technique at the foundation establishment level.

Ah! That was the stuff. That whole gross feeling that was irritating my skin vanished. My armor sparkled like it hadn’t taken a beating earlier. Even the ground and stone walls gleamed as if polished.

And the kid jumped so high he hit his skull against the ceiling. A small crack appeared on its rocky surface.

“Sister Lin, I feel like I lost a layer of skin,” the brat whined as he rubbed his head.

“Good.”

He scowled.

“Do you know how gross we were after all that?”

His eyebrows furrowed.

“We were covered in dirt, grass, burns, and impurities.”

“If you cast the cleaning technique at this level, you might really offend someone.”

I glanced at the door, clenched my hand into a fist, and punched it. The stone flew out several feet.

“Muahahaha! You’re thinking too much. Who’d be offended at getting clean?”

“With how often you use it, I’d think you’d choose it as one of your pillars.”

“Nonsense!”

“You could turn it into an attack.”

This brat. “How can something so inherently good be an attack?”

When I stepped outside, I grinned at Clear Eyes Mad Tongue.

Little Spring tried to point at me secretly and whispered, “Her cleaning technique is stronger now.”

Mad Tongue’s eyes widened with horror. “Senior Lin, you’re going to get murdered.”

“I don’t want to hear that from you.”

“How long were we in there?” Little Spring asked.

“Thirty minutes?”

That sounded about right for my cultivation technique.

“How are you out already?! I thought internal Qi cultivators took days or months to finish their foundation.”

I grinned. “Sect secrets.”

He nodded seriously.

I’d need to prepare a gift for these guys as a thank you for helping me out when I needed it.

A loud noise blasted through the valley, flattening the grass.

I frowned at the familiar energy signature. “Is that the Sect Leader?”

Clear Eyes shrugged.

Immortal Bone Creation fights usually ended fast. If he was still engaged, then his opponent must be on an equal level to him, or a person who knew him well.

Unyielding Firestorm and Justice Reaching flew over with Little Black, who had been wrapped in the golden rope sect enforcers used.

Jujube and Third Peach came in behind them and waved enthusiastically. The pair appeared very close.

“Grand Nephew!”

Unyielding grinned. His clothes had tears in them from the fight, but the man still had the chiseled jaw of a superhero.

“Great Aunt Lin! Is this the demonic cultivator who ordered the attack on you?”

I stared down at the bitch, then pulled her hood back.