Jiang Feng carefully read through the mysterious book.

As he read the later explanations about the relevant symbols and marks, the more he read, the more confused he became, yet it also felt like he was on the verge of enlightenment. By the end, all that remained in his vision were twelve characters: Human Dao Foundation Establishment, Divine Dao Foundation Establishment, Earth Dao Foundation Establishment, Celestial Dao Foundation Establishment.

"This..."

Jiang Feng shook his head forcefully.

Trying to calm himself down.

Then he began reading again, following the symbols and marks, scrutinizing each character and their meanings.

After two hours, Jiang Feng finally sorted out the meanings of the relevant symbols.

He memorized their significance, then read through the mysterious book once more.

An hour passed.

Jiang Feng’s mouth was agape, a look of shock and disbelief on his face.

This was actually a Foundation Establishment Technique.

And there were four types of bases for Foundation Establishment.

Divided into Human Dao Foundation Establishment, Divine Dao Foundation Establishment, Earth Dao Foundation Establishment, and Celestial Dao Foundation Establishment.

Human Dao Foundation Establishment was the weakest.

Celestial Dao Foundation Establishment was the strongest.

More than ninety percent of those on the cultivation path were only Human Dao Foundation Establishment; it was rare for someone to attain the power of Divine Dao Foundation Establishment. If your foundation was consolidated at the level of Divine Dao, your future chances of advancing to Golden Core would be a hundred times easier than with Human Dao Foundation Establishment.

Likewise, advancing to Golden Core from Earth Dao Foundation Establishment would be even more promising than from Divine Dao, with even a ninety percent chance of becoming a Golden Core, while Celestial Dao Foundation Establishment meant a one hundred percent chance of becoming a Golden Core Powerhouse, and potentially even breaking through to the Nascent Soul.

Of course, Human Dao Foundation Establishment wasn’t without hope of advancement. The foundation is weak, so it simply requires greater effort and overcoming more dangers down the line.

In short, this mysterious book is a technique that teaches you how to lay the foundation for Foundation Establishment.

It points out four possible paths.

Human Dao Foundation Establishment is the easiest and simplest, while Celestial Dao Foundation Establishment is the most difficult.

"No matter how hard it is, I will achieve Celestial Dao Foundation Establishment."

Jiang Feng made up his mind.

He had a long lifespan; no matter the difficulty, he could persist until the goal was reached. In any case, he must lay a solid foundation so he could travel further on his path in the future.

Right after, he took out the Blood God Curse to inspect it.

Now he understood perfectly what the special symbols on the Blood God Curse meant. He read through it again.

Then checked the panel information.

Name: Jiang Feng

Fortune: 6,011,865

Cultivation Technique: Yang Technique (Great Success) Foundation Establishment Technique (Beginner+)

Skills: God-Binding Finger (Proficient+) Alchemy (Beginner+) Rune Secret Spell Basics (Proficient+) Blood God Curse (Beginner+)

Realm: Qi Condensation (Perfection)

Divine Power: Immortality

"Should I use up all my Fortune Points to upgrade the Foundation Establishment Technique or the Blood God Curse?"

Jiang Feng looked at his more than six million Fortune Points, vexed by indecision.

"The Foundation Establishment Technique is for choosing which path to take when achieving Foundation Establishment. Upgrading it now is too early; even if I perfected my cultivation, I’d still only be at the Qi Condensation Realm. To succeed in Foundation Establishment, I need to prioritize refining Yang Technique, with the Foundation Establishment Technique as support."

"So I should choose to upgrade the Blood God Curse right now."

"Back then, Mo Changlin had refined the Blood God Curse to an unknown extent, and with that alone managed to trap both me and the Cyan Snake King together. Even with Forbidden Magic aiding him, it still shows how terrifying the Blood God Curse is."

"Blood Sea Immortal Venerable is about to return. I have no other options."

"Forget it, let’s do it!"

Jiang Feng deliberated back and forth.

He decided to put all six million Fortune Points into the Blood God Curse.

The panel information changed.

Fortune: None

Skills: Blood God Curse (Perfection State)

"It actually reached Perfection."

Jiang Feng was quite surprised.

You needed over three million Fortune Points just to perfect Sword Control Technique or Mysterious Nether Spear Technique, martial arts and spells obtained from the Demon-Suppressing Martial Arts Hall’s Treasure Vault.

And for such a powerful killing tool as the Blood God Curse—Mo Changlin used it to trap him and the Cyan Snake King together—the whole six million Fortune Points brought it to perfection in a single go, truly beyond Jiang Feng’s expectations.

Nonetheless, the stronger his mastery of the Blood God Curse, the higher his ability to protect himself.

Now that it was cultivated to perfection—

Jiang Feng couldn’t wait to try it out.

With a single thought, blood-red light radiated from his body in all directions, and one blood-red rune after another—visible only to Jiang Feng—formed Purgatory Cages floating all around him.

Jiang Feng finally understood how Mo Changlin had trapped him back then.

It was precisely those purgatory cages, hidden within the blood light and composed of blood-red runes, visible only to the user.

More than ten cages appeared before him, as if they could contain a dozen powerhouses at once.

Jiang Feng stared at the cages, circulating the Blood God Curse.

Slowly, he discovered that the Blood God Curse’s method of cursing enemies from afar was to capture a strand of the opponent’s aura, or use a drop of their blood to imprison them in a Purgatory Cage.

If it was essence blood, the power would be greatly increased.

The Purgatory Cage would directly assault the opponent’s Divine Soul, making their body feel like it was being devoured by blood worms, torturing them until death.

No wonder the Cyan Snake King looked like he was in unbearable agony that day, begging for death.

As for Jiang Feng, with the Qinglong Cauldron’s protection, even when imprisoned in the Purgatory Cage of the Blood God Curse, he hadn’t felt that pain. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

"If I could grab a strand of Blood Sea Immortal Venerable’s aura or a drop of his blood, could I curse him to death from afar right now?"

"Hmm, wait!"

"My spiritual power."

"No, this is a wicked art that drains longevity!"

Suddenly, Jiang Feng realized his spiritual power was dissipating uncontrollably, and his life functions were fading.

His expression changed dramatically. He immediately stopped the Blood God Curse.

The blood-red light vanished, and all the Purgatory Cages disappeared as if they had never existed.

"I seem to have lost about a month of my lifespan just now."

Jiang Feng saw the skin on the back of his hand had withered noticeably—not an effect of Thousand Faces, but the result of lost life functions, causing physical aging.

Although he was immortal, his life functions weren’t infinite. If this drain continued, and his life functions were fully depleted, he would still drop dead.

It’s just like the blood in one’s body.

No matter how healthy, anyone who loses too much blood will die.

The same goes for Jiang Feng.

"I understand now. To activate the Blood God Curse, you don’t just need spiritual power, but must use life skills as support. This evil art is extremely costly to cast; that’s why its level is so low, and it took six million Fortune Points to reach Perfection State."

Jiang Feng grasped the truth.

No wonder Mo Changlin had to wait until he and the Cyan Snake King were together before using the Blood God Curse to trap them both.

So-called Forbidden Magic support—

Was actually life function depletion. If the caster’s life functions were weak, the Blood God Curse might kill the user before it ever killed the target.

"I wonder how such an evil art showed up in the Divine Sect?"

"The Cyan Snake King said Mo Changlin’s former sect was the Joyful Union Sect. Could it be the Blood God Curse was never a Divine Sect technique in the first place, but originated from the Joyful Union Sect as an evil art?"

"Well, whatever—it doesn’t matter if it’s a Divine Sect evil art. Now that I’ve perfected it, I can use it as a shield in times of danger. At least my life functions are surely stronger and longer-lasting than Mo Changlin’s."

Jiang Feng muttered to himself.

No matter what, his immortal constitution was still a definite advantage.

Next, Jiang Feng took another walk around the outer parts of the Underground Palace.

There were many houses with unusual phenomena, but since he’d suffered before, he didn’t dare open them lightly. The Underground Palace contained fortunes, but just as many dangers.

Not every house held treasure or good fortune inside.

In ten years, he’d explored the Underground Palace more than once, and received very little in return.

So he didn’t stay long.

After leaving, he toured the four city gates, inspecting defensive installations. With the lure of Spiritual Spring, Purple Bamboo Forest Cultivators worked hard, while several mages who once trained in Yun Gui Sect, along with the experts of the Demon Suppression Bureau, meticulously checked every detail.

Ensuring the array could be successfully activated once started.

Jiang Feng nodded with satisfaction, then returned to the Imperial City.

Time flew—three months passed in the blink of an eye.

Jiang Feng had Xiao Zhan closely monitor movements around the Divine Sect and the Sea of Blood.

A month ago, Blood Sea Immortal Venerable returned from the Sea of Blood to the Divine Sect, but he came alone; the supposed Lin Family Cultivator did not appear.

This puzzled Jiang Feng to no end. After Jun Miao found out, he felt uneasy, worried Jiang Feng might think he was making things up to scam him for Spiritual Spring Water.

Until the day before, when Xiao Zhan reported that large numbers of Lin Family had turned up at Dragon and Snake Island, the nearest to the Middle-earth Coast, Jun Miao was finally relieved.

Now it was certain: Blood Sea Immortal Venerable would unite with his clansmen to seize the Divine Sect Mansion and Dragon Capital Underground Palace. But both places had restriction arrays for defense.

One outside, one inside.

Blood Sea Immortal Venerable surely informed his clansmen of the situation.

So Jiang Feng and Xiao Zhan both thought that even if the Lin Family Cultivator arrived in Central Earth, they’d try exploring the Divine Sect Mansion first. After all, compared to the Dragon Capital Underground Palace, one could still get into the Divine Sect Mansion.

But the Dragon Capital Underground Palace not only had a restriction array blocking the outer perimeter, but also faced resistance from Jiang Feng and the Great Tang Empire. That’s why, after the Blood Sea Loose Cultivator took the Divine Sect, they waited so long before appearing outside the South City Gate.

And for the next ten years, they never dared approach Dragon Capital.

Of course, Jiang Feng wasn’t careless.

The fact that he could freely come and go from the Underground Palace was only known to Han Dong and the Little Cyan Snake.

He didn’t know if Blood Sea Immortal Venerable was aware; though there was a Blood-Burning Oath restraining the Little Cyan Snake, there was no guarantee it wouldn’t find a loophole and leak the secret.

If Lin Family Cultivator found out he could freely enter and exit the Underground Palace, they might temporarily give up on the Divine Sect Mansion and head for Dragon Capital instead.

Bottom line—Jiang Feng had to stay cautious.

He had people watch the Sea of Blood, and even had Xiao Zhan find ways to send people to infiltrate Dragon and Snake Island to scout the Lin Family Cultivator’s overall strength.

If a Foundation Establishment Powerhouse was found to arrive—

He would have to take Han Dong and retreat immediately.

Even if there wasn’t a Foundation Establishment Powerhouse, once the Lin Family Cultivator landed in Central Earth and showed signs of heading for Dragon Capital, he’d still need to retreat.

He’d already had Han Tieshan and Bao Longwei leave Dragon Capital for the north, searching for a place to settle.

In the blink of an eye, another month passed.

Xiao Zhan dispatched a man who’d been waiting near the coast for the Lin Family Cultivator. Today, the man returned to Dragon Capital, and Xiao Zhan brought him to see Jiang Feng.

This person was still the same Jun Miao.

This guy got two bottles of Spiritual Spring Water, yet instead of refining it immediately to advance his cultivation, Xiao Zhan had sent him off again to patrol the coast. Jiang Feng found it odd.

"Lin Family Cultivator has arrived."

As soon as he saw Jiang Feng, these were his first words.