Foundation Establishment is also divided into three stages: early, middle, and late. Each stage also has its Bottleneck, but these Bottlenecks are much harder to overcome than those in the Qi Refinement Stage.
As for the Core Formation Stage, which comes after Foundation Establishment, it is also divided into three stages: early, middle, and late, and it also has Bottlenecks.
As for the Nascent Soul Stage, which comes after Core Formation, I do not know.
“What are the benefits of advancing to a higher Realm?” Yun Sheng asked, not understanding.
“Haha! The benefit is that you can live longer.”
“For example, in the Qi Refinement Stage, you can generally live to about one hundred and twenty years old without illness or disaster, which is twenty to thirty years longer than a Mortal's lifespan.”
“The Foundation Establishment Stage doubles that, lasting up to two hundred and fifty years.”
“The Core Formation Stage is even longer, with a lifespan between four hundred and sixty and five hundred years. Each time you Breakthrough a Bottleneck, your lifespan increases by several decades.”
“As for the Nascent Soul Stage, it is said to have a thousand-year lifespan.”
Yun Ming said with a smile.
Upon hearing this, Yun Sheng was dumbfounded.
What kind of concept was a thousand-year lifespan? He knew that in their Zhu Family Ba Village, it was rare for old people to live past seventy.
To live for more than ten times seventy years, for more than ten generations.
Truly a thousand-year-old tortoise. If Yun Ming knew that Yun Sheng was describing the Nascent Soul lifespan this way, he would surely burst out laughing.
A thousand-year-old tortoise, every Cultivator in their Yun Family wanted to be one, but even entering Foundation Establishment was so difficult, let alone the later Core Formation and Nascent Soul Stages.
Following a half-zhang wide stone staircase along the foot of the mountain, the two arrived halfway up the mountain.
This was where the General Affairs Hall was located, and surrounding the mountainside was where the Qi Refinement Disciple dormitories were.
He received a triangular token, with “Yun Family” on the front and the number “047” on the back. This was the dormitory number.
He also received a set of formal Yun Family Cultivation attire.
And a jade bottle containing ten Pigu Pills.
According to Yun Ming, Cultivators could take one Pigu Pill to stave off hunger for three days.
After finishing the month's supply, they could return to the General Affairs Hall with their token to claim more.
Only upon advancing to the Foundation Establishment Stage could they truly achieve Pigu.
Following the mountain path, he arrived at dormitory number forty-seven.
It was quite simple inside, about one zhang in size, with a small bed, a small wooden table, and a square stool.
The wooden bed, apart from a straw mat on top of dry grass, didn't even have a pillow.
And looking at the color and appearance of the straw mat, Yun Sheng suspected that if he tossed and turned a few times, it might just fall apart.
“Junior Apprentice Yun Sheng, actually, after entering the Immortal Realm, these external things are no longer very important. As long as your Cultivation improves, everything else is easy to talk about.”
Seeing Yun Sheng's somewhat disdainful expression, Yun Ming quickly said.
“You put your things away first, I'll take you to the top of the mountain for a look. You'll be studying up there from now on.”
He quickly changed the subject.
Yun Sheng directly threw his small satchel and the newly received Cultivation attire onto the bed, then followed Yun Ming towards the mountaintop.
In fact, from the foot of the mountain to the top, there was only that stone staircase.
The two returned along the circular path next to the General Affairs Hall, then walked upwards.
After the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the two arrived at the peak, a circular plaza about fifty zhang in size.
Six grand halls surrounded the plaza, with plaques hanging that read Golden, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth, and Archive Hall, respectively.
“What is the introductory Cultivation Technique you are Cultivating?” Yun Qing asked, standing in the center of the plaza.
“I am reading the Golden Jade Art.”
“Then you will enter the Golden Hall to study. The first and fifteenth of each month are concentrated lecture times. The teacher will recite the later layers of the Golden Jade Art in class, and you must remember them well.”
“If you encounter anything you don't understand, you can ask the teacher for guidance after class.”
“If you remember everything, you can also choose not to come to the hall to study and Cultivate on your own.”
“The Archive Hall next to it stores some secular information and basic Cultivation knowledge collected by the Yun Family. You can go and look if you are interested.”
“The three grand halls in the distance are the Cultivation grounds of the three Old Ancestors of the clan. Disturbing them is strictly forbidden during normal times.”
“If you wish to take on tasks such as tending to the Spiritual Fields or Medicinal Gardens in the valley, you can apply at the General Affairs Hall with your token, but I cannot guarantee whether you will get the assignment.”
Yun Ming led Yun Sheng on a tour of the peak, meticulously explaining everything he knew.
Upon reaching the General Affairs Hall halfway up the mountain, Yun Sheng cupped his fists in thanks to Yun Ming.
“Thank you, Senior Brother Yun Ming.”
“I hope Junior Apprentice Yun Sheng has a smooth journey ahead.” Yun Ming also cupped his fists in return, then descended the steps.
Yun Sheng immediately turned towards his dormitory. It was already evening, and he hadn't eaten lunch or dinner, so he was very hungry.
He arrived at the door, pushed it gently, and it opened.
The most crucial thing was that these detached wooden houses didn't even have door locks. It seemed the quality of the Yun Family Disciples must be quite good.
He pulled out the jade bottle from his embrace, poured out a small, green Medicinal Pill the size of his pinky finger.
He put it directly into his mouth. It was a little sweet, and the Medicinal Pill slipped down his throat into his stomach.
Then his hunger disappeared instantly, which was very magical.
Carefully lying on the straw mat, with his head on his small satchel, Yun Sheng began to ponder.
He had just brought Spiritual Qi into his body and had only entered the first layer of Qi Refining.
Only when the Spiritual Qi in his body increased could he enter the second layer.
Thinking of this, Yun Sheng simply gave up on sleeping and sat cross-legged on the straw mat, silently reciting the Golden Jade Art.
Soon after, Yun Sheng felt a cool sensation in his glabella again. Now he knew that another mass of Spiritual Qi had entered his body.
So he recited even more diligently.
Throughout the entire night, Yun Sheng did not sleep. His glabella experienced a cool sensation five times in total, and five masses of Spiritual Qi entered his body.
However, at dawn, he could no longer hold on and collapsed onto the bed, falling into a deep sleep.
Fortunately, these detached wooden houses were about two zhang apart, and with the doors closed, no one would usually enter to check.
By the time Yun Sheng woke up, it was evening again. He gave a wry smile, realizing that he couldn't Cultivate at night anymore.
Otherwise, he would just sleep all day and couldn't do anything else.
He had eaten one Pigu Pill last night, and now he wasn't hungry or sleepy at all.
Should he Cultivate again? But Yun Sheng immediately dismissed that thought.
What if he got engrossed in Cultivation again, and then had to sleep all day tomorrow?
He began to examine the token, and soon after, he picked up the set of special Cultivation attire to examine it.
It looked better than the set issued by Yun Family Estate. Although it was green, the surface seemed smoother.
So Yun Sheng felt an itch and directly took off his old clothes, preparing to put on the new ones.
However, after stripping naked, he only then noticed the coarse cloth strap hanging around his neck.
He had almost forgotten about the snow-white pearl he had obtained in his secret base back home, which had been a year and a half ago.
So he quickly put on his new clothes, took out the pearl, and held it up to the window to examine it.
He wouldn't be so foolish as to examine it out in the open, in case someone else saw it, that would be troublesome.
The window was barred, not covered with white paper, and the room was still quite bright.
At this moment, the afterglow of the setting sun shone through the window bars directly onto the pearl.
Yun Sheng rotated his fingers, carefully examining the pearl.
Suddenly, he felt the pearl become very hot to the touch. Yun Sheng immediately threw it onto the table.
The white pearl was in the sunlight shining through a window bar.
After a while, when the sunlight from the window bar no longer shone on the pearl, Yun Sheng reached out a finger to touch the pearl, then immediately withdrew it.
He thought it would still be very hot, but the high temperature had disappeared.