Moonlight streamed through the window, casting a dappled shadow on her, illuminating her hair and tracing a pattern of light on the floor.
This… was quite a coincidence.
Yun Ze pondered for a moment before finally stepping onto the stairs and cupping his fists in greeting, "Senior."
"Mm."
The woman did not turn around, merely offering a calm reply.
At that moment, she was looking down, flipping through a certain ancient text. After casually perusing a couple of pages, she stored it in the Sumeru ring on her hand.
She then picked up another book from the bookshelf and began to read it carefully, as if unsurprised to see Yun Ze there.
Yun Ze did not dare to speak further. After bowing, he walked towards the nearest bookshelf.
He didn't realize until he looked, and was shocked!
This entire bookshelf was at least half empty. Only the dust scattered on the shelves indicated their former presence.
He couldn't help but glance back at the woman behind him, just in time to see her storing another book into her Sumeru ring.
Could it be that she had taken all these books?
But why?
Perhaps the Grand Elder wanted to read them but did not wish to come in person, so he sent her instead?
Yun Ze could only think of this possibility now.
Ah!
Right, since she was here looking for books, she must have read many ancient texts. Wouldn't it be easier to just ask her about Senior Xiao?
"Senior."
Yun Ze asked softly, afraid of disturbing her, "May I ask a question?"
"Ask."
"As you search for books here, have you seen the name of a person?"
"Who?"
"Xiao Hanshi."
"...What realm is your Qi Sea at?"
"Hm?"
Yun Ze blinked, unsure of what she meant.
He was clearly asking about Senior Xiao, so why was she asking about his Qi Sea?
No, she was deliberately changing the subject! She definitely knew something about Senior Xiao!
Since she didn't want to say, he would have to pry it out bit by bit.
Yun Ze took two steps forward, coming up beside her. He noticed that even as she spoke, she continued to store ancient texts into her Sumeru ring.
She was practically emptying this entire bookshelf!
"To answer Senior, I have not yet reached the seventh realm."
The woman turned to look at Yun Ze, appraising him from head to toe. Her brow furrowed slightly, "A fifth-realm Qi Sea is not enough?"
"This..."
Yun Ze smiled helplessly, "I don't know how to explain it. It was merely a stroke of luck that allowed me to forge my current Qi Sea."
"A stroke of luck? It sounds like his doing."
"His?"
Yun Ze was becoming more and more confused by her words, asking blankly, "Who is Senior referring to?"
"No one. You don't need to know yet."
The woman casually dismissed him and turned back to continue her search.
Yun Ze stood frozen.
Could she have some mental issues? Her words were so disjointed, he couldn't understand what she meant at all!
Fine, if she wouldn't say, he would search himself.
Just as Yun Ze was about to turn and look for clues about Xiao Hanshi himself, the woman's voice rang out again.
"Oh, and here's a piece of advice."
Yun Ze stopped and turned to look at her back.
"Do not attempt to seek the Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment. That thing simply does not exist!"
"Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment?"
Yun Ze paused, and a sentence he had heard at the Immortal Gathering immediately came to mind!
Whoever could find the method for Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment would be able to exchange it for a seventh-tier spirit artifact and a set of Heaven-tier cultivation techniques at the Immortal Mansion!
He immediately became interested and returned to the woman's side, asking, "Senior Sister, would you care to elaborate?"
"Senior Sister?" The woman looked at Yun Ze with some confusion.
"Yes!"
Yun Ze chuckled sheepishly, "Senior Sister must be the disciple of that newly returned Grand Elder, right?
Actually, I saw you when I joined the sect, but you were on a towering solitary peak, so I could only watch from below. You probably didn't see me."
The woman showed no surprise. After a few moments of hesitation, she placed another book into her Sumeru ring and turned to look at Yun Ze.
"You still don't know who I am?"
Yun Ze shook his head. He had never known her name from beginning to end.
"That's rather interesting."
The woman smiled faintly, "Given that you called me Senior Sister, I will tell you about the Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment."
"Thank you, Senior Sister!"
Yun Ze smiled happily, but inwardly, he felt a surge of fear!
Judging by her reaction just now, she was clearly not of Yun Ze's generation. It was highly possible she should be addressed as Martial Aunt, or even Martial Ancestor.
However… Mother was right. When dealing with women, the younger you address them, the better!
Calling her Senior Sister was indeed worthwhile!
"Do you know the standard for Earthly Dao Foundation Establishment?"
"A fifth-realm Qi Sea as the foundation, Earthly Milk and Jade Marrow as the main ingredient, with nine kinds of spiritual items as catalysts, and supplemented by a Foundation Establishment Pill to fuse nine Qi vortexes, which can extend life by three hundred years!"
"Mm, that's correct."
The woman nodded in agreement, then continued, "This Foundation Establishment method was finalized after tens of thousands of years of exploration by our predecessors. At that time, Foundation Establishment methods were divided into ordinary and top-tier.
"Ever since the person who claimed to have achieved Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment appeared, people began to categorize Foundation Establishment methods into three grades: Human Dao, Earthly Dao, and Heavenly Dao.
"Even though they were not at all certain if Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment truly existed."
"So..."
Yun Ze was a little confused. From her words, it seemed she didn't believe that Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment existed in the world, "There is no method for Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment in the world?"
"Not at present, at least. All beings are still exploring," a hint of melancholy flashed in the woman's eyes.
"Even a ninth-realm Qi Sea is not enough?" Yun Ze asked subconsciously.
He had seen this term in a letter left by Bu Bu, and at the time, it was said that perhaps only someone with a broken mind would attempt to forge a Qi Sea of that magnitude.
To his surprise, the woman before him, upon hearing the term, curled her lips into a cold smile and slowly shook her head.
"Perhaps nine realms might be possible, but if it's *just* nine realms, then it's definitely not enough!"
The woman stopped speaking.
She looked up at the night sky, gazing at the clear frost for a long time, and then sighed before speaking, "Alas, it doesn't matter if I tell you.
I was once the closest person to achieving Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment."
The closest person, meaning she hadn't succeeded?
Yun Ze couldn't help but frown and ask curiously, "Then you..."
Before he could finish his question, the woman fell into reminiscence.
"My master once invited the Pill Venerable to refine several Nine Revolutions Qi Forging Pills for me, to help me establish a ninth-realm Qi Sea. He also crossed the nine heavens to search for nine kinds of mutated Earthly Milk and Jade Marrow for me, and supplemented it with ninety-nine sets of auxiliary spiritual materials, and one Nine Revolutions Foundation Establishment Pill, all so that I could attempt the legendary Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment.
"Alas..."
"You still didn't succeed!?"
Yun Ze felt terrified just listening to these things!
Estimating the price of a sixth-revolution Qi Forging Pill, the price of a ninth-revolution Qi Forging Pill would be at least five million spirit stones. And she used *several* of them! Not to mention the ninth-revolution Foundation Establishment Pill!
And the mutated Earthly Milk and Jade Marrow. Did Earthly Milk and Jade Marrow even have a mutated form?
And ninety-nine sets of auxiliary spiritual materials…
Wait!
Earlier, Su Huangjiu came from a family in the Middle Profound Heaven. Did they collect these auxiliary materials also in an attempt to achieve the legendary Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment?
The woman shook her head, "I am still an Earthly Dao Foundation Establishment, just a slightly stronger one."
"Terrifying."
Besides these two words, Yun Ze truly couldn't think of any other word to describe it.
The woman did not respond, merely recalling the past.
After she achieved Foundation Establishment, for a hundred years, no one below the nine heavens had achieved Earthly Dao Foundation Establishment!
This was also one of the reasons why Earthly Milk and Jade Marrow, and the nine kinds of auxiliary spiritual materials, were so expensive now…
The spiritual materials she had consumed back then had not even recovered their essence.
Terrifying?
That word should be replaced with "shocking" for a more accurate description.
However, none of these things were wasted. At least they had created the number one Golden Core of the Nine Heavens today.
"Senior Sister."
Yun Ze was now even more curious about the existence of the legendary Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment. "Did that legendary Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment leave behind any inheritance or descendants?
His descendants or successors should know the method of Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment!"
"Inheritance? And descendants?"
The woman asked Yun Ze, "Don't you know why people believed he was the Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment?"
"No."
"His name was Di Sha. He was from an ancient immortal cultivation clan and was the most astonishing talent in the clan in the past hundred thousand years!
He began cultivating Qi at the age of ten, mastered a hundred paths, and at sixteen, he traveled the mortal world. He encountered a Golden Core cultivator, and a dispute arose. Di Sha broke through mid-battle, reaching the Foundation Establishment realm!"
"And then?"
"And then..."
The woman shook her head with a bitter smile, "He killed the Golden Core cultivator and died from exhaustion."
"What!?"