Chapter 32: Absorbing all the Benefits

Chapter 32: Chapter 32: Absorbing all the Benefits

Time passed inside the underground chamber.

After that short exchange, the three of them gradually sank back into the Golden Marrow Tempering Pool’s pressure.

Han Jin kept his back turned and focused entirely on circulating his qi.

Su Qin also tried to do the same, even with Li Jian still close beside her.

The pale-gold liquid continued to squeeze their meridians, forcing impurities out little by little.

For Li Jian, the process was the hardest.

But whenever the pain became too sharp, he would pull himself back to the edge of the pool, breathe for a moment, then look at Su Qin.

"Come here."

Su Qin would glare at him, exhausted and unwilling, but she still moved over.

She would lower her head into his lap, take his little brother into her mouth, and use that wet heat to relieve him until the worst of the pressure faded.

After he released, she would cough, spit to the side, wipe her lips, and sink back into the pool with a dark expression.

Then the cycle would start again.

When he stayed inside the liquid and the tempering force made his meridians tremble, he would reach over and grab her breasts instead.

Those huge, water-slick mounds had already become something like a personal stress-relief toy in his hands.

Whenever the pain climbed too high, he would squeeze, knead, and pinch them until his breathing steadied enough to continue absorbing.

Su Qin endured it all with a stiff face.

At first she still scolded him in a low voice.

Later, even that became less frequent.

Her lips were slightly swollen, her chest carried new red traces from his fingers, and her arms felt heavy from staying in the pool for so long.

Combined with the foundation-tempering pressure, the repeated service, and having her breasts played with whenever he struggled, she was clearly exhausted.

"...Can you not do this every time you feel pain?" she muttered once, her voice hoarse.

Li Jian only squeezed the soft flesh in his hand again and answered without much guilt.

"If I don’t, I won’t last."

Hearing that, Su Qin closed her eyes and turned her face away, too tired to keep arguing.

Han Jin never looked over.

His jaw stayed tight the entire time, and he absorbed the pool’s force in silence, as if putting all his attention into cultivation was the only way to ignore what was happening beside him.

Little by little, the pale-gold color of the Golden Marrow Tempering Pool grew fainter.

The one-time opportunity was being used up.

Li Jian leaned back in the weakening liquid, one hand still cupping Su Qin’s heavy breast, his meridians aching and slowly tightening at the same time.

Despite the pain, he could feel it clearly... his loose 3rd Stage foundation was being compressed, becoming more solid than before.

Su Qin sat beside him with her eyes half-closed, soaked, worn out, and no longer bothering to hide how drained she was.

The underground chamber remained quiet except for the faint movement of water and the sound of the three of them enduring the last of the Golden Marrow Tempering Pool.

Then, after a while, the pale-gold glow began to fade.

It did not happen all at once.

The liquid first lost its thickness, then its color, and finally the heavy pressure pressing into their meridians weakened until it was almost gone.

What had been a treasure pool slowly turned into ordinary water.

Han Jin opened his eyes first.

Su Qin followed, her breathing still a little uneven.

Li Jian was the last.

When the force completely disappeared, he let go of Su Qin’s breast and slowly stood up from the now-clear water.

The three of them stood there dripping, and for a moment none of them spoke.

Then surprise appeared on all of their faces.

Han Jin lowered his gaze and circulated his qi.

His expression changed at once.

The peak Qi Refinement cultivation he already had did not break through, but the quality of his foundation had clearly improved.

The qi in his dantian felt more compact, less scattered, and when he moved it through his meridians the flow was smoother than before.

"...It actually worked."

Su Qin also checked her body.

Her eyes widened slightly.

The impurities that had been sitting in her meridians from years of mixed resources were noticeably reduced.

Her qi felt cleaner, and the faint stagnation she usually had after long fights was gone.

"My foundation... really became more stable."

Li Jian clenched his fist.

The change in him was the most obvious.

Before this, his 3rd Stage Qi Refinement foundation had been loose and ordinary, the kind of weak base that made every bit of progress slow.

Now, after being painfully compressed by the Golden Marrow Tempering Pool, that loose feeling was gone.

His meridians were still sore, but the qi inside them was tighter, heavier, and much more obedient.

He had not broken through to the 4th Stage.

But the difference was still huge.

If his previous foundation was like muddy water in a cracked jar, it now felt like the same jar had been reinforced and the water inside had been pressed cleaner.

Li Jian stood there naked at the edge of the used-up pool, surprise flickering through his eyes before a faint smile followed.

No wonder it was one-time only.

This kind of change is truly worth the pain.

Beside him,

Su Qin pulled her soaked robes closer around her body and looked down at her own hands, still a little stunned.

Han Jin remained silent for a while longer, carefully feeling the new solidity in his foundation.

The Golden Marrow Tempering Pool behind them had already become nothing more than a clear, lifeless pond.

Its one chance had been fully used up.

_

_

_

Just as Li Jian was still feeling the change in his own meridians, the system suddenly rang out in his mind.

[Ding!]

[Detected: Han Jin has received a massive benefit through the Host.]

[The target’s foundation has been tempered to the point of guaranteeing a future breakthrough to Foundation Establishment.]

[Favor Debt from Han Jin: 2,435 → 7,435]

[Ding!]

[Detected: Su Qin has received a massive benefit through the Host.]

[The target’s foundation has been tempered to the point of guaranteeing a future breakthrough to Foundation Establishment.]

[Favor Debt from Su Qin: 1,590 → 6,590]

Li Jian froze.

5,000 points each?

His eyes widened slightly before he quickly hid the expression.

...That was far more than any spirit stone, leftover pill, or even the vicious foundation technique he had given Han Jin earlier.

He slowly turn to looked at the two of them.

Han Jin and Su Qin were both standing there with faces full of barely restrained happiness.

Even Han Jin’s usual cold stiffness had loosened.

Su Qin’s exhausted, unwilling look from earlier had also faded a lot.

They kept circulating their qi again and again, as if they still could not believe the change inside their bodies.

Li Jian immediately understood why the system had given so much.

He knew that the peak Qi Refinement was a huge threshold.

Many outer disciples could reach the 7th, 8th, or even 9th Stage with enough time and resources.

But stepping from the peak of Qi Refinement into Foundation Establishment was another matter entirely.

That breakthrough did not only need qi quantity.

It needed a stable, compact foundation.

If the foundation was loose, impure, or damaged, a cultivator could get stuck at the peak for years, even decades.

Some never broke through at all and simply grew old as outer disciples.

That was why so many people in the outer sect looked strong on the surface but were actually anxious inside.

Han Jin had already been at the peak of Qi Refinement for many years.

What he lacked was not just a little more qi, but a foundation solid enough to support the next realm.

Su Qin was in a similar position.

Talent and resources could only carry them so far.

Without a proper foundation, Foundation Establishment would have remained a gamble.

Now it was different.

After using the Golden Marrow Tempering Pool, their foundations had been compressed and purified to a degree that made the next breakthrough almost certain.

Not immediately, not without any further preparation... but the biggest obstacle was already gone.

For cultivators like them, that was no small gift.

It was a future.

Li Jian quietly looked at the updated numbers.

[Favor Debt from Han Jin: 7,435]

[Favor Debt from Su Qin: 6,590]

A strange light appeared in his eyes.

’No wonder it was 5,000 points each.’

To them, this is not just a pool.

This is a guaranteed path into Foundation Establishment.

Han Jin exhaled and actually smiled, though it was still faint.

"With this foundation... as long as I gather enough resources, I can attempt the breakthrough."

Su Qin touched her dantian and nodded, her voice carrying real excitement for the first time in days.

"I thought I would be stuck in the outer sect for years. Now... it really feels possible."

Li Jian put his robes back on and listened to them in silence.

On the surface, he only looked like someone who had also benefited from the pool.

In his heart, he was already calculating how much those 5,000-point debts were worth.

’A guaranteed Foundation Establishment debtors...’

’In that case, the things I can make them do from now on are on a completely different level.’