Chapter 82: Removing the Firewood from Beneath the Cauldron

Inside the golden light curtain of the West Mountain Pill Institute.

Chu Feng sat cross-legged, a grin spreading across his face that he simply couldn’t hide.

Everything happening outside was crystal clear in his mind through Wu Hao’s “live broadcast.”

From the moment public opinion began to stir, to the precise backstabbing by the brothers in the Visiting Group, and all the way to the True Lord Xuantian’s humiliation in the plaza every step went exactly according to his plan, not a single move off course.

“Old antiques are indeed old antiques. Tsk, do they really think it’s still the age where whoever has the biggest fist gets to make the rules?”

Chu Feng was practically blooming with joy inside.

“Welcome to the vast ocean of the people’s war.”

He guessed that the True Lord Xuantian must be losing his mind right about now.

But that still wasn’t enough.

All that talk and debate at best made the old geezer wary, putting him on the defensive.

To make him completely admit defeat—and even turn around to serve as Chu Feng’s weapon—he had to use something stronger.

Something explosive, something unavoidable.

Something that could drive the entire Sect insane a great treasure.

“Xiao Wu, the time’s almost ripe. Next step.”

Chu Feng took out an encrypted jade slip and issued a new command to Wu Hao.

“President, what’s the next step?”

Wu Hao’s voice trembled with excitement.

“Remove the firewood from beneath the cauldron.”

“Ah? Remove the firewood from beneath the cauldron?”

Wu Hao was stunned.

“But aren’t we all locked up? How do we do that?”

“If he’s cutting off our firewood, then we’ll just take his whole cauldron.”

A gleam of madness flashed through Chu Feng’s eyes.

“He says we’re corrupt and driven by profit, a demonic path? Fine then we’ll play an even bigger game.”

He turned to look at Leng Yanran, who was meditating nearby.

“Yanran, that formula for the Foundation Establishment Pill · Youth Edition—done?”

Leng Yanran opened her eyes, her clear gaze flickering slightly before she nodded.

“The cost has been reduced to the minimum. The efficacy is only thirty percent of the original version, but for cultivators at Qi Refining Ninth Level, it’s still enough to raise the breakthrough chance by one percent.”

“Only one percent?”

Chu Feng shook his head.

“Not enough punch. Won’t cause a big enough explosion.”

“That’s already the limit.”

Leng Yanran frowned slightly.

“If we try to raise the efficacy any further, the cost will skyrocket, and the failure rate and pill toxicity will spiral out of control.”

“Who said we need success?”

Chu Feng smiled.

He stood up, walked over to Leng Yanran, and whispered a plan that almost made her eyes pop out of her head.

“We’re not selling the Foundation Establishment Pill. We’re selling hope!”

“From now on, the Group will establish the National Foundation Establishment Special Task Force! Your mission isn’t to refine a perfect Foundation Establishment Pill—it’s to create something new.

I’ll call it—‘Foundation Establishment Experience Card!’”

“Foundation… Experience Card?”

Leng Yanran, Zhang Daniu, and Wu Hao on the other end of the jade slip all froze.

What kind of strange slang was that?

“That’s right.”

Chu Feng snapped his fingers.

“This pill doesn’t need success. What we need is ‘everyone can join’ and ‘what if?’ possibilities!”

“It has only one effect: when disciples at Qi Refining Ninth Level or above take it, they’ll experience exactly what it feels like to charge through the Foundation Establishment bottleneck—guaranteed! Even if they fail in the end, they’ll at least understand how far they are from success, gaining experience for next time.”

“Of course, among them, there’ll always be that lucky five percent—or even one percent—who, by sheer dumb luck, will succeed. Those lucky ones will become our jackpot users, our walking advertisements!”

Leng Yanran’s breath nearly stopped.

She was completely shaken by Chu Feng’s insane yet brilliant idea.

Now she fully understood his scheme.

For most disciples, Foundation Establishment was just a dream hanging in the heavens.

What Chu Feng wanted to do was hand that dream directly into their palms!

Even if it was just an “experience version”, it would be enough to drive them utterly mad!

“I understand now.”

A dazzling light burst forth in Leng Yanran’s eyes.

“Use a large number of cheap auxiliary herbs to simulate the bottleneck-charging illusion, and add just a trace of the Foundation Establishment Pill’s core ingredient as the trigger—to ignite the fire in their hearts! This method… it’ll work!”

“Then go do it!”

Chu Feng gave the final order.

“Wu Hao, immediately spread the news of this National Foundation Establishment Plan! Say that, to stand up against the Ancestor’s tyranny and to repay the support of our Family Members, the Group has decided to launch this project at a loss! All Family Members ranking in the top thousand of Contribution Points will receive the first batch of ‘Foundation Establishment Experience Cards’—for free!”

“My dear heavens…”

On the other end, Wu Hao was so excited he almost fainted.

He could already imagine the result once this news spread through the Sect, it would be a landslide.

The earlier dividends had merely made everyone reluctant to leave the Group.

But now, this National Foundation Establishment Plan would force every single one of them to fight for the Group with their lives!

Whoever dared block their Foundation Establishment would be their sworn enemy!

Even if it was the Old Ancestor himself!

After arranging everything, Chu Feng finally sat back in the corner.

The pressure of the Nascent Soul restriction weighed upon him like an invisible millstone, grinding down his flesh and soul every moment.

Any ordinary Qi Refining cultivator would go mad in half a day, their cultivation regressing.

But Chu Feng was thriving.

His Ten Thousand Dao Furnace Scripture was a defiant cultivation method—the more it was beaten and refined by external force, the faster it grew.

This Nascent Soul restriction was practically a tailor-made, 24-hour nonstop super sparring partner!

He could clearly sense that the bottleneck at Qi Refining Seventh Level had begun to loosen under this crushing force.

“Almost there.”

He reached into his storage bag and took out the Sect Tournament reward a Foundation Establishment Pill (Clinical Trial Version).

This thing’s medicinal power was brutally fierce, originally meant for monstrous prodigies.

Ordinary cultivators taking it would face a nine-in-ten chance of death.

But now…

Chu Feng glanced up at the golden light curtain above, a slightly deranged smile appearing on his face.

“Nascent Soul Ancestor?”

“Perfect. I’ll use your restriction’s pressure to help me digest this bomb!”

Without a trace of hesitation, he opened his mouth and swallowed the pill radiating lethal energy in one gulp.

Boom!

The moment it entered his stomach, an indescribably terrifying medicinal force erupted within him like a volcano, detonating through his five viscera and six organs!

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