Wu Tao, clearly severely injured, was seen as a plump prize by many on the battlefield.
He endured several ambushes, including from disciples of the allied Heavenly Demon Sect.
The inner armor Wu Tao wore had already been cut open by various magical artifacts, with several inch-long cracks revealing bone, causing profuse bleeding.
Yet, he didn't feel much pain.
To prevent excessive blood loss that would weaken his limbs, Wu Tao tightly wrapped himself with a yellow cloth, covering his inner armor.
"The most urgent task is to break through!"
Wu Tao clutched the remaining talismans in his storage bag, piloting the Flying Dragon Boat while wielding the Immortal Slaying Demon Blood Saber to fend off the rapidly pursuing enemies.
Observing the increasing number of inner disciples from the Cold Water True Spirit Sect surrounding him from all directions, Wu Tao's brow furrowed tighter.
He murmured to himself, "This won't do. If I get truly surrounded, I'll be finished."
"Thus, I have no other choice now."
Abruptly, he gritted his teeth and activated the Dou Sheng Sacrifice Secret Method, a forbidden technique with dire consequences, to gain a temporary tenfold increase in combat power.
Spiritual energy surged forth like a great river around him. Disregarding the repercussions, Wu Tao launched a forceful attack.
With his combat power amplified by more than ten times, Wu Tao's speed was unparalleled.
He transformed into a beam of light, charging straight into the enemy formation.
His golden fists were thrown in rapid succession, forcing the surrounding enemies to scatter and flee.
The inner disciples of the Cold Water True Spirit Sect, who had been preparing to ambush Wu Tao, were astonished by this turn of events.
As time went on, Wu Tao's aura grew even stronger, as if he were uninjured, with a torrent of spiritual energy surging behind him.
"What is this guy's deal? He recovered so quickly and is even stronger than before. He must have used some secret technique with severe drawbacks. Fine, let's avoid his sharp edge for now," thought Tu Teng, an inner disciple of the Cold Water True Spirit Sect, alarmed.
"This is not good. This opportunity is too risky. I'll retreat a bit and let my fellow disciples hold the line for a while!" thought Yan Qing, another inner disciple of the Cold Water True Spirit Sect.
...
Wu Tao's physique was robust, his muscles well-defined. His black hair, seemingly moved by an unseen force, fluttered wildly, and his eyes brimmed with a killing aura.
He let out a long cry, his hands and feet moving in unison, employing incredible combat techniques such as palms, fists, claws, and fingers.
...
His hands moved with his feet, possessing the might of dragons and tigers. Then, another Foundation Establishment cultivator had his chest and abdomen gripped by a claw, and was violently flung into the air by the force contained within it.
With every step and movement, Wu Tao sent someone flying, either to their death or grievous injury.
Gradually, as Wu Tao neared breaking through the encirclement, a man of some standing among the inner disciples of the Cold Water True Spirit Sect became both shocked and enraged. He then shouted, "All of you, retreat half a zhang back and then hurl talismans from afar!"
In the next instant, hundreds of talismans were thrown, transforming into hundreds of spells. Then, over a dozen top-tier magical artifacts of various kinds descended upon him from all directions.
Wu Tao ignored them, allowing the spells and artifacts to strike him as his figure moved with incredible speed.
With a small stride, he sent another person in front of him flying five to six zhang away.
After launching this person, Wu Tao found a clear path ahead.
He then accelerated his step, his figure flashing as he escaped the most dangerous area.
...
On his escape route back, Wu Tao was ambushed a total of five times, facing numerous perilous situations where he narrowly escaped with his life.
Chased like a drowned dog, he finally made it back to the temporary residence of the Taiyi Immortal Sect with the help of a few fellow disciples, in an extremely perilous escape.
...
After returning, covered in blood and severely wounded, Wu Tao briefly recounted his harrowing experiences of being pursued at sea to the supervising Core Formation elder.
The supervising Core Formation elder glanced at the disheveled, heavily injured Wu Tao, who could barely stand, and sighed. He then said, "My name is Zhong Mingliang. You may call me Uncle-Master Zhong."
Zhong Mingliang's voice was gentle, flowing like a small stream.
Wu Tao bowed respectfully, feeling the elder's gaze sweep over him like a tangible force, probing his entire body, even... peering into the depths of his consciousness.
Fortunately, he had no other secrets to hide and was unafraid of being scrutinized.
"Oh?"
Uncle-Master Zhong Mingliang let out a soft exclamation and suddenly pointed a finger.
Wu Tao, unable to evade, was struck on the center of his forehead by the finger.
"What a robust physique, and your spiritual energy is also quite pure. Among our inner disciples, you could be considered an elite."
"What a pity, what a pity, it's truly a shame..."
...
Uncle-Master Zhong Mingliang shook his head repeatedly, filled with regret.
Hearing this, Wu Tao's expression darkened. He knew his own body best.
"You used some secret technique to hollow out your foundation, causing your blood and spiritual energy to continuously deplete, destroying your own bright future!"
Uncle-Master Zhong Mingliang looked at Wu Tao with a gaze of pity and slowly said, "To break through from the Foundation Establishment stage to the Core Formation stage, one's foundation must be solid. Otherwise, you will never be able to break through to Core Formation, unless you discard your cultivation and start anew..."
Zhong Mingliang then offered Wu Tao some words of guidance.
Following this, Wu Tao was arranged to be placed in a safe secret cultivation chamber to recuperate and heal.
...
Within the cultivation chamber, with every passing minute, Wu Tao's face grew paler, his blood and spiritual energy depleted further, and a large portion of his hard-earned dantian foundation was shattered.
It could be said that without some miraculous intervention, Wu Tao's future advancement would be completely cut off.
With his foundation more than half ruined, he was little different from a cripple.
For the next month, Wu Tao remained in the secret cultivation chamber, in seclusion.
With the aid of a Vitality Harmonizing Pill, valued at nearly three hundred spirit stones, Wu Tao spent fifteen days to finally stabilize and soothe the injuries within his body.
After taking several bottles of ordinary healing elixirs, Wu Tao's injuries began to gradually improve.
A few more days passed, and Wu Tao finally recovered from his injuries as if they had never happened.
Upon his recovery, Wu Tao did not immediately rush back into battle. Instead, he immersed himself in a pile of jade slips, attempting to find a method to restore his foundation.
For ambitious individuals like Wu Tao, the reality of having their path to further cultivation completely severed was more unbearable than death.
Despair and unwillingness, yet no solution – this was reality.
He had successfully stepped onto the stage, about to shine his brilliance, only to fall into an abyss at the last moment.
This feeling of helplessness was agonizing, almost driving him to despair and suicidal thoughts.
...
For an ordinary cultivator, to suddenly be told that years of toil and risked lives had yielded nothing but an empty basket would be enough to drive them mad on the spot!
Fortunately, Wu Tao's willpower was strong, and he still had a trump card that might resolve the issue of his severely damaged foundation, which prevented him from truly losing composure and becoming a madman.
...
While Wu Tao was recuperating, his fellow disciples Chang Pingqian, Long Ao Potian, Xue Zhixiu, and Duan Tiantou all came to visit him.
They spoke of their peaceful cultivation days, lamented the many acquaintances who had died, and expressed their sorrow and regret at Wu Tao's dire current situation.
Fortunately, Long Ao Potian, sensing the awkward atmosphere, quickly changed the subject to the sect's generous rewards for disciples who contributed to the war.
Upon hearing this, everyone's spirits lifted, and they began to speculate about the substantial rewards the sect leaders would bestow after the war.
During this time, Chang Pingqian informed Wu Tao about the recent situation of the Taiyi Immortal Sect, the Heavenly Demon Sect, and the Cold Water True Spirit Sect.
The three factions were engaged in continuous battles in the sea region bordering the East Sea and Qingzhou. Large numbers of cultivators were fighting to the death on the sea surface daily, and news of cultivator deaths was frequent.
However, overall, both sides were relatively restrained, and no battles between Core Formation cultivators had occurred again.
Of course, it was possible that all three factions had deeper strategies, but that was not something disciples like Wu Tao needed to consider.
Wu Tao inquired about the casualty figures. Long Ao Potian, who had indeed paid attention to such matters, pondered for a moment and then replied, "In the past month, over three thousand Taiyi Immortal Sect disciples have perished. The Heavenly Demon Sect lost more, likely over five thousand. As for the Cold Water True Spirit Sect, they suffered losses of over nine thousand disciples."
Naturally, these Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment stage disciples were not of great consequence to the high-ranking members of the Taiyi Immortal Sect, Heavenly Demon Sect, and Cold Water True Spirit Sect.
This was because even with a large number of ordinary disciples lost, they could be quickly replenished from subordinate sects, families, and rogue cultivators within their controlled territories.
...
For some unknown reason, Xu Sheng also came to visit Wu Tao.
Xu Sheng appeared before Wu Tao in an unprecedented manner, wearing a red long dress.
"Junior Sister Xu, thank you for visiting me. Please have a seat!" Wu Tao outwardly greeted her with a calm demeanor, but inwardly, he felt an inexplicable joy.
Xu Sheng smiled faintly upon hearing this, turned her waist, and sat directly beside Wu Tao.
...
Xu Sheng's autumn-like eyes gazed directly at Wu Tao, her face displaying a complex expression.
At this moment, aside from Wu Tao and Xu Sheng, there was no one else near the cave dwelling. Coupled with the fact that neither was willing to speak first, the silence became even more pronounced.
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