Chunibyo in Cultivation World

Chapter 16: The Method of Madness

【Madman, truly a madman.】

Inside Li Tianwei’s consciousness, the System had first appeared when it saw him dejected over his failed hope of achieving the Hundred-Day Foundation.

At that time, the System had thought it could take this chance to tell Li Tianwei about his own limitations—so that he wouldn’t cause more trouble.

It had even given rise to a faint hope that Li Tianwei might awaken to reason on his own.

Yet in the end, this pervert—Li Tianwei—had burned his own origin and lifespan without hesitation, just to glimpse the power of a higher realm.

With the assistance of the Undying Body of the Sacrificial Dao, it truly became possible for him.

After a series of such insane operations, the System couldn’t help but recall how abnormal Li Tianwei had been even back when he first tested out as possessing a Heavenly Spiritual Root.

At this moment, the System even felt, for a fleeting instant, that perhaps Li Tianwei really did have the ability to make his dreams come true.

【Let the world be destroyed! Hurry up! I’m tired.】

The System was left speechless.

It was dumbfounded—and Bai Muxu was not much better off.

Sensing the drastic change in Li Tianwei’s aura, his previously stable condition suddenly plunged into a state near death.

Bai Muxu immediately rushed to the peak of Heaven’s Gate Peak, his expression filled with panic.

Upon arrival, he saw Li Tianwei standing with both hands raised toward the heavens, his entire body suffused with condensed spiritual energy.

Bai Muxu didn’t even know how to describe what he was seeing.

Five-colored spiritual qi coiled around his body—destruction qi, thick vitality, and all sorts of bizarre and chaotic forces that could have easily killed any cultivator hundreds of times over.

Yet Li Tianwei not only remained alive but even seemed to be stacking these forces together, as though he meant to use them to break through.

“Th-this…”

Bai Muxu rubbed his eyes, suspecting for a moment that his Spirit Transformation Realm cultivation might be fake, for he was actually witnessing a living embodiment of endless death on Li Tianwei.

What was stranger was that Li Tianwei still lived.

At this instant, Bai Muxu even wanted to step forward and help him—but he feared that disturbing the balance would cause Li Tianwei’s death.

“What in the world is my disciple doing?”

Bai Muxu was utterly stunned.

He simply couldn’t imagine how Li Tianwei could remain alive and even advance while wrapped in so many deathly visions and surrounded by phenomena that violated every common sense of cultivation.

If Li Tianwei’s System could read Bai Muxu’s mind, it would probably answer: To be like him, you must be mad enough, crazed enough, and confident enough.

Even the System itself hadn’t yet figured out what kind of strange state Li Tianwei was in.

At this moment, Li Tianwei seemed completely still.

Perhaps only he knew what he was doing—using various secret techniques to forcibly unleash powers that did not belong to him, ascending to the ninth level of the Qi Refinement Realm and tasting the strength of a higher stage.

Right now, he was savoring the power of the ninth layer.

As long as he fully comprehended it, he could ascend in one step—reaching the ninth layer for real.

Li Tianwei had his eyes closed.

Seeing this, Bai Muxu also understood that he must not disturb him in any way.

“The rest will depend on him alone.”

“Is this his own enlightenment… or the self-rescue of heaven and earth?”

Bai Muxu slowly looked up toward the sky as he pondered.

Time passed quickly.

Since the Five-Elemental Vision had appeared above the Sacred Land of Lingxu, several days had already gone by, and the new batch of disciples entering the Sacred Land had gradually begun walking the path of cultivation.

Across the peaks, new disciples started to show their talents—some had reached the fifth layer of Qi Refinement within a short time, while others hadn’t even touched the threshold.

On Woodbeard Peak, Li Tianchen, gifted with dual Fire and Wood Spiritual Roots, had become the personal disciple of Lin Moyang.

As the Sacred Land’s Medicine Peak and Pill Peak, Woodbeard Peak ranked among the foremost in the entire Northern Spirit Domain.

All sorts of elixirs and spiritual herbs were in abundant supply.

“Finally the fifth layer of Qi Refinement… it took me a full month.”

Li Tianchen took a deep breath and slowly exhaled a turbid breath, then opened his eyes.

The first thing he did was touch the ring on his finger.

“Elder Ling, with my current condition, can I achieve the Hundred-Day Foundation and forge my Dao Foundation?”

Li Tianchen sank his consciousness into the ring and asked.

“It’s difficult… very difficult…”

Elder Ling sighed.

“In this cultivation world, those who can achieve the Hundred-Day Foundation without possessing a Heavenly Spiritual Root are only a handful.”

“It’s not something achievable through sheer determination. Luck, comprehension, and every kind of aptitude must align before such a feat is even possible.”

Hearing this, Li Tianchen could only shake his head.

In truth, he had already expected as much.

From the fifth layer onward, each advancement became exponentially harder.

To break through to the sixth layer would take another month, and even if he reached the eighth layer within a hundred days, he would already be a genius among men.

“Still, don’t be discouraged,” Elder Ling comforted.

“While forging a Dao Foundation within a hundred days does increase one’s chances of ascension, do you really think ascension can be achieved by that alone?”

“It’s true that many who achieved the Hundred-Day Foundation eventually ascended, but don’t forget—those people were already heaven-defying geniuses. Their chances of ascension were always greater.”

“In the end, it still depends on your own effort. An acquired Dao Foundation is not impossible.”

After soothing Li Tianchen, Elder Ling then shifted the topic—perhaps to lighten his disciple’s mood.

“Compared to you, your elder brother is attempting the Hundred-Day Foundation himself. A False Spiritual Root attempting it… I’ve truly never heard of such a thing.”

Upon hearing this, Li Tianchen did feel a bit more relaxed—but when Li Tianwei’s name was mentioned, he couldn’t help but feel an inexplicable unease.

After all, Li Tianwei had always given him a strange feeling—from the time his Spirit-Testing Stone result had misread his False Spiritual Root as a Heavenly Spiritual Root, to the fact that after joining the Sacred Land of Lingxu, elders actually seemed to be covering for him.

Li Tianchen admitted he’d treated Li Tianwei as nothing more than a joke.

Yet now, even Elder Ling could no longer discern Li Tianwei’s original spiritual root.

This meant that even if Li Tianchen wanted to report him to the Sacred Land, there would be no evidence.

Putting all these events together, Li Tianchen couldn’t help but wonder whether Li Tianwei would pull off something outrageous again.

It reminded him of that phenomenon that appeared over Heaven’s Gate Peak on the day he joined the sect.

“I hope I’m just overthinking it.”

——

On Cloudsky Peak.

A lone figure sat cross-legged in midair.

Dressed in white, with handsome features and sharp sword-like brows, he exuded an aura as pure and serene as the moon after rain.

“Junior Brother Fang, this is the thousand-year Jade Pine Fruit from Master—it can help you gather qi.”

At that moment, a hurried figure ran into Fang Mochen’s cultivation hall.

Fang Mochen suddenly opened his eyes and looked at Lin Xuyian.

“Thank you, Senior Brother Lin.”

He received the spiritual fruit and expressed his gratitude.

“How confident are you in achieving the Hundred-Day Foundation, Junior Brother?”

Sensing that Fang Mochen had already reached the sixth layer of Qi Refinement, Lin Xuyian spoke with excitement.

“Thirty percent. I have a thirty percent chance.”

Fang Mochen did a quick calculation and answered truthfully.

“Do your best, Junior Brother. Our Cloudsky Peak will spare no effort to help you form your Dao Foundation.”

Lin Xuyian offered reassurance.

“I wonder… how is Senior Brother Li Tianwei now?”

As Fang Mochen held the Jade Pine Fruit, his grip unconsciously tightened.

“Junior Brother, that I do not know. Since he entered, Heaven’s Gate Peak has been sealed off.”

“As far as I know, our Uncle-Master there has taken several disciples before. He exhausted countless resources just to cultivate one Hundred-Day Foundation prodigy—but there was a condition: no consumption of pills or spiritual items that enhance cultivation. Because of this, no one has succeeded so far.”

Lin Xuyian explained what he knew.

“No consumption of cultivation-boosting medicine?”

Upon hearing this, Fang Mochen’s expression grew grim.

He had indeed reached the sixth layer of Qi Refinement—but only after consuming a Biyou Fruit.

“Is there some secret behind this?”

He couldn’t help but wonder.

On the Heart-Questioning Steps, he had experienced firsthand the difficulty of ascending to the top.

He had fallen at the 997th step—just three steps away from the summit—but those final steps had been so terrifying that merely recalling them sent chills down his spine.

The instant he stepped onto them, he had been plunged into endless cycles of reincarnation to prove his Dao Heart.

Fang Mochen had even lost count of how many lifetimes he endured.

It had been far too long.

But Li Tianwei… he remembered clearly—Li Tianwei had ascended without the slightest pause, crossing three steps in one stride.

As if saying that the thousand steps were the limit of the Heart-Questioning Steps, not his.

“In that case, I too shall refrain from consuming any cultivation-enhancing elixirs.”

At that thought, Fang Mochen’s unyielding nature flared up.

He wanted to compete with Li Tianwei.

“I will obtain my Dao Foundation, no matter what.”

Fang Mochen clenched his fist tightly.