Fantasy: I Become God by playing a game [Dungeons + LitRPG +Xinxia]

**Chapter 34: Nine Levels of Foundation Building**

"The exam is over. All candidates are requested to leave in an orderly manner. The specific results will be announced on Friday."

The last candidate was personally escorted out of the secret realm by Lu Xiaoye. After thirteen intense days, the mock exam had finally come to an end.

Though she had secured first place, Lu Xiaoye felt far from pleased.

Standing on the magic circle that had appeared beneath her feet, she fumed, "Damn Xiao Chen! He left without telling me in advance. Could it be that he guessed I was going to defeat the others and deliberately threw the match?"

"I even went to the trouble of sneak-attacking Bian Shouyi, knocking him out before he could react. And yet all my efforts were in vain! Just wait, Su Chen. I'll settle the score with you later. Hmph!"

However, when Lu Xiaoye emerged from the secret realm, she discovered that Su Chen had already escaped. It was as if he had predicted her every move.

Spotting Su Chen hiding in the training room, Lu Xiaoye stomped her feet in frustration. "Fine. The monk can run, but the temple can't." She smiled mischievously; after all, Su Chen still owed her a big meal.

Two days after the mock exam, in the training room at Jiangnan No. 1 High School, Su Chen sat meditating. While concentrating on improving his luck and cultivation, his attention was split by a game on his phone.

---

[You have consumed 1,000 experience points. Your basic alchemy skills have been upgraded to "small success."]

[Basic Alchemy: Small success 1/3000]

[Effect: Increases alchemy success rates to a certain extent.]

[Current experience points: 5,000]

---

A month in the game translated to just three days in reality. During this period, Su Chen had avoided unnecessary distractions, dedicating his in-game character solely to cultivation.

Thanks to the concentrated spiritual energy of his in-game cave, he now earned approximately 70 experience points per in-game day. Over the course of a month, he accumulated an impressive 2,100 experience points—a figure far greater than he had ever dreamed possible.

If he chose to invest all his experience points into cultivation, he could reach the peak of the Qi Gathering Stage within a year in the game. This would position him well to begin preparations for foundation building.

In reality, one in-game year would pass in just over a month.

However, Su Chen knew better than to be complacent. His current goal wasn't just ordinary foundation building—he was aiming for the elusive first-grade Heavenly Dao Foundation.

Su Chen now had a deep understanding of the immense difficulty involved in achieving a first-grade Heavenly Dao Foundation.

Even within the prestigious Kyushu Immortal Alliance and the Taichu Divine Sect—where Spirit Transformation Stage ancestors resided—there had only been a handful of cultivators throughout history who had succeeded.

Yet, every single one of them went on to dominate the world.

Based on the information Su Chen had gathered, completing the Heavenly Dao Foundation with his five-element spiritual roots would require a staggering 100,000 experience points—if not more.

The essence of foundation building lies in the "immortal foundation." Due to his unique spiritual roots, Su Chen would need to condense five distinct "immortal foundations" to meet the Heavenly Dao's requirements.

The nine levels of foundation building are divided into three categories:

- Grades 1–3: The Heavenly Dao Foundation

- Grades 4–6: The Earthly Dao Foundation

- Grades 7–9: The Human Dao Foundation

The "spiritual platform" refers to a cultivator's dantian during the Qi Gathering Stage. The "immortal foundation" is the specialized dantian formed after a cultivator refines their spiritual roots and completes foundation building.

This process thoroughly integrates the spiritual roots with the dantian, transforming it into a part of the cultivator's being.

The quality of one's immortal foundation not only determines the strength of future elixirs but also significantly impacts a cultivator's power during the foundation-building stage.

The difference between the Heavenly and Human Dao Foundations, for example, is staggering:

- Human Dao Foundation: Spiritual power increases by 1.5–2 times (e.g., from 30,000 to 45,000–60,000).

- Earthly Dao Foundation: Spiritual power increases by 3–5 times (e.g., from 30,000 to 90,000–150,000).

- Heavenly Dao Foundation: Spiritual power increases by at least 10 times (e.g., from 30,000 to 300,000 or more).

Additionally, a cultivator's spiritual power transitions from a gaseous to a liquid state during foundation building. This transformation drastically enhances the refinement and output of spiritual power, enabling the use of advanced spells.

Reflecting on these facts, Su Chen couldn't help but reevaluate his previous experiences.

His victory over Ye Chenglin in the mock exam wasn't due to overwhelming strength but rather a confluence of fortunate circumstances:

- Ye Chenglin was a talisman practitioner, a profession that requires preparation to unleash its full potential.

- His lack of talisman paper forced him to rely on air-drawn talismans, which were only half as effective.

- His injuries—including a broken arm—slowed his talisman creation and reduced his power.

- Prior battles had left him further weakened, cutting his strength to a fraction of its peak.

- Su Chen's system advantage allowed him infinite resurrections, a luxury unavailable to Ye Chenglin.

Without these factors, Su Chen admitted he wouldn't have stood a chance.

"This victory was luck, not strength," Su Chen thought. "I can't afford to become overconfident. In the real world, challenging someone at the foundation-building stage while I'm still at the Qi Gathering Stage is a fool's errand."

Thanks to his game, Su Chen saw no need to take unnecessary risks. He vowed to focus on steady progress.

Having withdrawn early from the mock exam, Su Chen still expected to earn a significant amount of credits based on his performance. His homeroom teacher, Lao Chen, had been notably warmer toward him since the test, indicating approval of his achievements.

"True stability isn't about staying in the shadows," Su Chen mused. "It's about showing just enough potential without drawing excessive attention—balance is key."

With this in mind, Su Chen redirected his focus to the game. Today, he planned to test his improved alchemy skills by refining Qi Gathering Pills. Though simple, these pills were crucial to his strategy of infinite spiritual power regeneration.

By stockpiling pills in the game, Su Chen could effectively avoid spiritual power shortages in reality. During battles, his in-game character could consume pills like mad, ensuring Su Chen maintained seemingly endless energy in real life.

This was the ultimate reason Su Chen had dedicated himself to becoming an alchemist. Without this profession, where would he find so many pills to sustain his plan?

Arriving at the alchemy hall on Danyang Peak, Su Chen's in-game character was greeted by the sight of roaring furnaces.

It was time to begin.

PS: Read +20 advance chapters on my Patreon: [patreon.com/Thebeginning331]

**(End of chapter)**