Chapter 31: Foundation Realm

Ulquiorra started to read through the Heart's Monolith tome. Within the tome, there were many deep and vague sentences and concepts that seemed alien to even Ulquiorra. Luckily, there were Tian Cai and Feng Zhong to help Ulquiorra as they gave their own understandings of the concepts within the tome. Of course, Ulquiorra held his own understandings leading to a combination of several sides of a Dao heart.

Times passed, and the days turned to weeks, and those weeks turned to months. It was now the third month within the one year limit. Unlike the Qi Condensation realm, the Foundation Establishment realm should not be brute forced. From the very beginning, one must lay down the most stable and strong foundation they could possibly have. This is due to the fact that the better the foundation is, the bigger the impact it would have on one's future cultivation progress.

Ulquiorra also learned that there were grades to one's foundation. It was graded according to layers. It went up to nine layers according to Tian Cai. Tian Cai boasted that he had seven layers, and that all elders of the Heavenly Dragon sect had seven layers while their founder was the only one that achieved eight layers. Nine layers were something only mentioned in legends.

In any case, right now, Ulquiorra was surrounded by formations that increased qi absorption. It was now time for him to breakthrough. He had already understood the Heart's Monolith tome when it came to the concepts for the foundation stage. The past months were also used to hone his intents in the other weapons that he wanted to use along with Tian Cai giving Ulquiorra the most basic of the basics when it came to the heart.

He talked about his past life experiences, and so forth. Sadly, Ulquiorra mostly questioned Tian Cai about a lot of the situations he talked about. For example, he didn't see a valid reason why he should help an old lady when the person was not in anyway related to him.

Tian Cai also gave Ulquiorra the chance to learn about other things like formations and alchemy, but progress there was something that took a long time. Geography was not recommended as it's been thousands of years since the sect died out. They had this schedule everyday which they followed.

What came as a surprise was that Tian Cai was able to pull out a whole kitchen along with ingredients using formations. He stressed that nutrition was important, and that even though Ulquiorra was an abnormal cultivator, it didn't mean that one should forget nutrition especially if they hadn't eaten in awhile. Feng Zhong commented that Tian Cai could also be considered abnormal as the other elders didn't have this type of viewpoint towards food. The others mainly used pills, and only ate when there was an event as it was more efficient. When asked where Tian Cai got the ingredients, he merely replied like this:

"This hidden realm is filled with beasts while the sect has gardens filled with herbs that could be maintained with qi. There are several formations even outside the sect that were made as defenses back then, and I also took part in making the formations. The rest is history."

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Going back, Ulquiorra was now preparing to break through the foundation stage. Tian Cai and Feng Zhong observed Ulquiorra nervously. They wished for the best.

"How many layers do you think Ulquiorra could get, master?" Feng Zhong asked.

"Considering Ulquiorra's talent, I won't be surprised if he got eight layers!" Tian Cai said while Feng Zhong nodded. They both agreed that Ulquiorra was phenomenal.

"Now we wait." Tian Cai added.

Right now, Ulquiorra was absorbing qi steadily. He was preparing to make a Foundation, but the question was what kind? He knew from Tian Cai and Feng Zhong that their foundations were akin to that of an actual building foundation, and that it was the case for almost all other cultivators. Those that cultivated other types failed in their cultivation. Still, Ulquiorra wanted to try something.

A foundation was something that held the Golden Core. The stronger it was, then the possibility for a stronger core would rise. He actually thought about this in the past couple of months, and probed Tian Cai for answers, but he was warned to just stick with the regular foundation as it was the tried and tested method. Still, Ulquiorra wished for something different. Even as an ice cold individual, he too had his pride. Just like his segunda etapa, he will aim for a foundation that was for him alone.

Ulquiorra's mind was set. He began to use his qi as the Heart's Monolith technique told him too. He adjusted his mental state to that of a ripple free lake.

"From the sides of the two scales, lay the balance of the Dao. One must converge the yin ang yang in order to achieve harmony." Ulquiorra muttered.

The qi around Ulquiorra was absorbed voraciously. It was as if Ulquiorra was a bottomless well. It did not slow down.

"Harmony begets calmness and calmness begets stillness. This shall be the foundation of the Dao."

Ulquiorra urged the qi and his intent to gather within his dantian. He was forming something way different from the normal foundations. Instead of something akin to a building's base, he was making something that had no exact form. He could already taste blood in his mouth and felt that the qi in him slowly becoming wild. Still, he did not stop as his face retained its cold facade while closing his eyes.

"This foundation shall be the Dao's beginning, and also my own."

Ulquiorra recited the last line and concept he learned from the Heart's Monolith technique. Along with his own qi and intent, he added his spirit energy into it. It was the combination of the powers he had in this life and the past. With this, Ulquiorra urged these three components once more to his dantian.

What Ulquiorra was doing was incredibly dangerous and risky. Tian Cai and Feng Zhong realized that something was amiss as they saw blood streaming down Ulquiorra's mouth, and were about to intervene, but suddenly, Ulquiorra's eyes snapped open, and a dark green qi along with a heavy soul crushing pressure emerged. Tian Cai did what he could as he activated formations immediately to protect Feng Zhong and him.

Ulquiorra floated in the air as he was surrounded by the dark green qi.Within his dantian was a foundation like no other. It was something that couldn't be measured with layers as it had no form. Ulquiorra had an idea that came from his time before this world. To be more precise, his foundation was based on the place where he floated in for an indefinite amount of time.

His foundation was the void.

(AN: Sorry this took awhile. Was thinking of a good way of doing this that suited Ulquiorra. Also, the Heart's Monolith technique isn't obsolete with the new foundation. The new foundation was made with the technique's concepts. It can still be used. You'll see how in the future ;). Finally, I also read the new one shot for Bleach and I am hyped for the new arc. Won't spoil anything for those that have not read anything yet.)