At the peak of the third mortal coil, his power was at a whopping 1,126,400F, or 112.64D, or 1.1264C. That was five times as much as the best of the best in the Blood Skull sect and ten times as much as the best of the best of other sects.
Now that he has advanced to the fourth mortal coil, his power has become 4,096,000F, or 409.6D, or 4.096C. So his power improved by 3.636 times.
This kind of increase is perfectly normal. Every human who advances to the fourth mortal coil experiences a 3.636 times boost of their power.
This increase to one's power after ascending didn't happen at the third mortal coil. But it happened at the second mortal coil. At that time, cultivators at the first transformation of the second mortal coil were two times stronger than those at the tenth transformation of the first mortal coil.
The increase to power at the second mortal coil was because of the strengthening of the life force by the life seed and the ability of the life seed to hold mana after the body had reached its limit of 10 transformations in the first mortal coil.
The cultivation of one's internal energy and/orlife force was meant to circumvent the stunted growth of the body at the first mortal coil. But even this method didn't last long because the life seed also reached its limit at the peak of the second mortal coil.
Once the life seed reached its limit, the new life force and internal energy couldn't grow anymore. But that has changed now.
The limit has been raised so the body, the life force, the mind, and even the quality of internal energy can now continue to grow. This is what caused the sudden boost to his power after advancing to the fourth mortal coil.
To be exact, his power improved because the strength of his body doubled and jumped from 10 to 20 units. The strength of his life force, quality of his internal energy, and mind also doubled in power.
So the power of his body that used to be equal to 10 (Body) × 22 (Armament Power) × 1,024 (Life Seed Power) × 5 (Mountain Karma) = 1,126,400 (112.64D) suddenly changed.
Power (Body Refining) suddenly became equal to 20 (Body) × (20+20) (Armament Power) × 1,024 (Golden Core Power) × 5 (Mountain Karma), which is equal to 4,096,000 (409.6D/4.096C).
This is just the beginning, though. For each transformation of his golden core, his body, mind, life force, and the quality of his internal energy will improve.
This is not so for everyone. For people who only cultivated the energy-refining path and created their foundation on that, only the power of their mind and quality of their energy will improve at the fourth mortal coil.
Their body and life force will remain stuck at the peak of the second mortal coil. The opposite is the case for body refiners.
For body refiners, only the power of their bodies and the strength of their life force will improve now. He can improve in all four aspects because the Everlasting Wood Art is a cultivation technique that cultivates both the body and energy.
And since he created a perfect foundation, he will be able to reach the tenth transformation of the fourth mortal coil. The other people who broke through at the seventh transformation of the third mortal coil can only reach the seventh transformation of the fourth mortal coil.
This is the effect of the quality of one's foundation. Not only will someone with a poorer foundation be weaker than him at the same stage of cultivation, but they also won't be able to advance to a higher stage of cultivation like he can.
For comparison, someone who just broke through to the fourth mortal coil with a seventh transformation foundation will have a power that is equal to 20 (Body) × 20 (Life Force) × 128 (Golden Core Power), which is equal to 49,600 (496E/4.96D).
This kind of person is rarely seen in the Blood Skull sect, so they won't have the boost of an armament. So this is a person that he could beat up many times when he was in the third mortal coil.
Not only is such a person weaker than him currently, but they will also never have the opportunity to turn the tables on him because they will be stuck at the seventh transformation of the fourth mortal coil too.
This is the importance of one's foundation. It determines both power and potential. Once the foundation is established, one will face the repercussions of the quality of their foundation forever and ever.
This made him sigh about the people that worked hard for a perfect foundation but still fell short of it. Storm Hawk came to his mind when he thought of this.
Storm Hawk had strived for many years to acquire a perfect core. She had spent more than 50 years at the third mortal coil cultivating and honing her host techniques. But when she was breaking through, she fell short by a single step.
She advanced with 1,024 life seeds. But during the process of advancement, one life seed died and failed to fuse with her golden core. This made her fail to advance with a perfect score.
Her core has a power of 1,023, which has an insignificant difference from his core of 1,024. But that single missing point means that she can never reach the tenth transformation of the fourth mortal coil.
For now, the difference between her power and someone with a perfect core will be insignificant. But that difference will become apparent when she gets stuck at the ninth transformation.
Be that as it may, she has little to worry about because very few people advance to the fourth mortal coil with perfect foundations. Most people fall short by a little here or there.