Chapter 148: Reproducing the Mountain Sitting Technique

Instead of immediately exiting seclusion, Li Fan returned to his stone chamber at the bottom of the lake and promptly began his first cultivation session after establishing his foundation.

He was cultivating the Foundation Establishment chapter of the "Thousand Mechanism Jade Ring Golden Scripture." However, it wasn't long before he frowned and stopped. He had subtly sensed a slight stagnation in the flow of spiritual energy during his practice. Although it was extremely faint—barely noticeable unless one paid close attention—it was undeniably there.

After some thought, Li Fan ceased his current cultivation and instead began practicing the "Sea Stabilizing Divine Sword." Since Zhang Haobo's death, no one had cultivated this technique. As soon as he started, Li Fan clearly noticed the difference compared to cultivating the "Thousand Mechanism Jade Ring Golden Scripture." Even with Li Fan's aptitude, this cultivation felt incredibly smooth. It was as if there was an enlightenment bonus; in an instant, after only a few cycles of spiritual energy flowing through his body according to the technique's pathways, he easily broke through to the mid-Qi Condensation stage.

"By the way, you are now at the late Qi Condensation stage. When choosing a Foundation Establishment technique, if conditions allow, remember to pick one that is compatible with your own Foundation Establishing Wonder. This way, not only will your future cultivation be twice as effective, but there will be many other benefits as well."

He Zheng-hao's words from back then suddenly resurfaced in Li Fan's mind, and he became pensive. "Compatibility, is that it? So that's how it is."

With a thought, a blue water sword instantly materialized in his Dantian. With a casual flick of his hand, the water sword shot out instantly, easily piercing a small hole in a large rock. "The power of the spell techniques has also increased significantly."

Li Fan recalled the Sea Stabilizing Sword and pondered silently. "For an ordinary cultivator, even if they had both a Nascent Soul technique and a Golden Core technique, and the Golden Core technique allowed faster cultivation, they would undoubtedly choose to practice the Nascent Soul technique. But I am different. I can truly carry my cultivation realm into the next life. Therefore, the technique most suitable for me is the one that allows me to advance my current realm the fastest. Previously, I had no choice, with only the 'Thousand Mechanism Jade Ring Golden Scripture' available for cultivation. Now that I have more options, I don't need to cling to it exclusively."

Li Fan examined the techniques section on his "Return to True" panel. He hadn't paid much attention when he had fewer techniques. Now, with six techniques being cultivated simultaneously, he noticed something about their order: "Profound Yellow Heart Refining Incantation," "Cloud Water Illusion Dream Art," "Heaven-Stealing Sun-Shifting Art," "Thousand Mechanism Jade Ring Golden Scripture," "Mind Spirit Illusion Art," and "Shadow Following Art." They appeared to be sorted by value, from highest to lowest.

"So, it seems the 'Profound Yellow Heart Refining Incantation' is even above the 'Cloud Water Illusion Dream Art'?" The "Cloud Water Illusion Dream Art" was personally passed down by Qin Tang and belongs to a completely different system from current cultivation methods. Regardless of cultivation realm, as long as one's previous layer of cultivation was complete and advancement conditions were met, one could self-cultivate the next layer. The seven layers of "Cloud Water Illusion Dream" corresponded to mortals, Qi Condensation, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Spirit Transformation, and Dao Integration, respectively. Its rarity was thus self-evident. Even so, in the eyes of "Return to True," the grade of the "Profound Yellow Heart Refining Incantation" surpassed that of the "Cloud Water Illusion Dream Art." The implications of this caused Li Fan to fall into deep thought.

However, Li Fan himself was utterly bewildered as to how he had originally comprehended the "Profound Yellow Heart Refining Incantation." It was therefore destined that Li Fan would not be able to figure out the reason. Currently, the "Profound Yellow Heart Refining Incantation" was operating ceaselessly, like an instinctual breath. However, its cultivation progress had become extremely slow. Twenty-eight years had passed in this life, yet there had still been no significant change. Nevertheless, Li Fan was not in a hurry. He had all the time in the world.

His thoughts returned to choosing the next cultivation technique. Li Fan couldn't help but recall the "Sitting Mountain Art" that He Zheng-hao had cultivated in his lifetime. From He Zheng-hao's descriptions between the lines, this technique seemed capable of infinitely amplifying the precognitive advantages bestowed by "Return to True." However, the actual effectiveness of the so-called "sitting on the mountain and enjoying the fruits of others' labor" would only be known after trying it out.

Li Fan pondered for a moment, then took out a pile of unrecognizable remnants from his storage ring. These were the remains of the cultivators previously obtained from the Heavenly Sun Cave Mansion. His clone had died, and it was time to re-forge a new one. A glint flashed in Li Fan's eyes. "The first thing I need to do is find the part belonging to Fellow Daoist He."

After a moment of thought, Li Fan immediately had an idea. He set up a rudimentary "Circulation of Heavenly Stars Formation" and then poured all the remnants into it. The remnants immediately floated and rotated around the center, like the stars of the cosmos. Li Fan then increased the formation's output frequency. The remnants began to spin even faster. Soon, these remnants formed distinct, separate trajectories. Li Fan carefully distinguished He Zheng-hao's aura. It was still mixed with some other remnants. Li Fan patiently repeated the above steps. After most of a day, he finally separated He Zheng-hao's remains.

Supreme Bone, Heavenly Spirit Milk, Bone-Shattering Treasure Tendon, Heavenly Crystal Spirit Sand... Li Fan took out the previously prepared materials one by one and began refining.

"According to the 'Heaven-Stealing Sun-Shifting Art,' when stripping the essence of a deceased cultivator, one will randomly perceive certain memories from their life. Generally speaking, the greater the value of something to the cultivator in their life, the lower the probability of it appearing. Therefore, what specifically can be stripped depends largely on luck. He Zheng-hao was already planning to change his cultivation technique before his death, so he clearly didn't place too much importance on this 'Sitting Mountain Art.' The probability of me successfully reproducing it is quite high."

As Li Fan thought, he began to condense the clone. Bones, internal organs, skin, hair... slowly took shape. Finally, he molded its face to resemble his previous clone. Li Fan nodded with satisfaction and pointed a finger at the clone's head. "Sever!"

Unlike before, this time, after his consciousness connected with the clone, many faded, yellowed images suddenly appeared in Li Fan's mind. They were like paintings preserved for a long time. Some were merely old, while others were riddled with holes and severely damaged. But all flashed by in an instant. Li Fan concentrated his full attention, carefully discerning the parts that contained the "Sitting Mountain Art." The number of images appearing became fewer and fewer, and they began to tremble violently. Li Fan remained unmoved. He would not settle for anything other than the "Sitting Mountain Art."

Finally, luck favored him. Just as all the images were about to vanish, Li Fan saw it: A scene of a young He Zheng-hao, holding a jade slip with a joyful expression after exploring a cave mansion. A sharp glint flashed in Li Fan's eyes. "That's it!" His thoughts, like a beast that had long awaited its prey, fiercely devoured the faded, damaged image. Countless pieces of information flowed into Li Fan's mind. Li Fan slowly digested them.

After a long while, Li Fan opened his eyes, a look of wonder in them. "This 'Sitting Mountain Art' isn't a human cultivation technique after all!"