“I am Li Fan. May I know your name?” Li Fan asked politely.
The young man suddenly perked up when he heard this. “What a coincidence, fellow clan member. I’m Li Chenfeng.”
“By the way, there’s an entrance fee of 1800 contribution points when you enter,” Li Chenfeng whispered.
“Thank you, Brother Li! However, I haven’t found the right Heavenly Treasure yet. I came here just to see the style of the Foundation Establishment Grandmaster and make plans,” Li Fan explained.
“Oh, that’s fine. There are many people like you every year. The master won’t mind if you just observe,” Li Chenfeng replied nonchalantly. “Just make sure to stay quiet and not disturb.”
Li Fan nodded and walked along the path into the courtyard. From a distance, he heard a voice saying, “Calm your mind and concentrate diligently…”
“Do you know why I chose this remote location for our academy? It’s because for thousands of miles in all directions, only seawater exists here.”
“The Great Dao’s laws are relatively pure here. If you were to break through on Ten Thousand Immortals Island, you would inevitably be subject to various disturbances, affecting the speed of your foundation building.”
…
Li Fan approached the courtyard and saw five Qi Condensation cultivators sitting cross-legged on the open ground. They exuded a mysterious aura, as if they were about to break through and successfully build their foundations.
Li Fan’s heart moved, and he immediately started using the Formless Killing Intent to lock onto his targets. One, two, three…
By the time he reached the fourth one, Li Fan was already feeling somewhat strained. “Including Zhang Haobo, the current limit seems to be five people,” he calculated in his mind.
“Under my guidance, two hundred and sixty-five cultivators have successfully built their foundations. Most of them took less time than expected. You all…”
The Foundation Establishment Grandmaster, who looked dignified, was in the middle of sharing his experience. However, he suddenly stopped.
He looked up with a hint of confusion, gazing at the sky for a while but couldn’t sense anything unusual.
So, he mumbled a few words and continued, “With my guidance, the time needed for foundation building can be greatly reduced!”
…
“This Foundation Establishment Grandmaster is really extraordinary. He could vaguely sense my Formless Killing Intent?” Li Fan’s heart shivered. “If his cultivation were slightly higher, he might have been able to trace me through the technique.”
“One must not underestimate the people of the world. It seems that when I use the Formless Killing Intent in the future, I’ll need to be more cautious.”
…
Just when Li Fan was silently shivering, someone in the group seemed to have suddenly had an epiphany, perhaps as a result of the Foundation Establishment Grandmaster’s words. His aura instantly surged from the Qi Condensation stage to the Foundation Establishment stage.
After stabilizing his aura, he opened his eyes, showing a delighted expression. He bowed to the Foundation Establishment Grandmaster and said, “Thank you for your guidance, Master. I, Xiao, am deeply grateful.”
The Foundation Establishment Grandmaster patted his shoulder and smiled reassuringly. Then, the man named Xiao took off.
The remaining people in the courtyard all had a revived look, and their confidence was rekindled.
“The first Foundation Establishment cultivator has appeared, ten days ahead of our initial estimate. Who will be the next one?” the Foundation Establishment Grandmaster reminded them.
As Li Fan watched this scene from the sidelines, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of amusement…
The man named Xiao, who had just broken through to the Foundation Establishment stage, was precisely one of the four individuals locked onto by his Formless Killing Intent.
Although it seemed like he had indeed achieved a Foundation Establishment breakthrough, under the watchful eye of Li Fan’s Vision of Heaven and Earth, he could clearly see that there were no traces of laws condensing on the man’s body. He had simply expanded his aura to reach the Foundation Establishment stage, but his actual cultivation was still at the Qi Condensation stage.
Indeed, it was just a simple illusionary technique like the Concealing Form Talisman. Furthermore, this person didn’t actually leave the area. They merely made a round trip while secretly returning.
Their clothing and appearance changed in an instant, turning into a different person. This so-called Foundation Establishment Grandmaster… could it be that they are actually a fraudster? Li Fan took another glance at the Foundation Establishment Grandmaster, who had both white hair and a youthful countenance, looking like a true immortal. He couldn’t help but sigh, thinking that there were truly remarkable individuals in the world.
However, at this moment, not long after Xiao’s breakthrough, another cultivator seemed to have a breakthrough. Inspired by the success of their fellow cultivator, they also showed signs of advancing.
Li Fan’s heart stirred because this time, the breakthrough was genuine. Through his Vision of Heaven and Earth, he could see that a sorrowful sea lotus was faintly condensing in the cultivator’s dantian.
Li Fan immediately stopped diverting his attention and focused on comprehending the changes in the cultivator’s body. After the sea lotus completely formed, the cultivator’s aura suddenly erupted.
This time, it was a true Foundation Establishment cultivator. The person opened their eyes, their face filled with joy. “Master, thank you!” Their words were concise, but their gratitude was clearly expressed.
“Go now, don’t disturb their subsequent breakthroughs.” The person nodded and left in excitement.
“Maybe they aren’t entirely fraudsters,” Li Fan mused. He pretended to take his leave and secretly remained around the island, observing the remaining three people.
Over the next few days, two more people successfully broke through. The last person, however, took more than half a month to barely achieve the breakthrough. They sighed and left in a hurry.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s real or fake. What’s important is to make the cultivators who achieve a breakthrough believe it’s real. With enough confidence, they can accelerate their comprehension and achieve an early breakthrough.”
“Moreover, some breakthroughs are real. Even if there are one or two individuals who don’t get the expected results, when seeing others succeed, they might think it’s a personal problem.”
“Going a step further, even if they realize this is a scam, this Foundation Establishment Grandmaster is a cultivator at the late Foundation Establishment stage. They wouldn’t want to openly admit they were deceived. If that happens, the more than two hundred cultivators who successfully built their foundations on this island earlier would undoubtedly come to trouble him.”
“In that case, it might be swallow blood and bear it.”
“How interesting, how interesting. This Foundation Establishment Grandmaster is truly a clever person.” After understanding the intricacies, Li Fan couldn’t help but marvel.
One person might only pay 2,000 contribution points, which didn’t seem like much. However, when 265 cultivators were added together, it amounted to half a million contribution points in total!
Li Fan couldn’t help but have some dangerous thoughts. “I wonder when this Foundation Establishment Grandmaster opened for business.”
In the following period, Li Fan continued to lurk around the island. Using the Formless Killing Intent to lock onto the cultivators who came in search of foundation building opportunities, he increased his comprehension with their breakthroughs.
In less than three months, Li Fan observed the breakthrough process of more than forty Qi Condensation cultivators. His level of understanding of establishing the foundation gradually deepened.
And just at that moment, he received a reminder from Zhang Haobo’s side. It seemed that Zhang Haobo had successfully reached the late Qi Condensation stage and was now searching for his own Heavenly Treasure.