He Zhenghao nodded, immediately activating the “Tai Shang Primordial Scripture” and dissolving his cultivation of the Mountain Meditation Technique and instead cultivating the “Mountain and River Hidden Dragon Technique.”
When he entered the Foundation Establishment realm again, Li Fan saw a vast expanse of interconnected mountain ranges and a densely woven network of water systems unfolding above He Zhenghao’s head.
Amidst the mountains and rivers, a clear and resonant dragon’s roar faintly echoed.
Clouds and mist churned as if a divine dragon were flying within.
“It’s worthy of being a Nascent Soul technique, quite magnificent and extraordinary.” Li Fan praised in his heart.
The anomaly persisted for half a day.
Afterward, it slowly dissipated. He Zhenghao opened his eyes, revealing a sharp gaze.
He had already restored his cultivation to the mid Foundation Establishment stage.
“How does it feel?” Li Fan asked, looking at He Zhenghao, whose demeanor had undergone a significant change.
“The wonders of this technique surpass my imagination. If the cultivation goes smoothly, I am confident that I can enter the Golden Core stage within thirty years.” He Zhenghao was very pleased and thanked Li Fan again.
“I’ve already said, no need to be polite with me. Now, we’re in the same boat. Your improvement will only benefit me!”
“Practice diligently and strive to enter the Golden Core stage soon.” Li Fan encouraged.
He Zhenghao nodded in agreement.
“By the way, what do you plan to do with the ‘Mountain Meditation Technique’ technique you practiced before? Sell it to the Tianxuan Mirror?” Li Fan casually asked.
“Yes. It’s a Golden Core cultivation technique, so it should still be worth some contribution points.” He Zhenghao replied.
“How much can you sell it for?”
“Let me check.” He Zhenghao took out a jade slip and communicated with the Tianxuan Mirror.
“It’s only worth forty-five thousand contribution points?” He Zhenghao’s face showed disappointment after a moment.
“Never mind, never mind! If it can recover some points, it’s enough.” He Zhenghao gritted his teeth and was about to sell the Mountain Meditation Technique to the Tianxuan Mirror.
At that moment, Li Fan suddenly spoke up.
“Wait!”
He Zhenghao turned to Li Fan and asked, “What’s the matter, fellow Daoist?”
Li Fan shook his head. “Forty-five thousand contribution points is too much of a loss. I have a way to sell the technique elsewhere. You can at least get around fifty thousand points.”
He Zhenghao was overjoyed. “That’s great! I’ll trouble fellow Daoist with this matter.”
Saying this, he handed over the jade slip without any guard.
Naturally, part of this was due to their shared Commercial Contract. However, from He Zhenghao’s perspective, Li Fan possessed a substantial amount of contribution points. Even if he borrowed two hundred and fifty thousand, there would still be at least four hundred thousand remaining.
With the freedom to choose any Nascent Soul technique, why would Li Fan covet his Mountain Meditation Technique?
Indeed, without even looking at the jade slip, Li Fan directly stashed it into his storage ring.
“After the matter is settled, I will transfer the contribution points to you.”
“Once you get those contribution points, there’s no need to rush to repay your debt to me. It’s more important to quickly improve your cultivation with your new technique,” Li Fan advised.
He Zhenghao showed a grateful expression.
Li Fan didn’t linger any longer and went straight back to the Tianxuan Mirror.
With no more need to hide it, he took out the jade slip containing the Mountain Meditation Technique and carefully read it.
After a long time, he memorized all the contents in the jade slip, then crushed it.
“As expected, the previously reconstructed ‘Mountain Meditation Technique’ was incomplete.”
The reason for going through all this trouble was not only to recruit He Zhenghao, gaining a Formation Master as an assistant, but also because of the insights gained in the Fallen Immortal Realm.
Ancient techniques, such as the “Purple Heaven Royal Thunder Technique,” often had supplementary methods that matched the cultivation method itself, apart from the main cultivation text.
The Mountain Meditation Technique, being an ancient cultivation method, should have had such supplementary methods.
However, the Mountain Meditation Technique Li Fan had previously reconstructed only contained the cultivation aspect, and was missing any other parts.
Coupled with He Zhenghao’s earlier mention of the incredible methods of his Mountain Meditation Technique, Li Fan speculated that when he used the method of creating a clone to reproduce the technique, he had lost a portion of it.
So, after some twists and turns, he finally obtained the complete version of the Mountain Meditation Technique.
And the results did not disappoint Li Fan.
In addition to miraculous techniques like ‘Earth Vein Sensing, ‘Mountain Lifting’, and ‘Unity of Man and Mountain’, the complete version of the Mountain Meditation Technique had another powerful characteristic that was comparable to ‘Meditate and Wait for Success.’
It contained the essence of the Mountain Meditation Technique: ‘Meditate on the Summit.’
Sitting atop the summit, motionless yet proud.
As the mountain peak grows, those meditating atop will simultaneously increase in height.
But more importantly, no matter how rapidly the mountain peak grows, no matter how high it rises, it must always be beneath the cultivator practicing the Mountain Meditation Technique.
As long as the cultivator does not rise up, the mountain will be perpetually suppressed.
This principle could be applied to both mountains and humans.
When Li Fan selected a cultivator he had invested in and activated ‘Meditate on the Summit,’ no matter how high the talent of this cultivator was, no matter how many opportunities they encountered, their cultivation realm would never surpass Li Fan’s.
It was like they were carrying Li Fan on their back, advancing with an extra burden.
When this cultivator’s realm was the same as Li Fan’s, all their cultivation growth would instead increase Li Fan’s cultivation.
If, for some reason, Li Fan remained stuck at a bottleneck throughout his life, unable to break through, then this cultivator will also be similarly unable to make progress, lingering in place.
“Extremely malicious.” Li Fan could only use these words to describe the ‘Meditate on the Summit’ technique of the Mountain Meditation Technique.
Li Fan speculated that it was probably due to He Zhenghao’s personality of being unwilling to make enemies that he did not practice this technique.
This led to the incomplete reproduction of the complete technique during the previous attempt.
A technique so powerful yet unreasonable naturally had corresponding restrictions.
For example, one could only choose one cultivator at a time to activate ‘Meditate on the Summit.’
The realm of this cultivator must be at least one minor realm lower than oneself to successfully cast the spell.
Moreover, there were certain side effects.
The longer the effect of ‘Meditate on the Summit’ persisted, the more the victim was suppressed, and the stronger the intuition in their hearts would grow.
Although they couldn’t directly know the specific reason why their cultivation couldn’t progress, corresponding changes would spontaneously occur.
Initially, there would be an inexplicable aversion to the caster.
Then, this aversion would turn into hostility.
Finally, it would change from hostility to obsession.
An obsession of either you die, or I die.
Even with so many restrictions, in Li Fan’s view, the suppression effect of the Mountain Meditation Technique was still very powerful.
Because the initiative of ‘Meditate on the Summit’ always remained in the hands of the caster.
One could still suppress for three to five years. As long as the situation hasn’t developed to the point of mortal enemies, one can always switch targets.
And for Li Fan, as long as his cultivation grows, he doesn’t care about any life and death grudges.
A mortal enemy in this life might become a close friend in the next life.