The Complete Mountain-Sitting Art

He Zhenghao nodded and immediately channeled the Taishang Primordial Scripture, dissolving his cultivation from the Mountain-Sitting Art. Then, he began cultivating the Mountain River Hidden Dragon Technique. When he re-entered the Foundation Establishment realm, Li Fan saw an expansive vista spanning ten thousand li of continuous mountain ranges and a constellation of intricate waterways slowly unfurling above He Zhenghao's head. From amidst these mountains and rivers, the clear, resonant roar of a dragon faintly sounded. Clouds and mist surged as though a divine dragon were soaring within. "As expected of a Nascent Soul technique—grand in momentum and truly extraordinary," Li Fan praised inwardly. The phenomenon lasted for the better part of a day. Afterward, it slowly dissipated. He Zhenghao opened his eyes, a sharp brilliance gleaming in his 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 and aura had completely transformed. "The marvel of this technique exceeds even my wildest imagination. It cannot be easily described in words. If cultivation goes smoothly, I am confident I can step into the Golden Core realm within thirty years." Overjoyed, He Zhenghao thanked Li Fan once more. "Come now, I told you there is no need to be polite with me. We are in the same boat now. Your growth in strength brings me only benefits, no harm!" "Cultivate diligently and strive to enter the Golden Core realm as soon as possible," Li Fan encouraged. He Zhenghao nodded in agreement. "By the way, what do you plan to do with the Mountain-Sitting Art you cultivated before? Sell it to the Heavenly Profound Mirror?" Li Fan asked casually. "Yes. It is a Golden Core technique after all, so it should still fetch some contribution points," He Zhenghao answered. "How much can it sell for?" "Let me check." He Zhenghao took out a jade slip and communicated with his Lesser Heavenly Profound Mirror. "It's only worth forty-five thousand contribution points?" A moment later, disappointment surfaced on He Zhenghao's face. "Ah, whatever! Recouping even a little is better than nothing." Gritting his teeth, He Zhenghao prepared to sell the jade slip of the Mountain-Sitting Art to the Heavenly Profound Mirror. Right then, Li Fan spoke up and interrupted him. "Wait!" He Zhenghao turned to Li Fan. "What is it, Fellow Daoist?" Li Fan shook his head. "Only forty-five thousand contribution points? Selling it to the Heavenly Profound Mirror is far too much of a loss. I have connections to offload the technique. It can fetch at least around fifty thousand points." He Zhenghao was delighted. "That would be wonderful! I leave this matter to you, then." With that, he handed the jade slip over without the slightest guard. Part of this was naturally due to the Commercial Contract. But even more so, from He Zhenghao's perspective, Li Fan possessed vast wealth. Even after lending him 250,000 contribution points, Li Fan still had at least 400,000 left. He could choose any Nascent Soul technique at will, so how could he covet He Zhenghao's Mountain-Sitting Art? Sure enough, Li Fan did not even glance at the jade slip, stowing it straight into his storage ring. "Once the matter is settled, I will transfer the contribution points to you." "When you receive the points, there is no rush to pay me back. Use Spirit Enlightenment first to boost your cultivation as quickly as possible," Li Fan urged. Gratitude showed on He Zhenghao's face. Li Fan lingered no longer and returned directly to the Heavenly Profound Mirror. No longer disguising his intentions, he took out the jade slip of the Mountain-Sitting Art and read through it carefully. After a long time, having committed all the contents to memory, he crushed the jade slip to dust. "As expected, the Mountain-Sitting Art I replicated before was incomplete." The reason he had gone to such great lengths this lifetime—aside from genuinely wishing to subjugate He Zhenghao and gain an array master as an assistant—was also due to the revelation he had gained in the Fallen Immortal Realm. Ancient techniques, such as the Purple Empyrean Thunder-Controlling True Scripture, often came with accompanying auxiliary methods in addition to their core cultivation chapter. The Mountain-Sitting Art was likewise a technique handed down from ancient times, so it ought to have been the same. Yet the Mountain-Sitting Art Li Fan had replicated before possessed only the core cultivation effects, seemingly missing the rest. Coupled with the fact that He Zhenghao had previously mentioned that the Mountain-Sitting Art he practiced possessed all kinds of marvelous arts, Li Fan guessed that part of it must have been lost when he replicated the technique by refining his avatar. That was why he had gone through all the trouble to finally obtain the complete version of the Mountain-Sitting Art. And the result did not disappoint him. Beyond wondrous arts such as Ley Line Attunement, Mountain-Uprooting Might, and Unity of Mountain and Man, the complete Mountain-Sitting Art possessed another powerful trait comparable to reaping without sowing. It was, in fact, the very essence of the word "sit" in the Mountain-Sitting Art. Namely, Seated Atop the Mountain Peak. Sitting atop the mountain peak, rooted and unmoving. While it was true that as the mountain peak grew, one would be carried higher alongside it, it signified even more than that. No matter how rapidly the mountain grew, no matter how high it rose, it would always be sat upon by the cultivator practicing the Mountain-Sitting Art. So long as the cultivator did not rise, the mountain would remain forever suppressed beneath them. Extrapolating from mountains to people, the same held true. Once Li Fan selected a cultivator he had previously invested in and activated Seated Atop the Mountain Peak, then no matter how high that cultivator's cultivation talent was, and regardless of how many fortuitous encounters they met, their cultivation realm could never surpass Li Fan's. It would be equivalent to carrying Li Fan on their back, trudging forward under a heavy burden. When this cultivator's realm matched Li Fan's, any growth in their own cultivation would prioritize augmenting Li Fan's cultivation first. If Li Fan remained trapped at a bottleneck for some reason in this lifetime and could not break through, then that cultivator would likewise make not an inch of progress, lingering forever in place. "Utterly vicious." Li Fan could only use these four words to describe the Mountain-Sitting Art's method of Seated Atop the Mountain Peak. Li Fan estimated that it was probably because of He Zhenghao's temperament—unwilling to make enemies, he had never cultivated this method at all. That was likely why Li Fan had failed to replicate the complete technique back then. For a method so powerful and unreasonable, there were naturally corresponding restrictions. For instance, one could only select a single cultivator at a time to target with Seated Atop the Mountain Peak. That cultivator's realm had to be at least one minor stage lower than one's own for the art to take effect. Furthermore, it came with certain side effects. As the saying went, obstructing someone's Dao meant an unending feud unto death. The longer the effect of Seated Atop the Mountain Peak lasted and the more severely the victim was suppressed, the stronger the subtle premonition in their heart would become. Though they could not directly discern the exact reason their cultivation could not advance an inch, corresponding changes would arise naturally. At first, they would feel an inexplicable aversion toward the caster. Then, this aversion would turn into hostility. Ultimately, hostility would turn into an obsession—an obsession that either you die, or I perish. Even with so many restrictions, in Li Fan's eyes, the suppressing effect of the Mountain-Sitting Art was still extraordinarily potent. Because the initiative of Seated Atop the Mountain Peak always rested in the hands of the caster. Suppressing someone for three to five years until it felt like enough, before both sides escalated to mortal enmity, one could simply switch to another target. And as for Li Fan... As long as his cultivation grew, he did not care about some mortal grudge. A deadly nemesis in this lifetime might well become an intimate friend in the next.