After spending most of the day pondering the mysteries of the complete Mountain-Sitting Formula, Li Fan purchased a blank Technique Sale Contract from the Heavenly Profound Mirror.
It was broadly similar to the one he had signed when he sold the Golden Chapter of Thousand Mechanisms and the Jade Cosmos to the Heavenly Profound Mirror.
However, because most cultivators demanded confidentiality regarding the techniques they practiced, the buyer on this contract could remain anonymous.
Such a contract cost five hundred contribution points each—much cheaper than an ordinary Commercial Contract, which went for a thousand points.
The format was fixed; all one had to do was fill in the seller, the name of the technique, and the sale price.
Altering his handwriting, Li Fan wrote down He Zhenghao, Mountain-Sitting Formula, and fifty-five thousand contribution points.
Then, using the Heavenly Profound Mirror, he sent it over to He Zhenghao.
"Fellow Daoist He, the deal is settled. The buyer is quite generous, offering five thousand points more than anticipated. Hurry and sign the contract."
Moments later, He Zhenghao's overjoyed voice came through: "Thank you so much, Fellow Daoist! I'll sign it right away, right away!"
Shortly after, a streak of golden light cut through space and sank into Li Fan's body.
From that moment on, He Zhenghao completely forgot the Mountain-Sitting Formula.
Li Fan exchanged for fifty-five supreme-grade spirit stones and delivered them to He Zhenghao.
With that, the transaction was complete.
Channeling the Taishang Primordial Scripture, Li Fan fully converted his cultivated technique.
He then spent over half a month familiarizing himself with and mastering every method within the Mountain-Sitting Formula.
Next, Li Fan conducted a series of tests.
True Reversion shifted within his dantian into various Foundation Establishment wonders one after another, and with each transformation, Li Fan cultivated for a spell.
By doing so, he compared how different wonders affected the cultivation speed of the Mountain-Sitting Art.
The results left Li Fan somewhat disappointed. None of the wonders of Heaven and Earth he currently possessed had particularly high affinity with the Mountain-Sitting Art; the cultivation speeds among them were all roughly the same.
Fortunately, the impact was minor. The reason Li Fan favored the Mountain-Sitting Art was for its investment function.
In this lifetime, He Zhenghao was the only person who had received Li Fan's patronage so far.
Closing his eyes, he ceased cultivating and carefully sensed the shifts and growth of cultivation base within his body.
A moment later, Li Fan found his target.
A trace of cultivation base materialized out of thin air. Though its amount was tiny—imperceptible unless examined closely—it flowed continuously like a gentle trickle of water.
Li Fan smiled faintly. "It seems Fellow Daoist He is making good progress."
"In the twelfth lifetime, when I cultivated the Mountain-Sitting Formula, I focused on quantity for my investments. Though my progress was lightning-fast, it drew the pursuit of mighty experts."
"This lifetime, I need a different strategy: focus on quality."
"I will invest in the prodigies from my memories, and I won't constrain them anymore. I will simply impart the arts freely, letting them cultivate as they please and pursue their own opportunities."
"With the destiny of those prodigies, unburdened by restrictions, their cultivation speed is bound to far exceed the previous time."
"Furthermore, by monitoring them with Formless Killing Intent, I can immediately sense when they comprehend divine abilities. By continually observing them, I can assimilate those abilities for myself."
Li Fan turned the thoughts over in his mind.
He had already tested this before: imparting arts for free was essentially trading contribution points for cultivation base—a guaranteed win without loss.
In this lifetime, his contribution points were relatively ample, enough to support what Xiao Heng, Su Xiaomei, and the others would need to reach the Foundation Establishment stage.
Li Fan figured that by the time they all cultivated to the late Foundation Establishment stage, he should at least be able to break through to the Golden Core stage.
"However, I must devise a foolproof approach. After all, something delivered for free inevitably breeds suspicion and makes people fail to cherish it."
...
While Li Fan was contemplating how to maximize the effects of Reaping Without Sowing, on Wanxian Island, Zhou Qing'ang's inexplicable disappearance finally caught the attention of the authorities.
The Martial Practice Hall dispatched a squad of Golden Core cultivators, led by Elder Gongsun of the Heavenly Secret Hall, to investigate the matter.
Initially, when the divination revealed that Zhou Qing'ang had ended up in the bellies of fish, it caused quite a stir.
How could a dignified Foundation Establishment cultivator possibly be gnawed to death by ordinary fish?
It had to be a plot by the Five Elders Association!
A full-scale investigation was brewing. Hearing the news, He Zhenghao grew panicky and invited Li Fan to Liuli Island to discuss countermeasures.
Li Fan consoled him, telling him not to worry—he just needed to act normal and show no signs of panic.
Afterward, Li Fan submitted the footage he had recorded back then with an image-recording stone.
However, he retained only the part where Zhou Qing'ang, disguised in another appearance, searched for unusual stones on the unnamed islet, deleting everything that followed—diving beneath the sea and conversing with the severed stone face.
Upon turning it in, Li Fan also explained that he had happened to see Zhou Qing'ang alter his appearance and act suspiciously. Thus, he had stayed wary, quietly trailed him, and recorded the scene.
As for what happened later, he had lost track of him and had no way of knowing.
The authenticity of the recording was quickly verified.
Li Fan then faced questioning from the Heavenly Secret Hall.
They fired off a series of questions: when this recording was made, why he had waited until Zhou Qing'ang disappeared before turning it in, and so forth.
"The recording was made about twenty-three days ago. At the time, I didn't think too deeply about it; I merely felt this person might be hiding some secret."
"Who could have guessed that during the brief time I was in secluded cultivation, he died—and in such an absurd way as being eaten by fish!"
"I realized something was wrong, so I immediately turned in the recording."
Aided by the Seven-Apertures Exquisite Heart, Li Fan put on a slightly nervous demeanor, answering honestly.
Hearing this, a cultivator from the Heavenly Secret Hall nodded slowly.
After conferring amongst themselves, the investigators dismissed Li Fan.
"Avoid leaving the island without good reason for the time being. We may need you to assist with the investigation again at any moment," the investigator warned before he left.
Li Fan nodded repeatedly in agreement.
Yet the second round of questioning never came.
A few days later, the investigation on Wanxian Island, which had previously been conducted with great fanfare, abruptly vanished without a trace.
It was as though the incident had never occurred, and as though no such person as Zhou Qing'ang had ever existed.
This bizarre and abnormal turn of events could not help but stir up widespread whispers.
Yet everyone knew there was something uncanny about the matter, so they only discussed it in private.
"Fellow Daoist Li Fan, what on earth is going on? Wasn't Zhou Qing'ang a spy? How did he suddenly die?"
"And why did the Alliance suddenly drop the investigation?"
Relieved that the crisis had passed, He Zhenghao was nonetheless filled with doubt.
After a moment's thought, Li Fan understood the reason behind it all.
He smiled and said, "In my view, it's precisely because they found out Zhou Qing'ang was a spy that the investigation was abruptly halted."
"The provinces of the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals enjoy a high degree of autonomy. Not only was a spy infiltrated into the Congyun Sea branch, but he was even appointed as an island overseer."
"What a colossal scandal."
"To avoid punishment from headquarters and safeguard many people's positions, they naturally had to make major issues small and small issues vanish."
"In any case, Zhou Qing'ang is dead. Whether he died by accident or was murdered makes no difference."
"What matters most is that he is truly dead. Once dead, all debts are settled—they can just pretend none of it ever happened."
"Only this way can everyone be satisfied."
"As for whether he stole and passed along any confidential intelligence..."
"It doesn't matter. What, could the Five Elders Association actually launch an attack over this?"
Upon hearing Li Fan's words, He Zhenghao initially found them mind-boggling and thoroughly absurd.
Yet after mulling it over, he felt that this was very likely the truth of the matter.
And so, he remained speechless for a long time.
Chapter 202