Within the skeletal Vanguard Realm, Li Fan—wielding supreme authority over the space—watched the inexplicably excited Ye Feipeng and the equally delighted Xiao Heng, nodding inwardly.
"After playing along with these kids for so long, the groundwork is finally done."
"Barring any unforeseen accidents, I can now sit back and reap the returns on my investment without having to micromanage everything."
To make his fabricated lie appear as genuine as possible, Li Fan had spared no effort and spent a small fortune.
This included, but was not limited to: a necklace fused with a communication array and a ritual-stabilizing array;
A communication-transmission array disguised as an altar;
A puppet at the Foundation Establishment stage;
An illusion stone engineered to forge the anomalous phenomenon of a fallen cultivator;
And so forth.
As for why he had gone to such great lengths in this life—leasing and remodeling a Vanguard Realm, fabricating out of whole cloth the ancient history of a True Immortal...
Li Fan naturally had his reasons.
First, if he were to directly sponsor their cultivation techniques in his true capacity as a cultivator, it would be fine at the beginning while the prodigies were still young and naive.
Yet as they grew older and realized the immense value of such techniques, doubts would inevitably creep in. They would suspect some hidden conspiracy or price behind it all. Once a rift formed, complications would multiply endlessly.
By disguising himself as a semi-fallen ancient cultivator and framing the gift of the techniques as personal fortuitous encounters for the prodigies, no such concerns existed.
Second, after establishing the Immortal Restoration organization, he could completely act as a hands-off boss.
He would no longer need to exhaust himself personally seeking out exceptionally gifted individuals to invest in.
Genius naturally attracted genius.
As prodigies like Xiao Heng and Su Xiaomei traveled and grew, they would almost certainly cross paths with companions of comparable talent.
Without Li Fan having to lift a finger, Immortal Restoration's roster would steadily expand.
While leaving the prodigies to roam free and focusing peacefully on his own cultivation, he could also enjoy the returns brought by the growth of Immortal Restoration.
It was truly marvelous.
Third, the premise of Immortal Restoration being an enemy of the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals would naturally place a burden of pressure on Xiao Heng and the others.
Only with pressure came drive.
Only then could their cultivation talent be squeezed to the absolute limit,
allowing Li Fan to recoup his investment costs that much faster.
Li Fan remembered clearly that in his previous life, without any pressure, Xiao Heng had failed to purge the miasma from his body even after more than a decade.
Yet in this life, stranded on a deserted island and burdened with the weight of vengeance, he had taken the initiative to begin cultivating the very next day after receiving the Sea-Calming Divine Sword technique.
The difference between the two was night and day.
As for whether this tiny Immortal Restoration organization would draw the attention of the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals...
When disguised as the skull, Li Fan had already instructed Xiao Heng.
The Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals possessed immense power, so their primary focus for now had to be growing and consolidating their own strength.
Before reaching the Nascent Soul realm, they were strictly forbidden from clashing directly with the Alliance.
Even with Xiao Heng's prodigious talent, reaching the Nascent Soul realm would take many years.
Li Fan probably wouldn't even live to see it in this lifetime.
***
In short, the seeds had been sown. Now, he only needed to wait quietly for the prodigies of the Li Realm to mature so he could harvest the fruits.
After keeping busy for two full months, it was already the tenth year of the anchor by the time Li Fan returned to Wanxian Island.
Although practicing the Mountain-Sitting Art allowed one to "reap without sowing," Li Fan was not the sort of person to pin all his hopes on others.
He did not neglect his own cultivation in the slightest.
Throughout the entire tenth year of the anchor, Li Fan spent his time in diligent closed-door seclusion.
With the state of Spirit Enlightenment maintained without pause, a single year was equivalent to twenty years of painstaking cultivation for an ordinary cultivator.
Then one day, a substantial feedback of cultivation suddenly materialized out of thin air within Li Fan's dantian,
jolting him awake from his meditation.
The volume of this cultivation was fully equivalent to three to four years of bitter cultivation under normal conditions.
Surprised that the first batch of cultivation feedback had arrived so quickly, Li Fan was pleasantly astonished and immediately checked its source.
Sensing it carefully, what caught Li Fan completely off guard was that the Mountain-Sitting Art's first massive surge of cultivation feedback did not come from the youngsters of the Li Realm.
Instead, it came from He Zhenghao!
Just moments ago, he had successfully broken through from the mid Foundation Establishment stage to the late Foundation Establishment stage.
"Daoist He was truly building up his strength over time; he broke through so quickly."
"It seems his claim of forming a Golden Core within fifty years wasn't an empty boast after all."
Right on cue, Li Fan received a celebratory message from He Zhenghao.
To show his encouragement, Li Fan waived the interest due for the current year.
He urged him to keep working hard and strive to reach the Golden Core realm as early as possible.
Afterward, Li Fan browsed through the messages he had missed during his seclusion.
Zhang Zhiliang's research into the Mountains and Rivers Grand Array was nearly drawing to a close.
He had sent a message asking how Li Fan's self-study of formation knowledge was progressing,
stating that upon his return, he would administer an examination.
This naturally posed no challenge for Li Fan, who had already studied formations under Zhang Zhiliang for over a decade in his previous life.
Li Fan was therefore not worried in the least.
Next, amidst a pile of inconsequential greetings, a message from Jiang Zhengji of the Martial Practice Hall caught Li Fan's interest.
He asked Li Fan whether he had recently seen a late Foundation Establishment cultivator.
The message had clearly been blasted out to a contact list, but Li Fan actually recognized this particular Foundation Establishment cultivator.
It was none other than the Foundation Establishment Master who, back in his twelfth life, had likewise smuggled himself out of the mortal realm.
Li Fan inquired with Jiang Zhengji to find out what had happened.
As it turned out, not long ago, this usually low-profile Foundation Establishment Master had suddenly ramped up his promotional efforts.
Touting guaranteed success and a ninety percent reduction in the time required for Foundation Establishment, he had aggressively recruited apprentices on a massive scale.
The master's previously decent reputation, combined with the miraculous efficacy being promoted, attracted many cultivators who were at the Qi Condensation perfection stage and preparing for Foundation Establishment.
Placing considerable trust in the master, they paid their contribution points and proceeded to undertake Foundation Establishment right on the spot under his attentive guidance.
Yet when they awoke from the process—some successful, others having failed—they discovered to their fury
that the Foundation Establishment Master who had been guiding them verbally the entire time was merely an illusion.
The real Foundation Establishment Master had long since fled.
Only then did the cultivators realize they had been duped.
According to subsequent tallies, at least over a hundred cultivators had gathered on the island at the time.
Two thousand contribution points was no small sum for a cultivator at Qi Condensation perfection.
Unwilling to swallow the loss, they cast all pride aside and reported the matter to the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals.
The Alliance would hardly bother paying attention to such a minor affair.
Even so, appearances still had to be maintained.
Thus, the Martial Practice Hall ordered Jiang Zhengji to thoroughly investigate the case.
When Jiang Zhengji arrived at the island where the incident had occurred, it was already deserted; he couldn't turn up a single clue.
Furthermore, the perpetrators seemed quite capable.
Even when Jiang Zhengji pulled strings to ask Elder Gongsun of the Heavenly Secret Hall to divine their whereabouts, not the slightest trace could be uncovered.
Failing to complete the mission would result in deducted merits and a demotion in clearance level.
Left with no choice, Jiang Zhengji could only cast a wide net, sending mass inquiries to all his friends to ask if anyone had spotted any trace of the Foundation Establishment Master.
***
Having grasped the ins and outs of the situation, Li Fan rubbed his chin with great interest.
"Under the normal course of events, they should still be running their low-profile scam, slowly accumulating contribution points."
"Why would they pull off a massive heist and flee outright?"
"Could it be... they also speculated on Spirit Mist Grass?"
Li Fan couldn't help but wonder.
Thinking it over, there was genuinely a strong possibility.
After all, in the twelfth life, they had already been quite close to redeeming the Dao Integration cultivation technique, the Sea-Swallowing Longevity Technique.
If they took a gamble, perhaps they could accomplish their mission fifty-odd years early.
Li Fan could even imagine that when Spirit Mist Grass first began its explosive surge, though tempted, they might not have immediately reached a consensus
to gamble decades of savings on speculation.
Yet as the price of Spirit Mist Grass climbed ever higher, dissenting opinions would have grown weaker and weaker.
In the end, after much hesitation, they finally agreed to enter the market, hoping to make a killing and exit.
Then, the Heavenly Profound Mirror issued its single proclamation that quelled the storm, sending the price of Spirit Mist Grass into a tailspin.
They lost everything.
"Perhaps they didn't sink all their savings, but the loss must have been devastating. That's why they took a desperate gamble to pull off a big heist, recoup some losses, and make a run for it."
"A hundred people meant two hundred thousand contribution points. This fraud made money even faster than my investments."
After considering it, Li Fan replied to Jiang Zhengji: "If possible, you might search along the route toward Yongliang Province. There might be results."
A moment later, Jiang Zhengji replied: "Are you suggesting they went to defect to the Five Elders Association? Hmph, defecting from the Alliance is a grave offense. If I catch them..."
"Regardless, thank you, Daoist brother!"
Li Fan exchanged a few more pleasantries before putting away the communication talisman and sinking into quiet contemplation.
He didn't care much about the Foundation Establishment Master fleeing ahead of schedule.
What truly occupied Li Fan's thoughts was that the repercussions of the Spirit Mist Grass incident seemed to exceed his expectations.
Earlier, he had possessed a faint, nagging feeling that he had overlooked something.
Now, prompted by this episode, Li Fan finally understood.
He realized what he had missed.
Li Fan searched the prices of spirit plants and medicinal herbs in the Heavenly Profound Mirror.
Sure enough, the market was an abysmal scene of wailing and grief.
Some prices had even plummeted below the cost of production.
"In the twelfth life, these herbs suffered a price collapse in the thirteenth year of the anchor because the first batch of spirit plants grown in the wood-attribute grotto-heaven matured and flooded the market on a massive scale."
"Yet in this life, because of the Heavenly Profound Mirror's announcement, every cultivator in the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals learned ahead of time that that grotto-heaven possessed a staggering abundance of spirit plants and medicinal herbs."
"A price drop was inevitable. To liquidate the herbs in their hands as quickly as possible, cultivators dumped their stock in a panic, causing the herb prices to crash prematurely."
"However, that isn't the key point."
"The key point is..."
"The Small Medicine King Cauldron."
Recalling this culprit that had once caused his own death, Li Fan's eyes flashed with a sharp light.
"With the herb market crashed, naturally no one will bother buying a small cauldron meant for growing herbs."
"Without anyone commissioning Jiao Xiuyuan, will he still go to the ruins of the Medicine King Sect to dig up the Small Medicine King Cauldron?"
"Right now, the Small Medicine King Cauldron holds little value."
"Yet once the real Medicine King Cauldron returns, it will become a treasure that everyone fights over with their lives."
Chapter 210