Chapter 212: The Aftermath Changes the World

In the Vanguard Realm of the Bone Hand, Li Fan, who held the highest authority, nodded secretly as he watched the inexplicably excited Ye Feipeng and the equally happy Xiao Heng.

“After acting with these youngsters for so long, the time is finally ripe.”

“From now on, barring any accidents, I can just sit back and collect investment returns, without having to worry about everything.”

In order to make the lie he fabricated appear as real as possible, Li Fan had gone to great lengths and spent a considerable amount.

This included, but was not limited to: a necklace that integrated a communication Formation and a ritual solidification Formation.

A communication transmission Formation disguised as an altar.

A Puppet with Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivation.

Illusion stones that simulated the abnormal phenomena of a Cultivator’s demise.

And so on.

The reason why he went to such great lengths in this life, renting and transforming the Vanguard Realm, and fabricating the non-existent True Immortal past, was naturally due to Li Fan’s considerations.

Firstly, if he directly funded them Cultivation Techniques as a Cultivator, it would be fine at first, as the Prodigies were young and wouldn't have many thoughts.

But as they grew older and understood the preciousness of the Cultivation Techniques, they would inevitably become suspicious, wondering if there was some conspiracy or price behind it. Once a rift appeared in their hearts, many twists and turns would easily arise.

However, by disguising himself as a half-fallen ancient Cultivator and presenting the gifting of Cultivation Techniques as a fortuitous encounter for the Prodigies themselves, there would be no such concerns.

Secondly, after establishing the [Resurrection Immortal] organization, he could fully act as a Shopkeeper who delegated everything.

He wouldn't have to painstakingly search for individuals with extraordinary talent to invest in himself.

So-called Geniuses attract each other.

As Xiao Heng, Su Xiaomei, and the other Prodigies grew and traveled, they would most likely encounter companions with good talent.

Without Li Fan needing to worry, the members of Resurrection Immortal would grow more and more numerous.

By allowing the Prodigies to grow freely and focusing on his own Cultivation, he could also enjoy the investment returns brought by the expansion of Resurrection Immortal.

It was truly wonderful.

Thirdly, the background of the [Resurrection Immortal] organization, which was an enemy of the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance, would naturally place a layer of pressure on Xiao Heng and others.

Pressure breeds motivation.

Only then could their Cultivation talent be squeezed to its limit.

Only then could Li Fan recover his investment costs faster.

Li Fan clearly remembered that in the past, when Xiao Heng was under no pressure, it took him more than ten years to remove the miasma from his body.

But in this life, under the pressure of being stranded on a Barren Island and “bearing the heavy responsibility of revenge,” he spontaneously began to Cultivate the day after obtaining the Technique of Calming the Sea Divine Sword Cultivation Technique.

The difference between these two situations was too great.

As for whether this small [Resurrection Immortal] organization would attract the attention of the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance…

When Li Fan was disguised as a skull, he had already instructed Xiao Heng.

The Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance was powerful, and currently, their main focus was still on developing and strengthening themselves.

Before reaching the Nascent Soul Realm, they should not directly conflict with the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance.

Even if Xiao Heng was a Prodigy, it would still take many years for him to Cultivate to the Nascent Soul Realm.

Li Fan probably wouldn't see it in this life.

…

In short, the seeds had been planted. Now, he only needed to quietly wait for the Prodigies of the Li Realm to grow and then harvest the fruits himself.

After two months of continuous busyness, when Li Fan returned to Wanxian Island, the time had already reached Anchor Year 10.

Although Cultivating the Sitting Mountain Skill allowed him to [reap without sowing], Li Fan was not the kind of person who placed all his hopes on others.

His own Cultivation had not fallen behind either.

Li Fan spent the entire Anchor Year 10 diligently in secluded Cultivation.

The enlightenment state was continuous, and in just one year, it was equivalent to twenty years of hard Cultivation for an ordinary Cultivator.

On this day, a rather abundant surge of feedback Cultivation suddenly appeared in Li Fan’s Dantian, startling him from his Cultivation.

The amount of this Cultivation was equivalent to three or four years of his usual hard Cultivation.

He hadn't expected the first batch of Cultivation feedback to come so quickly, and Li Fan was pleasantly surprised, immediately checking it.

After careful sensing, what Li Fan didn't expect was that the first large amount of Cultivation feedback from the Sitting Mountain Skill did not come from the people of the Li Realm.

It came from He Zhenghao!

Just now, he had successfully broken through from Middle Stage Foundation Establishment to Late Stage Foundation Establishment.

“Fellow Daoist He is truly accumulating strength for a grand display; he broke through so quickly.”

“It seems his claim of definitely reaching Golden Core within fifty years was not an empty boast.”

At this moment, Li Fan also received the good news from He Zhenghao.

Li Fan waived his interest payment for this year as encouragement.

He told him to continue working hard in his Cultivation and strive to reach Golden Core soon.

Afterward, he checked the messages he had missed during his secluded Cultivation.

Zhang Zhiliang's research on the Mountain and River Array was nearing completion.

He sent a message asking Li Fan how his self-study of Array Dao knowledge was progressing.

When he returned, he would conduct an assessment of Li Fan.

This naturally wouldn't trouble Li Fan, who had already studied Formations under Zhang Zhiliang for over ten years in his previous life.

So Li Fan wasn't too worried.

Next, among a pile of unimportant greeting messages, a message from Jiang Zhengji of the Yanwu Hall piqued Li Fan’s interest.

He asked Li Fan if he had recently seen a Late Stage Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Apparently, the message was sent to a group, but Li Fan knew this Foundation Establishment cultivator.

It was precisely the Foundation Establishment Master from the twelfth life, who had also smuggled himself from a Mortal Small World.

Li Fan inquired with Jiang Zhengji and learned what had happened.

It turned out that not long ago, this Foundation Establishment Master, who had always been relatively low-key, suddenly increased his publicity efforts.

He extensively recruited apprentices, proclaiming that he could guarantee successful Foundation Establishment and shorten the Foundation Establishment time by ninety percent.

The Foundation Establishment Master’s previously good reputation and the exaggerated effects he boasted about attracted many Cultivators who had reached Qi Refining Perfection and were preparing for Foundation Establishment.

They trusted this Foundation Establishment Master relatively well. After paying contribution points, they began their Foundation Establishment on the spot under the Master's careful guidance.

However, when they woke up from the Foundation Establishment process, whether successful or not, they discovered with anger that the Foundation Establishment Master who had been guiding them with his voice was merely an illusion.

The real Foundation Establishment Master had already fled.

Only then did the Cultivators realize that they had been deceived.

According to statistics afterward, at least over a hundred Cultivators were gathered on the island at that time.

2000 contribution points was not a small sum for a Cultivator at Qi Refining Perfection.

Unwilling to accept this, they no longer cared about losing Face and successively chose to report to the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance.

The Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance wouldn't pay much attention to such a minor matter.

However, the necessary superficial work still had to be done.

So the Yanwu Hall ordered Jiang Zhengji to thoroughly investigate the case.

By the time Jiang Zhengji arrived at the island where the incident occurred to investigate, the place was already deserted, and he couldn't find anything.

Moreover, this group of people seemed to have quite a few tricks up their sleeves.

Even when Jiang Zhengji pulled strings and asked Gongsun Elder of the Tianji Hall to deduce their whereabouts, he couldn't find a single clue.

If he couldn't complete the task, his merit would be deducted, and his authority Rank would be lowered.

Helpless, Jiang Zhengji could only try his luck and send a group message to his friends, asking if anyone had ever seen the whereabouts of the Foundation Establishment Master.

…

Understanding the whole story, Li Fan stroked his chin with interest.

“According to the normal trajectory, they should still be quietly carrying out their scam, slowly accumulating contribution points.”

“Why did they pull off a big one and just run away?”

“Could it be that they also speculated on lingwu grass?”

Li Fan couldn't help but think this.

After thinking about it, there was indeed a certain possibility.

After all, in the twelfth life, they were not far from exchanging for the Dao Fusion Cultivation Technique, “Devouring Sea Longevity Skill.”

If they took a gamble, perhaps they could complete the mission fifty years earlier?

Li Fan could even imagine that when the price of lingwu grass first skyrocketed, although they were tempted, their opinions might not have been unanimous.

Using decades of savings to speculate.

But as the price of lingwu grass continued to rise, the opposing opinions would become weaker and weaker.

Finally, after much hesitation, they agreed to enter the market, preparing to make a quick profit and leave.

Then, the tianxuan mirror single-handedly settled the dispute, and the price of lingwu grass collapsed.

They lost everything.

“Perhaps they didn't use all their savings, but they definitely suffered heavy losses. That's why they took a risk, preparing to make a quick buck to recover and then run away.”

“One hundred people means two hundred thousand contribution points. This fraud makes money faster than investing.”

After thinking for a moment, Li Fan replied to Jiang Zhengji, “If possible, Fellow Daoist can search along the direction towards Yongliang Province. Perhaps there will be results.”

A moment later, Jiang Zhengji replied, “Does Fellow Daoist mean they went to join the Five Old Men Association? Hmph, betraying the Alliance is a grave crime. If I catch them…”

“Anyway, thank you, Fellow Daoist!”

Li Fan exchanged a few more polite words, put away the communication talisman, and began to ponder quietly.

He didn't care much about the Foundation Establishment Master escaping early.

What Li Fan truly cared about was that the impact of the lingwu grass incident seemed to exceed his expectations.

He had subtly felt before that he seemed to have missed something.

Now, after being reminded by this interlude, Li Fan finally understood what he had overlooked.

Li Fan searched for the prices of spiritual plants and herbs in the tianxuan mirror.

As expected, there were wails everywhere, a truly tragic sight.

Some had even fallen below cost price.

“In the twelfth life, these herbs caused a price collapse because the first batch of spiritual plants grown in the Wood Attribute Grotto-Heaven matured and were massively shipped in Anchor Year 13.”

“In this life, because of the announcement from the tianxuan mirror, all Cultivators of the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance knew in advance the news that the Grotto-Heaven had an abundance of various spiritual plants and herbs.”

“The price drop was foreseeable. To quickly sell the herbs in their hands, Cultivators squeezed each other, which led to the premature collapse of spiritual plant prices.”

“However, that's not the point.”

“The point is…”

“little medicine king cauldron.”

Recalling this culprit that had once caused his death, a sharp glint flashed in Li Fan’s eyes.

“With the price of herbs collapsing, no one would buy small cauldrons for planting herbs.”

“If no one commissioned Jiao Xiuyuan, would he still go to the Medicine King Sect ruins to dig out the little medicine king cauldron?”

“At this moment, the little medicine king cauldron has no value.”

“But once the true Medicine King Cauldron returns, it will become a treasure that everyone fights over.”