Chapter 216: 202: The Big Issue Has Been Resolved

Translator: 549690339

After spending most of the day comprehending the profundity of “The Mountain-Seating Secret,” Li Fan purchased a blank [Martial Art Sale Contract] from the Tianxuan Mirror.

It was generally the same as the one Li Fan had previously signed to sell “The Golden Seal of the Jade Realm of a Thousand Mechanisms” to the Tianxuan Mirror.

However, because most cultivators are secretive about their cultivation techniques, the buyer on this contract could remain anonymous.

These contracts cost five hundred contribution points each. Compared to the

1,000 contribution points for the [Business Contract], they were much cheaper.

The format was fixed, only requiring the seller’s name, the name of the technique, and the selling price to be filled in.

Li Fan switched to a different handwriting style and wrote down He Zhenghao’s name, “The Mountain-Seating Secret,” and 55,000 contribution points, respectively.

He then used the Tianxuan Mirror to send it to He Zhenghao.

“Daoist He, the deal is already settled. The other party was quite generous, offering 5,000 more points than expected. Hurry up and sign the contract.”

A moment later, He Zhenghao’s excited voice came: “Thank you, Daoist! I’ll sign right away, I’ll sign right away!”

Before long, a streak of golden light tore through the space and penetrated into Li Fan’s body.

From then on, He Zhenghao forgot about “The Mountain-Seating Secret”.

Li Fan then exchanged 55 top-grade Spirit Stones and gave them to He Zhenghao.

The transaction was thus completed.

He activated the [Supreme Scripture of Primal Truth] to convert all his cultivation techniques.

Then, he spent nearly half a month becoming familiar with and mastering the methods within “The Mountain-Seating Secret”.

Next, Li Fan conducted a series of tests.

Indeed, he could change the Foundation Establishment Strange Object in his dantian into different forms, taking some time to cultivate each time he changed it.

Through this, he compared the impact of different strange objects on his cultivation speed of The Mountain-Seating Secret.

The results let Li Fan down a bit, none of the wonders of heaven and earth he currently mastered seemed to have a particularly good compatibility with the Mountain-Seating Secret— their cultivation speeds all about the same.

Luckily, the influence wasn’t significant. Li Fan was drawn to the Mountain-Seating Secret for its investment feature.

In this world, He Zhenghao was still the only one benefiting from Li Fan.

Without further ado, he closed his eyes, stopped cultivating, and focused on sensing the growth and changes in his cultivation level.

A moment later, Li Fan found his target.

A trickle of cultivation level appeared out of nowhere. Although the amount was very small and almost undetectable, it was like a constant stream. Li Fan gave a faint smile: “It seems Daoist He has made good progress.”

“In my twelfth life, when I cultivated Mountain-Seating Secret, I invested mainly in quantity. Although I made rapid progress, it led to me being hunted by great powers.”

“In this life, I need to change my strategy. Invest mainly in quality.”

“I will invest in the talented individuals from my memory and no longer restrict them. I will simply impart techniques for free, allowing them to cultivate freely and look for their own opportunities.”

“With the fortunes of these talents, they should be able to cultivate much faster than last time without my restrictions.”

“Plus, I can keep an eye on them with the Formless Killing Machine. As soon as they comprehend a Divine Technique, I would sense it instantly. Observing continuously, I can absorb and use it myself.”

As these thoughts circulated in Li Fan’s mind, he fell into deep contemplation.

Li Fan had already tested before that giving The Secret away for free was akin to trading contribution points for cultivation progress— a sure-win deal.

In this life, he had a fair amount of contribution points that should suffice to cover Xiao Heng’s and Su Xiaomei’s costs for reaching the Foundation Establishment Phase.

Li Fan pondered that by the time they all reached the final stage of Foundation Establishment, he should be able to break through to the Golden Core Stage, right?

“However, I need to contemplate a foolproof strategy. After all, people tend to be suspicious and unappreciative of things delivered to their doors for free.”

Just as Li Fan was thinking about how to maximize the effect of “Reaping without Sowing,” the mysterious disappearance of Zhou Qingang on Ten

Thousand Immortals Island finally drew the attention of the related parties.

The Martial Arts Battle Hall mobilized a team of Golden Cores, led by Elder Gongsun in Tiantong Hall, to investigate the matter.

At first, when they calculated Zhou Qingang to have been devoured by a fish, this drew a great deal of attention.

How could a Foundation Establishment cultivator be killed by ordinary fish?

It must be a plot by the Five Elders Organization!

A storm of inquiries is about to break. He Zhenghao, upon hearing the news, was restless and invited Li Fan to Liuli Island to discuss a strategy.

Li Fan reassured him, telling him not to worry, to just maintain normality and not to show any difference.

Then he handed in the recording taken with the Shadow Stone at that time.

But he only kept the part where he changed his appearance and was looking for a special rock on the Nameless Island.

He deleted all parts of the conversation between the broken stone and himself submerged under the sea.

As he handed in the recording, Li Fan also mentioned that he accidentally saw Zhou Qingang changing his appearance, acting all sneaky, which triggered his suspicion.

So, he carefully followed and recorded the scene.

As for what happened later, it was due to lost track of Zhou Qingang, therefore, he couldn’t know.

The authenticity of the video was quickly verified.

Li Fan was then subjected to an investigation by Tiantong Hall.

The investigators asked when the video was recorded, why it was only handed in after Zhou Qingang disappeared, and other series of questions.

“The recording was taken about twenty-three days ago. I didn’t think much about it at the time, I just felt that this person must be hiding some secrets.”

“Who knew that he would die during the time I was focusing on my cultivation.

And by such a ridiculous death of being eaten by a fish!”

“Then I knew something was wrong, so I handed in this video immediately.”

With the help of the Seven Apertures Exquisite Heart, Li Fan pretended to be a bit nervous as he honestly confessed.

A cultivator from Tiantong Hall nodded slowly after hearing his words.

Then the people in charge of the investigation exchanged a few words and let

Li Fan leave.

“Don’t leave the island carelessly if it’s not necessary these days, we may need your assistance for further investigation any time,” he advised before leaving.

Li Fan nodded in agreement.

But the promised second investigation never came.

A few days later, the noisy investigation operation of Ten Thousand Immortals Island suddenly died down.

As if this matter never happened, and as if Zhou Qingang never existed.

The strange and abnormal changes in the situation led to much speculation.

But everyone knew that this matter was strange and they only discussed it in private.

“Daoist Li Fan, what is going on? Wasn’t Zhou Qingang a spy, how did he suddenly die?”

“Why did the Alliance suddenly stop the investigation?”

He Zhenghao was relieved after the crisis was resolved, but he was full of doubts.

Li Fan thought for a moment, then got the gist of it.

He smiled and said, “In my view, the investigation was probably terminated suddenly because they found out that Zhou Qingang was a spy.”

“Every state in the Alliance of Thousands of Immortals has a high degree of autonomy. The fact that a spy had infiltrated and become the Island Guard of the Misthaven Ocean Branch is a huge embarrassment.”

“Truly a major scandal.”

“In order to avoid punishment from headquarters and retain many people’s positions, naturally they would want to downplay the issue.”

“Anyway, Zhou Qingang is already dead. Whether he died accidentally or was murdered doesn’t make a difference.”

“The most important thing is that he is truly dead. With his death, all complications are resolved and it is as if this incident never happened.” “In this way, all parties will be happy.”

“As for whether he stole and transmitted any confidential information…” “It doesn’t matter. What, is the Five Elders Organization going to attack us?”

When He Zhenghao initially heard Li Fan’s words, he thought the whole thing was utterly unbelievable and absurd.

But after pondering, he felt that it was indeed likely to be the case.

So he fell silent..