Speaking of which, the function of this Heaven-Swallowing, Earth-Devouring Grand Art bears a striking similarity to the ability of the Origin-Returning Toad. Li Fan mused inwardly.

Both can devour earth veins, and both lack any sense of restraint. It seems many techniques from ancient times were created by imitating exotic beasts.

He recalled his observations in the Myriad Techniques in Contention section of the Museum of Divine Treasures, lost in thought.

A pity that derived techniques inherit the characteristics of the exotic beasts along with their flaws. However... His eyes narrowed slightly. If one could use the Derivation Jade to refine it, removing the drawback of losing one’s sanity through optimization, it would undoubtedly remain a powerful divine ability.

Thinking this, Li Fan shook his head. I’m afraid there’s no chance for that in this lifetime. I’m about to break through to the Nascent Soul realm. Pushing the Mountain-Sitting Art to a higher realm is now the most urgent task.

The image of a young cultivator with a rakish, free-spirited face instantly surfaced in his mind. It was Han Yi, who had obtained a Heavenly Capital Feather Transformation Pill that could extend one’s lifespan by eight hundred years in the previous life. With that, he was granted an opportunity to use the Derivation Jade to derive a Dao Unity-level technique.

To advance the Mountain-Sitting Art directly to the Dao Unity level in one step, I’ll need to steal this man’s opportunity.

Li Fan’s brow furrowed slightly. But there’s something off about him. No matter how I look at it, he doesn’t seem like a man of great providence.

In my previous life, when my avatar explored the Heavenly Capital ruins alongside him, we not only came away empty-handed, but were beset by dangers at every turn, coming close to losing our lives more than once. You could say my avatar, who had almost no providence to speak of, was still considerably luckier than him.

Yet it’s true that he won the grand prize of the fish betting game and found a treasure like the Heavenly Capital Feather Transformation Pill.

Li Fan’s frown deepened.

Even before his sudden windfall, I remember he was once swindled by the Foundation Establishment Master. When the time comes, I should pay special attention to him to see exactly how he managed to completely turn his fortunes around from utter destitution.

After pondering for a long while, his avatar finally awoke. Li Fan collected all the spirit stones and Dao Comprehension Pills, leaving the avatar to continue guarding Tai’an Island.

He changed his own appearance once more and headed towards the northeasternmost corner of the Congyun Sea via a teleportation array.

His destination was naturally Yinyin Island, the abode of Yinyin Shangren.

Throughout the entire Congyun Sea, there were few people Li Fan truly cared about, but Yin Shangren was certainly one of them.

It wasn’t simply because of the Self-Foundation method Yin Shangren had comprehended, which Su Changyu had confirmed in the previous life was indeed viable, albeit still in need of refinement.

What intrigued Li Fan most was something else entirely: after more than a decade of researching the Immortal-Mortal Miasma, Yin Shangren had ultimately chosen to end his own life.

Even an ant struggles to survive. By all logic, a fanatic like Yin Shangren should have clung to life even more desperately. And yet, he chose death without hesitation.

There could be only one explanation: he had finally uncovered the true secret of the Immortal-Mortal Miasma, and whatever he discovered was something he simply could not bear.

Overwhelmed by despair, he lost all will to go on.

That was why he ultimately chose to burn himself to death.

Li Fan was also deeply interested in this secret.

After three days, Li Fan quietly arrived outside Yinyin Island.

From afar, the agonized wails of mortals rose and fell in waves.

Li Fan had no intention of alerting Yin Shangren; he only planned to deploy Formless Killing Mechanism for surveillance.

But the result left him utterly astonished.

The moment Formless Killing Mechanism locked onto Yin Shangren, its perspective abruptly split into hundreds of threads.

Apart from the one on the ground who was intently conducting his experiment, the rest were corpses in the basement—corpses that looked exactly like Yin Shangren, yet were broken and mangled.

Through the perspective of heaven and earth, Li Fan discovered that these shattered bodies, which looked as dead as could be, were actually still alive!

While lying quietly in the basement, they would occasionally shift their bodies or roll their eyes, their movements so slight they were almost imperceptible.

Looking into their eyes, Li Fan even got the impression that these corpses seemed to be "thinking."

This bizarre scene sent a chill down Li Fan's spine.

Formless Killing Mechanism's lock was split. That means, from the perspective of heaven and earth, these living corpses are actually the same person as Yin Shangren.

The more Li Fan thought about it, the graver his expression became.

He remembered that Yin Shangren had said he dissected the hundreds of corpses in this basement before finally comprehending the Self Foundation method.

Given the current situation, it was highly likely he had dissected "himself," one body at a time, while each "self" still retained consciousness.

A true madman...

No wonder he could comprehend a heaven-defying method like Self Foundation.

If he had any interest in cultivation, he could probably reach the Dao Unity realm with ease.

It's a pity he's obsessed with researching the Immortal-Mortal Miasma.

Staring at the only Yin Shangren who could still move normally, Li Fan couldn't help but feel a surge of awe.

Throughout his many simulation cycles, he had seen countless so-called geniuses.

Senior Brother Zhang, whose Vow Dharma Body endured through the ages, and Mister Bai, who achieved Spirit Transformation in an instant from a mortal body, were figures whose names would be remembered for a hundred generations.

But none of them gave Li Fan the same sense of profound strangeness as this Foundation Establishment cultivator, Yin Shangren. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

For several days, Li Fan remained outside Yinyin Island, observing the man.

Yin Shangren was like a tireless machine—experimenting, recording, contemplating, then experimenting again. There was no hint of fatigue on his face, only a deep, unrelenting obsession.

Li Fan also noticed something peculiar: whenever Yin Shangren fell into deep thought, the “contemplative” expressions on the hundreds of corpses in the basement seemed to grow more pronounced.

It’s as if hundreds of versions of himself are pondering the same problem at once...

A realization dawned on Li Fan.

Perhaps this is how he unraveled the mystery of the Immortal-Mortal Miasma.

He recalled Yin Shangren’s obsessive mutterings to Su Changyu in his previous life.

.....

"Yes... where did they all come from?

“Ah! I remember now!

"It was a great downpour! Countless corpses fell from the heavens like rain, and I took the opportunity to gather some..."

.....

Li Fan narrowed his eyes.

Hundreds of corpses gathered from a single storm, and all of them were... himself?

Truly bizarre. Almost fantastical.

He pondered for a long while but could not recall a single similar account from the historical secrets of the Xuanhuang World.

In the end, he could only set the matter aside.

He continued observing for several more days, until the supply of mortal test subjects on Yinyin Island was exhausted.

Yin Shangren was forced to leave in search of more mortals for his experiments.

Only then did Li Fan quietly withdraw.

I’ll simply keep watch over him for now. With the Unity of Dao Transformation and Mind, this won’t interfere with my own cultivation.

Li Fan cast one final, lingering glance at Yin Shangren’s hurriedly departing figure. Then he shifted back into the guise of the “Heavenly Mechanisms Sect cultivator” and returned to Myriad Immortals Island.

He swallowed a Dao Comprehension Pill and activated the epiphanic state boost.

Thus began another stretch of arduous seclusion.

With these two enhancements working in tandem, even the notoriously difficult Mountain-Sitting Art progressed at remarkable speed.

A little over two months later, a surge of pure cultivation feedback suddenly manifested within his dantian.

Only then did Li Fan slowly awaken from his closed-door cultivation.