How can this be?

Him practicing the same technique as me is one thing, but his cultivation level is actually higher than mine?

He Zhenghao was momentarily speechless, plunged into profound doubt about his own life.

This is a disaster...

In an instant, countless thoughts flooded He Zhenghao's mind. But in the end, he decided to seek refuge on Myriad Immortals Island for the time being.

Just as he was about to activate the teleportation array, the other party's furious roar sounded again.

"I know you're hiding in there. Why don't you dare come out and face me?"

The entire Liuli Island seemed to tremble under the force of that shout.

He Zhenghao's face twitched. Not daring to make a sound, he frantically activated the array.

Who could have guessed that the man would detect his actions?

"Trying to run? Hmph!"

A ripple of power instantly enveloped the sky above Liuli Island.

To He Zhenghao's horror, the teleportation array on Liuli Island lost its connection to Myriad Immortals Island. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

Spatial lockdown?!

Cold sweat instantly beaded on his forehead.

A moment later, however, He Zhenghao realized the truth.

No... it's not that. He just temporarily disrupted the connection to the array's nodes somehow...

Just as he was secretly breathing a sigh of relief, he suddenly saw a streak of light plunge toward the island protection array below.

Naturally, it was the cultivator at his doorstep.

A flicker of hope rose in He Zhenghao's heart. So he's just a brute. My Mountain River Constellation Array is no pushover. Even if you're a Golden Core—

As this thought formed, the next thing that happened made his jaw drop.

The other party treated the grand array as if it were nothing, swaggering right through it.

His flight path seemed casual, yet he passed through the weakest nodes of the array's defenses every time.

And he was fast. In the blink of an eye, before He Zhenghao could even react, the unwelcome visitor had landed right in front of him.

The man stared coldly at him, eyes filled with killing intent. "So you're the one who stole my sect's technique?"

He Zhenghao’s mind went utterly blank.

There was no time to consider how the other party had so effortlessly broken through his Mountain River Constellation Array.

A tangible, bone-chilling killing intent crashed down upon He Zhenghao. His heart pounded wildly as instinctive terror surged forth.

“It’s a misunderstanding. This is all a misunderstanding!

“Fellow Daoist, please, don’t act rashly!”

Staring death in the face, He Zhenghao could only cry out in desperation.

"Fellow Daoist?" The ferocity in the other's eyes intensified.

"A mere Foundation Establishment cultivator dares address a Golden Core Reverend as 'Fellow Daoist'?

"Are cultivators these days all so lacking in propriety?"

An oppressive aura, far stronger than that of an ordinary Golden Core cultivator, erupted from him.

He Zhenghao instantly felt as if a great mountain were pressing down on his shoulders. His knees buckled, and he nearly collapsed to the ground right then and there.

He Zhenghao burned with indignation. Golden Core cultivators were nothing to him. He, He Zhenghao, even addressed Nascent Soul cultivators as Fellow Daoists!

Yet with a villain looming before him and his life hanging by a thread, he could only grit his teeth and lower his head for now, forced to yield to overwhelming power.

Forcing an ugly smile, He Zhenghao spoke with difficulty, "A misunderstanding, it really is a misunderstanding!

"Senior, let's talk this through properly!"

The other swept a cold gaze over him and temporarily withdrew his oppressive aura.

"I ask, you answer. If you lie to me... you’re dead!"

Hearing these words, He Zhenghao's heart lurched.

He nodded incessantly like a chicken pecking at rice to show he understood.

"Where did you obtain your Mountain-Sitting Art?" the other asked.

"I found it by chance while exploring a cave dwelling in my youth, Senior. It was definitely not..."

Before He Zhenghao could finish, the other spoke again.

"A cave dwelling? Where was it located? Why would it contain my sect's inheritance?"

He Zhenghao hurriedly described the location and internal layout of that cave dwelling from back then.

The other narrowed his eyes slightly and fell silent for a moment.

Then, surprisingly, he mentioned some specific details of the cave dwelling's interior, asking He Zhenghao if they were correct.

Overjoyed, He Zhenghao nodded emphatically.

Sensing the other's killing intent gradually receding, He Zhenghao couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief.

Seeing that the other seemed lost in recollection, he mustered his courage and asked, "I observe that your speech and demeanor are both quite different from those of ordinary people, Senior.

"Might you have just awakened from a long slumber?"

It was no wonder He Zhenghao made such a guess.

What cultivator these days still went around talking about their “sect?”

Moreover, there had been precedents of ancient cultivators slumbering for millennia before awakening.

He Zhenghao didn’t find the situation particularly strange; he just felt astonishingly unlucky.

The other party did not directly confirm anything. Instead, his expression grew solemn.

“I was just about to ask you—what exactly has happened over these years? How is it that cultivation techniques are now producing strange resonances? Even heaven and earth seems different.”

He Zhenghao’s suspicions solidified.

Without hesitation, he recounted everything that had occurred in the Xuanhuang World since the Heavenly Venerable transmitted the new methodology and the Great Reformation descended, including the rise and current state of the Myriad Immortals Alliance.

As he spoke, the other’s expression shifted again and again.

Through careful listening and a series of indirect probes, He Zhenghao gradually pieced together the man’s identity.

His name was Li Fan, a cultivator of the ancient Heavenly Mechanisms Sect.

An accident had plunged him into prolonged slumber. When he finally awakened, not only had his cultivation regressed to the Golden Core realm, but he could feel something strangely resonating with him.

Confused, Li Fan had followed that resonance all the way to Liuli Island.

Upon discovering that He Zhenghao was not a disciple of the Heavenly Mechanisms Sect despite cultivating the Mountain-Sitting Art, Li Fan had thus begun interrogating him.

Though inwardly cursing his bad luck, He Zhenghao could not suppress his puzzlement. “Senior, how did you tell that I wasn’t from the Heavenly Mechanisms Sect?”

Li Fan snorted, his tone dripping with disdain. “After a thousand years, have cultivators really become this ignorant?

“Your question is no different from asking how a cultivator can tell that a demonic beast isn’t human at a glance.

“The Heavenly Mechanisms Sect emphasizes the unity of heaven and man. All of our techniques are inseparable from energy mechanisms. Naturally, I possess secret arts to discern such things.”

Hearing the scorn in his voice, He Zhenghao’s face flushed slightly.

He was about to respond when Li Fan suddenly fixed him with an intense stare.

“S-Senior...?” He Zhenghao felt a flicker of unease.

“How long have you been cultivating the Mountain-Sitting Art?” Li Fan asked abruptly.

He Zhenghao paused, then replied honestly, “More than a hundred years...”

“The Mountain-Sitting Art is such a profound technique, yet after cultivating it for so long, you’re still only at the Foundation Establishment realm?” Li Fan eyed him suspiciously. “Were you injured as well, causing you to regress from a higher realm?”

He Zhenghao’s face instantly flushed crimson. “Senior, you don’t understand. This Mountain-Sitting Art—”

He was just about to defend himself when a realization struck him like a thunderbolt.

This man before him was a true master of the Mountain-Sitting Art.

He stood there, utterly at a loss, the words caught in his throat.

Unexpectedly, Li Fan rescued him from his embarrassment.

As if recalling something, Li Fan’s expression shifted to one of sudden comprehension.

“Ah, I see. You don’t know how to sense the heavenly mechanisms. No wonder your progress has been so slow.

“Simply sitting on the mountain, without learning how to sit on immortals...” He shook his head lightly.

“Trying to make progress like that is difficult indeed.”