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.”