So he might have been screaming at the top of his lungs. He couldn't tell.
This unpleasant situation continued for what felt like forever. It was just for four seconds, but it felt like forever to him because he couldn't really tell time.
When he came to, he was in a white world. Everywhere he looked, there was only empty whiteness.
He looked down to see what he was standing on. What he saw made his eyes widen in shock.
Beneath him was a mountain. It was a small mountain. But it also looked like the rock he paid 1 billion dollars to touch so that it could cure his cancer.
There were some differences in this mountain and the rock apart from size. This mountain had some glowing runes on it that the rock didn't have. But he is sure that it is the same one because it was the last thing he saw before he died.
This was the rock that had killed him in his last life. So he could never forget it.
The rock hadn't exactly killed him, but he had died when it disappeared after he touched it. He had never thought he would ever see it again. So he was very surprised to see it beneath him.
While this was going on, his connection to his body and his existence was restored. Two more things appeared in this white world.
He sensed it as soon as they appeared, so he looked up at them. The two things were two white crystals.
The two white crystals were bound with red chains. But the chains didn't stop them from interacting with the crystals they were binding.
As soon as their mind touched the crystals, information about two techniques appeared in their minds. The two techniques were called Everlasting Wood Art and Wood Control.
The influx of information made their head reel. While they were recovering from this mental strain, more things began to appear in the white world.
Some more white crystals appeared in the white world. Because he was familiar with them, he knew what they were without actively interacting with them with his mind.
These crystals were the essence of the techniques that he had learned or comprehended. The ones he was familiar with were the ones he was comprehending.
He didn't need to interact with the knowledge crystals containing Everlasting Wood Intent, Savage Sword Weapon Technique, Chasing Wind Palm Technique, Five Stars Claw Technique, Unification of Hearts, Mind, and Body Weapon Technique because he was familiar with them.
Aside from the knowledge crystals, colorful dust rings also appeared around the mountain beneath him. There were two of them and he knew at a glance that they were the foundation of the mountain.
It took a while for his existence to settle, but it finally did, and he was able to understand what was going on.
The mountain he was sitting on was the Mountain Sitting Dao. He still can't understand what exactly it is. All he knows is that it is very powerful.
The mountain is so powerful that his existence can't control it completely. He is not powerful enough to utilize the mountain to its full potential. That's why the second divine ability only became active after he transcended the first mortal coil.
He also understood that the runes on the mountain were already there. They were just activated because of the level of Mountain Karma that he has achieved. So when he levels up Mountain Karma in the future, more runes will become active.
As for the rings around the mountain, there are two of them now because he has only achieved two levels of Mountain Foundation. These two levels are the back pay for all he has done in the past.
According to his understanding, Mountain Foundation is a framework that builds a foundation of power in people through good deeds. The depth of the foundation that is built in people is dependent on the impact of the good deed in their life.
When he helps people, he earns karma. But he also changes their life forever. The impact of this change will reward him with a foundation for his mountain.
The karma he earns is instant gratification. It is entirely based on the appreciation of the person he did the good deeds for.
But the reward of Mountain Foundation is more long-term. The appreciation of the person doesn't matter in determining the reward of the foundation at all. Only how the good deed affects the future of the person matters.
All of this understanding came to him like a storm. He was bombarded again and again until he almost became unconscious.
He thought to himself as he rubbed his head, "So the future of the person and the impact that my good deed has on that future are what matter for Mountain Foundation."
"The stronger the person becomes, the better for me. The more my good deed impacts their lives, the more of their great future will benefit me."
From what he can tell, helping someone won't give him an immediate reward for Mountain Foundation. The reward he will get will be overtime.
If he helps a dying mortal, the impact of his action on their life will be high, but the reward he will get will be small if that mortal never achieves much in their life.
But if he helps a cultivator by giving them food, he will gain more foundation from them even though his actions have little impact. It is all because the cultivator will achieve more than the mortal.
The impact of his actions can be represented in terms of percentage, while the future achievements of those whom he helps can be represented with definite values like 400, 745, and so on.
If he helps someone with a future of 400 and has an impact of 10% in contributing to that future, then he will earn 40 units of foundation over the course of that person's life.
He won't earn that 40 for his foundation immediately. He will only earn the whole 40 after the person dies.