Since the boost from the Mountain Foundation comes from the future achievements of the people he helps, the more people he helps, the better. The amount of help he renders isn't the priority.
Only time will tell who is valuable or not, but in the meantime, he can count the number of people he has helped. He helps about 3 million people every day and has helped about 10 million people over the period of 20 years.
All of these helped Mountain Karma and Mountain Foundation level up, which in turn made him become more powerful. This power came both in terms of quantity and quality.
In terms of quantity, his raw power increased greatly. This can be seen at a glance when he remembers what his power looked like from the Mountain Sitting Dao.
When he recalls it, he can still remember it as clear as day. His recollection then helps him see how well he has grown.
-POWER.
1. Power (Body Refining) = 10 (Body) × 5 (Life Force) × 4 (Mountain Karma) = 200.
2. Power (Energy Refining) = 10 (Spell) × 5 (Internal Energy QLTY) × 4 (Mountain Karma) = 200
3. Power (Divine Lightning Armament) = ((5 (Life Force) + 5 (Internal Energy QLTY)) × 4 (Mountain Karma)) × 10 (Divine Lightning Armament) = 400.
20 years ago his power alone was 200 units, and his power with his divine lightning armament was 400 units. But now, his power alone has increased to 550, and his power with his divine lightning armament has increased to 1,100.
This is an increase of 2.75 times. It is mostly due to the increase of his cultivation. The boost from Mountain Karma only increased from 4 to 5, but his internal energy and life force both increased from 5 to 11.
His progress from the fourth transformation to the tenth transformation of the second mortal coil also increased the capacity of mental energy, internal energy, and life energy from 400 to 1,000.
This is a good thing. But when he looks at the current statement of his power in the Mountain Sitting Dao, he can't help but notice an oddity.
He said to himself, "The quality of life force and internal energy has left the power of the body and mind in the dust. I guess this marks the limit of the second mortal coil."
He has always wondered why the second mortal coil has to end at the tenth transformation and why the quality of life force and internal energy can't be continuously improved. But after reading some books and seeing what has become of him, he can see why there is a limit.
The quality of life force and internal energy are both 11, while the power of the body and mind are 10. The problem here is that the power of the body and the mind are needed to control life force and internal energy, but they are weaker, so they can't control them.
Usually, each time he completes a transformation, the quality of life force, the quality of internal energy, and the power of his mind always increase by one. But when he reached the tenth transformation, the quality of his life force and internal energy improved, but the power of his mind didn't.
This is an affliction that affects not only him but every human and maybe every being at the peak of the second mortal coil.
No one can have a mind that is stronger than that of the body, and the internal energy of the second mortal coil isn't enough to make the mind overcome that barrier. So if the tenth transformation is the limit at the first mortal coil, then it will also be the limit at the second mortal.
The mind and the body have become too weak to continue transforming and growing stronger. They have reached a limit. So what they need to do next is transcend that limit and shed another layer of weakness.
This is essentially the problem that foundation establishment hopes to fix. If done well, a foundation can help a human supplement what they are lacking. It might not cure the problem completely, but it will provide a basis for the problem to be solved in the future.
Since he couldn't forge a foundation and enjoy the benefits that it would bring yet, he decided to find other ways to improve his strength. The avenue he turned to for this alternative way of raising his strength is learning and mastering skills.
He got this idea when he mastered the Everlasting Wood Art completely and gained a skill called the Wood Element Host. This is a technique that everyone who has a skill that can help them forge their foundation will get upon completely mastering that skill.
He got the Wood Element Host for the Everlasting Wood Art, but others will get other types of techniques. These types of techniques are called host techniques, as they help their users to turn into appropriate vessels for the elements.
This spell doesn't show much effect now apart from increasing the ease of control of his internal energy and the wood element mana present in the environment.
The true effect of this technique will truly show itself when he reaches the third mortal coil. But in the meantime, it reduces how much mental energy he spends on controlling his internal energy and casting spells.
He decided to go this route and get more techniques that will be useful for him both for the present and the future since he can't improve his raw power anymore. This is why he decided to begin comprehending the Lightning Element Host technique and the Unification of Heart, Mind, and Weapon Technique.
Just like the Wood Element Host technique, the Lightning Element Host technique is a rank 3 technique that, if mastered completely, will help him reach the limit of power possible for rank 3.
The Unification of Heart, Mind, and Weapon also does something like that. It is just that it goes in the route of weapon control, like the Sword Way sect's oneness with the sword methods instead of controlling the elements like the host techniques.