The host techniques help him to control elements and his internal energy better, while the Unification of Heart, Mind, and Weapon helps him control his armament better.
He first got the Unification of Heart, Mind, and Weapon technique when he was at the peak of the first mortal coil. He got it from the Beast Hunting Center in Agate City so that he would be able to control his bow and other weapons better. He has achieved that now and more.
The rank 2 Unification of Heart, Mind, and Weapon is equivalent to the first stage of oneness with the sword, and the rank 3 version of Unification of Heart, Mind, and Weapon is equivalent to the second stage of oneness with the sword.
That means, now that he has mastered both versions, he has mastered a state of unity with his armament that is similar to full body and full energy. So even without the special nature of the divine armament, he would be able to output power that is twice the normal output of either the pathway of the body or the pathway of energy.
That kind of power will be equal to the power he gets from the level 10 top-grade divine lightning armament. It can't compare to the level 50 top-grade divine lightning armament that he forged using the corpse of a rank 3 lightning wolf.
The rank 2 version was easy for him to comprehend, while the rank 3 version was more difficult. Even so, he mastered the two of them and 31 other rank 2 spells and techniques.
Then he started work on the host techniques too. This was thanks to the help of the Mountain Foundation divine ability.
Now that his mind has grown stronger and the mind phantoms have increased to four, it has become easier for him to comprehend spells and techniques.
The help of the Mountain Foundation divine ability was very important in helping him comprehend the rank 3 technique, which is something that some cultivators at the third mortal coil never finish comprehending in their life.
He can say with certainty that without Mountain Foundation, he wouldn't have been able to comprehend and master so many powerful techniques. Its help was crucial in improving the quality of his power after the quantity of his power reached a dead end.
Of course, when the quantity of his power begins to improve again, these rank 3 techniques that he has begun to master will be able to show their full power then. Elder Storm Hawk explained their usefulness to him and assured him of that in no uncertain terms.
She said that the peak of power of cultivators at the third mortal coil is 112,640. But even for many people that reach the peak of the third mortal coil, they might not be able to achieve his power because they can't control their foundation very well.
She said that many people will never be able to reach the tenth transformation of the third mortal coil in their entire lives because the quality of their foundation is subpar. The approximate proportion of these people is 90%.
The fact that 90% of cultivators who reach the third mortal coil can never reach its peak was astonishing to him when he heard about it. It was surprising to him because no matter how bad the talent of someone at the first or second mortal coil is, they can still reach the peak with enough time, resources, and effort.
But what surprised him even more was that even those with high-quality foundations capable of reaching the tenth transformation still can't achieve the peak power possible. She said that this was because they weren't good hosts for their foundations and couldn't control their power well.
After hearing what she said and doing some research, which was basically asking the Apex Alliance to collect information on the matter for him, he found out that the average power of cultivators at the third mortal coil was 7,040.
7,040 units of power is a far cry from the maximum of 112,640. He found this difficult to believe. But despite how unbelievable it was, it was a fact that some people at the third mortal coil never even achieved 7,040.
The research also stated that reaching the tenth transformation of the third mortal coil wasn't necessary to advance to the fourth mortal coil. Only the seventh transformation was necessary.
As long as someone could forge a foundation capable of reaching the seventh transformation and was able to achieve it, then they would be able to break through to the fourth foundation. But if they do this, they will be weak forever.
He didn't find this surprising. In fact, he expected it because it made sense that compared to the people who continued to risk their lives and forge better foundations, those with poorer foundations should be weaker.
From what he heard, though, the difference was massive. And to make matters worse, there is no way to go back and reforge one's foundation. Once the foundation has been established, there is either progress, a dead end, or death, but no redo.
This gulf between the power that a high-quality foundation can provide and the one that a low-quality foundation can provide fueled his determination to become a better host and forge a high-quality foundation.
In order to achieve that, he must master the necessary techniques, make progress in his research, and acquire a lot of money. This is what he has been doing for more than a decade now and will continue to do till he transcends the first mortal coil.
The Mountain Foundation divine ability is helping him master the necessary techniques, and he is always busy doing research. This leaves acquiring money for research, which he does by occasionally writing books and harvesting secret realms every five years.
It is time for him to harvest secret realms again, so he finished preparing, put away the data from the Mountain Sitting Dao and went downstairs to take Roar for the trip.