Chapter 18 – Balancing the Pen and the Sword

Instead of things cooling down after the tournament, a frenzy had been kicked off. While Ren had somewhat expected it after the announcement of an inheritance trial, he wasn’t prepared for this level of excitement. It was only after talking with others that he found out just how unusual it was.

Inheritances of worth were extremely rare and usually monopolized. While there were stories of cultivators stumbling onto lost or hidden inheritances, they were unverifiable, as they inevitably kept them for themselves. The only ones shared were those too well known to hide or happened to repeat every set number of years. In which case, they were treated as a resource.

Controlling such resources could be hugely profitable by themselves or even be traded for benefits with other sects. How many a sect controlled was often the direct measure of their wealth or power. The Heavenly Sword sect had one other trial that opened every 50 years and was reserved purely for the core formation realm. Only the upper echelons of the sect could even use it, so they would trade seats in this trial for the ones controlled by Celestial Instruments and the Golden Light Monastery sects. They had trials for the qi gathering realm and the foundation establishment realm, respectively.

Unfortunately for their generation, the qi gathering trial had already concluded 5 years ago and wouldn’t open for another 5 years. It was unlikely that Ren would ever see that one. The foundation establishment realm trial was held every 27 years, but no one he spoke to had any idea when the last one had been held. Ren figured it was a matter more for the inner sect disciples.

With such a dearth of trials, a new one was very welcome news. Furthermore, the vice sect leader had announced it at the outer sect tournament, so they must be able to participate. Thus the entire sect was ablaze with enthusiasm. His friend Hu Yan had completely leaned into his chatty personality and had been acting as an information broker.

He and Ren would sometimes meet at the library at the Hall of Learning while trying to find out more information. Eventually he made Ren an offer to work together for a cut of the profits. Ren had agreed to bring him any information he encountered.

They had found other such stories of the Moon elder and had been exploring it in relation to the trial and the blood moon. It had frustrated Ren to no end when he realized the library was only slightly better than the Hall of Scripture had been before he had rearranged it. Eventually they had stumbled across a tattered journal that referred to an elder called Frost Moon.

It barely had 2 lines about this elder, but it had mentioned the blood moon and a mysterious event after which he was no longer seen. They had both gotten excited reading about the “Mysterious Event” but immediately ran into a dead end. While not explicitly written, Ren had the impression that tone had been disapproving. Hu Yan and Ren had disagreed on the matter, but Ren felt that the reason such little information was available was because it had been intentionally erased.

Hu Yan couldn’t believe the sect would do that and thought it was because it had taken place so long ago and records hadn’t been kept properly. This led to them both trying to find out how exactly books were added to the library. And both were appalled to find out that these books were only rarely submitted and usually by hobbyists. Only occasionally was a task given out by the sect, such as recording the noteworthy events of a year or things like that. Ren couldn’t deny Hu Yan’s theory outright after that.

More importantly, after this, Ren resolved to begin writing down his own discoveries, theories, and even just stories. His days were still full with cultivation, chores, and interactions with his sect mates, but he still tried to find time to write of his experiences so far. Since his classes on basic weapon forging and plant care had already ended and he had chosen to hold off before joining the more advanced classes, he had a little more time than usual. He had only taken the advanced class for formations because he needed it for his future plans.

His first book was about his experiences growing spiritual herbs and plants. He added sketches and descriptions about the ideal environments he had discovered. He even included smaller ideas about the best mixture of qi and formations that had worked or failed him.

Two months after the tournament had concluded, he had finished writing about all the plants he had raised successfully and even those he had failed at. It barely had 25 entries, but with all the anecdotes, he felt it was enough.

Ren had been very nervous submitting it, but to his surprise, it had been accepted without a fuss. Even more strangely, it had turned out to be rather popular. He found out a few days later that Hu Yan, wanting to help him, had recommended it to a few of his clients seeking information, those who were interested in herbs. When they learned that Ren had written it, his reputation as a successful herb cultivator had been enough to generate some interest.

The readers claimed that the simple language, easy-to-understand characters, and detailed notes were actually really helpful. When the library started getting more requests, the enterprising Hu Yan paid some scribes to make copies and started selling them as part of his information packages. “A lesser compendium of spiritual herbs and their care by Zhao Ren” only made small ripples but was well liked by novice herb cultivators.

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Ren was pleased enough that he resolved to write more such books. He had decided the next one would be based on his other interests. He hadn’t done any serious weapon forging after his class had ended since he didn’t have a forge of his own. He would occasionally rent out space at the sect’s forges but had grown fond enough of smithing that he decided to build his own.

He was wealthy enough nowadays, with his next batch of spirit herbs having already turned out a steady profit. He bought the tools and the specialized bricks needed for a cultivator’s forge. He planned it out and decided to improve his courtyard’s qi alignment and place the forge as the node of the fire attribute. It had previously been his cooking fire but it hadn’t worked well. His own notes had revealed that the fire attribute plants he grew had been more average than not.

Bao Hua had shown up to help him set up the basic shed and the forge.

“You helped me build the wine shed, so I would obviously return the favor, right?” Hua laughed off his protests.

His friend had decided on brewing wine as his chosen craft. Their first attempt at making rice wine had inspired him. It didn’t need constant care after the initial effort and left him plenty of time to go on hunts. Ren had to admit it was also perfect for his friends’ qi alignment. Water, wood, fire, and earth were all represented in winemaking.