Chapter 39 – Laying a Foundation

A monumental task lay before Ren, and he had needed to get started as soon as possible if he wanted to make it back to the outer sect in time for the market day. It was a problem he hadn’t even considered ahead of time, having underestimated the vastness of the inner sect. If he tried to make the journey on foot, it would take him many weeks to traverse the unfamiliar terrain with unknown threats of a realm equivalent to him, much less in the 2 days he had left!

After a few minutes of panicking, he found the solution in the identification jade. By using the formation flag that helped claim the mountain, he could send out a call for anyone in the vicinity to come assist. This was a courtesy extended to newcomers for their first 3 months. After that, the formation would stop functioning. Ren knew that would be enough time to obtain a flying sword. He had inquired about those as soon as he had started earning spirit stones. If he settled for a poor-quality one, he could obtain one for 50 spirit stones. He had been saving for one that cost a mid-grade spirit stone before, but it was not to be. It had been a luxury before, but it was now a necessity.

With that concern resolved, he focused on his next task. First, to get the lay of the land, he expanded his senses to the limit and ran around the mountain. It occurred to him that the mountain was only relatively short when compared to the surroundings. It was as large as any mountain in the outer sect, which housed hundreds of disciples. He had it all to himself now.

He observed the snake spirit beasts that stayed around the lower-middle region of the mountain. They were of a higher layer of the foundation realm than him, though he couldn’t tell by how much. But conversely, that worked in his favor. He was too weak for them to bother with when there were stronger rivals all around. Even if tempted, Ren was too fast to be worth the pursuit.

While others would have considered the beasts encroaching on their abode a problem that would consume their precious cultivation time, Ren had actually wanted such conditions. He had a plan to make their presence work to his advantage. And anyway, he wouldn’t stay weak for long. He knew he was a hair’s breadth away from breaking through to the next layer of the foundation realm.

It had taken most of the day to survey the mountain. He had found 6 natural plant treasures being guarded by snake beasts that were stronger than average. He kept away knowing that they were beyond his current ability but made a note of all the locations and the attributes of the plants. He also theorized that there was something in or around the mountain that appealed particularly to snake-type beasts. It couldn’t be a coincidence that there were so many of them here. It would surely be worth a lot if he could find it.

The more he saw of the mountain, the more Ren got excited. All the things that appeared to be problems in the eyes of others, the beasts, the impure spirit spring, and the chaotic qi in the surroundings would all, with a lot of effort, become a powerful source of strength.

The hour was late when he finally returned to the peak near the mid-sized pond of the spirit spring. He didn’t want his home to be too close to it for fear of absorbing impurities unknowingly. He walked around the peak until he found a spot that sufficed. Anyone who studied and practiced arrays as much as he did could identify suitable spots where the surrounding qi ebbed and flowed.

He threw out his formation flags, and using the same array that helped him dig pits, he carved his way into the side of the rock wall. He had to almost expend all his qi, but he managed to hollow out a room-sized area. He then laid down security arrays. He reinforced it with illusion arrays and concealing arrays but no qi gathering arrays. In this dangerous place, he could only rely on himself.

Only once he felt satisfied with his safety did he start building a fire near the entrance. He cooked his meal while keeping a watch on his surroundings. As he ate, his thoughts were still going over all that he had seen on the mountain. It needed more observation of the storm of qi around the mountain, but Ren felt his idea was feasible.

A natural formation. A huge formation over the entire mountain that used certain natural nodes to redirect the flow of qi. This was just one of the reasons this mountain was perfect for him. If he could tame the surrounding tumultuous qi, then it wouldn’t just compensate for the decreased qi attracted by a shorter mountain but raise it higher than any he had seen on his way here!

Through his days as a spirit plant grower and as an array user, Ren had learned the power of cycles that nourished each other. His previous home had formed the virtuous cycles of wuxing to enhance his cultivation environment, his fields, and even care for his tortoises. His thoughts wandered to his little shell-y pets. He missed their company now, but he would fetch them on the market day. Not wanting to expose them to unnecessary danger, he had left them behind for two more days.

Shaking his head to focus, he got back to the matter at hand. The power of virtuous cycles that supported and grew each other. If he used the existing natural treasures on the mountain and added in a few of his own treasures as eyes of the formation, then he could form a powerful natural array that would redirect the flow of the qi. The treasures, by becoming part of the cycle, would be enhanced. The surrounding qi would in turn be calmed and increase in quality through cyclical refinement.

As for the treasures serving as the eyes of the formation, he had just the ones in mind. Lunar silver to represent metal. The blood pool represented water, where he could grow the Purifying Life Lotus. The yin flame would take the place of fire nourished by the bones of spirit beasts. Finally, the flesh-eating moss, which according to his research was earth and yin attributed. Flesh, blood, and bone. All of which meant he needed a vast amount of beast corpses. And what a coincidence! He just so happened to be surrounded by countless snake beasts!

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Then came the second part of the plan. After taming the flow of qi, he would use it as an enormous illusory array to draw in the snake beasts into a killing ground. While the arrays alone couldn’t kill them at this stage, they enhanced his strength enough to slay them. Now that he had entered the foundation establishment realm, he knew the art of arrays had much more to offer. All he needed was time. Soon he felt he could leave the entire process of killing beasts and redistributing their corpses to the various treasures all to an array.

This was the plan he had come up with when examining his earnings from the trial. And this mountain was uniquely suited to his strengths and treasures. The spirit spring had also presented an unexpected problem to be solved. It meant he now had two points serving to represent water in the cycle of elements. But if he found a place for it, its value was incalculable.