Chapter 41 – Forming a Virtuous Cycle

Ren set out early the next morning from the edge of the outer sect on his brand new, er… used flying sword. He had to channel his qi into it to make it hover. He jumped on and waved his arms wildly to find his balance. It was a lot harder to do with a cauldron full of tortoises and a large sapling tied to his back, but he managed.

Moving the sword was very intuitive. He could command it as he pleased, but it could only go so fast, and it drank deeply from his qi reserves if he flew too long. At his current pace, it would take him 2 days to reach the inner sect with multiple breaks and similarly 5 days from there to his home. That would leave him only 2 weeks or so until the auction, following which the tournament would begin.

It was all worth it to be able to fly for the first time with his own abilities! It was an entirely different experience than riding behind someone. The first break came far earlier than planned because he lost himself swooping and soaring all over. When he landed, he collapsed from being drained of qi. The little tortoises immediately spilled out of the cauldron and angrily protested by prodding him with their heads repeatedly. Clearly they couldn’t appreciate the exhilaration of flight! All except one that found its way to climb onto his head as he lay on the ground in an undignified manner.

After recovering his qi, he set out again with the one tortoise refusing to climb down from his head. Ren blushed at how he must appear to others, with a palm-sized tortoise acting as an ill-fitting helmet. Yet he couldn’t keep the little one from enjoying flight as much as he had, so he just made sure it was secure. Glad for his one enthusiastic companion, Ren flew on.

When he finally reached the inner sect, he wondered if he should visit the Hall of Contribution to take a look at the missions but felt there would be no point.

“Also, I’m really not presentable! Who walks around with a tree on their back and a pot full of tortoises and wearing one on their head? If Hua saw me now, he would laugh himself to death!”

The journey through the inner sect was more fraught with danger. The beasts were of a higher realm, and Ren was lacking most of his array flags. Not to mention risking the lives of his little friends. He chose to flee whenever he could. His breakthrough had helped strengthen, but the same flaw from the trials remained. He lacked the techniques and weapons to do significant damage.

By the time he reached his mountain home, Ren was exhausted. But before he gave in to sleep, he first brought some water from a stream and dug a shallow pool inside his cave. He didn’t want to expose the young tortoises to the impure spirit spring without being around to oversee it. He threw out an assortment of beast cores he had purchased for them to eat and then let sleep claim him.

Ren woke in the dark of the cave with only some dim light entering through the mouth of the cave.

“I have a lot to do if I want to make this cave more comfortable to live in.” he said as he stretched his mildly aching body. He looked around and saw the tortoises had left behind certain cores while only leftover fragments of others indicated which ones had been consumed. He took it as a sign that the young ones were starting to settle into their qi attributes. They would still take years to mature into adults, but this phase should have happened a lot sooner.

After taking note of which cores had not been consumed, he laid out some more. Some of these cores were of the foundation realm. It could be dangerous, but he refused to shelter the growing beasts until they became wastrels. It was up to the little ones to know when to stop.

Outside, his mountain awaited. The impure spring was releasing a heavily mixed qi into the chaotic flows of the surrounding qi. The snakes continued their unending battles for dominance. In the distance, other beasts made their presence known through a chorus of calls, howls, and roars. Ren couldn’t wait to begin.

With the resources he had obtained, he needed to revise his plans a little, but it mostly followed his previous arrangement. The first step was to address the spirit spring. He could cultivate amidst chaotic qi for a while but couldn’t risk his meridians being clogged over time.

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With the pond as the center, Ren measured out the correct distances. He planted the Resin Willow sapling first. It was looking more sickly than ever, so he performed the nurturing rain sutra to liven it up a little. He was tempted to perform the second sutra but held off. It was better to get the cycle of elements up first.