Chương 113: Chapter 110 – Taking Stock

Night fell before Ren could climb half the way up the stairs. He regretted his impulsive decision to climb the mountains on foot the first time. He also feared he might miss something if he flew up on his sword. Utterly exhausted by the day's exertions, a winded Ren decided to just make camp on one of the small landings on the stairs. He felt feverish, and his muscles burned as though he had climbed a mountain.

"Well, I did already climb a mountain this morning. And this would be the second, shorter though it was. But I still don't understand! I'm at the Organ Reinforcement Realm of body cultivation. I'm able to lift 10, 000 jin of weight and run for an entire day, but how come I'm struggling to just ascend a small mountain?" In the morning, Ren had associated the burning in his lungs and legs with the excessive amount of qi in the air and with the physical exertion. But what made his arms ache?!

Having decided to stop for the night anyway, he chewed on preserved meat as he began examining his body carefully. His divine sense wasn't good enough to examine the smallest details, but there was no need to. The excess qi was actively weakening his body! Abundant qi permeated every portion of his body, not just his meridians and dantian. It was stuffed full of qi to the point that it was breaking down as if from poison!

Even his strengthened muscles and bones were failing to contain all that qi and were slowly tearing themselves apart. Understanding the gravity of the situation, Ren began stuffing himself full of food until his stomach bulged. After providing the materials to rebuild his body, Ren also ate the healing pill he had made for his body cultivation sessions. Finally, he needed to address that excess qi. Ren recognized that this wasn't a problem that would go away on its own.

The Azure Mountains had such a significantly higher density of qi that it would take him time to adjust. That his mountain had even higher quantities of qi than average was only adding fuel to the fire. If he were an ordinary cultivator, he could simply drag some of the excess qi into his dantian. But that path wasn't open to him for two reasons. The way the Causality of Karma worked was that it passively attracted qi using the density of his Fire of Life construct like water pooling in a hole.

And even if he manually dragged the qi into his dantian, it would surely aggravate his injured dantian. To provide an outlet, Ren could only think of one thing. Using techniques. But because he hadn't refined the atmospheric qi, he needed to be careful not to strain himself or his damaged dantian by using advanced techniques. If it were vital essence filling his body, then he might have used the Boundless Space Physique to absorb it. Since it was qi, there was only one method that he could think of.

Ren wearily dragged himself to his feet. Pushing through the discomfort of his full belly and protesting body, he began the familiar chant. On the small landing of the stairs, halfway up the mountain, under the diffuse light of the moon through cloudy skies, a lone figure danced a ridiculous dance to a rythmic chant. Ren waved his arms around, followed by cycling his hips, and then did a short hop that coincided with a loud exclamation from the Nurturing Rain Sutra!

Perhaps it was the unfamiliar surroundings, or perhaps it was because it had been many months since he had last performed it, but that old sense of shame crept up on Ren as a thin drizzle began to fall. Unfortunately, there really wasn't a more basic and gentle technique he could think of that would actually help him. The Sutra had been qi intensive at the start, but as he had risen through the layers of cultivation, it had grown manageable and then barely noticeable.

Now it was perfect to draw away the excess qi just enough that his body stopped its gradual disintegration. He would need to periodically perform the sutra again to keep it going. He was in for a sleepless night, but hopefully his body would adjust soon. Ren sat down to meditate. Grumpy from a lack of sleep and the constant dull throbbing pain of his muscles, Ren resumed his climb early the next morning. Naturally, he performed the sutra once more before continuing.

The healing pills had helped, and his body showed slight signs of resilience, but Ren estimated it would still be some time before he adjusted entirely. The chill from the mountain air and the dampness of his robes only exacerbated his foul mood. He climbed in the shadow of the mountain as his surroundings slowly came alive. He heard occasional bird calls and the scurrying of small creatures.

Through the thick morning fog, he could make out that the mountain was particularly bare of greenery, but small life still found sustenance. His earlier rotten mood slowly vanished as time passed. This was his new home, and Ren was eager to thoroughly explore it. Around three quarters of the way up the stairs ended in front of a well-made gate. The flattened, tiled area beyond it wasn't meant for living, as there were no other structures he could see. Perhaps it was just meant to demarcate a border.

He did spy a small trail that led further up, so Ren continued his journey. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. This far up the mountain, the natural growth was even more sparse, and Ren began to grow a bit concerned. It was rock and gravel for the most part with patches of snow appearing in the shade.

"The qi in the air is still increasing, so why isn't there a corresponding increase in natural life?" he mused. Unlike mortal plants, spirit herbs and plants didn't need regular sun, water, or soil. If there was enough qi in the surroundings, life would find a way to sustain itself. It was how spirit plants could grow in absurd environments like the depths of the sunless earth, in arid deserts that went centuries without rain, or in lakes of blood or fire. This mountain was defying all Ren knew about spirit plants.

He kept climbing until he reached the rounded peak. Directly in front of him was an even taller peak over which the rising sun was just cresting. To his left was a vast forest that stretched out to another mountain range in the distance. To his right was a gloomy overcast landscape. He couldn't even see where it ended because of the ever-present fog. He breathed deeply in satisfaction and immediately regretted it as the burn of the increased qi returned.

He sighed and began performing the Nurturing Rain Sutra yet again. As the thin drizzle of qi rain resumed, Ren knelt and gathered a handful of the pebbles and dirt.

"This lifeless soil is going to make raising spirit herbs and crops very difficult. But the more concerning problem is understanding the flows of qi and why there isn't more abundant life growing on these mountains." The tall peak beyond a short valley was nearly as bare as the one he was standing on. Ren held on to a faint hope that the third mountain hidden by the second peak could still be a verdant paradise despite knowing better.

As much as Ren wanted to stick to his resolution to explore his mountain abode on foot the first time, he refused to make his own life difficult out of stubbornness.

"And technically, I did climb one peak on foot, so that should be enough!" Ren forcefully justified it to himself and brought out his beloved flying sword. He pushed the qi refined through his dantian into the sword and began traversing the short valley at its slowest speed.

"Ahh. This is how cultivators are meant to travel!" Ren said blissfully. The thin, qi rain centered around him felt like a cool, refreshing breeze at the speed he was traveling. After relaxing for a few moments, Ren employed his Sky Piercing Divine Sense technique to avoid missing a single detail. The higher density of qi was more difficult to see through, but he managed to perceive enough if he flew low to the ground.

"At least there are some spirit beasts living here!" Ren consoled himself when he spotted a few mountain goats with impressively large, curved horns. They clung impressively to sheer walls, balanced on nothing more than small protrusions. He also spotted a few brightly colored pheasants scratching at the ground. As he neared the second peak, he spotted a small herd of eight yaks in the valley between the 2nd and 3rd mountains.

Though he didn't know the exact kind, he could recognize the creatures from his studies of spirit beasts. Ren didn't approach any of them out of fear that they might be stronger than him. The might of the Azure Mountains wasn't limited to cultivators. The higher levels of qi meant that the local wildlife would be correspondingly powerful. There was a large, relatively flat clearing on the 2nd peak. Part of the rock wall still stretched up to the clouds, but Ren finally spotted the entrance to a cultivator's abode.

His small hope was dashed when he finally saw that the 3rd mountain was just as sparse as the others. Without a word, he swooped down to investigate his home for the foreseeable future. A thin trickle of water ran down the side of the rock formation, condensed from the clouds above. It was the first sign of water he had seen thus far. He entered the cave and breathed in the stale air as he looked around. The abode was roomier than his previous abode but completely empty.

There wasn't even a bed or a mat for meditation. The previous owner had left nothing behind.

"So, this is what I have to work with? A barren mountain, with barely any water to irrigate, strange qi that doesn't support much life, and surrounded on three sides by regions I can't really enter. I had thought it was only the two sides, but the sacred ground and forbidden region both extend further east. And the only open side on the west is nothing but a vast grass plain. I didn't think to buy seeds at the city either…" But Ren didn't get disheartened. He would find a way to make this place prosper.

He'd done it before and he could do it again. Though he lacked the powerful natural treasures to serve as the formation's anchors this time, he could always procure more. In any case, it was highly unlikely that the wuxing cycle of elements he employed before would work here. He would have to come up with a custom solution to this unique place. First he listed out the other immediate problems. He needed to heal his dantian and stabilize his foundation after the breakthrough.

Then he needed to understand the implications of the changes in his dantian, including the second sun and the demonic finger. He needed to adjust to the local levels of qi so that he could sleep without having to expend the qi accumulating in his body. He also needed to find more food, as he was almost out and a hungry Yu Ran would be waking soon. Then he could try finding a way to earn spirit stones. Doubtless there were many other problems he hadn't considered, but he had time.

He could take as long as he wanted, for he had no pressing appointments other than searching for Mei Ling and the others. He looked through his spatial ring and beast pouch to see what he had to work with. If he couldn't bring in local species of plants, then he needed to use whatever seeds he had. Most of his cuttings and saplings looked sickly from the meager qi inside the beast pouch. Then it occurred to him.

"I need to take it step by step and solve each problem as it comes. As for where to start, I know exactly what comes first!" He drew out his willow sap formation flags and began laying out a somewhat large array near the streamlet that flowed beside his abode's entrance. The array he laid out was an inversion of one of his most utilized arrays. Instead of gathering qi, it would repel it. He sat down with a huff, finally spared from the burning of the excess qi. Then he brought out his beast pouch and emptied it.

The lethargic little tortoises slowly poked their heads out of their shells. Even with the repelling array, there was still an intoxicating amount of qi. They were young qi gathering realm spirit beasts and would be quickly overwhelmed without protection. A few of them began trotting around, and a few bumped their heads against Ren. He smiled fondly and said, "Welcome, little ones, to our new home! We'll get to work after a nap."