Chương 12: A Blood Moon and a Harvest Moon

Ren's life settled into a steady rhythm. He meditated and cultivated every morning. The spirit plants and fields were cared for. The better part of his day went into the task he had undertaken at the Hall of Scripture, trying to establish order over the chaos of the first-floor scriptures. Yet for all the headaches it gave him, he was learning a lot. Ren now had a far greater understanding of cultivation manuals, auxiliary techniques, and crafting methods.

He didn't know the details, but he knew their requirements, how they were used, and who they were suited for. He wasn't confident in recommending anything to others, but he could certainly give advice or direct them to something more suitable. After finishing his work, he would make time to meet and chat with the other members of the outer sect. He had a few casual friends who would give him advice or, more commonly, gossip about the goings-on of the sect.

In the evenings, he would practice his formations, cultivate and utilize the Nurturing Rain Sutra. The days were flying past with only a few things to break the simple but tiring pattern of his days. Once a week he would attend his class on formations. Teacher Fan would give them two formations to learn and practice. He had attended three classes so far, and he had learned various formations.

His control of the array flags was getting better with practice as he learned to understand the flow of qi through the sticks of spirit wood. The other weekly event was market days. Walking through the loud and colorful markets, full of new and mysterious things, was great fun. Not willing to spend the last of his spirit stones on frivolous things, Ren focused on observing everything. Which items were popular, which cultivators sold the best items, and whether they returned consistently.

While looking for someone he could sell his spirit plants to, he met Senior Chun Wei, trading in herbs. He was the one Ren had heard about from gossip, the one who had been injured recently. Since he had a decent reputation, Ren approached him. He had been interested in buying the fire attributed plants from Ren and told him to meet when they were ready. As the day of harvest approached, one of his ghostvine spirit plants died.

Ren was saddened because after all the effort he had put into their care, even dancing for them, he had grown attached to his plants. He had no idea where it had gone wrong, but sometimes things were beyond his ability to control. Even the books he had read warned about how easy it was for spirit plants to die at the hands of a novice. Instead, he was surprised it had lasted so long!

Standing at the back of his hut where the ghostvines had been planted around the dead trees, he examined the drying husk of the vine where it had started to wrap around the tree. Ren stopped for a moment.

"Why did it take so long? They are supposed to mature in less than a week. I should have had more failures by now. Even the sunseekers are still growing well! Didn't I plant them expecting at least four of the six seeds to fail?" Retracing his steps, he tried to find the reason. It couldn't have been his qi gathering formations. They were too basic. Was it because the qi in the courtyard, being the ideal fire and water qi, after his cultivation, removed the rest?

"It shouldn't be that; I'm just at the 3rd layer qi gathering realm. I shouldn't be making that much of a difference. On the contrary, the plants probably helped me more by removing the fire and water qi." Ren hesitated to conclude it was the Nurturing Rain Sutra. It was worth just 4 contribution points, and it was so inefficient at channeling the qi. Whoever had inscribed it couldn't even be bothered to use jade, only a bit of dried bark!

"Maybe it was because of how often I used it?" Ren had used it so much recently that even the embarrassing movements had started to feel natural to him. Every morning and evening he danced after he cultivated. Sometimes a 3rd time if he had any qi to spare. He was looking for any other indications when he saw the barest hint of green on the dead trees. Those trees had been bare when Ren had moved in, and it had been too early for winter. He had just thought the previous owners hadn't cared for them very well.

If the sutra could actually bring back trees from the brink, then maybe there was more to it! Maybe it was an underappreciated and undervalued manual that had somehow ended up falling through the cracks. Suddenly, Ren felt a lot more excited about his upcoming harvest and the huge profits he could make. If it truly was the sutra and if it could increase the chances of spirit plants surviving till maturity, then that dried bit of bark was now his most valuable possession.

Now he felt even more excited for a different reason! He wasn't worried about possessing a treasure without having the strength to protect it. He finally had an opportunity to confirm his chosen path. Sure, he could just put it back in the hall of scripture for the next person to find, but if even the elder was willing to discard the sutra to the first person who asked, then was it really safe? If he informed the sect of its usefulness, would they reward him?

Or should he set up a trial like an ancient cultivator and leave it to fate? Ren started to think up a plan to entrust it to the most deserving. Maybe his lessons from the formations class could be applied practically as a test? A puzzle or a trap to solve before being rewarded the sutra. The longer he thought about it, the less he liked that idea. If he set up a trial with his meager skills, then would the inheritor even value the reward?

Even if he waited until he was stronger and the inheritor was strong enough to pass, would they resort to using a qi gathering realm technique? Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Eventually, Ren decided the "test" approach was best left for another treasure. He would inform the sect. However, he didn't have to turn it in right away, did he? He smiled to himself. It wasn't even a confirmed fact that the sutra was the main cause.

He could wait a while and be reassured before going to an elder. Ren didn't even feel guilty. Just because he wanted to keep it for a while didn't mean he was going against his path. He could profit a little before passing it on. That profit would stand as testament to the effectiveness of the sutra.

"A legacy should be worth something before it is left to someone else." He judged, nodding to himself. A few days later, Ren encountered a buzz of activity when he stepped into the Hall of Contribution. It turned out that beast wave was stronger than earlier predictions. The rumor was, the cause of the beast wave was linked to not just a treasure but an astral phenomenon called a blood moon. It was a rare event and tended to stir up all kinds of dirt, from beast waves to blood-crazed demonic cultivators.

"Wasn't one of the stories surrounding the Heavenly Sword Sect related to the blood moon?" Ren tried to remember where he had heard it. He had a vague recollection of one of his grand uncles visiting when he was very young and some mention of the sect and a moon elder. Despite his best efforts, Ren couldn't remember the details. When he tried asking around if there really was a moon elder at the sect, nobody had an answer. They were all just outer sect disciples, and no one knew of any legends of a moon elder.

One of his gossip sources, Hu Yan, acted like they had stumbled onto a huge secret, even though Ren had been very clear about his spotty memory and promised to find out more. One morning after a few days, Ren saw the sunseeker spirit plants showing signs of maturing. He went around examining them all and saw the ghost vines were not far off either. The experimental setup with the ghostvine and the sunseeker plants was still a few days off.

Ren had actually left the wood attribute vegetables between the two without harvesting them. They wouldn't be worth much anyway, and it was worth throwing them away if it actually worked. From the looks of it, the linked plants looked healthier than the others. He returned early from his work at the hall instead of going to relax with his friends. He was eager to collect his harvest. When he got home, the two sunseekers were emanating a slight glow, standing tall at the center of the qi gathering formations.

He carefully pulled them up without harming their roots, following the instructions in the books on herbs. They felt warm to the touch and gave him a tingle in his nose like he was smelling spice. Without any jade boxes to preserve them properly, Ren had fashioned a wood box with Bao Hua's help. He had carved the simple preservation formation he had found on its lid. It would slowly leak qi over time, but it was better than nothing. The market day was two days away, so it wouldn't be too bad.

The ideal time to harvest the ghostvines was apparently under a full moon at midnight, according to a tip from the books. The full moon was still days away. Ren had planted them without a strong understanding of the plant and missed the best window. But they were about to mature tonight anyway. So to ensure his successful harvest, Ren decided to stay up late that night and monitor them. He did go over to Mei Ling and invite her over the next day to see if the one ghostvine was one she was interested in buying.

On his way back he knocked on Bao Hua's door, but it looked like he was away on a hunt. It turned out Hua had enjoyed the hunt of the goats and the rich rewards tasks like that brought. He had confided in Ren, saying,"After a lifetime of only living in one place all his life, a farm where almost nothing new happened, I want to travel. These beast hunts are also very exciting! Pitting my strength and wits against each other. The winner reaping the rewards."

Ren had agreed, saying, "It was exhilarating, but you know those hunts can often lead to nothing, or you could even encounter something beyond your ability." If you have decided on this path, then make sure you prepare well." As Hua had resolved to hunt alone, Ren gave Hua one of his basic defense arrays to use when resting at night. They wouldn't do much, but they could buy him some time to escape. Since then Hua had gone on two moderately successful hunts, earning almost 50 contribution points.

That pace made Ren want to try his hand at it too, but he steeled his resolve to see through his current task. He also reminded himself that without staying in the sect, he would not have been able to raise his spirit plants so well. As it stood, he was going to earn around 25-30 spirit stones. 1 spirit stone could be exchanged for 2 contribution points, so that made it equal to those perilous hunts.

Of course that was just from normal hunts and not some spirit beast, which would sell for a lot more, but he still felt very grateful to his Nurturing Rain Sutra. It was already more than he had anticipated he would earn. That night, through drowsy eyes, Ren watched over the ghostvine. To keep awake, he walked over to the linked plants and sucked in a breath of cold air when he saw that the ghostvine was almost ready!

It had shown no indication earlier, which had made him hope that it could hold out till the full moon. He was glad he had stayed awake, or he would have definitely missed it. He also examined the other plants. The vegetables looked the same as always, ready for harvest. The sunseeker was also showing signs of maturity, but nighttime wasn't the correct time to harvest it. It would have to wait until noon tomorrow.

The mismatched timing and the suddenness of maturity reminded Ren once again how much he still had to learn about raising spirit plants. There were so many factors he didn't even know which ones to look out for. He had to remind himself he was making good progress and it hadn't been very long since he had become a cultivator. You can't become an expert overnight. He hadn't had much time recently for reading at the Hall of Learning.

It was a wonder how days could seem so sedate and yet not have enough time simultaneously. Slowly the waxing moon rose, and midnight approached. No bells rang at this hour, so he had to judge the timing on his own. The ghostvine started giving off a slight purple haze, which grew stronger. Feeling like it was the right time, Ren harvested both the ghostvines in the moonlight. He carefully put them away in the prepared box. Laying them next to each other, it was clear that one of the vines was better than the other.

It wasn't a huge difference, but it gave credence to the Wuxing and the generating cycle of elements. Next time he would definitely buy and arrange the spirit plants with better harmony if it would lead to such results. Tired from staying up later than normal, he cleaned himself up and went to sleep with a feeling of satisfaction. All that care and attention he put in resulted in a mix of frustration when failing and a powerful sense of joy at succeeding.

It may have only been his 2nd harvest, but he realized he enjoyed that feeling too much to not continue down this path.