Chương 120: Chapter 117 – Begin Building a Brand New Base

Ren was ecstatic with the turn of events that led him to obtain the items he desired, and for far cheaper prices than anticipated, but he couldn't bring himself to be wholly content. The circumstances of his karmic cultivation never allowed such purely fortunate events to pass. Perhaps he had become cynical regarding this matter, but Ren couldn't stop expecting his fortunes to turn at any moment.

He believed that the consequences of his most recent breakthrough had ended with him being given The Edge, which aligned with his prior experiences. Following a breakthrough, Ren would typically face a tumultuous period of misfortune that, if overcome, would turn into something of great value. He might have been overthinking it because the circumstances of his breakthrough to the 8th layer of the foundation realm should have already been settled with The Edge.

It would be his curse until he turned it into his blessing. Yet he couldn't stop wondering if there were still any lingering consequences of his unpredictable providence. Ren forcefully pushed the thought out of his head for the moment because he could never know for sure until it came to pass. But thinking of his cultivation did remind him of another matter. Ren had long since wanted to verify the consequences of absorbing sin from a karmic connection.

So when his guide, Fox, gave him a precious communication talisman as they were departing to contact him for more business, Ren had no compunction about seizing the opportunity. This shady fellow was sure to have a complicated Fire of Merit and the possibility of frequent contact meant Ren could regularly confirm the consequences of their connection. Forming the seed of intent was simplicity itself. The intent was to verify how the other party benefited from Ren absorbing their sin.

The karmic strand sprouted with ease, and just as he had predicted, the strand attached itself to the small dark sun and began absorbing more sin than merit. Ren was content with 8 strands bringing him sin, so he resolved to break another of his older connections upon his return home. His business concluded, and two bottles containing his purchases safely secured with reinforced sealing talismans, Ren didn't linger and left the black market.

He intended to return home as soon as possible and begin his work once he spent the remaining 10 mid-grade spirit stones buying supplemental herbs and seeds. With very little time left before dawn, Ren simply ambled through the streets, waiting for shops to open. The quiet morning hours let him collect his thoughts in peace. It was a daunting endeavor that he had taken up for himself. His coming days would be hectic and possibly determine the course of his future.

The inspiration for Ren's solution had been simple in concept if not in execution. Past custodians of The Edge had tried and failed to separate the tightly woven mixture of life and death qi in the abode. Arrays, martial techniques, and natural treasures had all failed to make a significant difference. Some had even changed cultivation manuals to try and make use of the unique blend of qi. All attempts to directly influence the atmospheric qi had failed. So Ren decided not to try a direct approach.

Instead of an intense and hasty attempt to separate the qi, he would take a more patient, indirect route. His method would take a long time, but if it worked, then Ren would dismantle this flawed legacy of past custodians forever. If it worked, the next custodian of the edge wouldn't be impoverished and miserable, granted the territory out of malice like most others, including Ren, had been. Thoughts of legacy turned Ren contemplative as the thin light of the dawn banished the night.

Elder Yun's protection and encouragement when he had been weak and ignorant was a legacy that had shaped Ren's future even without an official inheritance. The Edge had opened his eyes to another aspect of legacy, a malignant legacy granted by those who wished to see others fail. Ren obviously knew which kind he preferred to perpetuate. He had long since decided he would much rather leave the world a better place. So it became just another insight he added to his understanding of legacy.

The bustle of people rose around him, disturbing his ruminations. Shaking off his heavy ponderings, he regained the mental state of a man going to war. He used the previous day's experience to find the shops and the items he desired. He bargained, wheedled, and walked away, all to make the most of the limited wealth he had remaining. Around midday, he wiped his brow with a gratified smile on his face.

Once he paid to return to his abode, he would be a pauper again, but he had secured the means to earn more in the future. He looked around the outer sect one last time. He had enjoyed his brief respite here, but it wasn't likely that he would return here anytime soon. His grand undertaking would keep him occupied for the foreseeable future. He entered the Sword Phase Formation and selected his home as the destination.

"... Something's wrong. An intruder!" As soon as Ren landed on the node near his home, the warning arrays he had set up informed him through their keyed tokens. Ren had barely spent any time on the mountain, and the security arrays he had set up were extremely rudimentary, unable to reach him when he was far away in the outer sect city. Right now it was letting him know that certain arrays had been broken but not much more. He rushed out and jumped on his flying sword.

Racing home, worry for his little tortoises and Yu Ran churned his stomach into sickening knots. He had been comfortable leaving them alone for so long because he thought they would be safe with a core formation spirit beast, even a young one, to protect them. Even their food hadn't been a concern; with the increased levels of qi, their diet had been suppressed, satisfied just with consuming a bit of the dry wild grasses and such that were densely infused with qi.

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'How did they get past Yu Ran? Has someone strong enough to overwhelm it with strength appeared? Did someone follow it during one of its hunts?! Curses! How foolish was I to leave them alone, thinking everything would be fine?!' Ren didn't even wait for his flying sword to come to halt before hurling himself and rolling to stop, an array of summoned swords hovering around him. He frantically looked around for signs of intrusion or combat.

His heart was pounding furiously as he cautiously approached the vicinity of the array sheltering his tortoises but found them completely relaxed, napping and sunning themselves lazily. He caught a flash of red out of the corner of his eye but found nothing when he looked over, even with his divine sense. Perplexed but still not letting down his guard, he did a quick count.

'They're all the… wait, where's my little fighter?' The draconic qi aligned tortoise wasn't with its siblings. Fortunately, Ren spotted the little one before the darkest of thoughts could consume him. It was splendidly stuck on its back, its little legs waving futilely at the air, chirping its impotent wrath. He crept closer while keeping an eye on his surroundings but, with every passing moment, grew more certain that the intruder was gone.

He helped the little one roll over and find its footing, then consoled it while listening to its squeaks of frustration.

'Someone or something was here but hasn't harmed the tortoises or left any tracks.' So relieved was Ren that nothing irrevocable had occurred, it took him a few moments to spot the reason for the intrusion. The draconic tortoise had been found near his small, temporary fields where he had planted some of his spirit herbs and the tea trees. They weren't exactly thriving in the qi repelling array, but they looked unharmed for the most part.

With the one exception being the Mutating Bamboo Sword spirit plants that had been nibbled on! They were covered in small bite marks and missing leaves. It would take some careful nurturing to help them recover swiftly, but recover they would. Ren couldn't believe it. Judging by the bites, the culprit was just some small animal!

"No, I can't dismiss it so casually. It may not have done much harm, but it still snuck past my arrays, coming and going as it pleased." Just then a joyous voice rang in his head.

"Ren! You're back! I missed you!" The little snake had clearly returned from a hunt, a small animal limp in its jaws. It quickly spat it out and rushed to greet Ren. The snake had clearly kept up its rapid growth and was nearly as long as his whole arm, though still quite slender. Finally relieved that all was well, Ren spent some time cuddling the snake and the little tortoises. He informed Yu Ran about the mysterious intruder that had chosen to wait until the snake had left for a hunt.

They would both have to keep an eye out. Then he turned to the little soldier who had tried to guard their home in their absence. As a reward for its loyal service, Ren decided to name the tortoise with the draconic qi.

"You shall henceforth be called Ang Jun, with the character for proud, bold, or upright and the character for soldier. May you never not be upright and always stand on your feet." Ren couldn't help but chuckle at his own naming sense. The small ceremony done, he brought out a few of the little treats he had bought to celebrate. Its siblings soon stirred, the alluring scent finally waking them.

"It smells good! For me too, Ren?! What is it?" Yu Ran asked enthusiastically.

"Come, you little gluttons. I've got lots of interesting things for you all." Ren said, laughing, as he was swarmed very slowly. The little wind tortoise wobbled and floated to land on its special seat on Ren's head.

"This is just the start. It'll take some time to set up, but I've brought some good things for you all!" Armed with a far greater understanding of his neighboring territories, life and death qi, and The Edge, Ren spent the next 10 days surveying the three mountains once more. He looked at the 19 sources, the 19 points where qi leaked in from the surroundings, with fresh eyes. Just because he had a plan and the items to implement it didn't mean he could just begin haphazardly.

He ran the calculations again, adjusting as needed based on the materials he had brought. The 9 points leaking life qi and the 9 points leaking death qi would become focal points, and he couldn't afford for anything to go wrong there. The final point, which leaked qi from under the mountains, was not as important for his plans. According to the records of past custodians and his own conclusions, the 19th source of qi was a complex blend of higher order qi that was inordinately stable.

Its properties were not clear, but it was known to help balance the two other majority types of qi. It was in his interest to not interfere with its workings. Ren began with small tests. Weak qi gathering realm spirit plants and herbs of particular qi alignments were planted and observed. Theoretical knowledge was a good foundation, but Ren greatly advanced his understanding through directly sensing the delicate changes that occurred.

He possessed a significant quantity of the cheap seeds, which could hardly result in severe repercussions. Unfortunately for his shell-y pets, the larger gifts he had brought them would have to wait until he had set up the two core plants. Those would inevitably cause great change to the environments, and managing them would be complicated enough without smaller arrays disrupting the unpredictable flows of qi.

Ren was proficient in many fields, some through interest and others out of necessity, but he had found out long ago that he was only truly talented at two things, at least thus far. His ability to sense even delicate flows of qi and his calculative ability to understand and modify arrays and formations. Not to mention the significant effort he had put into honing the two talents, practicing his skills and studying for days on end.

He now put both talents to prodigious use and, through great effort, concluded his preparations. He looked around the relatively sterile environment, picturing what was to come. His solution was based on one of the intrinsic properties of all qi that Ren had been taught in his earliest days as a cultivator, back in the outer sect of the Heavenly Sword Sect. Either the qi created the environment or the environment created the qi.

That is to say, the qi either inherited the properties of the environment or imparted its properties onto the environment. A lake would have rich water qi around it, or the presence of water qi would form a lake over time. On his first abode, Ren had changed the qi using the wuxing cycle of elements formation to affect the environment. His mountain had been soaked with yin qi until the environment became cold and ghostly. Even his body had absorbed the qi until it began to show certain yin attributes.

This time, Ren intended to change the environment to influence the qi. He knelt and gathered a handful of the coarse and gravelly soil, imagining it turning into the healthiest loam. He couldn't suppress the shiver of anticipation running up his spine.

"Let's get to work turning this barren land into a fertile and flourishing paradise!"