Chương 52: Chapter 51 – Spelunking in Mystic Caves

The fluctuations of qi surrounding the young Myriad Path Tortoise quickened over time. Ambient qi was pulled in, reminiscent of when cultivators advanced a layer. The one involved looked the same as ever, as if it were deciding between a nap and dinner. Its calm appearance soothed Ren's worries a little. After the time it took for 2 incense sticks to burn, a significant amount of qi had been absorbed, but the fluctuations were starting to slow. Ren got up from where he was reading and approached to examine it.

Almost nothing had changed in its looks, but on closer observation, there was a small speck of blue on the center of its shell. The qi now emanating from the little tortoise was of the water alignment! It was the first of 18 to align with an attribute, and it was an unsurprising result of water, which was about half of the naturally occurring alignments. Ren didn't mind, as he had no particular expectations.

When he had first purchased those eggs, he had intended to use the beasts to fertilize his spirit crops and help keep away pests. But they had long since fulfilled those functions. Now if they had a special qi alignment or just a common one, he cared not. They were his cute companions, and he didn't need anything further from them. The only reason he continued to offer them beast cores and such was curiosity.

It was fine if every single one of them had a common alignment, but on the not-rare chance that a few adopted an uncommon qi attribute, then it would be interesting to observe. He rubbed its tiny head to congratulate the little one and gave it a large helping of the flesh-eating moss. The moss should be rich in vital qi from the bodies it fed on and would help reinforce the tortoises' bodies. As it eagerly snapped small mouthfuls to chew, Ren returned to his readings.

It was just the first, but it was an indicator that its egg mates were likely close, which was exciting! Two of the new techniques that Ren had bought were easy to learn but difficult to implement. It needed practice, so before he got much further, he used the Intermediate Insect Control technique to bring under his control the 50 or so Corpse Silk Moths. The new method gave him the ability to give them a few basic commands. He didn't need them for battle, so a few of the commands were useless.

His first order to them was to not leave the peak of the mountain. His second command triggered their breeding instincts. It would be a gradual process taking place over days, but it had begun. Soon they would lay eggs, and within a few weeks, Ren would have little larvae to care for. The cocoons would take longer but hopefully be worth all the effort. Satisfied with the immediate, Ren settled in to practice the first heaven of the Sky Piercing Divine Sense.

It was a technique designed with 7 levels, or heavens, as they were called. Each level increased the range and quality of one's spirit sense or divine sense. It did so by refining the divine sense during advancement to the next heaven. Quite similar to cultivation. However, this manual only gave instructions to reach up to the 3rd heaven. The remaining portion had strict requirements. First, to prove sufficient ability of the 3rd heaven, which would be needed to read the next section.

The second was to have a feat worth recognizing in the sect. What feats were acceptable wasn't exactly clarified. The strict requirements actually served as evidence to Ren that the technique was good. A sect wouldn't go so far to protect such a method unless it was worth the effort. The first level had Ren performing slow but intricate movements of his divine sense. It also allowed beginners to better understand how to manipulate their divine sense.

The exercises only highlighted how poor his control was, but Ren continued to work on them until his head started to hurt and his divine sense felt strained. He was only starting, and the technique already impressed him. He got up, stretching his stiff muscles. He didn't know how long he had been practicing, but the sun was already descending. Having reached his limit, Ren switched to the Turning Seasons Sword Array Technique. It was a strange technique, but one Ren felt suited him.

Similar to how he placed his array flags, he would levitate multiple swords around him. He had been inspired by the senior he had witnessed during the Inter-sect tournament. It resonated with his own style of defending and controlling the battlefield from a distance while also supporting his allies. The Turning seasons had four sections that would each allow Ren to hone his strengths. Without spare swords at the moment, Ren only practiced with his yet-to-be-completely-refined Mutating Bamboo Sword.

Even with these restrictions, the might of a foundation realm technique was palpable.

"Nothing else to it but practice. It should be an interesting time, right, everyone?" His audience looked bored or hungry.

"Sigh, who knew it was so hard to impress tortoises!?" Ren got back into the stance and began once again. Over the next week, Ren practiced continuously with his new techniques until he started to get a feel for how they worked. In that time, he continued to monitor the storm of qi surrounding his mountain, which continued to grow in chaotic spurts.

The formation around the mountain was still stable, and his formation eyes were still refining the spirit spring, but the resulting turmoil in the surroundings grew harder to ignore. The uneasiness it caused Ren may have played a part in how hard he worked on his new techniques. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. At the end of the week, Ren was faced with a choice.

He could either disrupt his formation and allow the spirit spring to release its impure qi, but that would only slow the building eruption or reduce it over months. Months where his progress would be stalled. Or Ren could address one of the biggest possible causes of the imbalance, the 7th natural treasure that he suspected drew the snake beasts to the mountain in the first place. Its nature was too unknown, too foreign for Ren to properly plan his formation around it.

The dragon vein also had to somehow be linked to it, either by proximity or as the cause of the treasure forming there in the first place. If he could alleviate the pressure, or even remove the treasure, then there was a strong likelihood the storm would abate. So his choice was between playing it safe by halting progress for an undetermined amount of time or taking a risk by either truly conquering his mountain or losing it. So really it was no choice at all, and Ren began preparing for an expedition.

Ren stood at the entrance of the narrow cave that would lead him into the mountain's depths. He had hiked down early in the morning when the cold morning still had most snakes in deep slumber. After a final check, he threw out a small lantern he had prepared. Powered by a single spirit stone, it floated over his head and released a gentle light. His sword in hand, he used a formation to widen the gap so he could enter. Behind him, the entrance drew back into a narrow crack.

Ren didn't want any surprises to sneak up behind him. Ren shuffled forward, the cramped space barely letting him walk straight without his shoulders catching on the rocky walls. He didn't have much room to swing a sword, so he drew a dagger instead. The path also gradually sloped downward. The air was stale and carried a rank stench. The air was also significantly cooler with more moisture. The light didn't stretch far ahead and instead created strange shadows on protuberances from the walls.

The qi was still the same as the outside but leaned more heavily towards earth alignment. His spirit sense, which could barely extend past his skin, only served to indicate any changes to the atmosphere and not any real dangers.

'I wish I would have had more time to make these techniques my own before having to risk my life here.' Ren afforded himself a rare moment to whine before focusing back on his incremental march forward. After a while, the amount of qi in the air started to increase, and Ren started noticing small holes carved into the walls. Curious, Ren stooped a little to peek inside.

The light from the lantern didn't extend very far inside, so Ren straightened to continue forward when a bright orange blur flashed a hair's breadth from his nose. Startled, Ren fell back with a curse. He stumbled and fell, even cutting his palm on a sharp rock when he reached out for balance. He scrambled to stand again as the lantern swung above and in front of him. His panicked breathing and the soft shifting of cloth were the only sounds around him.

He looked around desperately to spot what had attacked him and found his answer hanging from the lantern. The orange blur was a thin snake with brown speckles. It was currently pumping its venom into the little lantern where its fangs were embedded. The rest of the body twisted and coiled to gain leverage. The entire attack had occurred utterly without sound. Moving on instinct, Ren slashed out with his dagger, smoothly parting the head from the body, which continued to writhe on the ground.

Ren's heart still pounded in his chest at how close he had come. He had prepared some of Mei Ling's antidotes from recipes, but how effective would they have been against such an attack from a viper spirit beast of the foundation realm? If it hadn't blindly struck for the qi released by the lantern, this would have been the last anyone would have seen of Zhao Ren! He cursed his foolishness to just peer at a snake's burrow and wonder what was inside, especially here.

He poked at the corpse and confirmed that it was physically blind and sensing its surroundings using qi. He harvested its core and threw the corpse into his spatial pouch. Noting the sharpness of the fangs, his preparations of wrapping his extremities in thick cloth weren't enough. Pulling out 5 of Bao Hua's talismans, Ren stuck them on the cloth wrappings around his arms, legs, and chest. They grew stiff like old leather but hard enough that the fang no longer pierced through.

The defensive talismans were used to increase the toughness of armor and would last for a while. It was important because Ren didn't have any more of them. Hopefully, he would reach his destination before they faded. Once Ren regained his calm, he advanced again, far more alert for such tunnels burrowed into the rock. As the qi continued to rise, the number of snakes did too. The hardest to spot were those living in holes near the ground.

The shadows played tricks on his eyes, and he often missed them until the snake was already latched on to the tough wrappings around his legs or arms. Eventually Ren was attacked by blind vipers every few steps. Fortunately he had grown used to their habits by then and could bait them out smoothly if he spotted their burrow first. If nothing else, Ren was earning a fortune in beast cores. The qi was getting thicker, and the narrow passage was slowly starting to widen.

Hoping he was approaching the heart of the mountain, Ren slightly increased his pace. The lantern's light showed that the walls started to widen. Ren was eager to see what lay ahead. He was about to climb over a knee-high ledge of rock when his divine sense sent a jolt through his mind. The thin layer exuding beyond his skin warned him that what he was touching wasn't rock but something alive!

Leaping forward, Ren barely avoided his legs being wrapped by the crushing coils of an enormous python, as thick as his waist. Having missed its target, the snake let off a lengthy low hiss that raised the hair on the back of Ren's neck. The dim light of the lantern revealed the python's perfect camouflage, resembling rocks, once it began moving. It had completely blended with the surrounding rocks. The snake cut off his way back, and the path ahead contained unknown dangers.

It also showed no intention of letting him pass peacefully. Ren had to deal with it first if he wanted to progress safely. The passage had widened enough that Ren could fight comfortably. Given that its movements were extremely slow and that he had survived its initial ambush, Ren suspected he could slay it. He drew his Mutating Bamboo sword, now fully refined, sucked in a breath, and moved to attack.