Chương 58: Chapter 57 – The World Is Within My Reach

Ren woke that morning to the ceiling of his cave abode and let out a sigh. It was the same dully lit rock as always. He had made it cozy, with plenty of shelves and furniture, but it couldn't compare to falling asleep under a canopy of stars and waking to the first rays of dawn slowly covering their brilliance. Unfortunately, it was a little too dangerous to sleep in the open, outside his protective formations. The qi on the mountain peak had stabilized at a very high concentration.

At night when his formation worked best, the yin qi became overwhelming, drowning out all the other types of qi. Even if Ren's plan involved him absorbing yin qi, to do so in such vast quantities was far too dangerous! Even sleeping within his formations, which filtered out most of it, he still absorbed enough that his skin had grown fairer and softer. Until he earned enough contribution points to implement his plan, he needed to be cautious. He looked around his cave and found where little Yu had made his bed.

He had named the little snake Yu Ran. The characters were for 'rare treasure' and 'to ignite.' With all the trouble he had gone to obtain it and with how the beautiful shade of its scales looked like burning earth fire, Ren thought it was a very suitable name. The little one certainly didn't mind it when he bestowed it during the bonding.

The Harmonious Bond manual had a number of steps to follow to initiate the bond, and though there had been some resistance due to the disparity in their cultivation realms, after Ren completed all the steps, little Yu Ran had accepted the bond. Xiao Yu would have probably accepted it faster if he had been allowed to feed him his favorite snakes during the process. The lazy glutton still just ate and slept, showing no signs of growth.

The bond hadn't given him any particular powers except a way to transmit instructions to the bonded snake and sense its mood and surface emotions. Even then, it could choose not to obey, so Ren was focused on establishing a pecking order before the little one matured too much. Ideally, he would like to reach the same realm and have a relationship of equals, but to prevent a disaster, Ren was forced to use this method. Ensuring Xiao Yu had plenty to eat, Ren began cultivating.

The part of his mind that still felt raw from withstanding the killing intent for a month was soothed a little by the gentle flows of qi through his channels. Once he was done, he went to examine the four foundation realm plants he was growing. Many of his plans for the coming months depended on these young plants growing well, so Ren paid them all the attention he could spare. He danced for them, performing the sutra. The nurturing rain and the enriched soil played a big part in their current robust growth.

He had done his best to study and prepare to grow these plants, and his efforts were paying off. Even without him preparing a cycle of elements to support and nurture them, the abundant qi in the atmosphere, alongside his formations to monitor and channel qi into them, ensured a steady growth. Within a month, they would be ready to harvest. That would be the turning point, and Ren couldn't wait for it. The field he had dug to grow medical herbs was mostly barren apart from these plants.

He hadn't had much time to prepare it beyond the essentials. Eventually, he would surround it with formations to guide the flows of qi, add fertilizers, and grow other supporting spirit plants. By having a dedicated space that was repeatedly subjected to the effects of the Nurturing Rain and Enriching Soil Sutras, Ren also hoped the garden would become potent. Ren walked around and surveyed the peak, as was his custom. With the changes slowing down, he grew more relaxed and satisfied with the direction.

By his current estimate, the storm of qi surrounding his mountain would break within 6 months. It was a testament to just how powerful the storm was that even weakened and cut off from much of its source, it could persist for so long. It was just that big a hurdle he had managed to safely jump over. After checking on the mountain, he gathered up a number of amber formation flags and descended the mountain.

Ren had worked on rebuilding the formation every day, and it had played a big role in smoothing the most chaotic of qi flows. The formation flags he made using the Willow Resin were perfect for the task. They were suitable for most nodes of the formation and had drastically reduced his need to find and grow spirit plants in all those nodes. At the rate he was rebuilding his formation, it would be complete within a few months. Then the whole mountain would be properly concealed and protected.

It was likely that his closest neighbors had already noticed the rising qi around his mountain, but Ren hoped they would ignore it as an anomaly. Though no one had so far, if anyone inquired, Ren had prepared an appropriate lie. He would claim that a powerful beast had been born but fled before he could discover it. It was close enough to the truth to account for the strange fluctuations on the mountain. The formation wouldn't just manage concealment.

It would also finally implement his illusion formations to lure beasts to his prepared killing fields near the Ghost Face tree. Between all the formations he had found through research and what the formations lecture to be held in a month promised to teach, Ren would have all he would need to set up fully automated hunting grounds. Beasts would be lured in, killed, and harvested all without him having to lift a finger. Ren dreamed of a beautiful future as he placed the formation flags.

Once he was done for the day, he returned. He couldn't make too many changes in a day, as the formation was simply too large and needed constant adjustments. He did harvest one mixed attribute spirit plant that was causing problems. Ren had already sold some others like it before, but they weren't worth very much. Anyway, he had something else to look forward to on this particular day. Ren had spent the past week since he had obtained the Heavenly Sword Smith Art carefully studying it.

As always, a foundation establishment realm method was far superior to a qi gathering method. In complexity, range of methods, and depth of understanding, it was better in every way. One of the various cases it covered was working using a spiritual flame. Ren had paid extra attention to that section. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Refining material for use, whether it was for forging, alchemy, or any number of other professions, usually involved carving channels for qi to flow through. When qi flowed through the channels, specific sought-after effects were created. From increasing the concentration to essence extraction and more, the path of refining materials was a fundamental part of many professions. Not everyone needed to be a formation expert to refine materials, as most techniques and manuals usually provided clear instructions.

However, someone knowledgeable in formations would be able to adapt to changes fluidly. Ingredients could be swapped or modified, and the restrictions were less tight. Every edge you could gain was worth it when it came to making weapons on which lives depend. Forging with a spirit fire imbued the materials with additional properties depending on the flame. It also made the material more malleable and easy to carve channels into. It naturally had its downsides as well.

A spirit flame was hard to control and made the whole process more volatile. With poor flame control, the chances of ruining the material increased greatly. Some cultivators chose to merge the spirit flame with their cultivation. They would absorb it into their dantian and build much of their techniques around it. This was a particularly dangerous route that more often than not resulted in spontaneous combustion of their dantian, crippling them, if not burning them to cinders.

The tamer, temporary way to wield it was simply manipulating it with one's qi. His Ossiferous Yin Flame should be deceptively challenging to control but not impossible. He had spent months getting a feel for the yin flame, and even without having used it very much, he was intimately familiar with it. The flame had typically low temperatures, which meant it had trouble dealing with materials that needed a very high temperature to melt.

The properties it would likely imbue were increased density and toughness and very good qi conductivity. Ren lacked the appropriate materials to forge a new sword at the moment. The yin metal he used as a formation eye was a limited resource, and even the lunar silver ore he had buried at the base of the staff had dissolved into the silvery cloud swirling around the staff. It was starting to coat the staff in smooth layers. Since he didn't want to interrupt the process, he would just work with what he had.

He had begun to practice the new forging art with common ore to get used to it, but Ren couldn't wait any longer. He was going to reforge his flying sword today. This wasn't just him being impatient. Yes, he was losing 10 days for every journey to the inner sect. Time that could be better spent on so many things. Ren was ready because he had put in the time and effort. He had studied the formations needed for a swift-flying sword.

He had designed and redesigned the formations he planned to implement, optimized them, and then practiced forging those specifically. He breathed in deep and slow.

"It's time. Let's do this!" He got up from where he had meditated to get into the mindset. Looking around the main formation once, Ren approached the forge he had built beside the resting place of the yin flame. He drew his current flying sword and examined it one last time. Flying swords didn't have to be designed for combat and could afford to sacrifice durability for maneuverability, speed, and control, but this one had no redeeming qualities.

It was worn, and the channels carved within it were rough and poorly planned.

"This way, I at least won't have to look at this sorry excuse of a sword any longer." Perhaps it didn't deserve to be judged that harshly for the price he had bought it at, but Ren was content to channel all his frustrations solely on the sword. He extended his qi and drew the yin flame into the forge. The formations started to come alive around the forge. They would help him maintain the temperature and provide information on what was happening within if it got too hot or blinding for his physical sight.

He placed the sword within the flames and stepped back quickly. The yin flame wasn't quick to latch onto new sources to burn, but he didn't want to risk it. This time he wouldn't need tools to hammer the blade; he could manipulate it using his qi. He began the process. He fed the spirit fire qi to increase its temperature, but its properties were already enough to begin softening the blade. Spirit flames sure were mysterious and amazing to have such impressive abilities.

Once the metal was ready, he wiped out the existing formations carved inside it. He began the intricate work of carving new channels to create new arrays. He first placed the control formation that would allow him greater maneuverability during flight and would control the other arrays. It was a key array, so he gave it the appropriate attention to ensure no flaws. The spirit flame would occasionally fluctuate and nearly slip his control, but his improved divine sense and all the formations helped prevent it.

As he made progress, it got easier for him to focus on multiple processes at once. He finished the control formation soon with a few minor errors. Nothing too bad, but he might have trouble with certain tight turns. Now it was time to append the four other arrays to the main control formation, which was its limit. The first was an array that accepted spirit stones to power the sword if he was ever too drained of qi and in need of a quick exit. It wasn't a complex formation, and the grooves were carved smoothly.

Ren stuck to his plan for the other 3 formations. Speed, speed, and yet more speed! They were practically identical, and he was going to layer them so they would be efficient. He had given all but a moment's thought to setting up defenses or wind barriers like he had seen in other cultivators' devices. Then he discarded all that functionality for one simple focus. He laughed softly under his breath unconsciously as he worked on the 3 detailed formations.

"I'll be able to reach the inner sect in the time it takes for a stick of incense to burn! This inner sect region, almost 10 times the size of the outer sect, will be entirely within my reach! I'll finally be rid of this tortoise-paced sword. Wait, even my tortoise likes to go fast!" The absurd thought made him laugh harder as he thought of that little one who had enjoyed riding on his head when he first entered the inner sect!

He shook his head to rid himself of distracting thoughts and gave his full focus to finishing the sword before the flame escaped his control. His divine sense was stronger than most at his stage, but it was still weighing heavily on his mental resources. He pushed through and etched the last of the formations into the sword. With his dwindling qi reserves, he released the yin flame and returned it to the waiting pile of bones. He approached the cooling sword and drew it out.

A good sword would need to be bound so others couldn't steal it, usually with a drop of essence blood. This one lacked any such protective measure. He had sacrificed all to fly faster than the wind! He climbed on and sent a tendril of qi into the control formation and tried to fly forward. There was a loud "WHOOSH" and a "THUD," and Ren found himself looking up at the evening sky. He sat up and observed where the sword had embedded itself into a nearby tree.

Brushing off dirt from his hair, Ren said to himself, "I might have gone a little overboard with the speed…"