Chương 114: Chapter 111 – News From Beyond

Ren's new abode had gradually been transformed into a marvel of overlapping systems, generating immense amounts of wealth. Not just wealth, the drastically changed environment was perfectly suited for his cultivation. And using that wealth and the improved environment of his new home, he had established himself as a talent worthy of even the Azure Mountain Sect's nurturing. His future was brilliantly illuminated and stretching endlessly out into the dis… Zhao Ren blinked awake after shattering the illusion.

The illusions created by burning the crimson threads of the demonic finger were adapting to his new circumstances flawlessly. If it weren't for Ren's personality, which readily faced reality and the difficulties awaiting him, it would have been so incredibly easy to be lured by the warm comfort of success the visions offered him. During every session of heart cultivation, Ren was faced with easy solutions and everything working out even without his intervention.

Still, enduring the tempting visions wasn't without merit. The crimson threads would break down into violet qi, which would permeate his dantian. The results weren't very tangible, but every time he successfully refused the visions, he felt his resolve become firmer. The advantages of the Reflected Moon of Desire might not be immediately noticeable, but Ren trusted the heart cultivation manual that promised he was steadily building an unshakeable dao heart, which would serve him well down the road.

Ren did indeed wish for such lofty heights of becoming an unwavering cultivator who remained calm and stately no matter what tribulations he was faced with, but his motivations were far more base. His recent breakthroughs had stirred the sleeping demonic finger, which had released more of those perplexing crimson threads. They needed to be eliminated, and heart cultivation was the only method he knew of to reduce the unknown threat they represented.

'With such demonic origins, nothing good can come from even the little finger of such a terrifying figure.' Ren still recalled the sight of the original suppressed hand, which had been so enormous; even a single finger had been longer than his arm. Ren had spent his first week in his new abode cultivating and stabilizing his cultivation. He interspersed his recovery with the productive heart cultivation sessions. But that wasn't all he did.

Ren had never been the sort of cultivator who felt comfortable sitting in seclusion for days on end. So he spent the rest of his time exploring his new home at length. The three mountains together were over five times larger than his first abode. With a more varied wildlife than just serpentine beasts, Ren was starting to get a feel for the complex ecosystem of life hiding beneath the apparently barren mountains.

The goats and the yaks were easily as strong as Ren in the foundation establishment realm as far as he could tell. The lesser rodents and birds were a bit weaker but still not at a level where they could be ignored. The levels of qi assured the presence of powerful spirit beasts, and Ren was forced to coexist peacefully with them. The thunderous cracks of goats ramming horns had terrified him well before he observed the yaks defending their territory.

The impressively curved horns glowed with ominous might during their clashes. If he wanted to hunt them, Ren needed a lot more careful planning. Coincidentally, Ren had also discovered caves leading into the depths of his new abode similar to the old one. He idly wondered what manner of creature made their home under the mountains. But beyond confirming the existence of the tunnels, Ren hadn't explored them yet, postponing it until after he was completely recovered.

Fortunately, his recovery was unhindered by complications. The cracks in his dantian were healing smoothly, assisted by Mei Ling's healing pills. As for the other addition to his dantian, Ren discovered an underlying threat represented by the second construct. It had been an extremely uncomfortable realization for Ren when he finally noticed the problem.

By adding a second Fire of Life construct specifically to split the burden of the connections that brought him embers of sin and merit, neither of the constructs had increased their density as much as Ren had guessed was theoretically possible. While the two constructs were better able to handle the strain of increased karmic burdens during breakthroughs, the density of the Fire of Life was ultimately what allowed Ren to drastically improve the speed of his cultivation.

If the constructs didn't increase their density as much as possible, Ren was actively harming his future potential. Two constructs wouldn't end Ren's meteoric pace, but they established a new rule for him to follow. There were consequences to the increased number of Fire of Life constructs. The more he had, the slower each construct would grow in density and the slower Ren would progress his cultivation.

He would have to carefully balance the benefits of more constructs with the slowed pace of progression in the future. For the present, Ren was content with the two Fire of Life constructs he had. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. It had taken another two weeks living on 'The Edge' for Ren to confirm some other details. The strange qi that was present in such great quantities in his abode was leaking in from both sides of his territory.

The mixture of the qi oozing in from the sacred grounds and the forbidden regions was the reason for such sparse natural growth on his abode. Without understanding the nature of the neighboring territories, Ren would have a difficult time narrowing down the properties of the qi, so he put it off for the moment. Until he could visit the sects' libraries, he couldn't form any solutions. So Ren had spent his time in a more pragmatic manner.

He had flown down the mountain and traveled to the plains in the west to gather healthy soil. He had shoveled hundreds of jins of soil into his spatial ring and transported it back home. After setting up temporary beds for growing spirit plants, Ren had planted the few saplings he still had. The Mutating Bamboo Sword saplings as well as the withered tea tree sapling Subo had gifted him needed natural conditions urgently.

Despite regularly dancing the quirky sutra for them, the soil beds had declined in health until it occurred to Ren to set up further qi isolating arrays. It was only after the ambient qi was warded off that the withered saplings finally showed signs of recovery. As for the seeds, Ren decided to wait until he formulated a plan to improve the quality of the soil before planting them. Even his normally sedate Myriad Path Tortoises were annoyed by the lack of abundant plant life on his mountain.

Without any pests to eat, nor their usual alignments of qi present around them, the tortoises had become increasingly grumpy. He fed them the beast cores of the rabbit-like spirit beasts he found in the plains, but they weren't much placated. Ren struggled to distract them until he found the odd damaged bell toy was perfectly suited for it. The sight of small tortoises nudging around the cylindrical bell with a crumpled end was endlessly amusing to Ren.

The muffled jingle would prompt the nearest tortoise to bump it with its head until it rolled out of its reach. Whether the period of rest healed Ren physically or not, that adorable sight certainly did wonders for his mental state. When Yu Ran finally woke, Ren refused to indulge the little snake any further.

"If you want to eat, it's time you learned to hunt. Those plains are filled with small spirit beasts. If a core formation realm spirit beast can't catch a few to eat, then you would bring shame upon your ancestors." It turned out the provocation was extremely effective on the naïve young snake, which managed to use its new stealth skills to great effect to sneak up on its prey. Coupled with its exceptionally powerful venom, success was a forlorn conclusion.

"Ren! I did well, yes?" The red and black snake had a mouth full of 2 large rabbit-like beasts nearly as long as it was. The voice that rang across their bond was filled with joy and pride, seeking validation after that first hunt. Ren didn't hesitate to proffer the desired praise.

"You were magnificent! Your prey was caught completely off guard! I'm so proud!" The little snake preened before generously bestowing upon Ren one of its captured prey. Wisely wary of the lethality of the core formation realm snake's venom, Ren politely refused. After a month living on the barren mountains, Ren finally started to feel comfortable in his new surroundings. No matter how strange it was, in the end it was relatively safe. And above all, Ren's instincts told him, the place had potential.

His restless mind was constantly coming up with and discarding potential solutions to improving his new abode. He constantly weighed the cost of the teleportation formation with the necessity of more information when the choice was made for him one day. It had been a morning like any other when Ren noticed two qi signatures speeding towards him. Ren hadn't set up much in the way of security arrays and watched apprehensively until the guests politely stopped at the gate on the first mountain.

When he arrived to greet them, Ren let out a huff of laughter when he saw who it was.

"Mei Ling, Xi Yuan, I am so very glad to see you are well!" Mei Ling looked much the same, her robes pristine and her appearance impeccable. Xi Yuan, on the other hand, had grown a bit taller. She stood at the same height as Ren now. The pair greeted Ren with enthusiasm. Xi Yuan hugged Ren, her slim figure shivering against his.

"Zhao Ren, we were so worried! We hadn't heard any word about those who traveled to the Golden Light Monastery until just recently. Fortunately, we had already set up a request to monitor new visitors. We came as soon as we could! Are you well? Where's Bao Hua? We couldn't find out if he had entered the inner sect." Ren was chuckling with relief as Xi Yuan stepped back. His friends were clearly doing just fine.

"Bao Hua should be just fine. We entered the inner sect together. He was assigned an abode called Ten Thousand Demon Valley. As you can imagine, he is likely having the time of his life. We had made plans to come look for you as soon as we were settled in." Ren was just about to ask about the other disciples of the Heavenly Sword Sect when he noted Mei Ling's awkward glance.

"Umm Ren… I found this book among my possessions not much after we left the sect. It appeared mysteriously, and I thought it couldn't have simple origins. At first I couldn't believe you were the sort of person who would indulge in such hobbies, but since it was addressed to you in writing that didn't look like you had written it, I thought it might hold some hidden meaning to you." She clearly looked flustered as she spoke. She hesitantly handed Ren a small book.

Curious as to what might have disturbed Mei Ling so, he turned over the book and read the title and the handwritten scrawl below it. He first noted the lie written in beautiful script, "Property of Zhao Ren," and then above it the title, "Lady Frozen Tear melts in the Fires of the Forge."