Chương 47: Chapter 46 – An Ocean of Knowledge

It was three weeks since Ren had returned to his mountain, which had changed much since the first time he had laid eyes on it. The spirit spring at the center of formation ensured a rich supply of qi at the mountaintop where he had made his home. The impure qi might have adverse effects on human cultivators, but plants and animals could tolerate it far better, and it showed. The mountain had always been verdant, but Ren had introduced a lot of new spirit plants and herbs.

And because he was endeavoring to make a gigantic natural formation to direct the flow of qi, these spirit plants had all the qi they'd need and more. Some spots were even enhanced with qi gathering formations to ensure the right kind of qi was channeled. Because he had long since run out of all his stock of array flags save for his best, he had to make do with locally available materials like he used to when he had first begun learning formations.

Ren used the last and best of his array flags to set up the killing field near the Ghost face tree because it was vital for the growth of his main treasures. He set up a basic formation called a Sword Launching formation. It was functional and powerful for its stage but very rigid. It could only launch the weapon at specific places and missed often because of poor timing. Ren had no spare blades but his throwing knives, but the formation accepted them.

As for the timing, he could control it manually to increase his chances. The dream of luring in beasts with disorienting and illusionary formations would have to wait. For now the beasts were lured in personally. The ubiquitous spirit snake beasts were particularly hard to target with their serpentine movements, but Ren did his best to restrict the space and aim for any openings. For the most part it worked. The only positive about all of it was just how many of the beasts were around.

Ren didn't even have to descend for a stick of time before he drew the snakes to him. They all must have thought he made for an effortless meal. The only reason he could evade them at all was that they weren't as fast as him and had trouble changing directions. Every three days, Ren hunted a beast. The first few times he struggled. Finding the right timing for the array helped, and once he got used to their movements, he was better at choosing his openings to strike.

Most of the spirit snakes had weak points under their jaws, which he tried to make use of, but the formation didn't help there, and Ren sometimes had to deal those killing blows himself. Ren could then drain their blood into the blood pool where the buds of the lotus had reached the surface. The carcasses were left on the boulder covered by the flesh-eating moss. The bones of the previous meal were then shifted onto the pile of bones nurturing the yin flame.

The battles were getting easier, but his bronze grass blade was now showing cracks. It was too dangerous to be unarmed, so Ren was desperate to replace it. It wasn't the only reason he was eager to head to the inner sect. True, he did have to stock up on supplies, but he also wanted to explore the library and the resources the sect had to offer. Most vitally, Ren needed information. The yin flame still needed to be identified if he wanted to use it to forge.

The Myriad Path Tortoises were behaving differently than mentioned in the entries in the bestiary in the outer sect. The few of them that leaned towards an attribute still hadn't settled even after a year, not to mention the rest that were still behaving like hatchlings. To add to the list, the cocoons had finally cracked open, and from within emerged moths. There were around 50 of them that had hatched and were too exotic to have been in the common bestiaries.

They resembled tiny arrowheads, only soft white and delicate. He offered them every kind of food that he could think of. When they refused, he brought out all his belongings with even a trace of qi. They ignored everything and found their own sustenance. They made their home on the ghost face tree and would flutter over the Sword Launching formation after he fought the snakes.

Ren was confused when they ignored the blood pool or even fresh blood in a bowl when he offered it, choosing the tiny pools of blood leftover from the battles. He had a theory, but it was more a baseless guess. That's why the library was important. Unknown, uncontrolled creatures that fed on strange things should absolutely be treated as dangerous! He had held off until the mountain was stable, and now that it was, he was free to go.

Ren made sure the security formations were functional and performed the Nurturing Rain Sutra, followed by the Enriching Soil Sutra. The combination was potent as ever, and the abundant qi in the surroundings only enhanced it further. Ren also tore off a section of the flesh-eating moss that had grown recently and used it to feed his carp and the tortoises, all of whom took tiny bites with delight regardless of their qi inclination.

There was a lot of power contained in the flesh of the lower stage foundation establishment snakes, and the moss had started to grow vigorously. He later planned to test their use as food or even as incense since the earthy aroma they released was very relaxing. He triggered the array on the flag that requested assistance from anyone nearby. Unlike before, this time Ren had to wait for a very long time before someone happened to pass by.

He was given a ride to the inner sect in the time it took to brew a cup of tea, which was the fastest he'd ever flown. The wait had been worth it because it would have taken him 5 days on his flying sword. When they landed at the inner sect, it was eerily quiet. There was almost nobody around, and he hesitantly asked the disciple who he had flown with.

"It is certainly more tranquil than usual but not by much. This is not the outer sect, and it is rarely crowded. Especially now that everyone is busy recovering and growing after the trial. There are a few lessons held by core disciples, but the lectures held by the elders are even more rare." Just like Ren, everyone was busy assimilating their gains. Ren thanked the senior for his aid and headed to the Hall of Contribution.

It was almost deserted with just one disciple sitting at the counter and a scant few examining the available missions. Ren began parsing the list of missions as well. The very first distinction from the outer sect was that the missions all afforded a longer span of time to accomplish. There were requests for ingredients, beast cores, techniques, lessons, and more. The notices had been open for a month and still had many months left to complete them.

Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings. The second was the number of missions that took place outside the sect was far higher. There were missions pertaining to tracking, hunting, patrolling, investigations, peacekeeping, retrieving potential talents, and many more. There was even a notice about gathering 30 or so disciples for a large expedition. Ren got the sense these were missions as much about the prestige and territory of the sect as helping mortals.

The time span bothered Ren a little. Especially those tasks relating to hunting spirit beasts or investigating suspected demonic influences. It was well known that cultivators operated at their own pace, but these time spans were the difference between a few missing people and an entire village being wiped out. Alas, Ren was not in a position to do anything about it just yet. He began searching for missions within his capabilities, but they were few and far between.

He saw only 4 requests to grow spirit herbs, and from the requirements listed, two of them would need more skill than he possessed. The other two were marked for middle stage foundation realm disciples or those with proven skill, offering between 50 to 150 contribution points depending on the quality. With the sutra the piece of bark had given him, Ren stood a good chance of succeeding, so he took note of them but didn't accept them just yet. It was better to research them first.

As he was walking to the Hall of Scripture, Ren remembered how he had first begun his business of growing spirit herbs for other cultivators. It hadn't happened through missions or requests but with the help of his senior, Chun Wei, and his connections. It only made sense to repeat this method. Resolving to seek out those connections in the inner sect to extend them the same offer of growing herbs, Ren walked with renewed optimism.

The pagoda, which contained the Hall of Scripture, was oddly less impressive than the one Elder Yun Peng managed. Near the entrance, a wizened old man sat behind a desk, hunched over a small cup of tea. When he instructed Ren on where to go, his voice was so soft, Ren had to strain to hear him. The Hall of Scripture was only similar to the outer sect superficially.

The shelves of manuals and techniques were well ordered and only contained jade slips and a few books and almost no scrolls or odd materials such as stone or leaves on which manuals were inscribed. The jade slips gave summaries and points it would cost to read them. These were all things suitable for the foundation establishment realm. As Ren perused, he even found a single shelf containing manuals and techniques that could be used even up to the core formation realm!

He excitedly examined the slips only to nearly drop them in shock at the prices listed. The lowest cost technique he found cost 5000 contribution points! The others even had conditions listed about notable feats or qi attributes, and one even had a single spirit root as a requirement. Ren shuddered to think how long it would take him to accumulate that many points. Leaving the shelves to be studied later, Ren climbed the stairs to the library, which held information.

Here too were neatly ordered shelves with small jade slips. A few shelves here also required contribution points to read, but for the most part, the resources were available to all. It was a lot easier to get a grasp of things because of how the information was organized. With a plan in mind, Ren began looking for bestiaries. The problem began when Ren picked up a slip and sent a thread of qi inside to access the information.

"Too much! There are so many entries!" Ren gasped in awe. Despite how small and cozy the library looked, the jade slips concealed an ocean of knowledge within! Thousands of records, most with a qi signature to match. Each entry was also detailed and contained so many obscure observations that Ren's head was spinning within moments. If he started to go through the entries, he would be here for months and not get through 5 jade slips!

"There has to be a better way. Just think!" After a few tries, Ren slowly got the grasp of how to brush past the entries, relying first on the qi signature followed by a description. In this manner, he was able to flick through a 100 entries in the time it took for a stick of incense to burn. That still left thousands, so Ren began arduously searching for the moths.

He didn't know how long he had been there, but the exhaustion washed off him when he found the entry for moths that closely matched in qi signature and description. They were called ' Corpse Silk Moths.' According to the entry, they were insects that aligned with life and death qi. They lived on the life qi found in the dying breath of beings. Though considered ill omens, they were not actually dangerous.

They actually performed the valuable role of preventing the accumulation of death qi and cleaning up death zones. Parts of the moths could be used in alchemy, but it was far more valuable to nurture them for the silk of their cocoons. The threads made from that silk were naturally attuned to life, death, and rebirth. The more Ren read, the more thrilled he got.

"No wonder they only liked the blood from the dying snakes! If I can raise them well, then I could make a fortune selling the silk! Or…" It occurred to Ren that the concept of rebirth had strong ties with karma. Maybe the silk would be of direct use to him instead of frivolously selling it for some spirit stones. Pleased, though he was, Ren couldn't help but lament how all the treasures he owned couldn't make him money for a long time! Ren then continued in the search for information on Myriad Path Tortoises.

It took him less time to find the entry for them. The entry was far more detailed than the one Ren had read before. The tortoises were actually not uncommon for pets, as many cultivators used them to breed spirit beasts of particular alignments as needed. Like Ren, they used the tortoises to fertilize fields of spirit herbs or take care of pests, but as he read on, he discovered how rare it was that they were left free. Most would buy just one or two and focus their environment to force a certain attribute on them.

Reading that, Ren felt a little awkward at how he treated all 18 of his tortoises as cute pets and not as functional beasts. But nothing in the entry indicated why they were taking so long to settle on a qi attribute. When he finally found an answer, it was in a general information section. Spirit beasts had strong, durable bodies to absorb qi. Since they couldn't cultivate, all that power was used to enhance their bodies and bloodlines.

When beasts found treasures that were suitable for them, they either saved them for their young or consumed them to strengthen their own bloodline. By excavating their potential, they could grow even stronger and live longer. That's what his tortoises were doing. He had provided them with a rich and varied environment to mature in, and instead of quickly settling, the little hatchlings had instead begun growing their potential! If they enhanced their bodies and bloodlines at a young age, the impact was far greater.

The hardest part of nurturing them was a rich qi environment, and his mountain had many times more than he needed. Relieved at finally solving that puzzle, Ren decided to let things be. When he finally left the library, his eyes squinted in the light of the new day dawning. He was completely drained after spending an entire night researching. Reading through those jade slips was very demanding. He went to the west gate and triggered the formation to have someone fly him home.

He wanted to make as much use of the remaining month of assistance as possible. It turned out that of the three months given, the month he had spent in the trial counted. He only had a few weeks left. After a short wait, his call was luckily answered. He bowed to greet the senior, and when he rose, his eyes widened with shock! Here was a face he hadn't seen in so very long!

"You! What are you doing here?!" Demanded Jian Feng.