They didn’t spend the night outside. Subo said the report was too important to delay for long. After relaxing for a while, they broke camp and returned to the teleportation hub. The small stone compound housing the array looked completely normal from the outside, concealing the extraordinary array within.
When teleporting for the second time, Ren formed the theory that the teleportation array used by the monks used karmic ties to predetermined places to provide a direction but nothing beyond that. The majority of the array’s working was related to space, and he had no experience with that. He still wanted to experience the teleportation a few more times to try and figure out how the karmic ties were being marked and used, but that would have to wait.
Subo split off after their return to go and report to his master but not before promising to visit again soon. The two of them, drowsy after a nice meal and the exertions of the day, used their guest tokens to find their way back to their quarters. Rather unsurprisingly, the majority of disciples had returned and were locked in their rooms, making the most of the extraordinary meditation mats provided.
Ren knew he should take advantage of the mat as well, but he was simply too tired. He needed time to sort out his thoughts before he began to use them to refine and advance his techniques. No matter how much the mat functioned like an assisted epiphany, it was worthless without proper input. So he lay on the cot and was asleep within moments.
The next morning’s meditation was fruitful but only to an extent because Ren didn’t use the provided mat. He focused on the fight and what he could have done better and what he did right. He memorized the patterns of demonic beasts to start building a defense. Even if he fought an entirely different demonic beast, he wouldn’t be wasting as much qi and time at the start adjusting his sword arrays.
He also concluded he had made the right decision to not use his physical strength. If he had utilized his body cultivation, he would have consumed too much qi too quickly to be effective. If he had been familiar with his opponent, then perhaps he might have used it to end the fight before they could gain too much momentum, but for this instance, he had been right to rely on his qi cultivation.
He had also overestimated his ability to control large numbers of beasts. Or more accurately, he had overestimated his endurance while fighting large numbers of enemies. Fixing his limited qi reserves became that much more crucial, but without a solution at hand, it would have to be addressed later. His energy reserves aside, he should have prepared more types of pills that didn’t have such strict requirements for use. Now, he was forced to take it easy for a few days to give his meridians time to heal naturally.
Then there were the mysteries surrounding his final attack. Meditating on Fated Fall, Ren still had no idea what had gone wrong. Nor did he know the true cost of the increased power of the attack. He resolved not to utilize it again until he made major advancements in understanding.
When he finished, Ren felt refreshed. His thoughts were ordered and settled, though not entirely at peace. He stretched his stiff muscles and called on Hua. Seeing his door still closed, Ren left him to his cultivation and made his way to the refectory for more of the delicious morning porridge.
He wanted to wait for Hua to go to the market, so without anything to do while he waited, he walked around and found a quiet, verdant garden away from the main pathways. It looked abandoned and wild but also as if someone had carefully nurtured it specifically to appear that way. There were traces of intelligent design all around. But because it was remote, it suited his purposes.
Ren laid out a small privacy array and then brought out his tortoises. It took them a few minutes to wake up and discover their new surroundings, but they quickly began exploring. He sat back and watched the different tortoises try to find a spot with more of their attributed qi. It was easy for the elementally aligned ones, even the fire aligned ones, because he brought out his 2 yin flame embers to feed them more bones.
However, for the others, he had nothing but some food he had prepared. He had plenty of beast cores and attributed herbs he grew on his mountains, even of the yin and yang attribute, but they were far weaker than the qi Myriad Path Tortoises would have enjoyed simply living on his mountain. But the little ones were delighted just with being able to move around freely. They still found certain spots that appealed to them, competing with their siblings for the prime spots.
There were two outliers, however. The draconic attribute tortoise was looking around for something to fight and was ready to turn its aggression towards its siblings when Ren intervened. He directed its attention towards some small spirit beasts that made their home in a nearby tree. Then he just sat back and watched as it tried and failed to conquer the tree, simply unable to leap that high. It let out adorable growls of frustration but didn’t give up.
The other outlier was Wu Meng, who was despondent without his usual playmate Yu Ran. Ren had no solution for that, as he missed the little snake and its inquisitive questions just as much as the Wu Meng, so they just cuddled in commiseration. It was a pleasant way to spend time, and Ren felt more relaxed than he had been in a month. It was as if that small private garden made it easier to breathe.
After some time, Ren got up and practiced the stances of his Heavenly Fire Body Refining. Without the yin flames, it wouldn’t actually accomplish anything, but it felt good to move his body. Ren had already earned his place in this trial, but he wasn’t going to become complacent. The technique was supposed to be useful until the end of the 3rd realm of body cultivation, the Organ Reinforcement Realm, which he was currently in.
He could even begin practicing the Boundless Space Physique scripture that Elder Yun had given, but Ren wanted to wait until he could study it further. The elder had also said to try and make it his own, for which Ren had previously entertained thoughts of merging it with his current technique, but recent events had shaken his confidence. But instead of lingering on failures, he wanted to put in the effort and make sure nothing would go wrong instead.
The sun was high in the sky when Ren gathered the tortoises and returned to find his friends. He found Hua near their quarters trying to invite monks to duel with him. Ren watched from a distance as his brother was continuously rejected by every monk. Their reactions were uniformly to look scandalized at the thought of fighting a fellow cultivator for fun, followed by polite but stiff refusal.
Ren couldn’t help it and burst out laughing after the 4th such refusal. He walked up to Hua and consoled him.
“From what I’ve heard, the monks don’t usually spar. Only a few specific orders of monks fight. The others settle their differences through something called Dao debates. Naturally, they tend not to have many disagreements to begin with, so it’s still rare. Now, now, don’t look so dejected. I haven’t seen one yet, but we are sure to see one before we leave!”
Hua wasn’t about to let a few failures stop him. “What Dao debate? Clearly, I just need to find the monks of that order instead!”
Ren laughed some more at that. "You are right about that. But first would you like to accompany me to their market? I’ve been meaning to take a look, and you might find something interesting too.”
The markets weren’t as bustling, but they were certainly stuffed with interesting things. The stalls belonging to the disciples of the Celestial Sword Sect were inclined towards crafting and strange items as usual. Ren could see unusual weapons, paintings, pill cauldrons, and the like. There were also items that were targeted towards monks, like tea sets, farming tools, and different types of spirit woods for carving.
Ren was interested in buying pill recipes and forging designs but was given a cold shoulder at every stall he approached. They quoted insanely high prices almost as if hoping Ren would snap and pick a fight. The feud was not so easily forgotten, and the disciples were prepared to eat a loss just to express their disapproval of the Heavenly Sword Sect.
It was Hua’s turn to console a dejected Ren as they walked away. Ren couldn’t help but throw lingering glances back at one stall, which had a combat puppet on display. It wasn’t easy for Ren to forget one of his biggest failures in crafting and formations simultaneously, and the chance to improve his skills wasn't easy to give up.
As they moved toward the stalls owned by the monks and nuns, the items on display shifted to an assorted variety of spirit rice, plant seeds, pottery, and talismans. Hua went off to discuss talisman making with a few stall owners and quickly drew an interested crowd around him as their discussion grew passionate and loud.
Leaving his brother to have his fun, Ren continued his exploration. He wasn’t just looking at the items on display; he was also trying to check if the items he brought would be desired when he set up a stall of his own later. To his luck, it seemed his research had paid off for the most part, and the items he had brought weren’t abundant around here. As he continued looking around, he found the more unusual items sold by the monks.
There were statues of revered monks, ornamental bells that produced a beautifully clear note, teas, and divination mats. It wasn’t a system of divination Ren was familiar with, but he bought one out of curiousity nonetheless to study later.
He also bought a tarnished cylindrical bell with its opening crumpled inward in such a way that it appeared like an oblong ball. It produced a muffled ringing from something rolling inside. The seller looked a little ashamed to be selling damaged goods to a guest, but Ren thought it was a perfect toy to entertain his tortoises.
He also struck up a fun conversation with the nun selling tea and spent some time trading tips. The nun was intrigued by some of the blends Ren kept to invigorate himself, while he was interested in those teas that helped clear the mind. He also made sure to purchase a sample of every interesting tea. Despite the rough start to the market visit, Ren was starting to have fun.
Just then, he heard someone call out from behind him, “You there, dear guest! You have a shadow on your glabella! Feed this poor monk and have your fortune told.”
Something about it seemed extremely familiar to Ren until he remembered the same monk, pulling the same scam during the blood moon elder’s inheritance trial. He chuckled as he approached.
“How did you see my glabella from behind? Aren’t you afraid you invite bad karma with such blatant lies?” Ren said, half in jest.
The monk shook his head and replied with a straight face, “It is no lie. This one’s heart and conscience are clear. It's just that this one doesn’t always need to see to know.”
Ren didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at the shamelessness, but he found a begrudging respect for one who could lie with such a pure intent. It was amusing until he realized just how powerful such self-assuredness could be when it came to cultivating a strong intent. Didn’t his own cultivation manual repeatedly claim that the balance of karmic connections was influenced by intent and perception?
Ren recalled that no one unworthy would have been invited to visit another sect for a trial. No longer finding the scammer so easy to dismiss, Ren considered the monk seriously. The low stall was bare except for one plain wooden begging bowl. There wasn’t even a sign for any price. Almost hesitantly, he placed a few spirit stones in it. He looked into the monk's eyes, hesitated briefly, and then brought out some of his favorite fruits and added them to the bowl.
The monk invited him behind the stall to sit on a second mat laid out. Without a word, he held up a bamboo container filled with thin wooden sticks. He rolled the container 3 times and then offered it to Ren. Not knowing what was expected of him, Ren picked out a stick. There was nothing on the stick, not even a character or a mark. Just a plain slip of wood. The container was still hovering in front of him, so he picked out another.
The monk then set aside the container and retrieved the two sticks from Ren, who looked on curiously. The monk began chanting under his breath and then, with a brisk move, snapped both the sticks and brought them under his nose. Without halting the chant, he breathed deeply, smelling the sticks. He carefully placed the fragments in another bowl and set it alight, once again smelling the smoke they emitted.
Ren watched with wide eyes, wondering what sort of maniac he had gotten involved with. A part of him wanted to walk away, but the other part wasn’t so quick to dismiss a possibly esoteric method out of ignorance.
The monk then halted his chant, looked sadly at Ren, and said, “In a forest, new life can only grow after a cleansing fire. Yet this ash is not meant to nourish you, for you are not a tree bound to this forest. Be not afraid of loss, for the roots run deep. So take wing and begin anew.”
“Huh?!”
A/N: Ren in vacation and tourist mode! Locals trying to scam is almost a trope at this point, irl as well as in xianxia. But is this really a scam? Hmm...