Leaving A Legacy

1 month later

Ren found himself with spare time on his hands for the first time in weeks. The 9th set of spirit plants and herbs had formed an equilibrium with their surroundings and showed no signs of deterioration of late. He planned to watch them for another week, and if it proved stable, then he would proceed with the next step. His preparations were complete, and all that remained was to plant the final two key treasures and initiate the formation he had designed.

Finally able to regain his breath, Ren’s thoughts drifted to his brother. Hua had requested Ren’s help in reforging his sword into something worthy of a natal weapon, and to his shame, Ren had been forced to refuse. Sure, he had some skill in weapon forging, but much of his past successes had to be attributed to good materials and the assistance of a yin flame. Even if Hua managed to procure the necessary high-quality ingredients, the Ossiferous Yin Flame hadn’t even recovered to its past glory, despite being fed an abundance of spirit beast bones lately. Nor could Ren say with absolute certainty that he was capable of doing justice to a natal weapon so central to Hua’s power.

Some core formation realm cultivators bound a weapon so tightly to their core that its inherent powers were increased manifold. They could channel their qi through it with unparalleled ease and wield it as an extension of themselves. They could strengthen it by feeding it treasures and a part of their own cultivation. It was no mere tool or life-saving treasure. Destroying a natal weapon could even cripple its owner.

At higher realms of cultivation, weapons of suitable caliber became as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns unless one was in the good graces of an exceptionally powerful weaponsmith. Thus, many cultivators chose to nurture a weapon with a portion of their own cultivation as they rose to higher realms of power. However, once the process was initiated, it wasn’t reversible, and if they ever wanted to replace or upgrade their natal weapon, the qi and cultivation invested would forever be lost to them. With such severe consequences, one couldn’t pick up a random weapon and bind it so closely to oneself. Cultivators were most particular when it came to selecting their chosen partners in combat.

Though Ren dearly wished he were confident enough to be entrusted with Hua’s future natal weapon, he was unwilling to hold his brother back. He had taken part in forging both of Hua’s swords, and though he dearly wished to keep with tradition, he refused. Instead of keeping these pitiful feelings in his heart and insulting his brother with lies, Ren plainly explained the reasons behind his refusal. To which Hua responded with unfounded confidence,

“I don’t mind waiting. It’s too soon anyway. I trust you, brother. You could never disappoint me.”

While Ren’s mouth gaped at the unreasonable faith his brother had in him, Hua had already returned to savoring his meal as if they had merely been discussing the weather. In the end, Ren remained silent and gave no commitment one way or another. In the weeks since that conversation, Hua had been content to recover and let Ren go about his work. Though they talked and laughed about all manner of things, Hua hadn’t brought up that topic again. But Ren had a feeling it was on both their minds, albeit for different reasons. Hua would no doubt be proceeding with the expectation that Ren would forge the weapon in the end. And Ren needed to find a way to answer that unspoken expectation.

When Hua gained sufficient control over his killing intent, he had cheerfully said his farewells and departed, no doubt to track down suitable materials. It left Ren with an unforeseen sense of urgency.

‘Haah… What will be will be. I’ll just keep doing my best.’ Ren had but one gambit in mind to improve the odds of successfully forging a suitable sword for Hua. And it wasn’t one he could employ right away.

“Ren look!” An insistent voice dragged him out of his contemplations. Little Yu Ran was demanding his attention. He turned to the snake with black scales edged with glowing red light. The light that had gotten far brighter ever since the incident.

Ren watched as a small puff of flame emerged from its nostrils.

“Did you see Ren?! Did you see?”

‘The incident. Haah. But what else can I call it?’ He thought to himself even as he praised the preening snake.

About a week ago, the little snake had entered a growth spurt. After years of slow growth in the Heavenly Sword Sect, the young core formation beast had been like a tiger given wings by the abundant qi environment they now lived in. Its growth had entered a new stage. Though its size hadn’t increased more than normal, it had started to come into its elemental alignment.

A core formation beast had a lifespan measured in centuries, and Yu Ran technically hadn’t even left its hatchling stage. It was slowly coming into its own power. But a core formation beast couldn’t have ordinary requirements for growth. Yu Ran suffered from mild aches, and its qi fluctuated wildly as its tiny core started demanding specific nourishment. Ren tried to help but nothing worked for long.

One morning, Ren had found the snake curled on the pile of bones that fed one of the two yin flames. Obeying its instincts had led the snake to devour the partially mutated yin flame. He had wrung his hands helplessly at the sight. But when Yu Ran woke, it had entered the 2nd layer of the core formation realm! Young as it was, it wouldn’t be able to harness most of that power for some time yet, though.

Since then, Yu Ran had begun to cough fire. The flame it had consumed had been primarily yin and fire aligned, partially changed by astral qi. But despite Yu Ran having a yang and fire attribute core, the flame was devoured and assimilated without issue. Ren had to bow before the instincts of beasts that even a hatchling knew of the ancient concept of Taiji, where Yin and Yang nurtured one another.

The pain of losing a yin flame was felt deep in his bones until the little one explained itself. According to Yu Ran, the mutated flame had been destabilizing without an environment sufficiently rich in yin qi. And while he had been waiting for it to recover, there had been no regular infusions of astral qi either. The flame that had been consumed would have dissipated on its own very soon. Learning that made the loss bearable, but Ren had nevertheless extracted a promise from the snake to first let him know before doing anything like that again.

On the other hand, Yu Ran getting stronger was an incredible boon. Not to mention how appealing Ren’s idle daydreams of ending up with a dragon for a companion were. However, unless he found Yu Ran plenty of powerful draconic spirit beasts to consume, it wouldn’t be able to refine its bloodline into a draconic one. He naturally knew better than to expect such lofty achievements but couldn’t bring himself to stop either.

In the days that followed, Ren focused on his heart cultivation above all else. With everything riding on the outcome of the formation's activation, he found his heart and resolve to require tempering. Though the demonic finger in his dantian still showed no signs of movement, the thin crimson threads were spilling from it faster. Ren could only hope that it was the result of the increased qi of the environment and not an indication of further complications.

Yet in the process of ridding himself of the crimson threads, Ren was exposed to more visions of temptations. As if sensing a weakness, the visions urged him to postpone the activation. They promised that if he spent more time monitoring the situation then he would naturally have a better chance of success. Ren found these temptations particularly hard to shake because a part of him did indeed wish to do the same.

But he reminded himself, ‘The only failure is to not try at all. I need to do this and do it now. If I continue vacillating and postponing, I will only weaken my own resolve and become more vulnerable to failure.’

Ren’s heart may not be a still and calm pool capable of showing a pristine reflection yet, as described in the heart cultivation manual Reflected Moon of Desire, but some progress had been made. The manual’s later stages hadn’t been granted to him, only the first stage. With the aid of the visions released by sublimating the crimson threads, he had already started to approach the 1st achievement, the Crescent of Longing.

Fishing in troubled waters wasn’t without benefit. Along with the visions, the crimson threads also released the precious higher order violet qi. This qi would melt into his meridians, spiritual sea, and dantian, slowly strengthening them. It wouldn’t just allow him to endure greater strains when rapidly channeling his qi for his chosen battle style, it was also incrementally improving his future potential. A stronger dantian meant greater qi reserves, and when it came time, a stronger core. And a stronger core meant the difference between advancing or stalling in cultivation.

All this was to say that through repeated heart cultivation sessions, in the week before the formation was to be activated, Ren firmed his resolve and wiped away any hesitation. This formation, while holding the potential for greatness, came with commensurate risk. A single instant of doubt at a crucial phase would bring all his efforts to ruin. When the time came, while Ren couldn’t claim to be an unshakeable sage, he was as ready as he would ever be.

He woke early, when it was still dark out. After meditating and stretching, Ren turned to Yu Ran and his tortoises. “It’s time. I cannot let you come with me today. Stay inside the formation and stay safe. If this works, I’ll build you the best play areas I can make!”

With that, he stepped onto his sword to do one final survey of his lands. The 9th set of spirit plants around all 18 nodes had held on admirably. There were some minor signs of wilting, but there were also signs of new growth to replace it. Complex feelings welled up when Ren spotted the buds of flowers forming. The slow accumulation of healthy soil was still ongoing, but more importantly, it contained a mixture of both death and life qi. An equilibrium had formed.

Ren landed at the spot he had prepared on the first of the 3 mountain peaks, where he would plant the Encroaching Darkness, a calamity grade fungus spirit plant. It was a terrifying plant that would, from its core, rapidly grow strands through the soil, spreading death and rotting all life it encountered. It was known to starve entire kingdoms and more before it was inevitably discovered and destroyed. The theories of how far it could grow if left unchecked remained theories because no one wished to unleash such disasters other than demonic cultivators.

Gingerly extracting the somewhat withered bone-white ball with pitch-black spots without touching it, Ren moved quickly. Even the qi he used to levitate it out of the bottle was being gobbled up by the core of the fungus. He embedded it in the center of specially prepared, death qi-infused soil, surrounded by supportive plants forming a natural array. It wasn’t a natural formation yet, but that is what Ren hoped it would become.

Without a moment's hesitation, Ren rushed to the 3rd peak. He mimicked the movements and extracted the Heart of Relentless Suffocation, which mirrored the partner he chose for it. A calamity grade spirit plant that, from its core, grew lush, creeping vines over the soil at a breakneck pace. It would compete fiercely for all qi and nutrients and slowly choke out all life, spreading death. It was known to leave behind nothing but verdant deserts before it was inevitably discovered and destroyed.

Neither plant was actively violent or carnivorous, but both were true calamities that stubbornly resisted being stamped out. Unless their cores were targeted, their boundless vitality would confound even peak stage core formation realm cultivators. And Ren was going to pit them against each other while confining them to his limited territory of The Edge.

Despite all the evidence supporting his theory, Ren hoped he wasn’t unleashing two such calamities and becoming an irredeemable sinner in the eyes of the Azure Mountains Sect.