Chapter 129 – Playing the Pig to Eat the Tiger

For the first time in a long time, Ren was under no obligations. He had no pressing concerns, no demands on his attention, and no immediate goals to meet. He was free to spend his time in whatever manner he saw fit, and he couldn’t be more pleased!

His friends were all preoccupied in their own matters, cultivating or growing stronger. Mei Ling was off digesting her gains from the venture into the Forbidden Region and had sent back word that her master was still monitoring Bai Kang for signs of possession or cultivation deviation. Bao Hua had returned to his abode and resumed honing his sword cultivation through ceaseless combat. He too sent back word through the communication talisman, informing Ren that he had been unable to find a suitable treasure to use in the reforging of his sword into a Natal Weapon. Ren knew better than to think his brother disheartened, only biding his time searching for the next opportunity.

As for the market they wanted to organize, it would still take some time. Hu Yan was still developing his information network, spreading the word, inviting interested merchants of the outer sect and a lot more. The responsibility of the others was comparatively far simpler. They just needed to find or create things to sell. The three of them had already started to gather plenty of items of low to middling quality, yet they lacked a few eye-catching treasures to serve as the crowning glory of the market's opening auction.

That was when Xi Yuan finally responded to their messages to assuage their worries. She remained brief, as she was only on a short respite from cultivation. She simply said not to worry about some treasures and that she could procure them easily. Her other, more important, news, however, had come like thunder from a clear sky, taking them all by surprise. She had broken through to the core formation realm and formed a 4th grade clear core! Her words were hurried as she needed to resume stabilizing her cultivation, but her pride at overcoming a powerful metal attribute called the 10,000 Resonant Bells tribulation shone through palpably.

Ren knew that his friends had all seen accelerated growth since arriving at the Azure Mountains, and Xi Yuan had always led them in cultivation, but this news still gave him a sense of pressure. His cultivation, which used the weight of his Fire of Life to attract qi from the environment, was a fixed and steady progression. While in the wastelands of his previous sect, it had served to boost his cultivation speed beyond that of his companions; now he was the one lagging. The richness of the environment of the Azure Mountains and his new abode were wasted on him.

However, that sense of inadequacy and pressure were fleeting. His joy for his friend's achievement was extremely sincere, and his congratulatory response was heartfelt. Ren had never been one to compare, preferring to focus on himself. His self-confidence, which had been severely underdeveloped when he began cultivating, had long since transformed. He had no qualms in admitting he wasn’t a Heaven’s Chosen, but he certainly wasn’t inadequate by any measure. His cultivation may be slow, but he was still progressing. A mosquito leg was still meat! In the meantime, the resources he nurtured were still accumulating.

2 months later:

Ren put aside his empty bowl and patted his full belly, sighing with satisfaction. The warmth of the fire was extremely cozy in the cool of the evening breeze. The delectable aroma of his meal was slowly replaced by the ever-present scent of healthy soil that suffused his mountain abode. Cultivators didn’t need to eat as frequently as mortals, but Ren never could bring himself to stop. Both cooking and consuming his meals were a part of the day he looked forward to, serving to relax and recuperate from the day’s exertions.

As he looked around, he felt pride at how far the Edge had come since he had first arrived. It was practically unrecognizable. While the tops of the 1st and 3rd mountains had been completely taken over by the potential Plant Tyrants, everywhere beyond their domains showed some signs of life.

The two months since Ren’s return from the Forbidden Region had been exceedingly pleasant. In that time, undisturbed by any crisis, he had begun to introduce the plants and insects he had retrieved from the Forbidden Region to the Edge. They were obscure and unique enough that Ren had never heard of them before, so he was forced to rely on his own past experience.

He had examined them with his qi to find their preferred environments and tried his best to accommodate them as best he could. The same effort went into the lesser lifeforms that were an important part of that ecosystem. Naturally, he had failed frequently at first. However, he stayed vigilant and persisted until he slowly improved. But the joy he received from each successful transplant was immeasurable.

He still fondly recalled the first such puzzle he had solved. The spindly thornbush that looked like sharpened bone needed the presence of a Bone Dust Beetle. The beetles fed on the fungus that grew on the plant while the plant protected them from predatory bats. Their relationship was symbiotic, and once Ren realized it, the thornbushes had started to recover, springing up all over the lower slopes of the mountains.

That was just the beginning as Ren started to recreate the thriving environment of the Forbidden Region on his land. He pooled the oily waters of the swamp into a small pond and introduced aquatic plants and creatures. He gave some tiny, acid secreting toads a reliable source of food by introducing the blight flies that only laid eggs on a certain black-leaved herb. And one of his precious new spirit plants, the cutting from the exploding tree, needed the certain ingredients in the soil put there by a mix of 3 plants to form its explosive bark. The death qi present on the Edge was more than enough to support all this life.

At first Ren only did it out of curiosity, to practice his skills as a spirit herb grower. Then he started to notice the difference it made. The thriving ecosystem was adjusting too well to his mountain. And he was starting to receive unexpected benefits. Some of the plants and insects now living on his land had practical use in alchemy! He was practically a hobbyist alchemist, but even he could tell that much.

His pet tortoises that leaned toward the yin attribute loved their new playgrounds. The little yin-water aligned tortoise splashed around joyfully in the oily lake, snapping at little insects. The yin-earth tortoise would find the richest plot of soil he brought from the Forbidden Region and burrow into it to nap. Even the water and earth attribute tortoise liked the new ecosystem. The pure yin attribute tortoise also insisted on accompanying Ren when he planted new saplings as part of the natural arrays around the wells of qi, squeaking the occasional suggestion.

All of the tortoises were completely accustomed to the qi on the Edge now, not just the yin aligned ones. Though the yang attribute avoided the enclaves around the wells of death qi where the plants were most numerous, it only emphasized the need for a similar venture into the Sacred Grounds. But Ren had held off on it just yet, making the necessary preparations.

Furthermore, it wasn’t tangible at first, but lately he felt that the quality of both life and death qi had started to improve. Such an outcome had been utterly unforeseen and entirely welcome. His mountain was already filled abundantly with esoteric qi; if that qi could rise in quality, then Ren was resolved to do everything he could to encourage it. In any case, he was learning a lot about death attribute spirit plants, and beasts. Every time the qi cycled around the mountains, the death attribute insects and beasts would flee to their little enclaves around the wells of qi. The practical experience of observing life and death qi interacting was invaluable, arduous though it was.

Often, the thought occurred to Ren just how useful body cultivation could be. Running around the mountain as he did from dawn till dusk would have exhausted pure qi cultivators of even peak foundation establishment. But Ren had another source of bodily strength beyond even his Organ Reinforcement Realm. That cultivation method may have stalled, but Ren still had the unfathomable Boundless Space Physique given to him by Elder Yun Peng.

Back during the Golden Dharma Trial, submerged in that profound pool, Ren had first practiced the method. He absorbed and cycled vast amounts of vitality before compressing and sealing it into 4 nodes along the meridians in his chest. By filling and sealing 9 nodes, he would reach minor success, forming one Boundless Meridian. The method required him to form 9 Boundless Meridians just to complete the 1st stage of the technique.

Every time he studied it, Ren felt sweat dot his brow at just how convoluted and grueling the Boundless Space Physique truly was. But that conversely lent credence to its authenticity, as how else could one achieve a heaven-defying result of forming a Natal Physique after birth?! The reason behind Ren’s recent body empowerment lay in that method.

He often found himself patting his chest as if to ascertain it wasn’t a dream. Ren had used the masses of vitality he had harvested to power the technique. The nexuses that the Encroaching Darkness and Heart of Relentless Suffocation formed 2 months after he had planted them contained the stored vitality of the two vigorous plants. Left to their own devices, the plants would have used the stored vitality as outposts in furthering their conquests. But by intervening, Ren simultaneously curbed their expansion and obtained a valuable product.

Each plant had grown four nexuses, of which Ren had consumed seven. The 5th through 8th nodes had required just one each. The vital essence that suffused his body on consuming fleshy lumps and black mushrooms had been cycled as per the technique, which drew the essence inward towards the nodes. The 9th node had required 3 of the nexus to fill the final node and finally from his 1st Boundless Meridian not two weeks ago.

Each sealed node stuffed with incredible amounts of vital essence gave Ren a deceptively small increase in energy, but it had left him unprepared for the outcome of forming that 1st Boundless Meridian. Ren’s resilience and endurance had multiplied almost overnight. The meridian was a font of vitality, boosting his stamina and shortening the time he took to recover.

“Ever since I’ve formed this meridian, I’ve experienced the most restful sleep. But not tonight! The culmination of almost two months' preparation and pretending! How could I sleep tonight anyway?!”

For the past two months, Ren hadn’t just grown plants, played with pets, practiced body cultivation, and slept under the stars. He had reinforced a very regular routine throughout, all for tonight. All to lull a certain bamboo nibbling thief into a false sense of security! He had tried and failed to trap the creature with arrays, as that smart thing found a way to sneak past through.

“If Yu Ran hadn’t gone into such a deep slumber after returning, this mission would have gone to him! That pest only stayed away when Yu Ran guarded the bamboo. My poor Mutating Bamboo Swords have almost all been nibbled on while the little one slumbered. Now it has fallen to me to trap this confounding pest!”

It had been the first time arrays had truly failed Ren. He was forced to resort to such a patient and silly method to finally ensnare the thief. He had kept to his routine, and the thief had naturally watched and adapted. Two nights ago, it had audaciously crept in past Ren’s sleeping form to feast. Emboldened by success, it had returned the previous night. And tonight, its confidence, and maybe its butt, would take a hit because Ren only pretended to fall asleep.

Ren felt extremely silly, like a child pretending to sleep to fool a knowing parent. But as a cultivator, he slowed his heart and breathing perfectly. Then he waited. And waited. And waited some more. His surety had faded, and he repeatedly felt the urge to give up and actually fall asleep, but each time he reminded himself of his resolve.

‘Heh, who would have expected heart cultivation could come in handy for this charade of all things?! Other cultivators use it to withstand pain and endure against all odds, and what do I do? Resist the urge to stop playing the pig to eat the... what? This vegetarian thief is certainly no tiger!’

But his temperance was ultimately rewarded when a small figure entered his range of qi sight. Forcing his heart not to leap in excitement was a challenge, but the creature obviously hadn’t noticed. When the creature finally entered the right spot, Ren’s eyes snapped open and he leapt to his feet, activating his hidden array.

“So you can sneak past my security arrays, but I bet that it takes time, you little brat!! Try escaping now!” Ren roared as he finally laid eyes on the perpetrator.

Before him, chittering in panic, eyes watering in a heart wrenching display, cowered an adorable, fluffy red panda.