“All done!” Ren said with the satisfied sigh of a man pleased with his work. He’d finished sorting the first floor of the Hall of Scripture with a few days to spare. So he went back through the shelves and further rearraged them based on not just the attributes but in groupings of similarity. If he had even more time, then he would have further sorted by cost.

  For better or worse, he was out of time, so he went to the taciturn elder in charge of the hall. The older man hadn’t said a single word to him other than to shoo him away in the month he had worked here. The only times he looked up from his ‘Romantic Novellas’ was when someone paid him for his advice. Ren had judged him for it, but as the days had passed, he recognized a pattern. The bribes would change based on the disciple and the specific advice he was asked for. Ren confirmed it when he had seen the elder charge two different prices for the same manual.

  Ren’s current theory was the price was determined by the wealth the disciples had as a way to ward off grudges. Never too much or too little, just enough for the advice to be valued. Though he found it strange, Ren could no longer judge him so severely. Especially when he realized that the elder was using the famed “Divine Sense” of cultivators to estimate wealth!

  It was said to be another sense that was gained once you broke into the foundation establishment realm and somehow related to qi. Since that realization, he had remained on his best behavior, not even daring to mumble under his breath, in fear he would be heard.

  “I have accomplished the task you set me, Elder.” Ren said tentatively to the Elder.

  Slowly looking up, they replied, “So you have. You performed adequately.”

  Ren hesitated but didn’t dare outright ask for the promised bonus, so he just kept silent.

  “Tell me, why did you put the Elemental Forge auxiliary method in the fire attribute and not the metal attribute shelves?”

  “Um… The description said that it was used for forging, but it also highlighted its use in talisman making. I got the feeling that it would be more useful for fire attribute users based on the requirements.”

  The elder didn’t nod or make any signs of disagreement at that. “Hmm… and why did you…” Then he asked a few more such questions.

  Feeling there was no particular answer he was searching for, Ren gave his honest opinion for them all. He had parsed a tremendous amount of manuals and techniques and, with additional research on his own, had gotten a good sense of where each one belonged. He just had some theories, completely unverified, which he followed.

  The elder’s questions slowed, all without him revealing a single emotion. Realizing this could be his opportunity, Ren decided to ask some questions in return. He asked about those manuals he felt uncertain about, and there were many.

  For once, the elder actually replied. He wouldn’t confirm if Ren had sorted it right or not, only pointing out other aspects that Ren had failed to consider. Despite the vague replies and the obscure remarks, each one felt like a lightning strike. They opened up avenues of thoughts and perspectives that Ren had never imagined.

  After the longest and most insightful conversation he had ever had with any elder at the Heavenly Sword Sect, he was finally stopped with a wave of the elder’s hand. Ren’s identification jade zoomed from where it hung on his waist to the elder’s outstretched palm.

  “That’s enough for today. Here is your additional bonus. Now off with you!” He said, handing the jade back.

  Ren gave him a deep and heartfelt bow of gratitude and turned to leave. A voice sounded out behind him.

  “In the future you may address me as Elder Yun Peng.”

  Startled, Ren turned back only to see him nose deep in another book of the now familiar series, “Passionate dual cultivation beside the moonlit lake.”

  Without a single comment, Ren bowed again and left.

  In the following 3 months leading up to the tournament, Ren filled his days with activity. There were enough demands on his time that he never felt like a cultivator from the stories, who would seclude themselves from the world for years at a time. While he had never been in secluded meditation like that, Ren imagined he would be bored out of his mind and preferred his busy days.

  Freed of his most time-consuming task, and with 40 contribution points to spare, Ren had enrolled in two more classes at the Hall of Learning. Basic Spirit Plant Care and Basic Weapon Forging. He took them mainly to explore his own attributes. While the teachers were not nearly as engaging as Teacher Fan, he still enjoyed the lessons. Hopefully, once he had enough points, he could get more techniques of those attributes to continue enhancing his underused meridians.

  Ren’s formations classes also continued, covering new and interesting formations in each class. They were all basic formations, but according to Teacher Fan, learning them well would aid him for a long time to come. They would help build up understanding when learning the more advanced and complex formations.

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  Ren couldn’t wait! He had already come up with some ideas on how to practice his formations while attempting to follow his dao. He wanted to build trials for his fellow disciples. Simple trials with simple rewards and open to anyone interested in a challenge. He didn’t want to make trials only formation masters could solve. To do so, he still needed to learn more formations and how to combine multiple formations to achieve his desired goals.

  The classes all being once a week, he still had plenty of time left. With the announcement of the tournament, there was a surge of activity in the dueling grounds. Bao Hua, eager to achieve glory, would invite him often to train. Ren was an adequate dueler himself, but he had no expectations of winning the whole tournament and becoming the treasured disciple of some elder who happened to be passing by.

  The exercise was very much welcome, though. He also didn’t mind sparring with anyone who came up to him. Many of his batchmates had focused on martial skills, and his approachable demeanor meant he was invited often. While he learned sword fighting as a mortal, he had learned to adapt to the varied and often surprising techniques of cultivators. He had no doubt that everyone was keeping something in reserve to show at the actual tournament, but even the regular techniques were nothing to scoff at.

  It still sent a cold shiver down his spine when he recalled the petite and delicate figure of Mei Ling whirling a purple whip like a dervish. The loud “CRACKS” of the whip were sometimes followed by the illusory sounds of pained moans. He was completely regretting selling the ghostvine to her. He didn't know how she had refined it, but she had somehow laced the entire thing with thorns. Most of her defensive stances doubled as attacks!

  There were also other interesting contenders amongst the seniors. Senior Chun Wei had healed completely and was building up his strength in the dueling grounds. Many would gather to watch his spars because he was popular and of a peasant background. Many saw themselves in him and aspired to be like him.

  The other main contenders never sparred together. Xi Yao, whom Ren had never met but knew as Xi Yuan’s elder brother, was also competing. His strong background had a different group of followers who admired him. Similarly, the champion of the female disciples was Senior Zhen Bing of the famous Zhen family.

  According to rumors, this year’s tournament’s best prize was something worth waiting for, and these top contenders who had been cultivating for many years had even held themselves back from a breakthrough to compete for it. Fortunately, the tournament was split by middle and late stages of the qi gathering realm, or his cohort would have had no hope of even qualifying.

  Those up to the 6th layer would fight for a lesser prize. Still, no prize offered by the sect could be something to take lightly. Jian Feng, Mo Ying, Mei Ling, and even Ren himself were considered top picks. Not to be ignored were the older but slower cultivators who had remained at the 6th layer for longer than them. No one was a standout, so there was a lot of active discussion over the possible winners. Ren had no doubt there would be tremendous amounts of gambling during the tournament.

  Other than sparring at the dueling grounds and the occasional hunt with Bao Hua, Ren spent much of his time raising his Myriad Path Tortoise hatchlings and improving his courtyard. All 18 of the eggs had hatched a week or so after he bought them. He had never had pets before and was completely taken aback by how quickly the cute little brats had earned his affection! No larger than his thumb initially, the delicate, dark-shelled beast's hand scattered all over his courtyard.

  To keep them from disturbing his plants and to keep them safe from predators, he had arranged and then rearranged various formations. Keeping in mind that he would be staying in the courtyard for a couple of years at the least, he decided to put in some effort to make it work to his benefit.

  Thinking of his courtyard at home and how the gardener would use rocks, water, sand, and other natural objects to decorate following the principles of feng shui, Ren got to work. He had dug out a small pond, bought some rocks and metal ores, and a stump of a jade leaf tree, and arranged them according to his existing setup following the Wuxing Cycle. Unable to think of a better alternative, he used the area next to his firepit for the last attribute.

  The materials were mostly considered waste or byproducts with some sparse qi in them, so he had obtained them for cheap. The simple joy of watching the tiny tortoises sun themselves on a rock or bathe in a shallow area of the pool, however, was priceless. Hopefully, over time with the plants he wanted to raise, his qi gathering formations, and the little beasts, the positive effect would be ingrained into regular qi flows. Then he covered his whole courtyard in simple protective formations, revising his current, poorly planned layout.

  Other than these occasional projects, he maintained his regular activities of cultivating, researching at the library in the Hall of Learning, and growing his spirit herbs. That had continued to turn out remarkable profits for him. In those 3 months, he had successfully grown 7 of 9 attempted spirit plants.

  Ren was starting to make a name for himself as a meticulous and successful spirit plant grower. While none of his success had been very hard herbs to grow, it put things in perspective when people realized those herbs were usually only cultivated by those close to the upper layers of the qi gathering realms. And furthermore, only those with wood attribute qi specialize in herb cultivation.

  He made over 150 spirit stones in just 3 months! Usually spirit herb and plant cultivators would have lower success rates. With his diligent study and his exacting requirements of the layouts and formations, not to mention the mysterious “Nurturing Rain Sutra,” he had jumped right past the stage where most others lost money while gaining experience. His plants were often of higher quality, and the failures, while devastating, were still extremely low in comparison.

  Ren never revealed to others just how wealthy he was, nor did he ask the same of others, but he knew that very few made as much as he did. Being an atypical young master, face-slapping others with his wealth didn’t come naturally to him.

  Instead, as the wealth would come in, he would immediately spend it. Either to buy more spirit seeds or convert the spirit stones into contribution points and invest them in techniques. Just because he didn’t expect to win didn’t mean he would just roll over and die a dog’s death. He had already planned to buy certain manuals, and with some more advice from Elder Yun Peng, he had accumulated enough skills to give his peers a proper challenge.

  On the last big market day before the tournament, Ren walked in like a warrior going to battle. He had put aside enough for the next batch of seeds and some extra for emergencies. He didn't have much left after all his purchases at the Hall of Scripture but all the rest had gone into his preparation. Despite all his self-effacing manners, he couldn’t bury the kernel of hope in his heart. 6 months felt like forever to a 14-year-old like him, and he wanted to see how far he had come!