Ren had found his way to the sect library first thing that morning. Mornings were not a quiet time for the sect as disciples of all ages hustled about their tasks. At the library, he went to the plants and medicinal herbs section and set about finding information about the sword grass.

  Ren had flipped through countless scrolls, but somehow it was still entertaining. While he hadn’t found what he was looking for, he did find some of the herbs he had seen on market day but couldn’t identify then. There was so much to learn, but he had to force himself to set it aside for later since he was here on a mission.

  He finally found a compendium that held a list of a large number of herbs and some more information on each. In it he found some other common names of the sword grass and its properties. Using that, he went into another section that held more books on nurturing spiritual plants and finally found an entry on the sword grass. The grass needed a windless environment with dry but qi-rich soil. It also needed an infusion of earth, wood, and metal qi. The book also advised not growing the plants in the same area repeatedly because they grew rapidly and the soil needed time to gather the qi and nutrients again.

  He was almost ready to leave when he remembered that formations could be used to enhance herb growth and how his own family used to have such farms before they’d been sold off to cover debts. So he went to the section of the library that had scrolls on basic formations. Of course all the good books on formations would be in private hands, but it wasn’t like he could afford the formation flags for those anyway. The basic formations he read about could be set up using just feng shui or certain strategic placements of “array nodes,” which were just engraved runes on rocks. Some basic formations he decided to memorize were the qi gathering spiral, a basic security array, and illusion formation. They were extremely basic, but the benefit was they were free! With some careful planning, he figured he could implement them all. Maybe even together.

  He stopped there. While it was all very interesting, he felt mentally drained, and it was well past midday. Armed with this knowledge, Ren headed home to begin his attempt at last. In the half plot of land that was bare but prepared, he built a scaffolding around each planned spot. He used branches and earth mixed with the weed grasses to create a short wall to block out the wind. The soil was already dry. He just needed to make sure he didn’t overwater it.

  For the final touch, Ren decided to go all in on his gamble and took the 1 free qi pill he had received on entering the sect and dissolved it into a single cup of spring water. He carefully sprinkled a little on each spot and finally planted the two oblong seeds that somewhat resembled a sword in each spot. He carefully stowed the rest of the qi-enriched water. It would gradually dissipate but he would get a few days of use out of it.

  As for the infusion of the 3 qi types, he would simply leave it up to chance. He thought he could maybe attract those qi types by meditating near them but then reasoned that doing so would only deprive the environment of those since he would be the one to absorb them. It was already getting dark by then, so Ren decided to continue the formation work tomorrow.

  The next morning he began using the meditation methods described in his manual. He also began to learn the stances in preparation for when his sword grass was grown. Next he went hiking around the mountain looking for the appropriate rocks on which he could carve the formations. While taking breaks during this exhausting work, he tried to plan and imagine the completed formations. It took him all day to gather enough rocks even though he was now a stage 1 qi gathering realm cultivator.

  The next 2 days were spent carefully monitoring the sword grass, tending the spirit vegetables, and carving the nodes of the formations. He failed in a lot of his first attempts. He didn’t have a good tool for carving and was certainly too poor now to afford one. He was managing with some of the farming tools. Still, after a while, he started to gain confidence and finished the first set of nodes for the qi gathering array.

  It was a natural formation slightly enhanced by the runes and would slowly, over time, attract the qi from the environment to the center of the formation. He set it up around both his young seedlings, which had already broken through the earth. He began working the other 2 formations, which weren’t exactly vital to the growth of the current plants but would be useful in the future when he wanted to grow other plants, which, given his wood qi spirit roots, he was sure to do.

  The security formation was mostly just an alarm that triggered when a foreign presence was detected. The book had warned him that the authorized personnel’s qi could only be fixed at setup. As for the illusion array, it raised a slight mist that blurred qi perception. Ren had tried to make sure that it wouldn’t have any effect on the sword grass since they needed dry soil but had found no assurance. So he carved the nodes but didn’t set it up right away. By then it was already the 7th day after planting when he got a shock in the morning.

  One of the two sword grasses was showing signs of wilting. They had both reached over knee height by then, but one wasn’t looking as healthy. He went back to the library, desperately searching for ways to improve its health, but only found general advice regarding fertilizers and pesticides, not that he could afford it. He returned home to see the signs of decay had worsened. It looked like his two chances were down to one.

  The next three days were spent trying to practice the breathing exercises and the sword stances and anxiously watching over the one remaining sword grass. He even spent more time at the library preparing for if even this attempt failed. To distract himself, he would read about other formations and plants. He even visited the Mission Hall to learn about earning sect contribution points and ways to exchange them for spirit stones.

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  The Hall of Contribution was a bustling place. There were huge walls, which Ren realized were a much more advanced formation, that had posts about various tasks, from raising animals and growing herbs to beast-slaying tasks and searching for specific ingredients. The Heavenly Sword Sect controlled the vast eponymous mountain range. Only around a third was directly occupied by the sect, and the rest still held countless mysteries. From the chattering of disciples accepting tasks and turning them in to just standing around with friends, Ren learned a lot of random bits of information. He even went and talked to some of the more friendly-looking seniors.

  “I heard senior Yu Gang had managed to be promoted to inner sect disciple for having turned in a treasure.” One said.

  Another senior said, “Senior Chun Wei, who is held in high esteem, has been injured in a battle with something called a rock tiger. I hope he recovers, for he was just on the verge of breaking through to the foundation realm.

  One senior trying to sound knowledgeable said, “There are indications that a treasure has appeared in the southern ranges.”

  “Quit showing off, Xiao Hu! What indications? Did a tree fall in the woods? Hah?!”

  “Shut up!! I know what I’m talking about; a close friend of mine was hunting nearby when he saw signs of beasts shifting territories. You know what that means.”

  “Now I know you’re lying! What close friends other than us do you have?”

  Ren listened quietly as the shy newbie, but he found the banter endlessly fascinating. It was like no market he had been to, and he felt like he was definitely part of the cultivator world now. Then he laughed inwardly at how often he felt that way just these past few weeks.

  When he returned home that night, it was already late. Fortunately the moon was full, and the path was still well lit. As he entered his courtyard, he stumbled to a stop. It had completely slipped his mind since his visit to the mission hall, but this was the 10th night! The sword grass before him stood straight and fierce, glimmering green in the moonlight, having matured to perfection!

  The next morning found Ren lovingly stroking his new wooden blade. Somehow this one success felt better than anything he had achieved in his life. All that backbreaking effort and worry had paid off, resulting in something so beautiful. Truly the fruit of effort was sweet indeed. The sword grass resembled a straight jian sword with leaf patterns at the hilt, though the edges were still dull. According to his Grass Blade Manual, by slowly running his qi through it as he cultivated, he would sharpen it naturally.

  Eager to begin actually cultivating on his own, Ren took up the stance and tried to sense his qi. The manual was full of some vague yet meaningful-sounding phrases that were supposed to get you into the right mindset, but Ren was already feeling the tingling sensation of qi. Having already practiced the stances while waiting for the plant to grow, he slowly but smoothly swung his beautiful new sword. As his tutors endlessly repeated, begin slowly and avoid ingraining the wrong habits.

  He went through the stances once, twice, and on the third, the buildup of qi was more noticeable. He could feel the wisps of qi moving towards his dantian. He focused on the movements of the qi, and it seemed to somewhat line up with the movements of the blade. He went through two more sets. His belly was warm when he finally stopped from the exertion, not quite strong enough to reach the 7th set to complete one large round of cultivation. He put a thumb to the edge, and it definitely felt sharper.

  Ren needed to repeat this process twice a day for a week. By moving the qi through the sword, he was slowly engraving channels for his qi to flow through, further reinforcing it. Apparently there was no rushing this phase without messing up the sword. That left him less than 2 weeks to progress his cultivation in time for the next class.

  Ren also remembered a slightly more pressing issue. He was out of spirit stones and soon would also be out of food. He would have to take up some task at the mission hall or go hunting. Hopefully he could find a suitable task that allowed him to do both. He had enough to stretch it for this week but needed to have a plan in place. He didn’t want to be the young master begging for scraps in his first month as a cultivator.

  He planned to optimize his time, as his little field and the cultivation wouldn’t take up too much time. He wanted to go to the library and learn about the beasts and spirit herbs found in the mountains. He also planned to continue visiting the mission hall to learn more about the process and ask seniors for advice. It was going to be a busy time. He set about his planned tasks.

  2 days later, Ren was just finished with the second set of stances for the day when Bao Hua came visiting in the evening, joking, “Young master Ren! Are you still alive? Look what I brought for you.”

  Ren came to the door smiling. “You’re in a good mood, Brother Hua. Don’t tell me…”

  “Yes, that’s right! I have finally sensed qi! I haven’t broken through, but I definitely will next class! I hunted us some mountain chicken to celebrate!”

  “Congratulations! You’ve worked hard. Come, let’s feast!”

  The two young boys went about cleaning and preparing the feast. Ren even harvested some of the spirit vegetables that were just ready. They made a soup and enjoyed roast birds. The warmth of the fire on a cool mountain night was very pleasant. They talked and laughed about their experiences the past 2 weeks. Ren shared the rumors he’d learned. Hua compared this new life with his life as a farmer. Ren bemoaned the lack of wine, and Hua talked about growing their own rice wine.

  Apparently he had gone to the next market day and bought spirit rice to grow. They were like spirit vegetables and barely needed any attention, but they did take longer to grow. Of course this didn’t result in the best quality crops, but it was enough to start their own wine production, which his uncle had taught him. Ren volunteered to look up methods to improve the wine quality at the library. Their full bellies and the festive mood had lightened both their spirits, and they didn’t feel so lonely anymore. Ren hadn’t even realized it until then, but he missed his family.

  “Thank you for coming today, Brother Hua. I didn’t even know how much I needed this.” Ren immediately thanked Hua.

  Hua blushed a bit and said, “Me as well.” Then, as if to distract themselves from the somber air, they immediately started telling a dirty joke.