As busy as Ren was with practicing his martial skills, earning money, his ever-growing social life, or even his literary efforts, Ren gave the most importance to his own cultivation. Hammered repeatedly into him by his family and now by his own experiences, only one’s own strength mattered above all else. He had pored over Causality of Karma as well as read every book even remotely associated with karma. In the half year since he had acquired the book, his understanding had greatly increased. However, as much as it had increased, it reaffirmed his belief that it was still only scratching the surface of the Great Dao of Karma.

  Having exhausted his options to find a book in the library, Ren had decided to take the plunge. He had one more clue to follow up on. Ever since he had started getting a better grasp of karma, he had thought back to the interaction with Elder Yun Peng when he first received advice about his cultivation method. The more he thought about it, the more he was convinced that there had been greater significance to the elder’s actions than he had initially perceived.

  Why would a powerful Elder who was at the very least at the foundation establishment realm ask for the price of 3 spirit stones? Even to Ren, who was only in the late stages of the qi gathering realm, it was worth less than a fart. But back then, it had been a significant portion of his wealth. It had always struck him as odd.

  Remembering the interaction between them, Ren thought it was because the elder had some understanding of karmic laws. Didn’t he say something to the effect of, “If I guide you well, I get nothing, and if I guide you poorly, I am cursed”? ”?

  Then the price of the 3 spirit stones should have been a way to prevent a karmic connection from forming by erasing debt.

  Given that Ren was nearing the foundation establishment realm and needed to find a manual to cultivate with, and without any other avenues to quickly further his understanding of Karma, he made up his mind. He would approach the pervy elder for his help. If he was right, then he would have to pay an appropriate price. The only reason he hadn’t approached him earlier was because he was afraid the elder would ask for almost all his wealth like last time. He was running out of time now and resolved to pay the price. Still, that didn’t mean he couldn’t prepare a tempting alternative.

  Once he was ready, Ren marched to the Hall of Scripture early in the morning. As always, the elder was behind the counter, almost a permanent fixture there. He was drinking tea, with a book in hand. Though he wanted to know what the elder was reading this early, he chased away the distracting thought. That’s not why he was here.

  “Greetings, Elder Yun. I’ve come to seek your guidance.”

  Ren watched as the old man put his cup down and sat up. He was almost proud of how vast the difference in treatment was from earlier when he would simply be ignored. He couldn’t control the twitching in his eyes, longing for the day when the elder would finally put the book down.

  “Can Senior suggest any manuals that could help me understand karmic principles?” There! Short and to the point.

  Elder Yun sighed and said, “Why should I do that? If you are asking about such matters, then you should already know better.”

  Ren’s heart leapt! He had been right. Elder Yun did know something. Now, to pay the price of erasing the karmic debt. He brought out his specially forged array flags and a sketch of a formation. Without a word, he placed them on the table before the elder, who began to examine them. He examined the sketch first. Ren looked on nervously as the elder scrutinized his work with a piercing gaze.

  After a few moments, he looked up and locked eyes with the increasingly anxious young man. Nervous sweat beading his forehead, Ren stayed silent, hoping he wouldn’t be asked for all his spirit stones. He needed that money to obtain a foundation establishment pill, without which he was unsure if he could advance. Losing that wealth now would ruin all his plans. It would set him back by almost a year, too late to participate in the inheritance trial as a foundation establishment realm cultivator. He would be forced to break through without a pill, which had great risks.

  After what seemed like an eternity, Elder Yun Peng nodded. He waved his hand, and from the stairs leading to the upper floors, a book flew and landed before Ren. It had a simple title, Meditations on Karma.

  “Well played, young Ren.”

  Ren was almost shocked that the elder had bothered to remember his name. The relief that his gambit had worked made him break out in a smile.

  “I only thought of what might be of greatest use to Elder and to the sect. This little formation should take care of returning books and jade slips back to their original place. Now there shouldn’t be any need to sort the shelves repeatedly. It has become messier since the last batch of disciples, and new ones should start arriving very soon.”

  “Hah! This formation isn’t worth that much. It will have to be refined by our array masters before we set it up.”

  Ren was a little taken aback. Then was the elder commending him for the idea, or was it something else? Either way, he got what he came for and quickly bowed and thanked the elder.

  “Maybe…” Ren thought as he walked back, the book safely tucked away, “Maybe he was praising me for understanding the karmic principles of debt properly. Did the Elder really remember amongst the hundreds of disciples borrowing scriptures that I was the one who had taken the Causality of Karma?”

  Finally he put away these unanswerable questions and returned to read his book. If he was right, it would take all the time he could spare to understand it before he needed to advance.

  *******************

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  The energy in the sect continued to grow in anticipation of the inheritance trial. There were only 3 months left. Even as Ren had settled once more into a hectic new routine, the other disciples were undergoing frantic struggles of their own. Everyone wanted to gain strength and to participate in this rapidly approaching, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

  Every week there was news about one disciple or the other breaking through to the next realm and ascending to the inner sect. Those who did, needed to stabilize and adjust to their new power. Unfortunately, in their haste, many failed and injured themselves. It would take a few years to recover and attempt it once more. They grew despondent and shut themselves away to heal.

  On the other hand, Ren had been lucky enough to procure a foundation establishment pill despite the increasing demand. One of the seniors for whom he grew spirit herbs was an alchemist. Senior Sister Fan had practiced in the outer sect for many years before she had earned the pill recipe. It made her extremely wealthy, and now that she was ready to advance, she was exchanging her wealth for things more appropriate for the inner sect.

  Being fond of him, she had kindly sold him one for the usual price. Her goodwill even extended to Mei Ling and Bao Hua, whom Ren had brought along. Bao Hua didn’t yet have enough spirit stones, but between Ren and Mei Ling, they could lend him the difference. Ren and Mei Ling were in the 9th layer, and Bao Hua was in the 8th layer. It would only grow more difficult to find one in the future, so they needed to take the plunge and buy them now.

  Those disciples who thought they couldn’t break through in time were heading out of the sect on missions. Their plan was to gather enough achievements to be allowed to participate even as qi gathering disciple. This led to similar recklessness, and many lives were lost. Those who brought back word of their demise spoke of preventable mistakes. But every now and again word of one success would ring through the sect and reinvigorate everyone’s spirits once again.

  Those in similar circumstances as Ren, essentially those who had a good chance of breaking through but weren’t quite there yet, chose to focus on their martial skills while cultivating. Some engaged in spars. With tensions running high, rivalries were sprouting like mushrooms after rain. Just the other day, Ren heard Jian Feng had dueled Mo Ying and brutally defeated him. Word was that it was unlikely for Mo Ying to be able to recover in time. Such news was becoming unfortunately common.

  Others headed to the sect’s mountains to fight the beast waves or find natural treasures. And it was likely one of these who finally stumbled across and challenged Ren’s trial. When one of two markers shattered, Ren knew someone had passed the trial of wind. He had tied the markers to the center of the formation if someone chose to engrave their names. He was enormously thrilled! If he had formed the seed of intent correctly, then there should now be a karmic tie between him and whoever had etched their name and most likely accepted the prize.

  Ren quickly prepared to go take a look and to replace the prize for the next challenger. As he hiked to the cliffs, he began forming a new seed of intent. His understanding of karma had increased greatly since he had received the book, Meditations on Karma. The author used simple language but had a tendency to meander on without a destination in mind. Still, it helped Ren by introducing new avenues of thought.

  To summarize his lessons, karmic connections were created by a perceived imbalance. It was a rudimentary explanation and most definitely incomplete, but it was something he could grasp. The whole thing was still very confusing. No interaction could ever be completely equal, and a connection should be forming with each one. Balancing the debt should take many back-and-forth exchanges. And who determined the degree of imbalance? The answer to most questions, he learned, was perception.

  At first Ren thought it was utterly ridiculous and hypocritical. If an executioner were to kill a criminal when ordered to, then he sinned by taking a life. Yet, if he took a moment to change his own perception, then the resulting karmic connection changed. He wasn’t taking a life, he was only following an order. Then the act either turned into merit or didn’t result in sin.

  Similarly, if an extremely strong cultivator was robbing a weak mortal, it should be a sin. This was actually a well-known fact, which is why cultivators avoided taking mortal lives. But if they chose to look at the interaction not as a robbery but as an exchange, then there was no sin. They took the wealth and, in exchange, left them their lives. Their very perception balanced the debt.

  The greater the difference in their power, the more it favored the perception of the strong. The author even explored this example further. If a cultivator was strong enough to turn heaven and earth upside down and some mortal lives were caught in the fallout of a battle, then they would incur a great sin. Yet, should they choose to look at the situation as them saving the mortals from the suffering of life, then they could maybe lessen or even escape the terrible karmic debt.

  As arbitrary as Ren thought it was, he knew this was the key to cultivating using the Causality of Karma in the foundation establishment realm. He had been exceedingly apprehensive about absorbing karmic sin from the connections he would have to form and had been searching for a way to filter it out. Now his very perception could act as the filter.

  Intent could always be corrupted, and people changed based on the events that occurred in their lives. His seed of intent to create a legacy and leave the world a better place could always be subverted. Yet if he chose, he could sever the connection by forcibly concluding their debt in his eyes. This way he could filter out those who took his legacy and did evil with it.

  Although he wasn’t quite at this stage, his new understanding already improved the quality of the seeds of intent he formed mentally. His new perception of karma already had an effect. Really, these esoteric forces were so fickle!

  At the cliffs, Ren planted another seed at the core of the formation. He took the opportunity to refine his formation to improve its efficiency and reduce the energy cost. Already his initial array appeared full of flaws. It would also slightly improve the quality of the wind leopard flower. He didn’t change the difficulty, as he felt it was a fair challenge, but he did change the warning to add the recommended difficulty of 6th layer and below.

  Once he was done, he looked at the name carved onto the rock but didn’t recognize a Cheng Fu. According to the recorded information, they had chosen to face the wind razor formation with just their body and had defeated it in the time it would take for three sticks of incense to burn. It was also likely they had been in the 6th layer of the qi gathering realm. Knowing that the formation was based on accumulating damage, he praised their toughness.

  As he returned to the sect, he wondered how this new karmic connection, reinforced by the first seed of intent he had formed, would impact his cultivation. He had set up a trial and rewarded the victor. By his own standards, he had followed his dao. While he wasn’t yet cultivating using the connection, he wondered if this would lead to any lucky encounters or inexplicable fortune coming his way.

  So involved was he in his pondering that he almost didn’t see the person standing in front of his courtyard. He finally noticed them as he got closer, and his annoyance that someone was disturbing him despite his request to wait for market days died down in an instant as he recognized the visitor.

  “It’s been a long time, Big Brother!” Said the new young disciple in a jubilant voice.

  Ren struggled to hide the dread in his as he stammered out, “Wha… What are you doing here, Xi Yuan?!”