Ren woke, squinting his eyes at the sun high above. That very instant he became aware of the overpowering stench that burned through his nostrils. He jumped to his feet only to double over from the ache of his body. He finally identified the foul stench as that of impurities purged from his body. Only this time, there was no handy formation to wipe it away. He had fallen and lain in the filth of his breakthrough all night long.

  His stomach heaved, and he ran to wash himself. As he scrubbed himself, the clean skin below the black gunk revealed itself. As a young master, he had always been fair, and his skin was clear, but he marveled at how it almost glowed like jade now. The pungent stench soon reasserted itself, and he resumed washing.

  Ren felt an intense relief once clean. He said to himself, “After lying in that all night long, I was afraid I would smell for days.” Then he shut his mouth in fear that the gunk would find its way in there.

  There was absolutely no hope for his clothes. He would have to get rid of them. Finally feeling refreshed and awake, he reflected on the incident of last night.

  “That was a true natural epiphany!” Ren said in amazement. He had always been told those were as rare as phoenix feathers or qilin horns and could never be forced. He had broken through to the 3rd layer of the qi gathering realm, and what’s more, in just over a week after his 2nd breakthrough. He was also halfway to the 4th.

  The speed was scarily fast, giving him doubts if it had left his foundations unstable, but he discarded that thought after a moment. A natural epiphany shouldn’t cause such problems. In fact, it should actually stabilize them further.

  And what an epiphany it was! It seemed his chosen path was one filled with thorns. The most obvious and immediate obstacle in leaving a legacy, was to first have or make something worth leaving behind! If he gave away all his wealth, how would he ever gain the strength to climb to higher realms? Furthermore, if he never got stronger, he couldn't find or make greater treasures to give away. He was getting a headache.

  Then Ren remembered the key that had started it all. Karma. That manual, “Causality of Karma,” would hopefully have the answers to his predicament. Little was known about Karma, but the rumor was only the most powerful cultivators chose to dabble in Karmic powers. He didn’t dare to imagine if he could wield it at this stage, just hope that it worked in his favor. Then he remembered the cost of the manual: 100 contribution points. It would be a long while before he would get his hands on it, but it was not unattainable.

  Despite all the trouble Ren was volunteering to heap on himself, he felt better than he ever had. Now that his hidden desire was clear to him, the burden that had weighed so heavily on him because of his family's expectation was lifted. He had never been very materialistic, and now that even the heavens approved of his path to give away his wealth to the worthy, he felt unbound. He felt light as a feather, ready to float away free on a breeze.

  Despite wanting to spend his day lounging around in celebration, Ren remembered he had somewhere to be. He hurriedly put on some spare clothes and rushed to the hall of scripture. He was already late to his self-appointed task on just the second day! The elder was there as usual but thankfully didn’t bat an eye at his late arrival. Ren just kept his mouth shut and began rearranging the scrolls.

  Leaving early, Ren headed to the limited market. He aimed to make his simple home more hospitable. He found a large store selling everyday items and, with 1 of his 4 spirit stones, bought spare robes, a small tea set, two packets of tea, and some more basic furniture.

  Cultivators were encouraged to live frugally and either make or gather things on their own. At the same time, etiquettes of hospitality, gift-giving, and such were highly valued. Ren didn’t usually spare too much thought about it, but he had keenly felt his shortcomings at managing a home. He was responsible for himself.

  He also looked for shops selling spirit beasts but found none. They were mostly sold by independent disciples and usually only on market day. Spirit beast fertilizer would have to wait. He wasn’t even sure he could afford it anyway.

  As Ren walked around the market, hoisting all the goods he had purchased, he couldn’t help but feel elated. He almost felt giddy as he remembered once again how he had found his own approach to cultivation. It was not without its difficulties, but it surely was more honorable to leave the world better than he found it. Creation was harder than destruction, and he was both proud and excited to see where such a challenging path would take him.

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  Breaking through to the 3rd layer was also worth celebrating, and he thought of Hua. He decided to buy two pots of spirit rice wine and some preserved side dishes with another spirit stone.

  Laden with his purchases, he awkwardly carried them home, trying especially hard not to drop the wine. It was getting close to dinnertime anyway, so he took over the two pots of wine, walked to the next courtyard, and knocked at Bao Hua’s door. He was greeted by a puffing Hua with rice straw stuck in his hair.

  “You came at the right time, Brother Ren. I had just finished threshing the spirit rice.”

  “I’m sorry I couldn’t come sooner to celebrate your breakthrough. I will drink the first cup in apology.” He grinned, showing the two pots.

  Hua laughed and said, “Let’s not forget you winning the teachers prize! We have many reasons to celebrate! Let me get some meat to cook. We’ll have a feast!”

  “In honor of your ascension to the ranks of cultivators, cheers!”

  The wine tasted amazing and warmed their bellies. They enjoyed a few more cups as the meat was prepared. Ren lit the fire to help. Then a few more cups were downed. They were young men and had tasted regular wine before, but neither of them was prepared for spirit wine. It affected them strongly despite their newly reinforced constitutions. They were already getting rowdy as the aroma of roasting meat wafted through the air.

  Then Ren realized he’d forgotten the side dishes he had bought for the wine and ran back. As he was running back, a huge grin pasted across his face, balancing multiple pots of side dishes, he passed Jian Feng heading to his own courtyard. He was covered in dirt and blood and was hauling what looked like a large boar.

  Ren spared a thought to how he might appear to someone clearly returning from an arduous hunt. A silk pants smelling of booze and running wild with no sense of dignity. But the spirit wine gave him the unprecedented courage to ignore his appearance and return to his celebrations. He was almost out of earshot when he thought he heard a whispered “Lunatic!” on the wind. He resolutely ignored that too.

  “Where were you?! The meat’s almost ready!”

  “How many apology cups are you going to make me drink?! I have to work tomorrow! This spirit wine will affect even hardy cultivators.” Ren laughed.

  Ren shared his news, the task he had taken sorting scriptures, and the interesting teacher at the formations class.

  Bao Hua talked about finding a decent manual by following Ren’s lead and bribing the elder for a cultivation manual. The Heavenly Sword Scripture had been suggested to him, the standard cultivation manual of the sect. However, for his offering of spirit stones, the elder had advised him to focus on wood attribute techniques.

  Hua hadn’t yet joined a new class, as he was thinking about what crafting skills to learn. When he asked for Ren’s advice, Ren had to focus through the haze of the alcohol. Possessing spirit roots of all attributes except metal, forging wasn’t a good idea for Hua. He could do pretty much anything else.

  Bao Hua could raise plants, focus on healing techniques, formations, or talisman making, or countless other cultivator professions. But having been newly exposed to a bunch of techniques, or at least their introductions, Ren knew that many crafts used multiple types or even ignored the favored element.

  Ren told Hua as much. By now, one pot was emptied and they were well into the second one. The two were swaying as they enjoyed the side dishes.

  “Instead of focushing on what you might be good at, …urp, how about doing what you want to do? Why forshe fate?!”

  “That’s very whyshe… Whize…. Smart!” Hua declared.

  “Thash right. Would I steer you left? I mean wrong.” Ren nodded sagely.

  “Ah, young mashter forgive me for… umm… doubting your grateness!”

  “What’sh to forgive? You’re my only brother!”

  “Let me tell you, I have 5 brothers…” Hua trailed off for a moment, then roared, “But you’re my favorite!”

  “Wahahahah” x2

  The sounds of boisterous revelry and brotherly bonding drifted over quite a distance, disturbing many a neighbor. Not to mention just two courtyards over, another young master’s exhaustion was battling his rage as he struggled to sleep.

  Ren woke, squinting his eyes at the sun high above for the second day in a row. It took him a few seconds to even recall where he was through the pounding headache. He looked around and almost fell when he realized he was draped over the side of the courtyard wall.

  He slowly climbed down, wincing at every movement. Looking around for Hua, Ren found him tangled in the limbs of a tree. Fragments of memory pierced through the headache about being unable to find the door to leave last night.

  “Did Hua climb the tree in solidarity when I got stuck trying to climb over the wall?” He rasped through a very dry mouth.

  “Don’t I have to be somewhere?” The headache was making his thoughts slow to a crawl. Then it struck. In a panic, he shouted a quick farewell to the still dead asleep Hua, stumbled to his own courtyard to change clothes and drink water, and rushed to the scripture hall. He was late for the second day in a row! This time, even the normally uncaring elder raised an eyebrow at him.

  Ren’s ears burned in shame as he mumbled an apology and got to work while fighting against the headache.