The blood beast had been guarding a natural treasure. The small cave was lit with a dull red glow from a pool of what looked like blood and two spirit plants with red flowers growing on the shores. There was also a pile of bones on one side from its previous victims.

  Blood-based herbs were often very useful for healing or blood-replenishing pills. This was a fortuitous find that would fetch a high price. Mei Ling began to examine the herbs and the blood pool as Ren started setting up defensive arrays. He had prepared an ample number of array flags for this event and knew the value of a safe place to rest. The arrays would hide their presence and create an illusion of a rock wall so no one could spot the cave entrance. He also prepared an offensive array in case they were attacked. Finally, he laid out qi gathering arrays for Bao Hua.

  Ren had put a lot of thought into how best to use his skills as an formation user. As a qi gathering realm disciple, it had been daunting to create formations mid-combat. As a foundation realm cultivator, he had greater control over the flags and larger qi reserves, but he still required a lot of practice.

  For now, the best way to make the most of this strength was to be able to prepare in advance. If given only a few seconds mid-combat, he was weak. If given a few minutes, he could create opportunities to take advantage of. If given an hour, he was confident he could defeat even those a few cultivation layers above him.

  As he grew stronger, Ren could see himself lay out massive formations during combat that ensnared his opponents so completely they would feel like they had thrown themselves into a net. To win battles without even lifting his sword: that was true strength.

  They quickly settled in and recovered from the day's exertions. Their bodies were indeed strong enough to bear the strain, but the constant vigilance had drained their minds. Bao Hua already appeared rather pale. They decided to stay here and continue exploring with this cave as a temporary base.

  Ren took the respite to pull out his notes on karma and continue his studies. It was one of his biggest priorities to make sure he could keep cultivating with Causality of Karma. In the foundation stage, cultivators would use the qi they had accumulated in their spiritual sea to wash their inner organs and refine them. This would purify and strengthen their body, creating a strong foundation when it came time to condense a core for the next realm.

  According to his chosen cultivation manual, in the foundation establishment realm, he would have to create mental images of strands of karma. These strands were not real karmic threads, as such matters were far beyond the comprehension of little foundation establishment realm cultivators. They were just qi constructs created with willpower, mental imagery, and qi. These strands could then attach to the connections created by the seeds of intent he had sown. There was no specific number he needed, but the more he created, the faster he would grow in power. Ren was in no rush to advance by leaps and bounds and would rather take a cautious approach and carefully manage his karmic connections.

  These karmic strands needed qi to take shape, and once formed, he could no longer access that amount of qi. So each strand he formed was comparable to reducing his reserves. If he formed too many, he would need longer to reach the core formation realm, so he couldn’t be reckless. He also felt the flow of qi through his meridians was closer to complete than ever. He was reassured that he would have a proper cultivation manual to follow very soon. Until then, his qi reserves wouldn’t grow.

  The part where he had to gather qi from his environment was the part he still needed to address. He had compared other cultivation manuals that he bought and their methods to the Causality of Karma. He realized that his method actually gave him a lot of freedom in how to cultivate. The butchered sections of his manual could even work to his favor, as those sections were modular. The sect elders who had made those changes had left these sections as completely independent. Ren could choose to apply them as he wished.

  It was a lot of responsibility to piece together his own cultivation manual, as there was a lot that could go wrong, but Ren was willing to take the risk. Over the months of study and effort he poured into the manual, he felt increasingly confident he could do it. He was almost done with the final steps. All that remained was to finalize how to circulate his qi through the specific meridians. He had already begun experimenting with circulating qi after he stabilized his dantian following his breakthrough.

  As for growing his strength as a karmic cultivator, he had redefined some terms and created a simple layout to follow. The first step was to sow seeds of intent in objects or sentient beings. The objects would serve as connections, but it was the sentient beings that really impacted his cultivation. According to his manual, the karma of each being could be represented by two fires within them. A Fire of Life and a Fire of Achievement/Endeavor.

  When those seeds bloomed, he would be able to sense it and could attach a karmic strand to them to strengthen the connection. The part about Fire of Achievement he renamed to Fire of Merit. It represented the merit achieved by one's actions, an easier concept for him to grasp. From those he was connected to, he would draw an extremely small portion of their Fire of Merit. Those portions or embers should give him a hint if they represented sin or merit. If he began to receive too much negative karma, he could cut that connection by sacrificing his qi construct. The perceived sacrifice should balance the scales. He was too weak currently to do much else.

  The other part, the Fire of Life, represented the summation of a person’s life and could affect the Fire of Merit in strange ways beyond his current understanding. In the final step, he would add their drawn embers to his own Fire of Life, another qi construct he would grow in his dantian. The strange method wouldn’t directly provide him with qi to increase his spiritual sea. It would instead give weight to his existence such that qi would naturally flow into him faster. It wasn’t too clear from the manual what it meant by "weight", so he wouldn’t touch the construct beyond growing it. It was too soon to mess around with it. The Fire of Life that belonged to others was off-limits for the same reason.

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  He had followed his manual and compressed qi into the delicate shape he imagined based on the manual’s description. He still remembered when it first solidified. The ember had caught, the tiny, flaming qi construct hovering above the shallow pool of his spiritual sea in his dantian. It needed no further attention from him after that.

  Over the months leading to his breakthrough, he had chosen to imbue the beneficial plants he grew and sold to disciples he trusted. The ties created would thus have a degree of separation and be more malleable to his perception. He had already created his first karmic strand in preparation and attached it to a karmic connection he felt sure was positive. It would slowly add to his Fire of Life over time. He strictly monitored it to ensure that he wasn’t accepting any sin through it. Now he focused on creating a second strand.

  Once he finished his cultivation session, he got up and looked at his companions. Bao Hua was still cultivating, but Mei Ling looked ready and eager to go explore the subspace. Even Ren was excited at the prospect of finding more treasures, but while they waited for Bao Hua, they would try their best to only scout and avoid battle.

  They left a note for Bao Hua and the master flag through which he could activate the formations. Ren marked the cave's location, and then the pair of them began exploring the mountainside they had only just started to climb.

  “You’re back! Are you well? How was it?” Bao Hua eagerly greeted them when they returned.

  “We are. We only encountered those blood beasts around here but stayed away from them.” Replied Ren wearily. The two of them had disguised their scents using the fruit of a bush they’d found, and its pungent smell kept away the worst dangers. He shared what else they’d discovered.

  “It looks like the subspace is made of concentric rings of mountain ranges. We couldn’t see very far at first, but the haze thinned the higher we went. In the distance we could see the tips of more mountains all circling the inner regions. There are also all kinds of strange plants and trees here.”

  Mei Ling added, “The density of qi also increased the further inward we went. And those blood beasts aren’t the only threats out there. I saw another two-legged creature with blade-like arms. It looks like the elders were right, and it will only get more dangerous the further we go. We also saw a few other disciples but stayed away.”

  The dangers weren’t just restricted to the natives of the subspace. Although it was too early for anyone to begin robbing others, it was best to avoid looking like tempting targets.

  "Oh, and the mountain range we are currently in is abundant with caves. Zhao Ren thinks if those caves are anything like this one, we should be exploring them.”

  “Do you think you’ll be ready to fight soon?” Ren inquired.

  “Just give me a week and I’ll be completely ready. But don’t just wait for me. You two are enough to clear out a few beasts together. This place is safe enough with all your arrays.”

  Ren and Mei Ling exchanged a glance and agreed with a shrug. He was right. They could earn some easy rewards in these outer mountains and only head further in once Bao Hua was ready. The plan decided, they rested for a short while and then headed back out.

  “Awooo!” The beast yowled painfully. It was larger than most other blood beasts, but it had no recourse left, as it was trapped in the formation a short distance from its cave.

  Mei Ling, who had baited it out and led it into Ren’s trap, turned and began raining blows down on it. Ren controlled the formation to cut away any avenue for escape. The grasping thorn and clinging burr wood entanglement formation was a nasty trap that simultaneously restricted and hurt the target. It was a strain, but Ren’s rough control was sufficient. It had proved the best to hunt the blood beasts with. Thin vines with sharp thorns would cling to the beast’s fur and pierce through flesh. Ren also took advantage of the beast's instinct to protect their eyes and sealed their movements with a single vine over its face. They had already felled dozens of beasts in this manner over the past few days.

  Each battle had brought valuable experience, and the two wily cultivators quickly found the most efficient methods to hunt. They had cleared out many caves but weren’t always rewarded for the effort. The blood pools turned out to be uncommon and had so far only appeared twice since. The blood cores were a fine consolation, but the herbs growing in those pools were undoubtedly better. Mei Ling thought those blood pools were a resource unique to this subspace and was experimenting with the one in their base.

  Still, Ren had a good feeling about this cave. They had travelled quite high up the mountain to encounter it. Soon enough, the beast succumbed to its many wounds, and its core was harvested with practiced movements. After catching their breath, the pair of them headed in. The dim red glow they observed brought a thrill of anticipation, and soon they caught sight of the blood pool. Only this time it wasn’t the red flowers on the shore but 3 pure white lotuses with a dark red center. They exchanged delighted glances. At this range, they could sense the abundant qi flowing around the flowers.

  This cave was different from the others. The blood pool was larger and was lit by a ray of red light piercing through an opening near the ceiling. As they approached hesitantly, the enchanting aroma started to overwhelm their senses. Fortunately they weren’t so easily mesmerized and were on their guard when a snapping fish leaped out at them.

  The fish was almost as tall as Mei Ling with razor-sharp teeth, and it flew with great speed at the thieves trying to steal its treasure. The two dodged and struck out with their blades. Once its initial ambush failed, it was helpless to defend against them.

  Ren quickly harvested it for its flesh. The blood beasts had been edible but smelled bad no matter how Ren prepared the meat. Not wanting to waste their precious preserved rations, they had choked down the meals so far. He was eager to see if the fish would serve as a better alternative.

  “Why do you look more excited by the fish than those lotuses?” Remarked Mei Ling, exasperated. “Quickly, come help harvest them. These flowers should be very potent if they have been filtering out the impure essence from these blood pools. The roots should be valuable too.”

  Ren quickly packed away his precious fish and helped his friend. The shockingly long stems revealed the depth of the pool. The lotuses also yielded small blood-red seeds, which contained the highest concentration of qi. The thick roots were likely very poisonous, holding all the impurities. They placed them delicately in boxes they had prepared in advance.

  It was times like this that Ren lamented they didn’t have spatial pouches, having spent all their savings on the foundation establishment pills. They could have saved up if they only had a little time! A spatial pouch was incomparably convenient, capable of storing things in a subspace such that you didn't even feel the weight of the items in it. They had to carry these boxes back to their base, working like draft horses. If they had to abandon camp in a hurry, they would only be able to carry away a portion of their treasures.

  They started heading back, hefting their stuffed packs. Just then, a short distance below them, they heard a loud explosion as a cultivator flew out of a cave, a large blood beast close on his trail! Before they had time to react, the cultivator changed directions. The beast pursued him in a frenzy, right towards them!