Yes! His new technique was the perfect complement to the rest of his combat build, and he¡¯d bought it just in time, too. At the edges of his spiritual senses, rank one spirit beasts started appearing.
The beast tide had begun.
Chapter 137 – First Blood
Ye Zan stared over the village wall at the forest surrounding it. There was no sign of any beasts yet. Not that he expected to see any. Master had said it would be at least two hours before the first ones arrived and that was almost an hour ago.
Villagers and sect members were still slowly making their way to their assigned positions. Which frustrated Ye Zan more than a little. He got that most of them weren¡¯t any type of soldier, but he would have preferred to have everyone rush to their spots.
Master had ordered that there be no sense of urgency, though. Instead, he wanted a calm and organized stream of people taking their positions. It was a marathon, not a sprint.
Of course, none of them had any idea what a marathon was, but the meaning was easy to guess from the context. The tide would not last minutes or even hours, but days.
All their plans took that timeline into account. The personnel were all arranged in shifts. Manning the wall outside of when one was designated to do so was subject to punishment. Additionally, the twins and Senior Sister Kang Lin were not allowed to do so much as launch a single attack on any creature lower than rank four unless it was to directly save someone¡¯s life.
Every person in a leadership position was to exude confidence and admonish those around them to keep calm and do their job. The message for the troops was that, if everyone pulled together, there was nothing to worry about.
Ye Zan was having a hard time believing that idea. He¡¯d heard tales of beast tides but not firsthand accounts because he¡¯d never met anyone who¡¯d survived. Instead, he¡¯d heard stories from those whose friends had died in one.
Of course, before meeting Master, Ye Zan hadn¡¯t spent much time around cultivators. He suspected that the survivability of a mortal during such an event differed greatly from even a low ranked Qi Gathering practitioner.
Turning his attention to the plaza, he saw that Jin LiJuan had arrived. He hopped down to make sure she was doing okay.
She cupped her hands when she saw him. ¡°Greetings, Senior Brother.¡±
After returning her greeting, he said, ¡°Do you have any questions or need anything, Junior Sister? Master has given you an important responsibility.¡±
At least, Ye Zan hoped feeding coins to the barrier was an important responsibility. If it turned out not to be one, that meant the shield didn¡¯t work, and that they were all likely to die sooner rather than later.
¡°No questions, Senior Brother. I will do my duty no matter what.¡±
The intensity of the girl¡¯s response was enough that he believed her determination.
Ye Zan had asked around about her and discovered that, not only had she been orphaned by spirit beasts, but she¡¯d watched it happen and come close to dying herself. He couldn¡¯t even imagine what experiencing such an event must have done to the child.
He glanced at the coin slot Master had commissioned for the barrier. Five full spirit coins rested on it. The one resting atop the core hadn¡¯t been drained at all yet.
Not for the first time, Ye Zan wished they had been able to capture a spirit beast to throw at the shield. Pretty much their entire defense rested on the barrier working, and it had never even been tested.
Well, they¡¯d find out one way or the other in about an hour.
He sighed. Master had created it, though, and it was hard to imagine Master failing at anything.
Despite that confidence, doubt lingered. It was hard to trust fully when lives were on the line.
¡°You have all your coins?¡± he said.
Jin LiJuan patted a bag tied to her waist.
¡°Good,¡± he said. ¡°I assigned Huang Yimun to protect you, and once he heard about how crucial your job is, Pan Jiang volunteered to help as well. So, you¡¯ve got a sword and a spear focused solely on making sure you¡¯re safe. Additionally, every person nearby knows to defend you ahead of anything or anyone else, and I will personally guard your mission with my life.¡±
¡°Gratitude, Senior Brother.¡±
Having assured himself that the girl was ready, he moved on to his next task. Somehow, he¡¯d ended up in overall command of the entire defense even though a few of the village guards were much more experienced and Guang Yin had been a cultivator longer than Ye Zan had been alive. Regardless of ill equipped he felt for the position, he would perform it to the best of his ability.
It was important for a commander to be seen by the troops before an imminent battle, so he began making a loop around the inside of the wall, checking preparations. The sect¡¯s three Foundation Establishment cultivators were spread out equidistant from each other with strict instructions on where and how to respond if the gong or whistles were used. Likewise, Master¡¯s special arrows were in the hands of scores of archers who understood exactly how they were to be used.
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The attitude of the troops was a mixture of much excitement and a little nervousness. Which was much better than Ye Zan had expected. He supposed that everyone¡¯s supreme confidence in Master¡¯s ability to pull them through any situation blunted their concerns about what they were about to face.
Well, their confidence in Master combined with a startling ignorance for what was about to happen blunted potential concerns, anyway.
Honestly, if even half the people inside the village lived to see another day, Ye Zan would count it as a win.
Of course, if the barrier worked as it should and it didn¡¯t drain so much qi that they ran out of coins, his estimate would probably turn out to be quite pessimistic. There was no way to know in advance, however.
Better to be prepared for the worst and have the best occur than the other way around.
As he slowly circled the inside of the village, he made sure to call out to people he knew and offer encouraging words to those he didn¡¯t. One of the old soldiers he¡¯d met had stressed the importance of morale and how such small gestures like a normal, friendly interaction could have a huge positive impact.
The man Ye Zan encouraged this morning might be the man who saved his life in the evening.
He stopped for a few minutes to chat with Yang Ru or, at least, to chat at the taciturn young man before moving on, doing the same with Yang Xiu and, more awkwardly, with Kang Lin, who Ye Zan didn¡¯t know very well.
By the time he made it back to the gate, most of the hour had blown past. He took his position on the allure and watched for any sign of beasts.
He didn¡¯t have to wait long.
Not ten minutes later, Master appeared next to Ye Zan, stepping from nowhere to land on the small wood walkway.
¡°Can you see the bushes moving in the distance?¡± Master said.
Ye Zan shook his head.
¡°There getting close, thousands of rank ones. My guess is they¡¯ll spread out and surround the village. If they do, keep the current plan. If not, we can call more reinforcements to the gate and just leave a skeleton crew elsewhere.¡±
¡°Yes, Master.¡±
¡°Few of our archers will be able to hit with each arrow, much less kill with each. We¡¯ve discussed how important it is to conserve ammunition. Do you have any concerns on that front?¡±
¡°No, Master. My men are spread out around the wall, and their first job is making sure that the archers wait until spirit beasts are in range and aim carefully before loosing.¡±
¡°Good.¡±
Master¡¯s eyes moved up toward the sky. ¡°Ah. Perfect.¡±
¡°What is it, Master?¡±
¡°A rank one bird¡ªa hawk, I believe¡ªjumping the gun a bit.¡±
¡°I¡¯ll have our best archer shoot it out of the sky, Master!¡±
¡°Why would you do that?¡±
Ye Zan was flummoxed by the question. ¡°Because we¡¯re supposed to kill the spirit beasts, aren¡¯t we, Master?¡±
¡°Okay. There is that. But I thought you wanted to test the shield?¡±
Ye Zan felt like an idiot. Of course, a single rank one flying beast would be the perfect test.
¡°Bird incoming!¡± he yelled. ¡°Bird incoming. Stand down! Stand down. Let it impact the barrier.¡±
There were close to five hundred people taking the first shift guarding the wall, and about forty of them were close enough to the gate to watch. At least eighty eyes were glued to the feathered menace as it approached.
Closer and closer it flew, and soon, even Ye Zan¡¯s relatively unenhanced eyes made out details of the approaching creature. With a wingspan of eight or nine feet, it wasn¡¯t much bigger than a mortal hawk. Honestly, at least half the people stationed near the gate would have no problems killing it one on one.
Like Master said, it was the perfect test. Even if it crashed through the barrier, the guards would make quick work of it.
Ye Zan wasn¡¯t worried at all until the precise moment it took aim at Jin LiJuan. ¡°Master¡¡±
¡°That bag of spirit coins is a more tempting target than anyone here. After the test, I¡¯ll have her leave it on the ground nearby instead of tying it to her waist.¡±
¡°Shouldn¡¯t we protect her, Master? She¡¯s not exactly a fighter.¡±
¡°One, she¡¯ll be fine with just the shield protecting her. Two, let¡¯s assume the bird penetrates like there¡¯s nothing blocking it but air. Do you really think I¡¯m not fast enough to kill it before it gets to her?¡±
Since becoming a cultivator, Ye Zan¡¯s physical abilities had increased with each minor realm of Spiritual and Body Cultivation. He was faster, stronger, and tougher than any mortal could possibly be, able to react to attacks in a tiny fraction of a second.
Senior Brother Yang Ru was even more impressive. The things that young man could do were truly superhuman.
Nothing anyone in the village could do could begin to compare with Master, though. In the heat of the moment, Ye Zan had forgotten that fact.
¡°No, Master. Apologies, Master.¡±
The bird began its descent, heading straight for Jin LiJuan. The girl watched it, unmoving and apparently not scared at all. If anything, she seemed mad that it would dare attack her.
Ye Zan shivered. That girl was too intense.
Down, down, down, the hawk swooped, its claws spread and ready to snatch the little girl up.
Until suddenly, the bird was no longer descending.
A patch of air above the village glowed brown for an instant, and the bird bounced back, stunned. It fell to the ground outside the wall.
¡°Pan Jiang,¡± Master called. ¡°If you can jump quickly enough, you get first blood.¡±
The boy¡¯s eyes lit up. He leaped over the wall and landed lightly on the other side. A swipe of his sword decapitated the hawk.
As the boy snatched up the body, Ye Zan wondered about the choice to have the Poison Claw Sect member make the kill. It was probably because of complex political considerations. An allied sect had sent reinforcements. Best to keep them happy.
Smart.
Pan Jiang leaped back over the wall and landed next to Jin LiJuan.
Ye Zan and Master hopped down next to them. The spirit coin next to the core had a barely perceptible sliver missing from its bottom but was otherwise intact. Really barely perceptible. If Ye Zan hadn¡¯t been looking at it closely, he wouldn¡¯t have realized any of it was missing.
¡°Well, let¡¯s see how we did,¡± Master said. ¡°Detects and prevents entry from spirit beasts¡ªcheck. Minimal qi usage¡ªcheck. I¡¯d say it works.¡±
¡°Agreed, Master,¡± Ye Zan said. ¡°Gratitude.¡±
Now, if only the rest of the beast tide would go as well, maybe they¡¯d all make it through alive.
Chapter 138 – Waxing Tide
Benton felt pretty good about himself. His barrier worked perfectly, and the morale of all the villagers and the sect members defending the wall seemed to be high.
Pan Jiang, in particular, was grinning like the proverbial cat who¡¯d ate the canary. Though Benton had chosen the kid as the one to draw first blood on a whim, it was a good call. The boy had volunteered for a tough job that wasn¡¯t likely to lead to as much personal glory as the defenders who were designated for cleanup duty outside the wall.
He was really shaping up to be a fine young man and deserved the honor.
Benton patted Jin LiJuan on the head. ¡°I¡¯m proud of you, Li¡¯er. If you stay as brave in the hours and perhaps days ahead as you were just now, we¡¯ll come through this just fine.¡±
¡°Yes, Master.¡±
Though the girl gave no exterior reaction other than her words, he got the sense that she appreciated his praise. The girl really was intense.
He reached out with his spiritual sense. The beasts were growing closer.
¡°Ye Zan,¡± Benton said, ¡°we¡¯ve got less than a quarter hour before the fight starts. Might want to send word.¡±
¡°Yes, Master.¡±
Ten minutes passed both very slowly and extremely quickly as everyone grew tense waiting for the beasts to come into view. Eventually, though, the first ones appeared.
A large herd, mostly composed of small animals like squirrels and rabbits and rats, emerged from the forest. Per Benton¡¯s spiritual sense, they were all rank ones, and there were literally too many of them to count. Definitely more than a thousand but probably less than five thousand.
They sprinted full speed toward the village wall. Even with all his enhancements and power, seeing the mass of fur and claws was more than a little disconcerting. He couldn¡¯t imagine how the newly inducted sect members or especially the mortal villagers must feel.
Contrary to Benton¡¯s expectations, arrows didn¡¯t immediately begin to fly. Instead, archers waited for the horde to draw within twenty to thirty yards. At that range and given the concentration of targets, it was impossible for them to miss.
With how spread out the defenders were, there was no massed volley of arrows, but the rate of fire was quick and consistent. All hit something, and many led to kills.
There were a lot more beasts than arrows, though.
The tide reached the wall, and the frenzied beasts didn¡¯t even slow. Life was snuffed out by the dozens at the bottom of the pile as the churning mass scrambled to find purchase to penetrate or climb the wall.
Alas for them, the alchemically treated Orange Vigor Spirit Wood was simply too strong for a mere rank one beast to gain even a toehold. Many a squirrel leaped up only to slide right back down, landing on the creatures below it.
Some of the presumably smarter beasts avoided the scrum and circled to the left or to the right, trying to find another way in. Given the low numbers, Benton suspected that those would soon find their end at the point of an arrow as the defenders far from the gate did not have the plethora of targets their fellows did.
¡°Ye Zan,¡± Benton said, ¡°I don¡¯t think we¡¯re going to get many leakers.¡±
¡°Yes, Master.¡±
The guard pulled out a whistle and the gong. He blew one really long blast from the whistle, paused, and blew one long, one short, one long, five shorts, and then rang the gong¡¯s tone for the gate.
Benton mentally translated the message. The first blow signaled for everyone to listen, and the long-short-long indicated that the subject of the directive was melee-oriented fighters. Five shorts indicated for half, fifty percent, of those melee fighters to reposition themselves, and the gong gave the location.
Ye Zan paused for a moment before again blowing a really long blast, followed by one long, two shorts, one long, and three shorts. Again, the action was followed by ringing the gong¡¯s tone for the gate.
That sequence ordered thirty percent of the archers to head to the gate.
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While the defenders already near the scrum at the bottom of the wall kept pouring arrows into it and reinforcements were on their way, the beasts weren¡¯t having much luck. Their strategy, if one could call it that, was to make the pile higher and higher, attempting, presumably, to top the wall.
The good thing was that, since they were thus far only trying to penetrate the wall, they weren¡¯t even drawing any qi from the barrier yet. That would change once they got to the top.
Sure enough, eventually, the heap of animals grew tall enough that some of the beasts could jump and reach the top of the wood. It didn¡¯t do them any good, of course, since the shield simply repelled them. Even worse for them, spear wielders were ready and waiting, and their weapons had no problems penetrating the barrier. Almost every beast that rose above the top of the battlements ended up dying.
The battle went on like that for a while. The tower of creatures crested the wall, but the shield held. More and more of the reinforcements got into position, and scores of beasts died.
Considering that there were thousands of them, though, it would take a long time at that rate to finish off all the invaders.
Benton jumped down to check the draw on the barrier. ¡°How are we doing, Jin LiJuan?¡±
¡°We¡¯ve used about half a coin so far, Master.¡±
That was a very reasonable rate of absorption. He¡¯d been a little afraid that the early waves might use up enough qi to make them run low for the later ones, but so far, that fear wasn¡¯t coming to pass.
He leaped back up to his position on the allure.
¡°Ye Zan, you have permission to trigger phase two when ready.¡±
The guard captain blew a long whistle blast to get everyone¡¯s attention before blowing three long, three short, and three long.
The sect had forty members, not counting Zou Tian and the twins, who had reached the peak of Bronze Body Cultivation. Forty more had reached minor realm seven. Of those, half were on duty, and just under half of those were archers, meaning that about twenty-five defenders were spear wielders who were judged to have high enough toughness that rank one spirit beasts would be highly unlikely to be able to hurt them.
All the drills Ye Zan conducted over the last couple of weeks apparently worked because those twenty-five sect members leaped over the wall before the last blast from the whistle fully finished sounding.
For the ones nearest the gate, the huge scrum of beasts turned their attention to them, and each of the spear wielders quickly became overwhelmed with rats and squirrels and all manner of small beasts climbing their robes and trying to bite and claw them.
There was a reason that only those with high Body Cultivation were chosen, though. Their skin was simply too tough for such small, low rank creatures to do much damage.
Sure, they¡¯d end up with cuts and scratches, but most wouldn¡¯t even need a minor Healing Pill¡ªor Benton¡¯s Healing technique¡ªand no one¡¯s life should be in danger.
Still, it was frustrating for Benton to watch. He could have ended the entire first wave with a couple of well-placed void spheres. But that would have taught his sect members nothing.
As the System had recently reminded him, he was meant to lean into the role of sect leader, not that of an almighty overpowered cultivator. Sure, he would fight when he had to, but his primary goal was to advance his disciples, not to accomplish all the jobs himself. And the fight should be a big benefit to all who participated. There was nothing like facing real danger to spur advancement.
Besides, the only way to end the tide was for him to face the Big Boss, which meant leaving his sect members to their own devices. Every advancement and every bit of experience they gained under his watchful eyes made it that much more unlikely they¡¯d be seriously hurt once he left to complete his mission.
Benton chuckled to himself. If he was having such a hard time not intervening, how much more frustrating must it be for his three Foundation Establishment cultivators who he¡¯d forbidden from engaging until the rank fours arrived?
He was pretty sure he knew what was going through the minds of the twins at the moment, but Kang Lin was a bit more of a mystery.
Yang Xiu¡¯s spiritual sense detected a huge mass of spirit beasts near the gate. A huge mass. More at one time than she¡¯d seen combined in all the hunting she¡¯d done.
In contrast, she¡¯d seen less than a dozen arrive at her position, and all those had been killed by people other than her.
Because she wasn¡¯t even allowed to pull her bow out of her spatial ring unless someone¡¯s life was in danger. So frustrating.
Twang.
Another beast killed and not by her.
Twang.
She gritted her teeth.
Yang Ru watched as the archers shot the lowly rank one spirit beasts. He kept his eyes open just in case any of the creatures somehow endangered one of the defenders but, otherwise, rested and kept calm.
All was as it should be. Those who had only the ability to attack low ranked spirit beasts were doing their job.
Later, it would be his time to shine.
Kang Lin bounced between eagerness and nervousness. On one hand, it was exciting to be a part of a beast tide. Such events were the topics of legends. More than one cultivator had made their name during a beast tide.
She felt fortunate to be included.
On the other hand, the ability to stand out came from facing extreme danger, and she knew her limits. She could solo a rank four. Well, maybe a five if the matchup were favorable. Against multiple of rank fours or against a higher rank, she had no chance.
Sure, she and Yang Xiu together could fight a few, and Yang Ru could solo a single rank six. But they were likely to face much greater quantities.
Master had his own fight, and without him guarding the three of them, it was possible, even probable, that one or more of the trio would die this day.
If she hadn¡¯t accepted Chao Su as her Master, she¡¯d seriously be considering whether or not it was too dangerous to remain in the village once he left to fight, as he called it, the Big Boss. As it was, however, she could not in good conscience leave. Whatever happened, she would face it.
Chapter 139 – Many a Slip
Zou Tian danced around the edges of the pile of spirit beasts, his dagger flashing as he killed a creature with every strike.
The rest of the sect members he¡¯d exited the village with were all inundated by the creatures, but his Hide Presence technique left him undetectable until the moment he struck and then only to the beast his dagger stabbed. Since it inevitably died immediately, he stayed effectively invisible.
At first, he¡¯d been worried for his associates who were literally covered in beasts, but no screams of pain accompanied them being attacked, though a few did seem more than a little disconcerted by the sheer quantity of foes overwhelming them. The best thing Zou Tian could do to help was to thin the herd as fast as he could.
Which was pretty darn fast. His daggers flashed, killing beast after beast.
On the other hand, there were just so many of the creatures. In a minute, he stabbed more than a score and added at least that many as every additional minute passed.
At the same time, arrows rained down into the center of the pile, avoiding the edges where Zou Tian and the others attacked. Even with all that offensive might on display, it barely seemed like they made any progress.
Slowly, slowly, slowly, though, the pile¡¯s churning slowed as corpses first began to equal and then outnumber the live beasts.
He was tired and breathing heavily when Ye Zan blew the whistle allowing the rest of the melee fighters out of the gate to finish off the few hundred spirit beasts that still lived.
Zou Tian stepped back, allowing the fresh troops to close on the pile. He remained wary, though, ready to defend the others at need.
That assistance was not required, though, as the operation overall went really smoothly. The newcomers quickly stabbed any creature that moved, ending the wave.
Yang Xiu¡¯s ears perked up at the sound of two long sharp blasts of the whistle, followed by a strike of the gong. Finally, she could at least begin to contribute something to the fight. She sprinted to the main gate and leaped over the wall.
Killing still wasn¡¯t on the agenda, obviously, as all the beasts were already dead. No, her job was to accomplish something that only three other people in the entire village could do¡ªuse a spatial ring.
Kang Lin and Yang Ru weren¡¯t far behind her, but she¡¯d scooped up several corpses into one of the three spare rings Master had assigned to her before they arrived.
The rings he¡¯d purchased at the Poison Claw Sect weren¡¯t nearly as good as the one he wore. All he had to do to store something inside his was to have the ring be in the general vicinity of an item and issue it a mental command.
Yang Xiu and the others had to physically touch the item they wanted to store, and even then, it wouldn¡¯t move unless it was completely unobstructed, meaning she had to actually put her finger on a bloody corpse to move it into the ring. Sometimes, though, nothing happened, which meant a part of another corpse was on top of it. In those cases, she had to move the obstruction before the valuable materials could be stored.
That process was even more complicated when there was an arrow penetrating the body as those were needed for reuse and therefore being gathered by others. So, she had to first remove the arrow, a tedious and messy procedure.
Her job wasn¡¯t anything glamorous, but at least she was finally contributing.
Peng Hanying was so excited. He was finally allowed to do something to help the sect. Since expensive resources had been consumed to increase the rank of his spiritual roots in the hopes of him one day being able to use a powerful qi aspect, he¡¯d felt there was a huge debt between him and the sect, and the only way so far for him to begin paying it down was cultivating. But how could he consider advancing his cultivation to be a true repayment when the progress helped him more than it helped the sect?
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Today, though, he was accomplishing something, albeit small, that truly did benefit his fellow sect members and Master¡ªPeng Hanying was picking up arrows that had been shot at spirit beasts.
For each, he carefully examined the arrow and put it in one of three piles. The first pile was for the relatively pristine ones that could immediately be re-used. Into the second went slightly damaged arrows, ones needing a new fletching or that had a damaged tip, etc. Those were to be sent to the fletchers for repair. The final pile was for those too damaged to even be re-used. Those would also be sent to the fletchers just in case some part of it could be cannibalized to repair another arrow.
The work wasn¡¯t glamorous or dangerous¡ªall the spirit beasts were confirmed dead by Master before the last wave of defenders were allowed outside the wall¡ªbut it was important. Thousands of arrows had already been used, and only the first wave was finished. If those weren¡¯t recovered, the defenders would surely run out.
Peng Hanying smiled. It felt good to repay a tiny portion of his debt.
Benton kept his spiritual sense active, alternately scanning both far from the village and close to it the entire time the most junior of his sect members and the purely mortal villagers were outside combing the area for arrows. Though he fully expected all the spirit beasts to move in waves according to their rank, it wasn¡¯t impossible that a high ranked one might appear and attack ahead of time, and it wouldn¡¯t do for the relatively defenseless defenders to be caught unaware.
Thus, as soon as a mass of rank twos moved into range, he knew it.
¡°Ye Zan,¡± Benton said. ¡°Second wave.¡±
The guard captain immediately blew the signal¡ªone long blast to get everyone¡¯s attention followed by five short, one long, and five more short blasts. All those outside the wall dropped what they were doing as soon as the fourth of the first set of five short blasts were sounded.
Literally dropped. Any arrow not already in a pile hit the ground, and the workers quickly gathered up those that were organized in stacks before running back toward the gate.
Even the three Foundation Establishment cultivators exercised good discipline even though they were unlikely to be harmed even if they were caught out by the next wave. Each of the three stopped storing beasts and instead moved to get between the beasts¡¯ likely point of exit from the forest and the workers.
Ye Zan¡¯s drills were more effective than Benton thought they would be.
Of course, the speed and concern of the defenders were seriously overblown, considering the circumstances. The rank twos were definitely faster than the rank ones, but he didn¡¯t expect them to arrive immediately. It had taken the first wave a couple of hours after entering sensing range to show up at the wall.
The next wave would probably take somewhere in the neighborhood of half that, which gave plenty of time to get everyone to safety.
Still, it was better to be safe than sorry. Being caught up outside the wall when the beasts arrived would be a Bad Thing, and even if speed evacuating back to the village wasn¡¯t important at the moment, it definitely would be for future waves. Rank fours could cover the same distance much quicker, perhaps justifying the defender¡¯s haste. Rank fives¡
Well, speed was definitely a Good Thing for the later waves, if anyone besides the Foundation Establishment cultivators were allowed outside at all.
In less than ten minutes, the last stragglers had made it inside, and the gate was closed. Kang Lin and the twins dumped the beast corpses at the house designated to hold the spoils in order to clear space for the next set of valuable materials. The arrows were either distributed to the barrels around the village or delivered to the fletchers as appropriate for each pile. And most importantly, any of the melee fighters with even the most minor of scratches from the battle reported to Benton.
For each of them, Benton quickly did a diagnosis before sending a wave of Healing qi into their bodies. Scrapes and bruises instantly disappeared, and as that was the extent of injuries suffered, he dismissed them.
With over an hour to go before the next wave arrived, he directed all of them to consolidate their gains, and soon, he began getting notifications.
In all, eleven of his sect members advanced a technique to the next milestone, and he was sure all of them gained some benefit from the fight and the reflection afterward.
As long as they could keep the beasts outside the walls, the tide should turn out to be a huge boon for the sect, both in terms of advancing individual power through skills and cultivation and materially for all the valuable cores, meat, skins, and other parts they¡¯d be able to either use or sell.
Only one wave had passed, though, and that one contained only the least powerful of the forces arrayed against them. There was many a slip twixt the cup and the lip. It wouldn¡¯t do to begin counting unhatched chickens just yet.
There was a lot of fighting left to be done.
Chapter 140 – Good as New
The second wave passed in much the same manner as the first. About two-thirds as many beasts hurled themselves at the village wall. They were slightly more powerful than the previous attackers, but both the wall and the shield held. Increased toughness led to more arrows being required to take some of them down, and the injuries to the melee fighters were a bit more pronounced with scratches being more prevalent and some actual cuts appearing.
Overall, though, the defenders acquitted themselves well. Having proved they could do it once, even the least experienced carried themselves with more confidence.
During the consolidation of gains portion while waiting for the third wave, fourteen more sect members advanced techniques. Incredibly and unexpectedly, two sect members advanced to the next minor cultivation realm, achieving some form of enlightenment from the fight.
Interesting.
Benton couldn¡¯t have been prouder.
The rank three spirit beasts took only a little over a half hour to reach the wall from when he first detected them. Which made sense. Some of those creatures were the equivalent of a peak Qi Gathering cultivator.
As a group, they were stronger, tougher, and faster not only than the previous waves but also than the vast majority of the defenders. The only saving grace was that there weren¡¯t nearly as many of them.
Though Benton¡¯s mind had been enhanced greatly by reaching the peak of Golden Core, he was still not able to get an accurate count on the teeming mass of fur. If he had a way to mark each one or to keep them all still¡ªwell, he could have used Gravity to do that, but that method would probably have killed a lot of the low ranked creatures and he still felt it important to leave that task to his sect members¡ªhe could have figured out the exact number.
Instead, he was left with having to estimate. As best he could figure, there were around a thousand spirit beasts attacking the wall. Though, if anything, that number was conservatively high.
Even more so than with human spiritual cultivators, beasts faced challenges to reach the upper ranks. Absorbing enough environmental qi could turn a mortal animal into a spirit beast, but once a core was formed, it was difficult to advance without consuming cores from other beasts. Which wasn¡¯t an easy task, especially since beasts of a lower rank provided little benefit. And those gains decreased the higher one progressed.
Rank ones proliferated due to absorbing qi. Rank twos, to some extent, could advance by consuming rank ones. Rank threes, on the other hand, got almost nothing from rank two cores, making advancing much more of a challenge.
Basically, to reach rank three, one had to kill a lot of rank threes and higher and consume their cores. Given that there weren¡¯t all that many to begin with and they were all tough, there definitely was a lack of the creatures compared to the other ranks.
That lack was a very, very good thing for the defenders.
Arrows that would have killed a rank one or severely injured a rank two bounced off the tough skin of a rank three or simply missed as some of the spirit beasts were able to dodge.
In the time the previous waves took to run from the edge of the forest to the wall, dozens were killed. During the same sprint for the third wave, Benton counted two deaths.
He glanced at Ye Zan. The guard captain implored silently with his eyes, but Benton shook his head.
No special arrows or FEDs. They might need all those munitions later.
Actually, even if he was positive that the weapons wouldn¡¯t be needed, his answer would have been the same. The sect members could and would kill the rank threes. It would be more difficult, sure, but adversity led to growth.
As long as no one died, the harder the battle, the better.
Zi Delan had never faced anything like a beast tide while running his small gang in Vermillion Incomparable Rain Town. He¡¯d never really faced any challenge much greater than finding food to supply his crew.
He tried using a bow, but his technique was barely at Small Success. He was pretty sure that the string hitting his arm harmed him more than the arrows injured any of the rank three beasts he aimed at.
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Luckily, the barrier Master had created was incredible, and no one inside the wall was in any real danger. Even luckier, many of the archers were much better than Zi Delan was, and slowly, the number of attacking beasts dwindled.
When there were only about half left, Ye Zan gave the signal for the melee fighters to engage.
Since Zi Delan was only in the sixth minor realm of Qi Gathering and rank three beasts covered minor realms seven through nine, he normally wouldn¡¯t have been able to participate in the fight with his spear. As a designated member of the martial pavilion from the beginning, however, he and his team had been included in the first round of Body Cultivators, and all of them had reached the peak of Bronze.
That last factor swayed Master and Ye Zan to allow them to contribute to the fight on the ground.
Within reason, of course.
They were instructed to stay together as a team and to watch each other¡¯s backs, and Ye Zan had commanded them to withdraw the moment any of them became seriously injured. None of the crew had any problem following those orders as none of them had any desire to die anytime soon.
Food was plentiful. They had learned good skills. People respected them. They were all willing to put their lives on the line for the sect if necessary but were more than happy when told that their safety was the most important consideration.
Well, second most important consideration. If saving a fellow sect member required them to risk themselves, it was understood that there was a price for all that they had been given.
Considered where they were in life versus where they¡¯d been such a short time previous, it was a trade all of them were willing to make, even if they hoped such a thing would never come to pass.
Zi Delan looked to his left and to his right, meeting the eyes of each member of his team. ¡°Three. Two. One. Jump.¡±
With the delay from getting ready and from the count, they were far from the first ones down from the wall. At least ten of the main sect guards and a dozen assorted other sect members who¡¯d already reached the peak of Bronze Body Cultivation had immediately entered the fray, as had two Qi Gathering cultivators from the Poison Claw Sect.
Zi Delan frowned. The allied sect members didn¡¯t have any Body Cultivation and weren¡¯t all that high ranked otherwise. He was almost positive they weren¡¯t supposed to be fighting.
None of that was his concern, however. Master and Ye Zan would figure all that out. Zi Delan needed to concentrate on his mission¡ªnot dying and killing as many beasts as he could, in that order.
If sparring with Senior Brother had taught Zi Delan anything, it was how to concentrate on the fight. As soon as his feet hit the ground, all thoughts of anything else fled his mind. His spear flashed out, catching a squirrel darting toward Liao Guanyu.
The hit was good, the tip penetrating the beast¡¯s back.
Zi Delan allowed himself a small smile. The blow wasn¡¯t enough to kill, but the creature was definitely injured. Slowed. It wouldn¡¯t be attacking his friends¡¯ backs again anytime soon.
The following fifteen minutes were the craziest, most hectic, frantic, chaotic, exhilarating, and dangerous of Zi Delan¡¯s entire existence. There were so many beasts around him that he had to use the entire spear to keep them off him and his friends.
A thrust to stab a rabbit transitioned to a parry with the haft to swat away a rat, thoroughly devastating the inside of the rabbit¡¯s body at the same time. He danced around his teammates, throwing off whatever creature was climbing their back as they performed the same service for him.
At no point sparring or hunting in the Wood had he ever felt so at one with his weapon. It became almost like a part of him. He was positive that, when he consolidated his gains, he''d reach Large Success.
Not every move had a positive outcome, however. A bird dive bombed him, and neither he nor his team noticed it until it drew blood from the top of his head. The grass hid a small green snake, and it slithered up his leg, biting him before he knew it was there. He could only hope it wasn¡¯t poisonous.
Numerous other scrapes and cuts and bites added up, but nothing was so bad that it endangered him or prevented him from fighting.
Facing such a relentless onslaught, one of the six of them was destined to eventually take a serious wound.
Like the beasts that had most injured Zi Delan, Zhong Kun never saw the one that got him. From what they could piece together later, a jackal had been fighting Hou Yazhu and losing. It withdrew and, instead of directly attacking a nearby sect member, seemed to retreat. With so many other targets, the guards quickly forgot about the creature.
It circled around and came out of the brush, ambushing Zhong Kun and catching him in the throat.
Zi Delan and Ding Hua quickly put down the already wounded animal, but the damage was done. Zhong Kun fell to the ground in a heap, blood gushing from the bite.
It was bad, surely a mortal wound.
Zi Delan had seen a man bleed out after having his throat slit in a fight. The guy had gone from strong and healthy to dead in minutes, and there had been nothing that any of the bystanders could do to help him.
For an instant, he panicked, remembering the helplessness he¡¯d felt at that moment in the past. He couldn¡¯t bear the thought of watching a friend die like that stranger had.
Zi Delan took a deep breath. He was no longer a kid. He was a cultivator.
There had to be something he could do. Find someone with a healing pill. Carry Zhong Kun to Master.
Yes. That was¡ª
Before Zi Delan could move to pick up his friend, Master appeared right beside them. All beasts within a five-foot radius of them collapsed to the dirt, unable to move.
¡°Master¡¡± Zi Delan tried to speak, tried to explain the problem, but the words just wouldn¡¯t come.
¡°He¡¯ll be fine,¡± Master said. ¡°Don¡¯t worry.¡±
Even as the words were leaving his mouth, Master calmly grabbed Zhong Kun¡¯s hand. There was no supernatural glow or any sign that Master was doing anything at all. Well, other than the fact that the bleeding stopped, and the throat that had been torn to pieces by the jackal bite knit itself back together.
¡°See,¡± Master said. ¡°Good as new.¡±
Chapter 141 – Saving Resources
Benton watched his sect members engage the third wave at melee range. The heaviest hitters were Ye Zan¡¯s two guard groups, but Zi Delan and his team did surprisingly well. Other assorted fighters who¡¯d advanced to the peak of Bronze Body Cultivation also joined in the battle.
Overall, the group was smaller than for the previous waves, as planned. Rank three beasts were simply too strong and too dangerous for anyone not tough enough to handle them.
The surprising addition to the defenders outside the wall were two of the Poison Claw sect members. Not Pan Jiang or Kang Lin obviously. Benton honestly had no idea the names of the two combatants, one using a spear and the other a sword. If he¡¯d ever been introduced to them, he¡¯d forgotten it.
Neither of them had asked for permission to join the fight against the rank threes, and they had not been asked to do so, either. They were at Qi Gathering minor realm seven and eight respectively and had thus been welcomed to participate in the previous two melee battles.
They simply didn¡¯t meet the criteria to face rank threes. Not a mass of them, anyway. If they were facing a beast two against one or maybe even solo, Benton wouldn¡¯t have had any concerns. Considering how outnumbered they¡¯d be, though, he doubted the two Poison Claw Sect members would last long.
He considered grabbing the two of them by their necks and removing them from the fight, but he refrained. For one thing, such a loss of face would be devastating to the young cultivators. Normal teenagers back on Earth didn¡¯t deal with embarrassment well, but they had nothing on kids in a cultivation world. Causing someone to get momentarily flustered could lead to a blood feud impacting generations.
Seriously. Su¡¯s memories contained historical accounts of at least three major disputes that cost dozens of lives each that had resulted from just such an occurrence. Cultivators could go absolutely nuts about the smallest perceived insults.
Honestly, if that were the only reason, Benton would have pulled them in a heartbeat, but the second justification was more consequential. His main goal was to teach his sect members and any other youngster important life lessons, and failure was an even better teacher than success. Besides, with his speed and given how much he outranked the beasts, Benton had no doubt he could rescue the two before anything truly bad happened.
They did have enough sense to work together and minimize the danger by landing far from the scrum. Even cautiously approaching the outskirts of the teeming mass wasn¡¯t enough to prevent them from being quickly overwhelmed, however. There were simply too many beasts versus a relatively small number of cultivators.
Deng Meixiang, the Poison Claw Sect archer on the wall, was paying attention and picked off as many of their attackers as she could, but her aid was like trying to bail out a boat with a bucket when it was already underwater. The two melee cultivators were subsumed by a furry multitude, and unlike his Rising Tide Sect members whose high ranked Body Cultivation provided decent protection, the toughness provided by their Spiritual Cultivation couldn¡¯t hold up against similarly advanced opponents.
The seventh minor realm cultivator was the first to fall, followed quickly by the one in the eighth minor realm. Each curled into a fetal position, protecting their vital parts from claws and jaws.
Benton waited, giving them a chance to fully realize their mistake in taking on a foe they weren¡¯t ready to face. With any luck, the lesson they learned today would prevent them from a situation in the future where they couldn¡¯t be as easily saved.
He slowly counted to five. There. That should be enough.
A Quickstep brought him almost instantly to the two downed allied sect members. He just had to figure out the best way to save them because, unfortunately, none of his techniques that were capable of killing many foes at once were great for use when a friendly fighter was nearby.
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Sometimes, one just had to get their hands dirty.
Well, not too dirty. It wasn¡¯t like he was going to crush the creatures with his bare hands or anything. That would be messy and hardly an action befitting an unfathomable old monster.
He first created a ring of high gravity around him and the two injured cultivators to keep any more beasts from intruding on his rescue operation. Both the spear user and the sword wielder were bleeding in multiple places and, while not in any danger of dying for a little while, were suffering quite a bit.
Charging into a battle half cocked wasn¡¯t a mistake they¡¯d repeat.
Benton touched each of them and channeled Healing qi into their bodies, closing up their wounds and alleviating their pain. None of that solved the source of the problem, though, namely the dozens of spirit beasts trying to burrow into their bodies.
He grabbed a muskrat, threw it into the air, flung a metal ball at it, and as soon as the sphere made contact, triggered his technique for delivering Void qi. The beast disappeared.
Which, in retrospect, was a bad thing. A rank three core along with the meat, skin, and assorted other parts were worth a decent amount of taels.
He snatched a raccoon off one of the cultivators and threw it even higher into the air than the muskrat. Instead of using a metal ball and his Void Technique, he triggered Chain Lightning. Which worked. But again, it worked too well.
The first strike fried the raccoon, but the technique was named Chain Lightning for a reason. Several smaller bolts forked off the initial victim and slammed into the scrum, killing three more beasts.
And okay, the extra damage wasn¡¯t the bad part but only because it was just beasts that had been struck. It could just as easily have been his sect members.
Careless. That was way, way too careless.
Screw it.
He tossed a monkey into the air, pulled his bow from his ring, and shot it with an arrow.
There.
Using archery wasn¡¯t the fastest way to deal with the problem, but it guaranteed no collateral damage and left behind valuable materials he could sell or use.
In that manner, he killed the rest of the beasts trying to eat the two Poison Claw Sect members, and once done, he healed both of them again before Quickstepping them back inside the village.
¡°So, was it a good idea to take on rank threes in melee at your cultivation level?¡± he said.
¡°No, Sect Leader,¡± the two said, chastened.
Benton didn¡¯t have much time to spare in further admonishing the two foolish youngsters as his people were still in danger. He hopped back up onto the allure.
Just in time, too.
Zhong Kun was in real danger of bleeding out. Even though peak Bronze Body Cultivators were pretty tough, they weren¡¯t invulnerable. One of the spirit beasts must have had a special bite ability to have torn through the sect member¡¯s throat like that.
Zhong Kun was minutes away from death, though, not seconds, and Benton was nothing if not fast. He Quickstepped to the young man and healed him in an instant.
The others were hale enough to jump back over the wall on their own as Benton transported Zhong Kun.
Once Zi Delan¡¯s crew was all settled, Benton turned back to watching the battle, but it was winding down by that point. The remaining melee fighters were a little more seasoned than the kids from Vermillion Incomparable Rain Town and had spent more time fighting together. The value of that experience was proved against the beast tide.
Ye Zan¡¯s guards really showed a lot of promise.
Thinking of things that performed their function really well, he had to add his Healing technique to that list. Just the amount he¡¯d used it during the first three waves saved him two Major Healing Pills and three or four minor ones. That was a lot of Shop Points he saved, replaced by a resource that regenerated all on its own.
Nice.
One of the guards killed off the last of the rank three spirit beasts, officially ending the wave, and soon, the fighters were back inside consolidating their gains while Kang Lin, the twins, and several sect members who hadn¡¯t been involved guarded the ones collecting arrows.
Benton started getting notifications. Zi Delan had reached Large Success with his spear, as had three other sect members. Two archers had achieved the same milestone.
There were few things in life better than raking in points by the half dozen.
All too soon, however, that accumulation came to an end.
Really too soon.
A large group of rank fours appeared at the extent of his spiritual sense.
The fourth wave had begun, and by his estimate, it was close to an hour early. Benton did not like what that acceleration portended. He didn¡¯t like it at all.
Chapter 142 – Better to Lose a Fortune
The fast approaching fourth wave worried Benton greatly. The beast tide was not likely to crest at rank six, and any beast ranked higher than that was the equivalent of Golden Core or above. Fighting such an opponent near the village was a bad idea.
The kinds of energies that a rank seven or higher beast had access to could destroy even a wall made from Orange Vigor Spirit Wood with even an incidental blow. None of the sect members, not even the twins and Kang Lin, had a chance of surviving if forces of that strength were unleashed in their vicinity.
Heck, if the Big Boss were a high enough rank, Benton would have to go all out. Truly all out. He¡¯d have to unleash the full might of his qi, and his techniques didn¡¯t exactly come equipped with IFF to separate the allies from enemies when determining who to blast into nothingness.
Yeah. Fighting the higher ranked beasts too close to the village was a complete non-starter, which was why he¡¯d been preparing his disciples to survive a portion of the tide without him.
His original plan had been to stay in the village until the beginning of the sixth wave. Upon leaving to find the Big Boss, he¡¯d do serious damage to the beasts as he passed and leave the dregs to the twins and Kang Lin. With a long interval between waves, that would have hopefully given him enough time to find and destroy the tide¡¯s mastermind before the higher ranks even reached the village.
If he left any sooner, he risked missing the rank sixes, and he feared what would happen if that entire wave made it to the wall. After all, he had no idea how many beasts would attack, and the defenders only had three Foundation Establishment cultivators to protect them if he left.
Crap. The village only really had one true protector as neither Yang Xiu nor Kang Lin were powerful enough to kill a rank six. Two on one, they¡¯d have a chance, but only a small one. And they were likely to instead be severely outnumbered.
Benton had been hoping that the experience they gained versus the rank fours and fives would trigger skill and/or cultivation advancements that would assist them with the sixes. Which wasn¡¯t an absurd hope. The twins were two of the top three most talented sect members, and considering how much benefit even the low tiered disciples were getting, both of them should get significant gains.
That was really the best-case scenario. The twins would get stronger. Between their advancement and the special arrows Benton provided, they¡¯d be able to handle the sixes and, hopefully, weather the storm brought by even higher ranked beasts.
With the interval between waves shrinking, though, there would not be enough time for them to finish one properly, much less consolidate their gains. They¡¯d have to go into each fight no stronger than they were at the moment, a losing proposition.
They¡¯d basically have to rely on the shield holding just to survive.
That plan obviously would no longer work. Instead, Benton would have to choose between the least bad of two options¡ªdo his best to find and destroy all the waves himself as he journeyed to find the Big Boss, knowing that if any escaped him could prove disaster for his disciples, or stay at the village and attack with and defend enormously powerful qi techniques that would absolutely destroy any of the lower realmed cultivators if they were even so much as grazed.
Either way, there was nothing he could do about it for the moment. In no case did it seem to make sense for him to leave prior to the start of the sixth wave. He motioned for Ye Zan to signal Kang Lin and the twins to the gate.
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Even though the three of them moved with all due haste to heed the summons, the beasts reached the wall first. The speed of the beast equivalent of a Foundation Establishment cultivator was an order of magnitude greater than that of a Qi Gathering cultivator. The journey from the edge of Benton¡¯s spiritual sense to the village took less than ten minutes total for the rank fours, and hundreds of them arrived to siege the village.
Everyone knew the plan. Once the fourth wave arrived and Ye Zan signaled for the twins and Kang Lin, the three were to engage at will.
Yang Xiu took up a position on the allure and began shooting. Each shot hit, of course, but though her rate of fire had improved, she couldn¡¯t quite get two arrows on a target fast enough to take advantage of the beast¡¯s qi shield being momentarily overwhelmed. Instead, she chose a different quarry each time until finding one that reacted poorly to her ice qi, mainly those with the fire aspect.
Those targets she took down, fast and hard. Unfortunately, there just weren¡¯t that many of them. Still, she managed to down two beasts before Yang Ru and Kang Lin jumped over the wall.
Those two faced an unenviable situation as they were each outnumbered several hundred to one. It quickly became apparent that the danger to them outweighed any possible benefit. Yang Ru had killed one beast immediately, having transferred the momentum from his jump, but he wasn¡¯t able to build up any additional energy as he was swarmed with beasts.
Kang Lin was more agile and was able to use her spear to deflect most of her attackers, but she wasn¡¯t able to land any truly damaging blows, either.
Benton had Ye Zan sound a retreat. Yang Ru and Kang Lin ran around the wall, beasts in hot pursuit, with her helping him to remove all the creatures clinging to him. Once he was free, they leaped back inside the wall.
¡°Well, that didn¡¯t work,¡± Benton said to no one in particular.
He basically had two choices. One, kill all the beasts himself, which he could easily do with little effort and barely even expending any qi. Or two, he could allow the sect members to break out the special arrows and FEDs.
Both options had benefits. Killing the beasts himself saved a precious resource that the defenders could use to kill much higher ranked beasts later. But using the special munitions allowed the defenders to gain benefits from the fight.
What to do? What to do?
Using the wisdom of Solomon, he split the baby right down the middle.
Well, kind of. It really made no sense at all to use a consumable when his very presence negated the necessity. It wasn¡¯t like shooting the externally charged munitions would provide much enlightenment to his sect members, and the arrows would be much better used as a failsafe when he wasn¡¯t around to protect the village.
No, the split would be to have him kill a great number of the rank four spirit beasts while allowing his three Foundation Establishment cultivators to finish off the others.
That solution wouldn¡¯t provide them the benefit of a true life and death struggle, but it was a lot quicker. At the moment, speed counted.
He quickly drew the three and Ye Zan to him and explained the plan.
¡°Yes, Master.¡±
Benton jumped up to the top of the allure and called Chain Lightning, targeting beasts furthest from the wall. Each use of the technique killed four to six beasts but also held the slight risk of spreading inside the village. Once there were no beasts he judged a safe distance away, he was forced to switch to another option.
Gravity was great for immobilizing a great number of enemies, but both cultivator and beast bodies were extraordinarily resistant to being damaged by it. It took a lot of effort to kill by burst alone.
Temperature differences were good but not when the enemies were so close to his allies. Which left his void technique.
He really, really needed to come up with a technique that could be used in close proximity to his sect members.
Benton pulled a handful of tiny metal spheres from his ring and tossed them down in a wide arc. When each touched flesh, a large sphere of void blossomed, disappearing the entirety of everything inside it.
He winced. So many expensive materials destroyed.
There was no help for it, though. Better to spend literal fortunes than to lose a single sect member.
Soon, the hundreds of spirit beasts had been reduced to a mere handful, and the twins and Kang Lin were again released to attack. Through teamwork and with archers on the wall providing support, they made quick work of the survivors.
They immediately started gathering the corpses, but he told them to consolidate their gains instead. While they meditated, Benton did the grunt work for them.
It seemed unlikely to him that they¡¯d advance much from the lackluster fight he¡¯d left for them, but he wouldn¡¯t know until they tried.
Chapter 143 – Shut Up
Benton was not encouraged with the way the beast tide was progressing. The first three waves had been great. Better than great. Awesome. Perfect.
His sect members had dispatched the creatures with barely any assistance from him and had advanced as a result. When it came down to brass tacks, however, meaning the performance of the three Foundation Establishment cultivators, the acceleration of the waves signaled disaster.
Still, it wasn¡¯t out of the realm of possibility that the supremely talented twins could have gained something from the most recent fight. Getting any of their techniques from Small Success to Large Success would be enough to give them an all important advantage for what was to come.
Alas, it was not to be. Time passed as the twins and Kang Lin meditated, and soon, the rank fives appeared within range of Benton¡¯s spiritual sense. He gave the three until the last possible second, but when he had Ye Zan blow the whistle to call them back into action, none of them had yet advanced.
At least with the numbers decreasing with each wave, Benton could finally get an accurate count.
Sixty-three.
That was how many rank five spirit beasts assaulted the wall. One by one and in groups, they slammed against the Orange Vigor Spirit Wood, and unlike with the previous assaults, the wall trembled.
Benton didn¡¯t waste any time. There was no cause to prolong matters by waiting to see how the defenders performed against the latest threat. His disciples simply weren¡¯t strong enough to deal with so many beasts of such a high rank.
He destroyed most of the waver, leaving five for his disciples to kill.
Yang Ru had shown the ability to solo beasts of an even higher rank. The two girls could take foes of that caliber out by tag teaming. With support from the archers on the wall, Benton had no doubt that they¡¯d be able to eventually win out.
Victory would take time, though. A half hour. Maybe more.
The battle would challenge them to their utmost, but he had confidence they¡¯d prevail. And it was the very nature of that trial, the requirement to truly push themselves, that would give them the opportunity to advance.
As their mentor, their master, it was incumbent upon him to give them that chance.
Which meant leaving them behind.
The waves had all come from the same general direction, southeast toward the mountain, but the exact location each appeared varied by up to a half mile either side of a center point. To optimize the village¡¯s prospects of survival, he¡¯d need to find and completely obliterate the sixth wave.
He¡¯d go to that midpoint and remain on constant alert. If too much time passed and he hadn¡¯t sensed the rank six beasts, he¡¯d assume he missed the wave and head back. That was the best he could do.
As Yang Xiu began peppering the beasts with arrows, Yang Ru sprinted far into the village to prepare his charge. Kang Lin waited anxiously to enter the fray in concert with him.
¡°I¡¯m going now,¡± Benton said to Ye Zan. ¡°Use the special munitions as you see fit, but it would be better if you can handle those five beasts without them. Best of luck with the rest of the tide.¡±
Benton Quickstepped far from the village, hoping that his sect members could handle the challenge he left for them and even more hoping that they¡¯d gain from the experience.
Yang Xiu stared after Master as he disappeared. With her enhanced senses, it hadn¡¯t been hard to hear what he¡¯d told Ye Zan even as she concentrated on shooting arrows at the beasts below her.
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Master was leaving.
She knew it had to happen at some point. He¡¯d explained to all of them multiple times that his job was away from them, but it was still a shock to see him go.
There were slightly over a thousand people in the village, and without him there, it fell to her, her brother, and Kang Lin to keep everyone safe.
If anyone died, it would be on the three of them. She¡¯d never felt such a heavy burden in her life, especially after their clear failure with the previous wave. Their task felt enormous.
Even the longest journey began with that single first tiny step. Concentrate on making the best first move she could and then the next. And the next.
That was what Master would advise.
She returned her focus to the beasts.
A hyena, a dog, a turtle, a zebra, and a salamander were the five creatures Master had left for them to fight.
Briefly, she wondered if the choices were intentional before realizing that they had to be. Master never did anything on a whim. Each must provide either some important lesson or represent some specific challenge he wanted his disciples to face.
She had enough on her mind just trying to figure out which beast to kill first to determine what those lessons might be, though.
The turtle stood over four feet tall and was more than six feet long. Its shell would be nearly impenetrable. Surely, it would be the most difficult of the five to kill. Likewise, the giant salamander¡¯s scales would armor it against their strikes.
Killing the three softer targets would allow the defenders to focus their efforts on the tanks, as Master would call them.
Obviously, she and Kang Lin should focus on one of the beasts and leave one for Yang Ru to solo, but which one should they attack versus which one should she direct him to take?
Yang Xiu¡¯s spiritual senses weren¡¯t nearly adept enough to determine qi aspect, and she didn¡¯t know enough about the creatures to match their weaknesses to the sect members¡¯ strengths.
The hyena looked at her and laughed. It was a rude, arrogant sound, as if it knew it would kill every being inside the wall and there was nothing anyone could do about it.
She instantly grew to hate it with a fiery passion, which settled the one she¡¯d be focusing on. Her brother should probably engage the soft target farthest from the others.
¡°Yang Ru, left,¡± Yang Xiu yelled. ¡°Kang Lin, focus on the hyena.¡±
Before the other girl could even reply, Yang Xiu loosed an arrow, striking the jerk creature in the eye.
That shut it up.
Yang Ru ran toward the wall. He moved slowly and ponderously at first, but each step built momentum. Each step made him faster. Each step charged his technique.
His spiritual sense told him that there were five beasts of the fifth rank outside the wall, but he didn¡¯t know what type they were or which would be the most advantageous for him to attack first.
That was okay, though. He trusted his fellow sect members. Either Ye Zan or Yang Xiu would¡ª
¡°Yang Ru, left,¡± his sister yelled.
There. He had his target.
Nearing the wall, he leaped, using his incredible leg muscles strengthened by both Spiritual and Body Cultivator to propel himself upward. At the apex of his jump, he cleared the palisade, and his quarry came into view.
A zebra.
Yang Ru mentally shrugged. He had little knowledge of and no experience with such a creature.
Not that the type of beast mattered. Soon, it would just be a corpse.
Seeing him flying toward it, the zebra reared up on its hind legs, striking out at him with its forward hooves.
Yang Ru was falling on a determined trajectory right at the beast. There was no changing course.
He had reached Small Success with his shield. Barely. But he was far from proficient with its use. There was no way he would be able to use it to protect himself in the tiny fraction of a second he had before the hooves hit.
Yang Ru didn¡¯t even try.
In contrast, using Stone Skin was like flexing a muscle, an almost automatic response that barely required thought. Between the technique, his enhanced fortitude from advancing to the first minor realm of Foundation Establishment, and, even more so, the extreme toughness provided by being a peak Bronze body cultivator, he felt confident that he could survive the attack.
That didn¡¯t mean it wouldn¡¯t hurt.
Both blows landed.
It felt like he¡¯d been kicked in the chest by a horse.
Oh wait. He had.
Heavens, that hurt!
If there was anything that becoming a cultivator had prepared him for, however, it was dealing with pain. His very first experience was taking pills to improve his spiritual roots. That process had felt like someone had poured fire into his stomach.
In comparison, the attack from the zebra was nothing. He pushed past the momentary sting and concentrated on simultaneously triggering his two primary techniques.
All the momentum he¡¯d accumulated by running and jumping and falling was converted to force and concentrated on the tip of his spear.
The zebra, its instincts surely telling it that its shield would protect against the tiny human¡¯s weapon, didn¡¯t even try to dodge.
The spear tip struck the beast¡¯s forehead. An enormous burst of Momentum qi erupted from the metal, blowing past the zebra¡¯s qi shield and into its body.
Its head burst into a shower of blood, muscle, and bone.
One down, four to go.
Chapter 144 – Razor’s Edge
Kang Lin was more than a little nervous about jumping over the wall and into the fray. Her last battle hadn¡¯t gone very well. Sure, she¡¯d survived without any serious injuries, but she hadn¡¯t done much damage to the beasts, either.
When she¡¯d arrived at the village, she¡¯d been following her grandfather¡¯s instructions. Her mission was to, in order of priority, determine all she could about the mysterious Chao Su and his actions, keep herself safe, keep Pan Jiang safe, keep the other Poison Claw Sect members safe, and if possible, get some experience fighting against beasts.
If she were still following those instructions, she might just have decided to take her fellow sect members with her and leave as soon as the sect leader departed. But she was no longer only a granddaughter and Poison Claw Sect member. She was a disciple.
Master had poured so many resources into her¡ªa pill to ease her advancement; a new cultivation method tailored specifically to her qi aspect; two techniques, one for launching bolts of lightning from her spear and one ridiculous shield technique that would automatically respond to threats once mastered, that were both also attuned perfectly to her qi aspect; and a new weapon better in quality than most sect scions received from their families. To repay his generosity, she needed to excel. Instead, she barely held her own for a few minutes before having to retreat.
She needed to do better.
In an attempt to steel her nerves, she told herself that she was facing only a mere five beasts instead of a hundred. Five was doable. Much better than one hundred. She had, after all, faced a much greater quantity and emerged relatively unscathed.
Right?
Of course, there were just her and two others. Three total. Versus five. So she and her allies were outnumbered.
And of course, the beasts were all rank five, which equated to between minor realm four and minor realm six of Foundation Establishment. She was only in the first minor realm and had only recently achieved even that much. Both her techniques were barely at Small Success.
The twins were in the same situation.
She was about to face five spirit beasts that all significantly outranked and outnumbered her team. Was she crazy? Were all three of them crazy?
Last time, she¡¯d felt almost no fear about going against a teeming mass of beasts. Sure, they didn¡¯t outrank her by nearly as much, but there were so many more of them.
Overall, it had been objectively a more dangerous situation.
The difference was that she had supreme confidence that her unfathomable master would not let any true harm come to her.
Master left, though, taking his overpowered attacks and instant healing with him.
Yep. Grandfather definitely would tell her to leave. Fast. Run. Sprint.
Kang Lin took a deep breath. Trust had to extend beyond knowing that Master would save her if she got in over her head. She needed to believe he had a reason for leaving those five beasts for her and the twins to fight. After all, he could have easily just killed all of them. There must be a reason he left those five standing.
¡°Yang Ru, left,¡± Yang Xiu yelled. ¡°Kang Lin, focus on the hyena.¡±
Kang Lin glanced back and saw that Yang Ru had already started his charge. She needed to get moving. With a flex of her powerful Foundation Establishment leg muscles, she jumped onto the allure.
The hyena was already blinded by ice qi. She made ready to jump down and stab it in the process of landing.
The other beasts were too close to it, though. She¡¯d be overwhelmed by them as soon as her feet touched the ground. Maybe sooner.
¡°Keep the others off me,¡± she yelled to Yang Xiu.
Kang Lin hopped over the parapet, trusting her friend to do what was needed.
The hyena¡¯s right eye was already clearing. It smirked at her, making her want to wipe that horrible, smug expression off its face.
In contrast to the technique her grandfather had given her, learning the one Master had granted was easy, and the strength of the qi it converted into lightning was magnitudes better than she had expected.
The difference between heaven grade and profound was truly unfathomable.
Between the ease of learning the technique and the practice she¡¯d put in, Kang Lin had no trouble charging her spear as she fell.
The beast seemed unconcerned, watching her with that awful expression like she was a lamb heading to the slaughter.
She hoped the look on its face wasn¡¯t an indication that it was aware of something that she didn¡¯t know.
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Regardless, it was too late to change tacks. She was committed.
Predictably, the hyena tried to snap at her with its enormously strong jaws, but she easily twisted away from it. Ignoring the distraction, she kept her spear on target, stabbing the center of the beast¡¯s forehead.
Lightning burst from the metal tip.
As Kang Lin gained her footing, the hyena recoiled, whimpering. There was a black mark on its head.
Her attack had done more damage than expected.
Water. The hyena¡¯s qi aspect was water, which was weak to her lightning.
Yes! Finally, she could prove her worth.
¡°I¡¯ll kill this one. Keep the others off me!¡± she yelled.
Yang Xiu surveyed the battlefield. One beast, the zebra, was down and out. Kang Lin had the hyena well in hand. It wouldn¡¯t last another minute as the Poison Claw Sect member rained lightning on it with quick thrusts from her spear.
That left the dog, the turtle, and the salamander.
Of the three, the dog, a large breed that didn¡¯t look familiar to her, suffered much more from her arrows than the other two. Yang Xiu guessed its qi aspect was fire, an element that was weak to her ice.
Part of her wanted to concentrate on the dog to bring it down, but while actually killing a beast on her own would feel nice, that choice wasn¡¯t the smart option at the moment. She needed to keep the beasts off her teammates, especially Kang Lin who had refused Body Cultivation on the basis of not having enough contribution points to pay for all the cores herself.
Yang Xiu thought she understood at least the basis of what Master wanted them to do. The hyena, zebra, and dog had qi aspects that were weak to attacks from one of the defenders. The salamander and turtle were tough but slow. Kill the three with weaknesses and team up against the remaining beasts.
It wouldn¡¯t be easy, and any mistake could lead to tragedy. The path was there, though.
¡°Yang Ru, retreat to rebuild your momentum. Attack the salamander.¡±
He grunted in reply, already beginning to sprint away from the battle. With her peppering the eyes of the other three beasts with arrows, none of them followed him.
Perfect.
For the next minute, she alternated shots between the beasts other than the hyena, and Kang Lin finished that one off.
¡°Engage the turtle!¡± Yang Xiu yelled.
Her brother was already charging the salamander. His ability was interesting, the exact opposite of hers. The complement of hers, really. Instead of many fast but underwhelming¡ªdistracting¡ªblows, he could deliver a massive amount of energy in an instant. That instant took much preparation, however.
He¡¯d been almost worthless while overwhelmed with so many beasts, but then again, they all had been. The current battle gave all of them a chance to shine.
With him approaching the amphibian and Kang Lin engaging the shelled tank, Yang Xiu could finally focus on the dog.
When she¡¯d been a mere Qi Gathering cultivator attacking rank four spirit beasts and above, her arrows had done literally no damage at all. All physical force created by the impact had been absorbed by the creatures¡¯ qi shields.
By coating the tips in qi, she was able to deliver force through both physical means and aspected qi. The arrows still didn¡¯t deal devastating damage, but the offensive qi overwhelmed the shield enough to allow some actual injury to the beast.
Using an offensive aspect that was strong against the shield magnified the amount of force getting through by somewhere between one and a half to two times, depending on a lot of factors that Master had a hard time simplifying enough for her to understand.
The result was the important thing, though, not the way that it was achieved. For each shot, the dog received extra damage.
Not much. No single blow was ruinous for the beast. But where the other two beasts found the arrows¡¯ impacts irritating, the dog flinched.
Previously, the canine had only received two shots out of every six, four total. Two on each eye.
With the extra damage, the beast had been blinded, leaving it unable to even attempt to dodge. Not that its previous efforts in that regard had done much good. Her arrows were too fast as they slipped through the air.
Since she was released to solely engage the dog, arrow after arrow hit it in the same spot on its head, and each did a little bit more damage, carving away first fur, then skin, then muscle, then bone.
Shot after shot rained down on it until, finally, the last thin layer of bone was destroyed, and an arrow tip reached brain matter.
Her target killed, Yang Xiu returned her attention to the rest of the fight. The salamander was dead. Only one beast, the turtle, remained alive. Kang Lin occupied it, neither doing it much damage nor taking blows herself.
Yang Ru was again retreating so as to build up momentum for another strike.
Yang Xiu hesitated before shooting her next arrow. A normal fight would soon be over as her brother would soon deliver a cataclysmic blow against the beast, killing it with one shot.
Turtles, however, were known to be defensive specialists. Yang Xiu didn¡¯t expect it to fall quite so easily.
Master could have killed it easily, though. Why leave that particular beast for them?
The answer came swiftly¡ªthe target was a defensive whetstone to sharpen their attacks.
¡°Killing the beast doesn¡¯t matter!¡± she yelled. ¡°Focus on making your attacks stronger.¡±
Putting into action her thoughts, she concentrated on each step of her process of loosing an arrow. At some point, she was sure that she would be able to improve the purely mechanical aspects of archery, but that technique was already mastered. The important current consideration was applying qi to her arrow.
Or was it?
Her practice had been focused on increasing both the speed of applying qi and how much of the arrow was coated. Both facets were coming along nicely. Her rate of fire wasn¡¯t quite as fast as prior to learning the Slippery Arrow technique, but it was close. And she¡¯d recently started coating the entire shaft with ice qi.
She needed her arrows to be even faster, to pack more of a punch. Improving how quickly she could apply the qi before loosing would be a benefit, but it wouldn¡¯t enhance the power of each arrow.
There had to be a way to make it do more damage.
Master continually emphasized that her qi was what she believed it to be. Perfectly smooth ice balanced on the razor edge of freezing and thawing were the exact words he¡¯d used to describe it.
Smooth. Slippery. Fast. She¡¯d already incorporated all those ideas into her technique.
What else?
Balance? No.
Wait. Razor edge.
Ice could be sharp.
Fast, razor sharp ice would do more damage than fast blunt ice, right?
Could it really be that simple?
Her qi was what she believed it to be. If she believed it to be sharp and slippery, it would be sharp and slippery.
She just needed to be absolutely confident, and if there was one thing she was absolutely confident in, it was Master. He¡¯d led her to the realization about her qi aspect, so it must be true.
Yang Xiu loosed her arrow, and she felt the difference. The tip cut through the air even better, making it faster. Even better, when it impacted the turtle, the razor edge penetrated the beast¡¯s qi shield easier.
Yes!
Chapter 145 – A Turtle, a Fork, and a Shell
The fight between Kang Lin and the turtle continued. Most of her thrusts landed, but the damage they caused was trivial for a rank five beast with such high defense and vitality.
Its head blurred toward her, and she dodged. It was slow to move and couldn¡¯t evade worth anything, but it obviously had some kind of skill that allowed it to snap its powerful jaws forward.
If those caught her, she¡¯d definitely lose a limb if not her life.
¡°Killing the beast doesn¡¯t matter!¡± Yang Xiu yelled. ¡°Focus on making your attacks stronger.¡±
Kang Lin pondered the admonition but didn¡¯t have much time to give it much contemplation as she had to remain alert for the beast¡¯s bite. Soon, though, an arrow coated in ice qi slammed into the turtle¡¯s neck.
The impact did much more damage than Kang Lin expected, considering her experience seeing previous arrows hit. For a moment, the difference confused her.
Then she realized that Yang Xiu had received some form of enlightenment.
Though Kang Lin was happy for her friend making such an achievement and ecstatic for the added assistance in taking down their common foes, it was sometimes more than a little frustrating to fight so closely with such talented allies. They advanced at a simply breakneck pace that left other cultivators feeling inadequate.
¡°What did you do?¡± Kang Lin yelled, retreating from the beast as another arrow slammed into it.
¡°Re-examined what I thought I knew about my qi aspect.¡±
Of course. Simple as that. Kang Lin rolled her eyes. Why didn¡¯t she think of it herself?
Unfathomable A ranks.
What had Master said her qi aspect was? Something like, ¡°Forked lightning ripping the sky asunder.¡±
Yeah. That was it.
Kang Lin didn¡¯t see what benefit that description provided her. She already held an image of a powerful lightning strike in her mind based on the one Master used to destroy the hippo. Her bolts paled in comparison to that one, of course, with her being so much lower than him in cultivation, but it was a fine basis for her mental image.
Of course, Master used Chain Lightning, a single bolt that split off after the initial hit to strike additional targets. Kang Lin¡¯s technique only generated a bolt that hit a single target.
Nothing about her qi aspect even hinted at a chain effect, so she didn¡¯t see how that helped her.
Wait. Forked lightning? Could a boost really be that simple?
If so, she was going to curse herself as six kinds of a fool for not realizing it sooner.
Kang Lin heard heavy footsteps and sensed Yang Ru approaching fast. She moved further from the beast.
Stopping suddenly in a way that was difficult to see or describe, he crashed into the turtle, and for a moment, she thought the fight was over. There was no way the creature¡¯s head could survive such a blow.
At the last instant, however, the turtle shifted so that, instead of the vulnerable head, Yang Ru¡¯s strike landed on the shell. Even considering the incredible magnitude of the force involved, the shell won.
He was blasted back several feet and stumbled, falling on his backside.
On the plus side, there was a definite crack in the shell, so that was something.
Of course, Yang Ru wasn¡¯t to blame for the failure. Given the plodding, ponderous movements of the turtle to that point in the fight, it was against expectations that it would be able to move so fast. Just like with its bite, though, it must have an ability that allowed it to intercept big attacks with its shell.
Another arrow smashed into the beast¡¯s neck, reminding Kang Lin of her own responsibilities. And her idea.
Replacing the image of the thick, powerful flash of lightning that Master had summoned with one just as thick, just as powerful, but forked so that two prongs struck her target, she charged the turtle. The change felt right, and as she struck, a split bolt hit the beast, one part on the neck and the other on the cracked shell.
Yes!
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The two bolts hadn¡¯t been twice as powerful, of course. That result would have required her to use more qi. But the combined strike felt more powerful. Or more like the qi felt less restrained, like letting it fork instead of constraining it allowed more of it to be converted to force.
Kang Lin doubted she¡¯d reached Large Success with the technique yet, but her discovery had boosted her power. Keeping up with the twins for the long term obviously wasn¡¯t possible, but for the moment, she was proud of herself. Her advancement would bring honor to the Poison Claw Sect and to her family, especially her grandfather.
Yang Ru exhaled sharply.
Again. He¡¯d ended up on his butt again.
All that work. Having two techniques specifically created for him. Only to end up on the ground on his butt again.
Yang Ru scrambled to his feet. The turtle had used a skill to thwart his attack. Some such abilities could be used over and over again. Others cost a great deal or had to be re-charged over time.
If the latter were true, his best chance at killing the beast was to strike again as soon as possible. He ran from the fight, trusting Kang Lin and his sister to keep it occupied while he prepared.
No sense going quite as far, however. Speed trumped power at the moment. Either the blow would be blocked, proving that Yang Ru was unlikely to kill the beast in a single shot, or it would succeed. The turtle surviving in that case would matter little. It would surely be damaged greatly, and he would know that only persistence was needed.
He sprinted toward the turtle, building Momentum with each step.
Thud!
Thud!
Thud!
His feet pounded the dry, cracked dirt as he sped toward his target. He was inexorable. Inevitable. He would not be stopped.
At the last moment, he triggered his technique, converting all the gathered Momentum onto the point of his spear. He stabbed at the beast¡¯s neck.
And hit the shell.
Again.
And ended up on his butt.
Again.
¡°Yang Ru!¡± his sister yelled. ¡°Focus on improving. The beast doesn¡¯t matter.¡±
¡°I heard you the first time!¡± he yelled back.
¡°Did you? Did you really?¡±
Yes. Of course he had. He hadn¡¯t done anything about what she¡¯d said, but he¡¯d heard her.
He sighed. They did, however, need to kill the turtle and repeating the same charge, slam, and bounce maneuver wasn¡¯t likely to achieve the end goal. Something had to change.
Yang Ru liked his two primary techniques. The first allowed him to build Momentum qi from his physical actions. The second transferred all that Momentum through the tip of his spear into a target. The combination allowed him to punch above his weight as Master would say.
The third technique was a shield, which he¡¯d barely gotten to Small Success. So far, he hadn¡¯t even used it in combat. He didn¡¯t feel there was anything to do with it that would improve his ability to kill the beast.
No, the answer had to lie with his combination, but how to find it?
Master would probably say something like, ¡°To find the answer, one must first find the problem.¡±
Yes. Yang Ru was almost positive he¡¯d heard that exact phrase. So, what was the problem?
Simply put, the stupid turtle used a skill that allowed it to move out of the way faster than he could hit it.
Hmm.
When he thought about it like that, the answer did seem clear. He either had to slow the turtle down or speed himself up. The former idea was not feasible with the current techniques that he, his sister, and Kang Lin had. Barring the girls physically grabbing the beast¡¯s legs and holding it, which might not even work, there was no way to prevent it from moving.
Maybe once Yang Xiu learned a new technique with her ice, something might be possible, but that advance wasn¡¯t happening in time to help with the turtle.
Making himself faster, however, might be possible. His techniques allowed him to build Momentum and transfer it to a single point, but could he also somehow use that accumulated qi to make himself faster? Doing so would bleed off some of his power, but if it guaranteed him a good hit, he¡¯d take the tradeoff.
Eager to make the attempt to put his idea into practice, he sprinted away from the village, even farther away than the first time. He planned to put his all into the next attack.
By the time he stopped, he could barely even hear the girls fight against the beast. That was okay, though. He trusted them.
Yang Ru hesitated a moment before heading back. He needed to get his thoughts straight. Trying to force a technique to do something new in the middle of combat was neither easy nor advisable.
He closed his eyes, visualizing each part of the plan, going over it in his mind as he briefly sunk into meditation. When he opened them again, he was ready.
Each footstep was important. As Master had taught him so long ago and as Yang Ru had practiced thousands and thousands of times, he used microbursts of internal qi to push off with first his right foot and then his left, building speed and Momentum as he ran. Each step. Every step. Maximum force. Slowly at first before building to a crescendo, he sprinted.
His mind and body and qi became one. He let his instincts guide him, barely paying any attention to the turtle as he drew near it.
The spirit beast didn¡¯t matter. Nothing it did could counter inevitability. As long as he did his part correctly, all the turtle could do was die.
Five feet away, he leaped. He didn¡¯t even know why he did it. Something just made the action seem right, so he did it without thought.
His Momentum hurled him forward.
He concentrated, transferring that force not to the tip of his spear but to his arms.
It worked. He felt the increase in energy, in speed.
Even to his advanced senses, his arms seemed to blur as they thrust the spear toward the beast¡¯s head.
The strike happened too fast for him to track. Maybe the beast could only use its dodge skill twice in quick succession. Maybe Yang Ru, with the enhancement from his technique, was simply too fast for the creature.
Either way, his spear did not hit the toughened shell, instead impacting the relatively unprotected head of the turtle right between the eyes.
The qi shield had no chance against the supreme force Yang Ru used against it. His spear thrust through it and skin and bone like all those elements were so many layers of paper.
The beast died.
¡°Quick!¡± Yang Xiu yelled. ¡°Meditate. Consolidate your advancements.¡±
Yang Ru didn¡¯t have to be told twice. Heck, he didn¡¯t even have to be told once. He was already sinking into a lotus position before the first word left her mouth.
Chapter 146 – That Didn’t Work
It wasn¡¯t long after Benton sensed the last of the rank five beasts near the village dying that he received the notifications. Yang Xiu advanced her attack technique to Large Success. Even better, Yang Ru did the same for both his primary techniques.
There was no similar notification for Kang Lin, but that lack was fine. Benton already felt better about the village¡¯s chances for a successful defense with the twins¡¯ powerup.
Not long after¡ªway too short a time, actually¡ªthe rank six beasts appeared to his spiritual sense. The good news was that there were only thirty-one of them. The bad news was that they were spread out over at least a half mile instead of being grouped together. Killing all of them before they reached the village was going to be a chore and a half.
Best get to it, then.
Benton Quickstepped to one end of the line of beasts and triggered Chain Lighting. Since gaining the ability to form Concepts that supercharged his qi upon reaching Golden Core, he didn¡¯t need to worry about using an opposing aspect to overwhelm a shield. Rank six beasts, the equivalent to the peak of Foundation Establishment, were no match for his Lightning.
The technique also held an important advantage over his Void arrows¡ªit left most of the bodies intact. Not undamaged, obviously. But intact. Even better, the all-important core wasn¡¯t harmed in most cases.
To achieve a better result, he would have to target arrows with a tiny bit of qi in order to selectively penetrate a beast¡¯s body with just the minimum amount necessary to kill it. The monetary benefit of leaving intact skins, more meat, and risking less damage to other valuable materials would be great. The cost, however, would be in time.
Dedicating that much effort to each creature would mean that some, perhaps a lot, would get past him, making him choose between going back to eliminate them or continuing forward. Too many rank sixes chanced overwhelming the defenders and trusting the static defense of the shield with their lives. If he instead retreated back to the village, he risked the very real chance of the next wave catching him there and having to engage Golden Core equivalent enemies in close proximity to the people he was trying to protect.
Frankly, he just wasn¡¯t all that worried about preserving every single tael. Benton electrocuted the beasts with abandon.
The only real disadvantage of the technique was that it required line of sight to target, meaning he had to move to the beast, find it with his eyes, and then trigger the lightning. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.
That procedure quickly revealed the problem with his plan. As beasts increased in rank, the disparities between physical characteristics grew. Some were focused on Strength. Some Toughness. Some Stealth or Perception. Others Speed.
As soon as his first attack landed, the fastest among the horde stopped maintaining pace with their fellows. They scattered, all making for the village with haste.
There was no way to prevent all of them from getting past him. He ended up killing twenty-nine of them. Not a bad number. Well over ninety percent.
More importantly, he¡¯d only let two through, and both the ones who¡¯d slipped containment were obviously focused on Speed, meaning their Strength and Toughness would suffer. Benton felt that the twins and Kang Lin should be able to handle two rank sixes, especially with their recent advances.
Even if they couldn¡¯t, the combination of the wall and the shield should be enough to hold the beasts off. There was no way just two of them could overwhelm both barriers.
Concluding that there was no need to abort his original mission, he Quickstepped closer to the mountain, moving only a tenth of a mile at a time and stopping to fully explore the area with his spiritual sense before moving forward again. It was imperative that the rank sevens not get past him.
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He just wished he had some way of warning the village to expect two attackers.
As soon as Yang Xiu felt her attack technique, Slippery Arrow, advance to Large Success, she ended her meditation and leaped back up to the allure. She and the rest of the defenders¡ªwell, mainly Kang Lin and her brother¡ªhad beaten the remnants of the last wave without Master overseeing them, but his finger had still been on the scale. He had, after all, specifically picked which beasts to leave alive for them to fight.
For the upcoming wave, she had no idea what to expect. The plan was for him to kill all the beasts, but no one knew what he would encounter on his way to confront what he called the Big Boss.
She and the other two Foundation Establishment cultivators might face no enemies, or they might have to fight an entire wave with each member at the equivalent of the peak of their realm. If the defenders did have to fight, it would be contrary to the plan, meaning that they would not be against foes specifically chosen by Master. They¡¯d be effectively and in fact all by themselves.
Which was why she watched the forest from behind the palisade, her senses expanded to their maximum.
Of the defenders, no one besides her had gotten a perception technique to Mastery. There was definitely no one who had access to spiritual sense who had access to any kind of perception technique besides her.
Zou Tian, Ye Zan, and a couple of the guards with a perception technique at Small Success were next to her, all watching just as intently. Yang Xiu knew, however, that, if the village were to have to fight against a sixth wave, it was up to her to detect the beasts approaching, and she took that role seriously.
Minutes passed as she kept watch. There was no telling how long it would take for beasts to show, if they did at all.
When they finally did arrive, she barely sensed them before they were upon the village. One moment, she felt a presence at the very extent of her range, and the next a large creature was slamming into the wall. And then another.
A cheetah and a mongoose.
She drew and loosed an arrow at the cat.
It dodged.
She drew another. Concentrating as hard as she ever had in her life on making her qi speed the arrow to its target, she loosed.
The cheetah hopped to the side, and the arrow plunged into the ground.
At the height of its jump, Kang Lin leaped down from the allure. She¡¯d timed the attack perfectly to catch the cat off guard and in a position where it was least likely to be able to react in time. But her tactical acumen didn¡¯t seem to matter.
The cat simply moved out of the way of the spear thrust and countered with a vicious swipe of its paw that Kang Lin was barely able to dodge.
With the cat occupied, Yang Xiu switched targets. The mongoose didn¡¯t even bother to hop. It simply arched its back, and the arrow impaled the dirt instead of its flesh.
She turned her attention back to the cheetah and, with her bowstring drawn back to her cheek, waited for the perfect moment.
Kang Lin was having a hard time of things. The beast was simply too fast and too powerful for her. In a series of three quick exchanges, she barely managed to keep herself out of the reach of its teeth and claws.
Yang Xiu had hoped to find a perfect moment while the cat was distracted to finally get a hit. Instead, she had to use her arrow to keep it off Kang Lin as the girl stumbled.
Finally, though, Yang Ru entered the fight. He came over the wall with all the power of a fifty-foot-tall Orange Vigor Spirit Wood tree crashing to the ground.
With Kang Lin pressing the cheetah with her spear and Yang Xiu harassing it from above, she thought there was a possibility for him to hit and kill the beast, especially with his newfound ability to convert part of his Momentum into speed.
As he neared the cat, his body blurred as he used his technique to quicken his strike. Yang Xiu tensed, hoping.
It was not to be, however. The cheetah skipped backward out of reach, snarling.
Unnoticed in the commotion, the mongoose slipped in and took a bite out of Kang Lin¡¯s leg.
The girl screamed.
¡°Retreat! Retreat!¡± Ye Zan yelled. ¡°Retreat!¡±
Yang Xiu did all she could to keep the two spirit beasts off her friend, but seeing the blood sent them into a frenzy. Both lunged at the girl.
Yang Ru interceded, getting scratched deeply despite his Stone Skin and Body Cultivation. As the mongoose latched on to his calf, an arrow finally landed.
Though the arrow didn¡¯t penetrate the beast¡¯s skin, it had a definite impact. The mongoose let go, staggering to the side.
Yang Xiu would have loved to take advantage of its momentary vulnerability, but she was forced to focus on the cheetah, making it dodge instead of clawing Kang Lin.
The twins gave her enough time to gather herself and leap back over the wall, landing with a thud as her injured leg failed her.
In addition to the bite, Yang Ru took a swipe from the cheetah, but his enhanced body shook off the blow. He was able to extricate himself from the beasts by jumping back over the wall.
The cheetah tried to follow, but the shield put a stop to that.
¡°Well,¡± Ye Zan said. ¡°That didn¡¯t work.¡±
Chapter 147 – The Kobayashi Maru
Ye Zan watched the two injured cultivators leap back over the wall. The cheetah jumped after them, but the shield held, repelling it.
He struggled with what he¡¯d just witnessed. Frankly, Yang Ru and especially Kang Lin had been lucky to escape the rank six beasts with their lives. In the right circumstances, Senior Brother could one shot a creature of that rank, but the matchup against two highly agile foes that focused on Speed was absolutely not the right circumstances.
Having there be two enemies both at the equivalent peak of Foundation Establishment versus three defenders who¡¯d only recently advanced to that major realm made the situation extremely disadvantageous for the sect members. That factor combined with barely being able to hit either of the beasts created an unwinnable scenario.
Once the two injured cultivators had consumed a Healing Pill¡ªmajor for Kang Lin and a regular one for Yang Ru¡ªYe Zan huddled up with the two of them, Yang Xiu, and Zou Tian.
¡°These are not foes that we can beat,¡± Ye Zan said.
Yang Xiu scoffed. ¡°We should give up at that first sign of trouble? So much for challenging the heavens.¡±
¡°We should fulfill our mission, which is to keep everyone safe from harm. Staying behind the barrier and monitoring what happens outside accomplishes that goal just as well as killing the beasts.¡±
¡°Just as well? Really?¡±
¡°Scenario A¡ªMaster comes back and kills a bunch of high ranked beasts milling around outside the wall after he deals with the Big Boss,¡± Ye Zan said. ¡°Scenario B¡ªthe beasts outside are dead but so are one or more of the sect members who attacked them. So really, my idea accomplishes the objective better.¡±
¡°Until enough of the beasts pile up outside to overwhelm the shield,¡± Yang Xiu said, ¡°and we all die.¡±
Senior Sister had a very aggressive mentality, and he normally really respected that attribute of hers. It made trying to convince her to follow a more conservative route frustrating, however.
¡°That¡¯s not a valid concern, and you know it. If any more beasts show up, they¡¯ll be rank seven or higher, not something we can deal with. We¡¯ll have to trust the shield either way.¡±
¡°Not to mention that you¡¯re basically saying you don¡¯t trust Master¡¯s work,¡± Yang Ru said.
¡°Master doesn¡¯t trust Master¡¯s work. He urged us caution many times, calling it unproven in battle. It¡¯s first test was the first wave of the tide!¡±
¡°Look, Senior Sister,¡± Ye Zan said, ¡°I am quite willing to put my life on the line stepping between danger and the rest of the sect members. That¡¯s my job. Right now, that extreme is not required of me or you or, more specifically, of Senior Brother and Kang Lin, who both could have easily been killed had things gone differently just a short while ago.¡±
Yang Xiu sighed, relenting somewhat from her aggressive stance. ¡°I do not want to risk lives any more than you do, but there¡¯s a big difference between coming up with a good, safe plan for killing the beasts and simply giving up. Surely, someone has an idea of how we can dispatch these foes without putting anyone in undue danger.¡±
Zou Tian tentatively raised his hand. ¡°I think I might have something¡¡±
Each Quickstep made Benton more nervous.
He trusted his disciples to handle a couple of rank six beasts, but rank sevens were on a whole different level, a full major realm above the twins and Kang Lin in fact. They could not be expected to face even a single creature that highly ranked and survive.
That simple fact made it imperative that he not allow any of the seventh wave to slip past him.
Not allowing such a thing was a challenge. His spiritual sense was quite impressive for one of his realm, but it was not infallible. Neither was it omnipotent. It had limitations of range, as in beasts more than several miles away simply didn¡¯t register at all. Creatures that were heavily Shadow aspected or had stealthy abilities could also hide from him unless he was very close to them.
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And finding the wave was merely the first obstacle. He¡¯d never actually faced a beast higher ranked than six. Theoretically, defeating a creature at the low end of the realm while he was at the peak should be simple, but he wouldn¡¯t know until he actually fought one.
He did have two big advantages. First, he expected the wave to be much smaller than the previous one, and since that one only consisted of thirty-one beasts, a total of less than twenty was likely. Second, his spiritual sense, while not perfect, was pretty darn good. Between his natural ability from advancing to the peak of his realm, his perk, and a perception technique at Mastery, his range likely exceeded any other Golden Core cultivator in existence.
The problem was the extraordinary distances involved. The span between the village and the mountain peak was several hundred miles, and given where each wave had appeared, he doubted that the respective staging areas were exactly at the peak. Which made sense. It must be difficult to exert control over so many beasts to prevent them from attacking each other. The more separation the Big Boss could create between them, the better.
Probably, anyway. Benton really didn¡¯t know, but that conclusion made sense and fit his observations.
If he Quickstepped to a location more than a few miles laterally from the seventh wave, he could easily miss the entire group, especially if they traveled tighter than the sixth one had.
His only solution was to waste time and qi hopping around back and forth, making his journey toward the peak haphazard at best, and stop to do a detailed sweep to the extent his sense would allow. Even with all those precautions, each minute where he didn¡¯t detect the beasts added to his anxiety.
He Quickstepped again, stopped, and reached out with his sense.
Nothing.
Again.
He sighed. If he screwed up and let the wave get past him, the shield would hold.
Definitely. Probably. Maybe. Possibly.
Ugh.
Ye Zan looked to his left. Yang Xiu waited with her bow ready.
He looked to the right. His four best archers other than Senior Sister were likewise ready. Each had nineteen of the special arrows Master had created ready in a bucket in front of them. Each also had a twentieth of the munitions nocked and ready to shoot.
¡°Everyone ready?¡± he said.
¡°Yes, Guard Captain,¡± the four said.
Yang Xiu nodded, as did Senior Brother and Kang Lin.
As plans went, the one Zou Tian came up with was quite safe. If it didn¡¯t work, there was no reason for the two melee oriented Foundation Establishment cultivators to every jump down from the wall, and if it did, hopefully the beasts would be in bad enough shape that they¡¯d be easy prey. The two creatures might even be killed outright without the need for Yang Ru and Kang Lin to endanger themselves at all.
¡°On my mark,¡± Ye Zan called. ¡°Three. Two. One. Go!¡±
The four guard archers drew back their bowstrings.
Yang Xiu shot the fastest arrow she could manage at the cheetah. It calmly hopped up, allowing the missile to go right past it without so much as scratching it.
That was okay, though. All part of the plan.
At the apex of its leap, the four archers loosed. Four arrows charged with Void aspected qi from a high realmed cultivator with a Concept launched toward the beast. But not directly at it.
Instead, the arrows bracketed the cheetah. One was aimed in front of it, one to the right, one to the left, and one behind. Slightly, that was. Less than half its body length from it.
The beast had no idea what it was in for if one of them hit.
Master had instructed them to use Void qi on a creature after its qi shield had been disrupted, but the disciples were disobeying that directive for a very good reason¡ªVoid qi erupted in a sphere as it detonated, making it was Master called an area of effect weapon. That trait was what made it perfect for hitting the fast and agile cheetah, especially since any qi charged by Master was likely to overwhelm a mere rank six beast.
The big cat twisted its body to avoid the arrows, and to its credit, it succeeded. Each of the four shot past it, and Ye Zan imagined a smug look on the beast¡¯s face.
If so, the expression was wiped off soon enough.
When the arrows slammed into the ground, Void qi erupted from each of them. Three of the four spheres buffeted the cheetah. Sections of its body simply disappeared wherever the energy impacted it.
The best case scenario was realized as Kang Lin and Yang Ru¡¯s services weren¡¯t even needed.
¡°Next target,¡± Ye Zan yelled. ¡°Three. Two. One. Go!¡±
It was imperative to hit the mongoose before it processed what had happened to its ally.
The sect members succeeded again. Just like with the cheetah, the mongoose couldn¡¯t prevent large spheres of Void qi from touching it, and with each point of contact literally dissolving large chunks of it into nothingness, it didn¡¯t survive the process.
Ye Zan looked a Zou Tian, who grinned widely. Yang Xiu did the same.
With the slaying of the two beasts of the sixth wave, they all had every right to believe that the tide was over. Master was going to be very proud of them for the way they handled the village¡¯s defense.
Shadow clung to the badger as it watched the cheetah and the mongoose assault the village. The wood was tough as the powerful cat¡¯s claws did not so much as scratch it. Even more worrisome was that some force prevented the beast from simply jumping over the wall.
The attacks of both the mongoose and the cat proved the humans were weak. If the badger could get past the defenses, it would feast.
As it watched, though, the humans used fearsome weapons to kill its allies of convenience.
The badger wasn¡¯t all that worried, though. The events simply proved what it had known all along¡ªa frontal assault was stupid.
It wondered is the force extended under the ground like it did through the air. Only one way to find out.
The badger began digging.
Chapter 148 – Worst Nightmare
Finally, Benton found the seventh wave at the edge of his spiritual sense, and he Quickstepped several hundred yards in front of them, placing himself between the beasts and the village. Immediately, he activated his Stealth technique and Quickstepped up to a branch of a tall tree, so he could get a visual.
He counted eighteen in the wave.
Perfect. Less than twenty as he¡¯d predicted, and a reasonable number for him to attack on his own even given his lack of experience with beasts of that rank.
Time for some experimentation. First, gravity burst.
As he expected, the technique was not nearly as overpowering against the equivalent of a Golden Core cultivator as it had been on the lower ranked beasts. Instead of being completely immobilized, the creatures could resist the area effect but with difficulty. While they could crawl, they could not walk. They definitely could not run.
Benton had enough practice using the technique by that point that the strain of keeping it going was negligible, as was the drain on his qi pool. Worst case scenario, he¡¯d consume one of his many spirit coins.
The next test was Chain Lightning, and as he had feared, it was almost worthless against the rank seven beasts. Well, worthless was only in comparison to the results he expected from his recent fights against relatively weak opponents, but still, he couldn¡¯t just fling a few bolts and wipe out the entire wave. In fact, though the lightning penetrated qi shields and did damage, none of the beasts happened to have a qi aspect that was weak to the attack. Not only did all of them survive, but it would likely have taken dozens of direct hits to kill any of them.
He considered testing temperature manipulation as well, but he already had a good idea of how that would go. It would definitely be possible to kill the beasts in that manner given enough time and enough qi. That method just wasn¡¯t helpful to him at that moment, though.
No, his best attack was the first one he¡¯d conceptualized, the one meant for just such a scenario where he was fighting opponents of an equal or greater realm. He pulled his bow from his ring and nocked an arrow.
Benton didn¡¯t consider himself nearly as good an archer as Yang Xiu because he hadn¡¯t put in close to the amount of time practicing that she had. Still, with Chao Su¡¯s training and Benton¡¯s Mastery of both a general archery technique and a specific arrow technique, he was more than competent enough to hit a mostly immobilized target at a distance of a few hundred yards.
His Layered Variable Shield Breaker with Void Finisher had been created for just such a purpose. He drew back the bowstring and loosed. The arrow hit a Wind aspected elk right between the eyes.
Benton¡¯s channeled Wood qi ate through the qi shield that was weak against that element, and when the arrowhead hit flesh, a sphere of Void qi disintegrated the beast¡¯s head into nothingness.
One down, seventeen to go.
Killing the rest of the wave took more time than Benton would have liked, but any expectation that he could do it faster was based solely on defeating much weaker opponents. Slow, careful, and meticulous were good watchwords for his current mission. Taking a little bit of extra time to make sure he eliminated all the beasts was definitely worth it.
To that end, he Quickstepped to the middle of the beasts after the last had been decapitated. His sense strained to the maximum didn¡¯t pick up any qi sources nearby.
Realizing that he entire wave had gone a lot easier than he had expected, he chuckled. He didn¡¯t have to leave the village after all. Not for the seventh wave, at any rate. Those beasts had been no threat at all.
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Oh well, Benton didn¡¯t regret being extra careful in that regard. For all he knew, a Golden Core equivalent beast would be able to shoot lightning bolts or whatever just like he could. Actually, for all he knew, that was still true, just for rank eights or higher instead of starting at seven.
He¡¯d have to see.
Regardless, he¡¯d been right about focusing so much on killing the entire wave before any of the beasts could reach the village. There was no way his disciples could handle a rank seven. They were too tough and too fast. Not even Yang Xiu would likely be able to make one of the arrows he¡¯d created for them land.
Benton glanced at all the corpses around him. A rank seven beast attacking the village was one less worry he had to concern himself with.
He Quickstepped in the direction of the mountain peak, beginning his search for the eighth wave.
Zou Tian felt that something was off with the way the shadows at the edge of the forest were behaving, but there was nothing he could pinpoint as being wrong. He couldn¡¯t even find a particular spot that drew his attention. It was just an overall sense of unease.
Soon, his fellow defenders began implementing the plan he¡¯d developed, pushing the issue to the back of his mind. They were victorious, and much celebrating was done. He dropped into meditation along with the others, seeking to improve his abilities from his recent experience.
Zou Tian found it hard to concentrate, however. Something nagged at the edges of his thoughts. Something important.
The shadows.
But that was just his imagination, wasn¡¯t it?
No. He was one with the shadow. He was shadow. He knew shadows, and they behaved wrongly.
They behaved as they did when they concealed him.
His eyes shot open. There was another beast out there!
The badger had been commanded to attack the gathering of humans, and while it had no issue with the attack itself, the fact that it had no choice but to do so rankled. Once he¡¯d gotten in range of the gathering, however, all doubts and resentments fled. There was a large source of consumable qi inside.
A large source. A large consumable source. Such a quantity would instantly propel it to rank seven and perhaps even higher.
It just had to get inside that wall and past that barrier, absorb all that wonderful, powerful qi, and ascend to a level the puny humans wouldn¡¯t be able to challenge.
Besides providing both incentive and temptation, the source was like a beacon in the night to the badger¡¯s spiritual sense, allowing it to keep its bearing directly on target as it burrowed deep under the ground.
Inch after inch, foot after foot, it dug, always focused on the direction of the source. Eventually, the badger found itself directly below the massive amount of consumable qi.
The barrier hadn¡¯t extended below the ground. If the beast went straight up, he¡¯d be inside the gathering!
Excited, the badger almost did exactly that. It hadn¡¯t, however, reached near the peak of rank six by being impetuous. It reached out its spiritual sense again and discovered an important lack.
Shadow.
There was almost none in the crucial area near the consumable, which meant the badger would be exposed as soon as it emerged from the ground. And it had already seen what the humans could do to an exposed target.
No, its strength was in remaining hidden, not in a direct frontal assault.
It would find shadow, and there it would rise.
Zou Tian experienced a moment of panic. A stealthed beast was their worst nightmare. If it somehow found a way into the village, there was nothing any of them could do.
He took a deep breath. They had Master¡¯s shield to keep it out, to keep them safe. It didn¡¯t matter that the sect members couldn¡¯t see their foe. The barrier would still detect it.
A warning, however, was definitely called for.
¡°Beware!¡± Zou Tian yelled. ¡°There¡¯s a Shadow aspected beast lurking, and I don¡¯t know where it is.¡±
Ye Zan, a bunch of the guards, the twins, and Kang Lin were all meditating, and Zou Tian felt horrible about interrupting them. Master had drilled into them that there was almost nothing more important than immediately going over a battle in one¡¯s mind to learn from what one did right and what one did wrong.
If there was one thing more important that advancing, though, it was the presence of another beast threatening the sect.
The others didn¡¯t question his alert. They broke free of their meditation and took up positions on the allure.
Their level of trust in him touched a spot in his heart. No longer was he a street rat lookout for a gang, paid with just enough food to keep him from starving. Instead, he was a respected member of a sect, one of their leaders in fact.
Not for the first time, he dedicated himself to doing whatever was needed for his master and his sect brothers and sisters. And at the moment, that whatever was finding the beast.
Chapter 149 – Alert!
Benton grew concerned as he continued his search for the eighth wave. His disciples should have long since been able to dispatch the two rank six beasts that attacked the village and followed that fight up with consolidating their gains. So far, though, he hadn¡¯t received a single notification about any of his disciples advancing due to that battle.
Of course, it was possible that none of them had gained enough to move any of their techniques or cultivation forward.
He frowned. Surviving a life-threatening situation typically led to gains, and a bunch of cultivators in the Qi Gathering realm or barely into Foundation Establishment facing the equivalent of a peak Foundation Establishment opponent should be life threatening. Even if they¡¯d simply bombarded the creatures with the arrows and FEDs he¡¯d left them, he¡¯d have expected at least someone to improve something.
The lack did not necessarily indicate a disaster, however. Maybe the defenders had decided to simply depend on the walls to keep the beasts at bay instead of killing them. That result would be a lackluster one as he hoped that he was teaching his sect members to be more self sufficient than that, but he¡¯d listen to their explanation were that the case.
Besides, that decision being reached didn¡¯t sound right if for no other reason than that he doubted Yang Xiu would go along with such a plan. Of course, she could have been outvoted?
Either way, he couldn¡¯t help but find the result worrisome, but there was nothing he could do about it. He had to find the next wave and the next and the next until he finally reached the Big Boss. Returning to the village to check up on his disciples simply wasn¡¯t an option.
Besides providing an unwanted distraction, his worries about how his disciples were faring also made him want to skip quickly ahead in order to end the tide as quickly as possible. Which was, of course, the worst thing he could possibly do. He had to trust his sect members to survive a mere rank six beast as a defense against that level of threat was well within their capabilities.
His job was to protect them from the dangers they couldn¡¯t face.
In fact, he¡¯d list that goal as one of his top three objectives as a sect leader. He wasn¡¯t sure about the exact order, but his priorities were well defined. One, he needed to mentor his sect members to help them grow stronger. Two, he was to serve as the nuclear deterrent so that any foe thought twice about incurring his wrath when facing one of his sect members. And three was the aforementioned protection from greater threats.
Yes. He liked that list of job responsibilities.
And he really should be getting on with that third objective instead of letting his mind wander.
Maybe advancing Mind Cultivation could help him with that.
Doh! He was doing it again.
Benton Quickstepped about a quarter mile ahead, stopped, and extended his spiritual sense.
Still nothing.
He sighed and Quickstepped again.
The badger sensed a nice amount of shadow above him and carefully and quietly tunneled upward. As it neared the surface, it slowed, barely creeping along at all. It extended its spiritual sense and listened intently but didn¡¯t detect anything in the area above it.
Slowly, slowly, slowly, its claw broke the ground. It tensed, waiting, but there was no cry. Nothing appeared.
It finished digging itself out of the hole and crawled into an alley between two buildings, cloaking itself in Shadow. The qi element hid all of it, including its smell and sounds and spiritual presence.
None of the humans gave any indication that they knew it was there.
Exactly as planned. Back at the mountain, even many of the rank sevens and even some eights failed to find it when it truly hid.
The humans didn¡¯t stand a chance.
Positive that it had not been detected, it focused on its quarry. The consumable qi was simply laying on the ground next to the wall, guarded by a human female. She was small and weak, barely into the first step of the first major realm. Two older, slightly stronger humans stood nearby. They, too, were not nearly strong enough to stand against the badger, and they seemed distracted, looking up at the humans on the wall.
The badger would have laughed if it wasn¡¯t so focused on remaining absolutely still. The silly humans still thought that no threat could reach inside their gathering.
Granted, the barrier was strong, but it wasn¡¯t smart. Not like the badger.
It studied the obstacles to it gaining the prize and advancing. The three near the consumable qi source were pathetic. Killing all of them would take only seconds and could be accomplished making almost no sound.
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The real threats were on the wall. Three of the humans had reached the beginning of the second major realm and had combined strength enough to be dangerous. The archers also had access to weapons that could hurt the badger.
Until it advanced, that was.
Once it ascended to the next major realm, the humans would be hard pressed to get a weapon near it. It would be able to tear the throats out of all of them before they could even react.
Fast, silent, and hard to detect was a dangerous combination.
Its priority, then, was to first kill the three on the ground without attracting the notice of the other humans. Next, consume the qi and advance. Finally, kill the rest of the humans.
The plan was good.
A big question remained¡ªapproach at full speed or creep quietly? Both methods held advantages. Both methods held disadvantages.
The badger deliberated for a moment before deciding on speed. Tactically, it wasn¡¯t sure the decision was the correct one, but it wanted the qi. It wanted to advance. The faster that happened, the better.
Zou Tian was frustrated. Something was wrong. There was a beast nearby, but he couldn¡¯t detect it. Neither could Senior Sister. But it was there. He knew it.
Staring at the edge of the forest did no good. Whatever had drawn his attention to the shadows there was gone. There was no longer anything off about them. They were just regular shadows.
The beast could have retreated deeper into the forest, and if he couldn¡¯t see it even in relatively plain sight, he¡¯d never find it there.
On the other hand, the village was separated from the trees by dozens of yards of clear, sunlit open ground for the entire perimeter of the wall. The Shadow aspect couldn¡¯t conceal a cultivator¡ªor a beast¡ªunless there were shadows to hide in. At best, the creature would be able to minimize its presence, making it indistinct to sight, but in the open, it would still be visible, especially to someone as good with Perception as Senior Sister.
Zou Tian really had no reason to fear the beast attacking from the forest. It wasn¡¯t like any of them were going to suddenly go for a picnic or something. Until Master returned to tell them the tide was over, only authorized sect members would leave the wall and, even then, would stay within a distance where they could be supported by the archers.
Something nagged at his mind, though, telling him that he and his fellow sect members were in danger. Try as he might, he could not get rid of the feeling.
¡°There is no danger,¡± he told himself. ¡°Even an invisible beast can¡¯t get through the barrier.¡±
What if it somehow found a way, though? Like Yang Xiu had said, Master did not believe the shield to be infallible.
The more Zou Tian thought about it, the more positive he became. He had no way to justify his conclusion, but he became absolutely sure that the beast had made it inside the shield. He didn¡¯t know how or where it was exactly, but they were all in danger.
A rank six beast was inside the village.
Zou Tian turned to look at the plaza but saw nothing. Which proved nothing. A Shadow aspected beast would hide and attack from ambush. No one would see it coming.
There was absolutely no way to prove his suspicion, though.
He needed to warn the others, but if he were wrong, it would be a huge loss of face. After gaining so much respect, he could blow it all on one wrong opinion. How could anyone ever trust him again?
Why would they trust him now after he¡¯d been so wrong about accusing Master of being a demonic cultivator?
The most likely result of him voicing his opinion was laughter. They¡¯d all make fun of him.
Zou Tian closed his eyes tight. If he were right, though, and someone died¡ What if the beast went after Wan Ai?
¡°Ye Zan, Yang Xiu!¡± he yelled. ¡°It¡¯s inside. The beast got through the shield!¡±
¡°You see it?¡± the guard captain said. ¡°Where is it?¡±
¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±
Ye Zan¡¯s eyes narrowed. ¡°How do you know it¡¯s inside?¡±
¡°Quiet,¡± Yang Xiu yelled.
From the tenseness in her posture, she was clearly concentrating intently. After a moment, she relaxed. ¡°I don¡¯t sense anything. Are you sure?¡±
¡°I am, Senior Sister. My gut tells me it somehow breeched the shield.¡±
Yang Xiu nodded but hesitated for a moment before finally speaking. ¡°Sound the alarm.¡±
Ye Zan looked doubtful, but an order was an order. He blew the whistle in the pattern indicating an incursion and rang each of the gong¡¯s four quadrants to tell everyone that they didn¡¯t know where the beast was.
The loud noises followed by the humans beginning to look inside the gathering instead of outside told the badger that its presence had somehow been discovered. No one seemed to know exactly where it was, however, leaving it with a choice.
Should it retreat or should it attack?
Both the command it had been given, which was so difficult to disobey that it bordered on impossible, and its greed made it want to attack. Only its sense of caution and self preservation leaned the opposite direction.
In the end, there was no choice at all. Cloaking itself as much as it could, it dashed out into the open toward the consumable qi.
Ye Zan didn¡¯t know if he believed Zou Tian¡¯s instincts or not. On one hand, the boy was both competent and not prone to flights of fancy. On the other, he was unable to offer any defense for his warning other than that his gut told him there was danger.
No matter how high in the sect hierarchy the boy was, trusting someone else¡¯s intuition was a hard sell.
The matter was quickly taken out of Ye Zan¡¯s hand, however, when Yang Xiu made it an order. If there was a line that he would not cross, it was disobeying a direct command.
Besides, there would be only a small amount of harm if the alert turned out to be false. If nothing else, it would be a good drill for the sect members and villagers alike.
Whether Zou Tian was right or wrong quickly became a moot point as a badger darted out from between two houses on the opposite side of the plaza. It sprinted directly toward Jin LiJuan.
Master had said that the spirit coins would be a target if any beast breeched the shield, and he was right. He had also said that a beast reaching those spirit coins and consuming them would be a disaster of epic proportions. There was enough qi contained in them to propel a beast a rank or two or three or more.
If the badger reached that bag, it would probably end up killing every person in the village.
Only Huang Yimun and Pan Jiang stood between the badger and its target. The two of them were only in the middle realm of Qi Gathering, just like Ye Zan. None of them were any match for a rank six beast. All any of the three could do was delay it until the others could mount a more effective defense.
Yang Xiu shot an arrow at the fast-moving creature. It dodged, barely breaking its stride.
Yang Ru and Kang Lin were out of position. Ye Zan was the only one who could intercede.
Barely giving his action a thought, he jumped down, landing between the badger and the spirit coins.
Chapter 150 – The Badger Strikes
By the time Benton found the eighth wave, he still hadn¡¯t gotten any notifications indicating advancements from his sect members. He was beginning to get worried. There was absolutely nothing he could do about whatever was going on with his disciples, though.
Well, that conclusion wasn¡¯t one hundred percent true. Instead of taking care of the beasts currently within range of his spiritual sense, he could Quickstep back to the village and check on things, but such an action risked him not being able to find the wave again. It also meant abandoning any pretense of leaving his sect members to do the job themselves.
Benton sighed. Being a parent or grandparent or sect leader was difficult. He wanted what was best for the kids, and the optimal outcome was for them to learn how to deal with challenging tasks on their own so that, when they were adults and didn¡¯t have anyone to clean up their messes, they¡¯d be that much less likely to encounter a calamity they couldn¡¯t handle.
In order for them to truly succeed against a challenge, however, there had to be a chance of disaster. They needed the freedom to fail.
Getting hurt or not killing a beast or any number of ills was a fine outcome. Low moments taught great lessons.
But.
He wanted them to grow to become fine outstanding adults, and they couldn¡¯t do that if they died. What did it matter if they learned every lesson to the utmost if they weren¡¯t able to reach adulthood. They needed safety. To that end, he should invent bubble wrap and keep them ensconced in it so that no one and nothing could ever hurt them.
They needed safety. They needed freedom. The two ideals were direct opposites of each other.
It was the ultimate conundrum of parenthood. Every time one¡¯s kids stepped out of the house, they faced every risk in the world. Kidnappers. Car accidents. Bullying. Bad choices. Drugs and alcohol.
Keep them inside, and they never learn to deal with the small dangers and how to make good choices, or any choices. Let them go, and maybe they face something they¡¯re not equipped to deal with.
Ugh.
Thankfully, none of his kids or grandkids had ever had anything actually horrible happen to them, but he and Evelyn were well aware of the risks. Many a night was spent sleepless until they heard the last of the kids return.
The cultivation world was even more brutal than Earth. Sure, his disciples had better tools to deal with danger, like superhuman abilities, but the dangers were commensurate. A rank seven beast could tear through the entire village, and there was not a thing any of them, not even the supremely talented twins, would be able to do a thing about it.
Which left Benton with a huge choice¡ªcontinue on as planned or return to the village?
Ye Zan¡¯s heart pounded so hard that he was surprised its thumping wasn¡¯t visible on the outside of his robe. The very first thing standing between the rank six badger and its objective, Jin LiJuan and the bag of spirit coins, was him, little old hadn¡¯t even quite reached the sixth minor realm of Qi Gathering him.
He was about to die. It was inevitable.
That was okay, though. If the delay, however brief, his death caused the beast in reaching the bag gave his sect mates time organize a proper defense, his action could possibly save the entire village from being destroyed.
It was a fitting end for Ye Zan. A good end. An heroic end.
Benton Quickstepped to the location of the rank eight beasts.
In the end, he¡¯d made the same decision that he and Evelyn had made almost every time they¡¯d faced a similar situation. Unless whatever activity the kids were facing put them in an inordinate amount of danger or greatly increased the likelihood of them choosing to do something incredibly idiotic, the two had felt that allowing their children to live a full live, even if there were some small risk, was more important than keeping them utterly safe.
Of course, there was always a small voice in the back of Benton¡¯s mind that, if the inconceivable did happen, his reasoning would be cold comfort. Luckily, he¡¯d never had to face those particular consequences. The worst that had ever happened was the youngest staying out too late, falling asleep at the wheel, and getting in an accident. The car had been totaled, but the child, other than cuts and bruises and just being shaken up, had been fine.
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For the current circumstances, his best judgement was that facing strong beasts without him was something that cultivators needed to be able to do, and thus the level of danger wasn¡¯t inordinate. He just really, really hoped that reasoning didn¡¯t come back to haunt him.
Regardless, he¡¯d made his decision. It was time to focus on the task in front of him.
He was on top of a large hill about a half mile ahead of the eighth wave. Normally, he¡¯d have thought the distance, which would have made it hard to even see the beasts with unenhanced eyes, was pretty far, but mid realm Golden Core equivalent beasts moved fast. If his reflexes hadn¡¯t been similarly enhanced, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to react in time.
His opening move was to lay down a field of high gravity around the creatures. Which worked. Some. The beasts definitely slowed.
Unlike with the previous wave in which the gravity had still pretty much incapacitated the beasts, these were able to fight through the field and remain on their feet, still moving forward.
That was okay, though. He didn¡¯t need to stop them. He didn¡¯t even really need to slow them because he had another ace in the hole¡ªTime Manipulation.
The technique was a qi hog, but with over five and a half million qi available, all of it supercharged by a Concept, he could afford it.
To his perception, it felt like he continued to move at regular speed, but the beasts might as well have stopped. What gave away that it was him that had sped up was that everything else moved as if through molasses. The leaves blown by the wind. An arrow after it left his bow. All moved in slow motion. He could have easily walked to the arrow and redirected it or even pulled it out of the air altogether.
Bullet time. Cool.
Soon, eleven arrows were headed down range. He canceled the Time Manipulation technique, and the missiles suddenly accelerated to full speed, each slamming into a different beast.
Incredibly, three of the creatures survived the first hit¡ªa wolf, a red fox, and a crocodile. All were injured, of course, but each had somehow survived, an unprecedented occurrence when he used his primary attach technique. The increase in toughness from ranks seven to eight was no joke.
The fox had been quick enough to move its head, so the arrow caught it with only a glancing blow, leaving it staggered and bloody but still functional. The crocodile¡¯s armored skin had protected it enough to prevent lethal damage, but Benton was positive another strike in the same location would end it.
The wolf, though, should have already died. Its head was mostly gone, replaced by a bloody mass of bone fragments and unidentifiable tissues. It appeared to still be alive due to sheer willpower alone.
Upon closer examination, Benton discovered something else about the beast, something he¡¯d rather not have known. It was pregnant. He sensed a very tiny, barely perceptible, rank one entity alive inside it.
Killing spirit beasts was one thing. They represented a clear and present danger to his sect. Killing cubs was something else entirely.
There was no way the wolf mama could survive its wounds, though, and it was clearly suffering. Maybe he should put it out of its misery. But doing that would surely end the baby as well.
Screw it. Both would very likely die in the next few minutes, but if she and her baby had any chance, he would leave them to it.
With the other two beasts injured and the increased gravity field still active, they moved slowly enough for him not to have any problem hitting them each with another arrow, which, as he suspected, was enough to put both of them down.
With the wave over, he Quickstepped in the direction of the mountain peak, searching for the rank nines.
The badger rushed toward the consumable qi. There were now four humans in the way as a new one had jumped down between it and its goal.
No matter. The new one was just as weak as the others and would be just as easily killed. A jump and a swipe of its claw was all it would take to tear the human¡¯s throat out. It barely would need to pause.
The badger had spent years and years and years killing beasts and consuming cores to reach near the peak of rank six. The amount of qi contained at the source was enough to propel it multiple ranks. It had never seen so much concentrated in an accessible place. The amount rivaled what was held in the core of¡
Best not to even complete that thought.
It dashed forward, claws ready.
Ye Zan tensed as he tried to anticipate where to move his spear.
The badger was like nothing he¡¯d ever seen. It moved so fast. The only thing he¡¯d ever seen that came close to its speed was Master.
The only possible way to save himself would be to time his defense perfectly. As the beast moved to what he believed to be leaping distance, Ye Zan chose to bring his spear to the right, guessing that was the direction the badger would pick.
The beast went left.
An arrow raced toward it.
Senior Sister.
He had a chance.
The badger twisted in the air, and the missile sailed right past it, not even making contact.
That was it. He was dead.
There was no one else who had a chance to¡ª
Senior Brother flashed in front of him, falling from above faster than one of Senior Sister¡¯s arrows.
His Momentum. Yang Ru had converted it into speed.
Being in the air, the badger had limited options to dodge, but Yang Ru was a Master of the spear. His thrust was aimed at center mass. The beast didn¡¯t stand a chance and was knocked back several feet.
Ye Zan stared at it, the instrument he¡¯d been so sure was about to deliver his death. Its tan fur with black streaks was now marred with a spot of red.
Unfortunately, Senior Brother had either not gathered enough Momentum or had converted too much of it to quicken his movements because the strike was not lethal. Far from it. The spear tip had barely drawn blood.
¡°Stop woolgathering!¡± Senior Brother yelled. ¡°This fight has barely started.¡±
Ye Zan let out a breath. True. And he was still alive, hopefully to remain that way to see the beast dead.
Chapter 151 – Into the Danger Zone
Benton stood atop a cliff, looking over a wide valley. In the distance, a single snow-covered peak rose, ascending into the clouds. The qi signature at the top was so strong that it almost overwhelmed his spiritual sense even from miles away.
He dearly, dearly hoped that the huge source of qi wasn¡¯t the Big Boss he had to face.
According to Su¡¯s memories, a beast tide being caused by an entity at an equivalent realm to Nihility or higher was extremely unlikely. As in, no one had ever heard of such a high ranked beast causing one.
Of course, if such a high ranked beast attacked, it was unlikely anyone would have survived to tell the tale. Still, Benton optimistically figured that the leader was probably somewhere in the Nascent Soul realm, and that determination wasn¡¯t just based on Su¡¯s memories. From what Benton¡¯s research in the Poison Claw Sect library back in Sixth Flawless Flowing City had revealed, the size of the waves launched against the village was indicative of a powerful beast but not a heaven-shattering one. Ergo, the Big Boss was probably between rank ten and rank twelve and most likely on the lower end of that range.
At worst, Benton should be fighting one full realm above his own, a feat he hoped was doable since he was much stronger than a typical peak Golden Core cultivator. If the beast were actually Nihility, though, he might as well just flee because it was unlikely he¡¯d even be able to hit the creature, much less injure it.
Before finding the Big Boss, though, he still had to deal with the creature¡¯s waves, starting with the ninth. There were six of the rank nine beasts making their way across the valley.
The fight should be interesting. It would be the first time that Benton faced the equivalent of a peak Golden Core cultivator, an opponent at his level.
He had a choice¡ªwait at a higher elevation or Quickstep down to meet them?
Well, as Anakin had found out, it was impossible to defeat someone who had the high ground. After all, what did having superpowers mean compared to a slight advantage in height?
Benton chuckled.
Still, he supposed there was some benefit to the old adage. He waited, watching, until the beasts chose a path up the mountain. From that point, it was easy to see where they would need to traverse a pass, so he Quickstepped to that point to set up an ambush.
He found a nice high point and cloaked himself with his Stealth technique, his mastered Concepts ensuring not even a beast with the highest possible perception could detect him and all for the very low cost of about seven qi per minute. For that amount, he could remain cloaked for ¡ literally forever considering his regen rate was greater than a quarter of a million per hour or about forty-seven hundred per minute. The amount required to stay stealthed was basically unnoticeable.
Combined with his perk that hid him from spiritual senses, he was completely undetectable.
Except maybe he wasn¡¯t?
The beasts slowed before entering the pass. A single one, an eagle, flew above the ground at a height higher than Benton¡¯s perch, obviously searching for something. Him, presumably. The creatures hadn¡¯t, after all, exhibited that type of behavior previously when he¡¯d observed them down in the valley. One or more of them must be able to somehow sense him. Either that or another factor had made them suspicious.
Like maybe the fact that he¡¯d completely obliterated the last two waves?
Oh well, it wasn¡¯t like he needed to ambush them. He felt confident in defeating the six beasts in a straight up fight. After all, if he couldn¡¯t achieve such a feat, how was he going to defeat a creature up to a full major realm above him?
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He drew back his bowstring.
Yang Xiu watched Yang Ru jump from the wall, using his technique to accelerate, putting himself between the badger and Ye Zan. In the ten months since she¡¯d become Master¡¯s disciple, she¡¯d spent almost as much time sparring and practicing with weapons and watching other do the same as she had cultivating. Her anticipation of what would happen next in a fight was pretty darn good.
As soon as her brother¡¯s spear hit the beast¡¯s chest, she loosed her arrow, predicting where the two would intersect. And she was right. The badger was too surprised by getting hit to focus on her, and her shot hit the exact spot that Yang Ru¡¯s had.
Since its qi shield was already weakened, the arrow penetrated, sticking into the badger.
Yes!
As soon as the beast landed, though, it darted for the shadows before anyone could stop it and disappeared from view.
Crap.
Ye Zan turned to Jin LiJuan as soon as the beast disappeared. ¡°Give me the coins.¡±
¡°No.¡±
¡°The badger is after the coins. It¡¯s too dangerous for you. Give them to me.¡±
¡°No!¡±
Heavens. The girl was as stubborn as she was intense.
¡°Why not?¡± he said.
¡°Master gave them to me. It¡¯s my job. My responsibility. If anyone is going to die protecting them, it will be me.¡±
Ye Zan opened his mouth to object, but he didn¡¯t. For one thing, he doubted it would do any good. For another, he respected her argument. Yes, she was probably the youngest of the sect members and was definitely the weakest, but she was a sect member. The responsibility for the coins and for the barrier had been entrusted to her by Master. If Ye Zan were in her position, he would have refused as well.
Fine, then.
¡°Guards!¡± he yelled. ¡°I want a cordon around her two people thick. Nothing and nobody gets through until that badger is dead. Understand?¡±
¡°Yes, Guard Captain!¡±
Zou Tian caught Yang Xiu¡¯s eyes, silently asking the question, ¡°Can you sense the badger?¡±
She shook her head.
He frowned. She was able to find him even when he was cloaked in Shadow, but he wasn¡¯t yet able to manipulate qi externally. The badger did have that ability, and it was stymieing her Qi Gathering level Perception technique.
What were they going to do? There was a dangerous beast loose in the village, one that was basically invisible. Even their most perceptive sect member, Senior Sister, couldn¡¯t detect it. The badger could kill anyone it wanted.
Wan Ai was in danger.
How could he protect her if no one could find the creature?
A thought hit him. Yang Xiu hadn¡¯t been the one to find out that it was inside the village in the first place. That honor belonged to him.
He didn¡¯t even know how he did it, though, and until he figured it out, there was no way for him to repeat it. His best guess was that his very strong affinity to Shadow sensed either another Shadow user nearby or, perhaps more likely, the manipulation of Shadow nearby.
That latter explanation made sense to him. More so, it resonated with his understanding of his qi aspect. His gut told him he was correct, and Master advocated for them to trust their guts in absence of proof to the contrary.
The question was how to actually use the ability.
Just like everything else related to cultivation, Zou Tian figured that his best bet was to clear his mind with meditation, connect to his qi aspect, and let it guide him. He dropped into the lotus position.
For a moment, he was distracted by wondering if he should tell someone what he was doing, but he berated himself instead. His fellow sect members weren¡¯t stupid. They knew he had been the one to sense the creature inside the village in the first place. Seeing him meditate, they¡¯d quickly understand why he was doing so.
Yang Ru had no idea how to find the badger, and letting it run loose to kill whoever it chose was not okay. He glanced up at the top of the wall. His sister was concentrating intently, and Zou Tian was meditating.
If neither of them could locate it, Yang Ru had no chance.
Think. What to do. What to do.
If he couldn¡¯t find it, he should ¡ draw it out. It was attracted to Jin LiJuan¡¯s spirit coins. Which ¡ was perfect. He had coins.
Additionally, he had another advantage. Besides being able to deliver a more powerful strike than any other sect member save Master, Yang Ru was also the toughest one. The combination of equaling the highest level of Spiritual Cultivation of the disciples at Foundation Establishment minor realm one and the highest level of Body Cultivation at peak Bronze and having access to a shield technique even if it was only at Small Success made him more able to withstand blows that would kill any of the others.
With a thought, he withdrew all the spirit coins from his spatial ring and let them pile into his cupped hands. His were the one thousand increment variety instead of the ones holding ten thousand that were being used to feed the shield, but his would soon be much more accessible than the others, which required passing through a wide expanse of sunlight to reach.
¡°I¡¯m going to draw it out,¡± he yelled. ¡°When it appears, throw a FED behind it.¡±
Yang Ru began walking toward the shadows that the beast disappeared into.
Chapter 152 – An Aura of Success or Failure?
Benton dropped Stealth just before loosing the bowstring simply because it felt more sporting to give the eagle a chance in lieu of having the swift arrow appear literally out of nowhere. Not that it mattered. His Foundation Establishment level archery technique made his arrow faster than a bullet and added a seeking function.
Even if the bird would have had time to dodge the arrow, it wouldn¡¯t have been able to.
The tip struck true, aimed at the junction of the right wing and the eagle¡¯s body. Wood qi overwhelmed the bird¡¯s Wind aspected qi shield, and Void qi destroyed a good chunk of the wing.
The creature was tough, though. Even a hundred qi supercharged with a Concept wasn¡¯t enough to kill it. In fact, if Benton hadn¡¯t hit a critical location, the beast might not have even been all that injured. As it was, the bird couldn¡¯t fly with only a single operatable wing and soon crashed to the rocky ground.
With its five allies still far off, Benton Quickstepped to it and finished it off with his spear. The tough bird took three more strikes to die.
Rank nine beasts truly were on another tier compared to the last wave. If there had been thousands of them like the rank ones in the first wave, he might have been in trouble, especially if each of them took four hits or so to kill.
In the end, though, he still had way too many advantages over the rank nines to consider them a true challenge. His Gravity technique, while not slowing them to barely moving or anything, hindered their movements. Time Manipulation sped his relative velocity so fast that it would have been like the beasts were standing still regardless of the gravity. His attack technique countered each of the beast¡¯s qi shields with an opposing element, giving each of his strikes more penetration power and allowing his Void qi to touch skin or fur or feathers or what have you.
Between his extreme effective speed advantage which allowed him to strike the beasts with impunity and the absurd amount of damage each hit with his spear caused, the five didn¡¯t last long, and bonus, the extremely valuable carcasses weren¡¯t too beat up to sell.
Well, they were kind of missing chunks from the use of Void aspected qi here and there, but still, he¡¯d be able to get some decent money for them. It wasn¡¯t like there were a lot of rank nine beast pelts going on the market. Even scraps were worth something, and he had a lot more than just that little amount.
Reflecting on his last couple of fights, though, he did have a worry. The overall toughness and prowess of the beasts steadily improved from rank to rank. Which obviously was to be expected. But the magnitude of the jumps was still a bit disconcerting.
The entire seventh wave had been completely incapacitated by his gravity field, and he¡¯d been able to one shot all of them. For the eighth wave, the beasts were able to still move in an equivalent gravity field, albeit slowly, and three of the creatures had survived his first strike to be taken down by the second. Finally, for that last wave, the beasts were only somewhat slowed by the field, and all had taken multiple hits to kill.
What was really bad about that progression was that all those ranks were jumps in minor realm only. They were still all the equivalent of Golden Core cultivators. Rank ten represented an advancement to the next major realm, the realm above Benton¡ªthe equivalent of Nascent Soul.
Such a beast would have developed an aura, which he knew about from his knowledge technique. An aura had the ability to suppress him in some way, hindering his attacks and defense, but he didn¡¯t know by how much. The knowledge didn¡¯t quantify anything.
There was some good news. One, his Time Manipulation worked great no matter the rank of his opponent as far as he could tell, and his attack technique did exactly what he expected it to do¡ªdeliver a much harder punch than would be expected for an attack that didn¡¯t utilize an opposing element to break a shield and Void to consume flesh. Two, a beast was never as strong as a cultivator of the same realm. He''d put him at Nascent Soul minor realm one versus a half dozen rank twelve beasts any day.
But he wasn¡¯t at the first minor realm of Nascent Soul yet. He needed a thousand loyal sect members before he could make that advancement.
From his knowledge, fighting against an opponent that had an aura would put him at a big disadvantage, but it wouldn¡¯t completely take him out of the fight. His techniques would still work. They just wouldn¡¯t be as strong.
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And of course, his opponent being in the next major realm up meant that the beast would be that much stronger and tougher.
Frankly, Benton didn¡¯t know if he¡¯d be able to defeat even a rank ten beast, much less multiple rank tens or a rank eleven, or heaven forbid, a rank twelve.
But he didn¡¯t have a choice. Beast tides were all or nothing. Either the Big Boss was defeated, or the humans all died.
If he were a normal cultivator stuck at the peak of Golden Core knowing what he was about to face, he¡¯d be quaking in his boots. But he wasn¡¯t a normal cultivator. He was a cheating cheater who cheats.
¡°System,¡± he said, ¡°is there a way to minimize the impact of an aura?¡±
Benton tensed as he waited for the response. Whether the answer he received was positive or negative wouldn¡¯t change his actions. He had to proceed onward regardless, but a technique might just provide him with the advantage he needed to succeed.
He let out a relieved breath. Perfect.
¡°System, I¡¯d like to create such a technique and buy it to Mastery.¡±
Nice.
Benton still anticipated a difficult fight, especially if he had to face multiple rank tens at once or higher ranked beasts, but he was at least somewhat more prepared.
He Quickstepped down to the valley. Time to find the next wave if there was one or the Big Boss if not.
Zou Tian stripped everything from his mind, his thoughts, perceptions, feelings. Everything. From the breeze caressing his skin to his worries about the badger somehow finding its way to Wan Ai, he pushed all of it away.
Two months ago, or even one, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to attain such a state of concentration, but hours and hours of daily practice had led to steady improvement. As it had for all the members of the Rising Tide Sect. Being able to instantly drop into a meditative state and clear their mind was something that almost any of them could do in seconds.
Until the situation with the stealthed badger, Zou Tian had never considered that Shadow qi could reveal as well as conceal, but his instincts had led him to the path. He would follow it through to its destination.
His experience earlier had proved that there was a way to use Shadow to reveal. He just needed to figure out how.
With an empty mind, he concentrated on a single idea¡ªletting Shadow speak to him.
In his mind, Shadow swirled around him, light and dark. Empty and full. It was as ethereal as a spirit, as solid as night, and translucent as nothingness all at the same time.
What did any of that even mean? What was it trying to tell him? That it was a contradiction?
No. That wasn¡¯t right. It was simply trying to tell him that it was something, not nothing.
Yes. It had properties. It was a substance, not merely the absence of light.
More than that, it was an element. A qi aspect.
It could be used to conceal. That was its most common purpose. But it could do so, so much more than that. One only had to embrace it, to become one with it, and open oneself to the possibilities.
Zou Tian felt Hide Presence advance. He¡¯d reached Mastery.
Never before had he been so connected to Shadow, both as a concept and literally to the shadows around him. To the shadows between the houses that Senior Brother was walking toward.
Wait. Why was he doing that?
Zou Tian hadn¡¯t been concentrating on his fellow sect members as he was focused on the shadows. He rewound their conversation in his mind.
Senior Brother¡¯s plan was apparently to have the badger attack him and then have his sister attack the beast with one of Master¡¯s explosives?
That was idiotic. Senior Brother¡¯s Body Cultivation gave him an edge, but it wasn¡¯t all powerful. If the beast couldn¡¯t survive an explosion created by a Golden Core cultivator, then Senior Brother wouldn¡¯t be able to either.
Zou Tian¡¯s eyes popped open.
Yang Ru calmly walked toward the shadows with a pile of spirit coins in his hands, determined to draw the badger out of hiding.
Obviously, his actions were dangerous. The beast was at a much higher level than him, the equivalent of the near the peak of Foundation Establishment versus him having barely began his journey in the realm.
Yang Ru had factors on his side, however. His Body Cultivation made him much tougher than other cultivators of the same minor realm, though he had no doubt that the badger could damage him if it got in a good shot. The beast was already injured, having retreated with one of his sister¡¯s arrows sticking out of it.
Neither of those was his biggest advantage. That distinction belonged to his allies. As soon as it attacked him, he expected his sister to place one of Master¡¯s explosions perfectly to further injure it, and Kang Lin was watching him. She¡¯d join the battle as soon as the blast allowed her to.
As long as he could survive long enough and keep the spirit coins from it, he had no doubt that the two girls would kill the creature.
He was almost to the alley the beast had disappeared into.
¡°Senior Brother!¡± Zou Tian yelled. ¡°Stop!¡±
Chapter 153 – Attack a Creature a Major Realm and a Half Higher Than Me? Sure.
Yang Ru was a step away from the shadowed alley when he heard the call to stop. Already primed to react to the slightest stimulus, Yang Ru halted. Cupping the shaft of his spear around the pile of spirit coins in his hands, he brought his weapon up into a guard position.
¡°Why?¡± he yelled.
¡°It¡¯s right in front of you,¡± Zou Tian called.
Good. That was exactly the result Yang Ru wanted. For the badger to attack him and be drawn out into the open.
But the implications of what the younger boy said immediately hit. Zou Tian could sense the beast.
Yang Ru stepped back, keeping his spear at the ready.
The badger snarled. So close. One of the less weak humans had been walking toward the alley, holding a source of consumable qi that, though not nearly as big as the first, might be enough for it to advance.
It was all the beast could do to not rush out into the sun to attack.
But it was injured. One of the sticks the humans used for attacks had impaled it. The wound wasn¡¯t deadly, but it hurt. And it couldn¡¯t work the stick out of itself without making the injury worse.
Though the humans were all much weaker than it, they were not without teeth. The badger had seen them kill two of its fellows. And it was not nearly at full power. If not for the orders it could not disobey, it would have retreated to try for the qi source at night when it could make better use of its stealthiness.
Instead, it had to make the best of a bad situation and find a way to win even with the humans actively on alert. It had to be careful moving, or the stick would move around, jostling its insides and worsening the wound.
None of that would have mattered if it advanced, though. So much power. So close.
As soon as the human stepped into Shadow, it would have attacked, keeping itself hidden from the stick flinger.
But at the last instant, another human had called out, and the less weak human had stopped.
The badger was so, so tempted to run out and expose itself. But it hesitated, and the choice was soon taken from it as the less weak human retreated.
It wished it understood human speech. It wished it knew why the weak human had yelled and why the less weak human had left.
The badger wanted that qi. It wanted to advance and kill every human in the gathering, consuming every bit of qi.
There was so much. It would ascend as high as¡
Best not to think about that.
All it could do was to wait and to watch. The humans would make a mistake, and when they did, it would pounce.
Zou Tian, Yang Ru, Kang Lin, and Ye Zan huddled below the allure with Yang Xiu above keeping watch with her bow ready.
¡°You can see it?¡± Ye Zan said.
¡°I can sense it,¡± Zou Tian said.
Kang Lin grimaced. ¡°How accurately? Is it like a general direction or something more precise?¡±
¡°Very accurate, but it requires concentration. It¡¯s a new ability. I¡¯m not sure how long I can keep it active if I¡¯m not meditating.¡±
¡°If we go into the alley, can you direct our attacks from here?¡± Yang Ru said.
Both Kang Lin and Ye Zan looked doubtful.
Zou Tian shared their hesitation. ¡°I don¡¯t see how, Senior Brother. I¡¯d tell you to attack your left, but you wouldn¡¯t know exactly where left. And the beast is fast, hard to hit even when we can see it.¡±
¡°We can shoot the FEDs at it. Blow it up,¡± Yang Ru said.
¡°Along with an unknown portion of the village?¡± Kang Lin said. ¡°I choose to be far away when you explain that choice to Master.¡±
Yang Ru grunted.
¡°We need to get it into the sun,¡± Ye Zan said. ¡°That way, we can all see it.¡±
Kang Lin looked at him like he was an idiot. ¡°Obviously, but how? If Yang Ru or I could sense it, maybe we could go into the alley, survive its attacks, and push it out.¡±
The implication was that Zou Tian was too weak to do the same. Which stung. Especially since the assessment was accurate. He was at Qi Gathering minor realm five, almost a full major realm and a half less than the badger¡¯s equivalent of peak Foundation Establishment. There was no way he¡¯d be able to beat the beast one on one.
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But he didn¡¯t need to beat the creature. He just needed to push it into the sun.
A plan began to form in his mind.
¡°Do we have a pike?¡±
No one had wanted Zou Tian to carry through with his plan, but neither could any of them come up with a better idea. He was the only one who could sense the beast. Thus, he had to be the one to go into the alley.
One of the village guards had found a pike with a sixteen-foot-long haft. It was a mortal weapon, and the metal piece on the end combining a half-moon blade with a long spike was rusted.
Zou Tian had never even held such a weapon, much less fought with one. Walking into a fight with a vastly superior foe holding an unfamiliar armament did seem pretty darn stupid. He was very glad that Wan Ai wasn¡¯t aware of what he was about to do. She was going to be so very upset with him when she found out.
There was literally no one else for the job, though. Yang Xiu¡¯s Qi Gathering level perception skill simply wasn¡¯t strong enough to detect the higher ranked beast. The only reason he could do it was because of his high affinity with his Shadow qi aspect. If the beast had been using a different element for concealment, he would have been useless.
The only saving grace for his plan was that he didn¡¯t need to defeat the creature. He had only two goals. One, survive. Two, get one good hit on the badger.
That was it. Easy.
He snorted. If only.
The problems with his plan were many, starting with the newness of using his technique in such a manner. Hide Presence wasn¡¯t envisioned as a way to detect other beings cloaked in Shadow, and forcing it to perform that function required great focus. He wasn¡¯t even sure he could do it while walking, much less fighting.
Almost as worrisome, the badger was both fast and tough. It took both the twins¡¯ efforts to injure it, and both had used techniques or experience that far outstripped Zou Tian¡¯s just to hit it. Senior Brother had been able to convert his Momentum into speed, making him faster than the beast for a short while. Senior Sister¡¯s shot had almost been prescient in anticipating where to aim.
Worst was just how much lower in cultivation level he was than the beast. Senior Sister and Kang Lin had told him about a buffalo and how they¡¯d been hesitant to attack such a high ranked creature. They were both already in the Foundation Establishment realm at that point. He was so far below even them that it wasn¡¯t funny.
Zou Tian did have a tiny advantage in that he was at the peak of Bronze Body Cultivation, and if he were facing a rank three beast, that fact would have made him feel confident indeed. Against a rank six? The badger could tear him to shreds in an instant.
His vulnerabilities were extreme, but the beast was not without flaws to exploit. For one thing, it had been injured by the twins. From what Zou Tian had sensed, it was not moving nearly as fast as it previously had. Second, he knew what it wanted¡ªspirit coins.
Five of the ten-thousand qi ones that Jin LiJuan guarded were in a pouch tied to his waist. It was a lot easier to predict an opponent¡¯s movements when one knew what they would be targeting.
The badger watched, amused and eager, as the weak human who had yelled walked toward the alley. The young human was so far beneath it that it could kill the youngster with a single swipe. Even better, the human carried consumable qi. A lot of consumable qi. More than the less weak human had.
It licked its lips.
Advancement was so close and growing closer by the step.
The badger sensed Shadow on the weak human. Even better. A stealth-focused opponent would have no chance against it. Such low ranked prey would not be able to hide from it.
It stared, transfixed, at the pouch swinging from the weak human¡¯s clothes.
Zou Tian swallowed hard. He felt really, really stupid for suggesting a plan that put him in so much danger. But there was no use going over the reasons again. It had to be him, so it would be him.
He glanced back. Kang Lin, Ye Zan, Huang Yimun, and Senior Brother stood in a semi-circle in the center of the plaza. Further back, Yang Xiu had an arrow nocked. She also had a FED ready to use should it be absolutely necessary.
The sight gave him heart. His sect members had his back. Literally. And he had both a Major Healing Pill and a Minor Healing Pill in easy to reach pockets in his robe.
Anything short of death could be healed, and his Body Cultivation should hopefully be helpful in slowing his demise long enough to consume one of the miraculous drugs.
His nerves somewhat settled, he focused on the plan. The badger would logically go for one of two targets. The coins were the beast¡¯s primary goal. Master had said the beasts would fixate on them, and the badger¡¯s actions had done nothing to dissuade Zou Tian from believing the statement.
Rank six beasts were smart, though. It might decide to go for his throat as killing him would make taking the coins easier.
Zou Tian realistically only had one shot at accomplishing his goal. As soon as the beast moved, he¡¯d need to react by swinging his pike. But the beast was so fast that he would have to anticipate where it would be just like Yang Xiu had.
That meant guessing. Coins or throat. Choosing wrong meant failing and maybe his death. Maybe all of their deaths.
He had to guess correctly.
As he neared the alley, Zou Tian slipped into what he thought of as walking meditation. He cleared his mind and sensed the Shadow.
Ahead of him, waiting just inside the alley, was the beast.
That was good on two fronts. First, his ability worked. He was able to walk and detect it at the same time. Second, he needed for the beast to be eager to take the bait for his plan to work.
That the badger was on the edge of the plaza was an important clue.
Zou Tian tried to put himself in his opponent¡¯s head. It was injured and desperate to advance. The human approaching it held the means for that advancement. But so had a previous human, one who had retreated before entering the alley.
It was desperate. The wound combined with the source of qi being so close must be overwhelming its intelligence. In such a situation, instinct prevailed.
He tensed as he drew within what he estimated to be leaping range of the beast.
The badger surged forward, and Zou Tian almost committed, which would have been a huge mistake. The creature moved only an inch, clearly wanting to attack but holding itself back from entering the sun.
Trying to calm his heart hammering against the inside of his chest, Zou Tian kept walking slowly forward.
The badger retreated further into the alley.
That was good. A predictable enemy was a beatable enemy.
Zou Tian was positive that, as soon as he fully entered the Shadow, the beast would attack. He steeled his resolve and took another step.
Chapter 154 – Alright Stop, Meditate and Listen
Zou Tian stepped out of the light and into Shadow. As he anticipated, the badger began moving as soon as he¡¯d fully entered the alley.
It was decision time. Would it go for his throat or the coins? With the creature¡¯s extreme speed, especially compared to him, he only had time to defend against one, and the wrong call would mean disaster for him and maybe for the rest of the village. For Wan Ai.
Making the right call, on the other hand, didn¡¯t guarantee success. It just gave the defenders a chance.
The badger was hurt, and a hurt animal tended to act according to its instincts. Which meant it would go for the throat, right? That tactic was the fastest way to kill its enemy. A basic swipe with the claws to the neck was simple and reflexive, a move the badger had probably known since soon after being born.
The other logical choice was to go for the coins. It already proved to be focused on them, heading straight for Jin LiJuan earlier. And it had appeared to be ready to attack Senior Brother who held some in his hand.
From what Master had told them about spirit beasts, their existence was brutal. Literally dog eat dog. They had to kill to advance or die to become that path to advancement for others.
Given a creature who¡¯d survived long enough to reach near the peak of the sixth rank, what could drive its motivations more than the desire to get stronger? And Zou Tian was carrying fifty thousand qi in an easy to consume bundle of five coins. The only thing that could possibly be more enticing to the badger would have been if they had been Shadow aspected instead of Earth.
The decision boiled down to what would govern the creature¡¯s next action¡ªa reversion to its time as a simple animal or its want and need to advance?
The badger was about to leap. Zou Tian had to make his decision.
He swung the long pole of the pike horizontally at waist level, the flat of the half-moon blade pointed toward where he expected the beast to be.
If the badger went high for the throat, the pike would miss it by a mile. At worst, he had a fifty-fifty chance of being right. Though, hopefully, his intelligence and analytical reasoning moved the needle to being in his favor.
Those traits seemed small to hang the fate of his life on.
If he¡¯d guessed wrong, he was about to be in a world of hurt, and he¡¯d just have to hope that his friends could rescue him in time.
The pike swung. The badger leaped.
The flat of the blade connected with the beast. Zou Tian put all his muscle into the keeping the weapon moving in a long arc, carrying the creature with it.
He shifted his body. Ten degrees. Twenty. Forty-five. Ninety.
Using every ounce of his strength and every bit of control he¡¯d gained over his body through intense physical training, he halted the pike¡¯s swing.
The badger continued flying. Out of Shadow. Into the sunlight.
It landed, fully visible, in front of the semi-circle of sect members.
Kang Lin did not feel like she¡¯d truly pulled her weight in the defense of the village so far. She¡¯d did what she was obligated to do. Followed orders. Stabbed what she could. Faced danger.
She simply wasn¡¯t as powerful as her allies.
Compared to Yang Xiu who could anticipate target¡¯s movements and shoot arrow after arrow at the attacking beasts and Yang Ru who could convert his Momentum into an absurdly powerful strike and, after a recent epiphany, even speed his attacks making him that much more likely to land a hit, her abilities were more than a little lackluster.
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She could hit beasts with forked lightning. Yay. Sometimes, her hits even singed the beasts¡¯ fur.
If, you know, someone like Yang Xiu had already caused enough damage for Kang Lin to get past the creature¡¯s qi shield.
Naturally, therefore, she hung back as the badger landed, letting the other, more powerful cultivators take their shots.
Even though the badger had a wood shaft sticking out of its midsection, it was still quick and agile. Yang Xiu¡¯s rain of arrows all missed. And Yang Ru did not have any Momentum built up, so he had nothing to convert to either speed or power. He, too, was unable to land a hit on the beast.
Kang Lin¡¯s combat strength might have been a little lacking in her estimation, but there was nothing wrong with either her observation skills or her intellect. As the badger flopped around dodging attacks, she noticed something important, something that might just be the key to bringing it down.
With the twins having each taken a turn, it was time for a group effort. Ye Zan nodded to Kang Lin as he flanked the creature. As soon as he got into position, he thrust his spear, which the badger easily dodged. At the same time, though, Yang Ru did the same.
His strike, too, was dodged.
Kang Lin hadn¡¯t been completely idle while the badger flew toward them and while the twins took their respective shots.
Besides observing, she¡¯d built up quite a charge of Lightning.
The arrows that were created by the fletchers in the village and the ones Master purchased were made mostly of wood. The only metal part was a tiny tip. And wood was a horrible conductor for Lightning aspected qi.
Yang Xiu, however, was pulling out all the stops in trying to kill the sixth rank beast that had penetrated the wall. She wasn¡¯t using locally made arrows or even the ones created by crafters in Sixth Flawless Flowing City.
The arrows she¡¯d chosen to shoot at the badger were her pride and joy, the arrows that Master had gifted her. Each was top heaven grade, perfectly straight and with an arrowhead that was sharper than sharp. And more crucially for Kang Lin¡¯s purposes, each had a metal tip that sheathed a couple of inches of the wood shaft.
She just happened to notice that the very tip of the sheath of the arrow stuck out of the badger and extended just past the skin, just past its qi shield, open to the air.
The thing about Lightning was that, when it decided where it wanted to go, it was quite difficult to dodge, no matter how agile one was, and the badger had a small lightning rod sticking out of its stomach. All Kang Lin had to do was fire off a forked bolt from the tip of her spear, and the rest happened naturally.
No matter how much the badger twisted and tried to evade, it had no chance. Her qi sought that little piece of metal with the dedication of Yang Ru avoiding an awkward conversation.
The Lightning struck true.
Best of all, two facts became very important. One, the metal sheath provided a path for the Lightning to travel. Two, the metal extended from outside the badger¡¯s qi shield to inside the qi shield.
Nearly one hundred percent of the qi Kang Lin had used on the strike was transferred inside the beast¡¯s already injured body. Even though it neared the equivalent peak of Foundation Establishment, it had no defense against so much destructive energy detonating inside its body.
The creature practically exploded from the inside out.
All the defenders stopped, stunned. Assuming they didn¡¯t decide to resort to the highly dangerous explosive, they had expected a long fight of attrition, wearing the beast down over time with multiple small wounds. All anticipated many injuries and having to consume healing pills to stay in the fight.
Instead, it was all over. One strike, one kill as Yang Xiu would say.
The sect members didn¡¯t stay stunned for long. Instead, they started cheering.
¡°Great job, Kang Lin!¡± Ye Zan said.
¡°Way to go, sister!¡± Yang Xiu called.
Yang Ru turned to them, his expression as angry as Kang Lin had ever seen him. ¡°What are you all doing? Stop this at once!¡±
His objection stunned her. All the defenders were recognizing her contribution, her one moment of competence, of glory, and he couldn¡¯t even give her face. It upset her more than she would have liked.
Kang Lin known many, many young masters who couldn¡¯t stomach a cultivator of a lower talent doing anything better than them, but Yang Ru had seemed not to care about the distance between their spiritual roots. She couldn¡¯t believe that she¡¯d actually trusted him. How could she be so stupid?
¡°Meditate now!¡± he yelled. ¡°Congratulate later!¡±
Oh.
She blushed. He¡¯d just wanted them to focus on consolidating their gains as quickly as possible. As they should. As expected from one of Master¡¯s two genius disciples.
She¡¯d maligned him unfairly, even if just in her mind. That was not okay. Whether they were just friends or they had the possibility of becoming more, it was important to give him the benefit of the doubt.
Trust was important, and slowly over time, he was earning hers.
Kang Lin resolved to remember that in the future, but first, she had to meditate.
Chapter 155 – Unexpected Revelation
When Benton hadn¡¯t received notification of any advancements, he¡¯d feared the worst, that the village and all the defenders had somehow been killed. Thus, he let out a very relieved breath when he finally received a popup.
Zou Tian was alive, which meant that the village hadn¡¯t been destroyed. In fact, most if not all of the sect members were probably still alive.
Of course they were. They were all good disciples who followed orders well and worked together and looked out for each other. Benton couldn¡¯t have asked for a better group of youngsters.
He had been worried for nothing.
Over the next couple of hours as he cautiously Quickstepped toward the mountain searching for the tenth wave, more notifications rolled in. Kang Lin advanced to Large Success with her lightning spear attack. Many other guards and villagers advanced their techniques as well, twelve in total. Three sect members moved up a minor realm in cultivation.
The twins didn¡¯t advance further, but that was okay. He was sure they were doing just fine.
The main thing was that it seemed like the defenders had come through whatever it was that they had faced. The sixteen points were just icing on the cake.
He Quickstepped again and extended his senses. And again. And again.
There it was. Finally.
It. Not them. A single beast, a rank ten.
Since there wasn¡¯t a wave, that meant the beast he sensed was almost certainly the Big Boss.
That was good. Benton had been worried about taking on multiple foes a major realm above him. Going against one should be much easier.
Of course, easier didn¡¯t mean easy. From what he¡¯d studied about beast tides, the Big Boss was tougher, stronger, faster, and more intelligent than other beasts of the same rank, usually significantly so.
For one of the few times since his transmigration, Benton was about to walk into a fight and not be the stronger of the combatants.
He was already using his Stealth technique, and even though he doubted its effectiveness considering recent events, he meticulously erased himself from sight, sound, and smell. His next step was to gain elevation to get a look at his opponent, so he Quickstepped up to the limb of a tall tree.
All the beasts he¡¯d seen so far had been enhanced or mutated forms of animals that he could have seen on Earth. Sure, they were much more powerful and aggressive than their mortal counterparts, but at their base, they were the same type of creature.
Not so for the beast ahead of him.
It was a freaking cyclops.
Benton didn¡¯t know why the unexpected revelation surprised him so much. Dragons were definitely a thing here. Real dragons that flew. He wasn¡¯t one hundred percent sure about fire breathing, but there were enough cultivators who were feted for having faced one that he believed they were real.
He also didn¡¯t know a lot about bloodlines, but some families¡ªclans?¡ªdrew power from having beasts in their ancestry. Dragons and basilisks were both mythological creatures that were mentioned as bestowing such bloodlines.
If those two could exist, why not cyclops?
Besides, the proof was right there a couple hundred yards in front of him. It had one red eye in the center of its forehead and was eight feet tall if it was an inch. Gray skin outlined chiseled muscles that would make a Mr. Universe contestant weep. And it wore a skirt. Or kilt, maybe.
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Either way, that was definitely a piece of clothing, indicating a level of intelligence and perhaps culture far in excess of any of the beasts Benton had previously faced.
Maybe it could be reasoned with?
He wasn¡¯t stupid enough to jump down and try to talk to it, though. First, he wanted to observe it and to try to think of everything he knew about the creatures from stories on Earth.
If he remembered correctly, Percy Jackson fought one of them. Maybe? Benton had read the series to his son, but that was a while back. The details were sketchy. Even if there was a cyclops in one of those books, he didn¡¯t remember anything about the battle and definitely not any strengths or weaknesses of the beast.
If only he were a protagonist in one of Greg¡¯s stories. He would have perfect knowledge of everything, like he had Google at his fingertips. But he was left with only his imperfect memory.
Honestly, the biggest memory he had of cyclops was from a movie. Was it Krull? Maybe. It was something he watched when he was young, not from watching more recently with his kids or grandkids.
Anyway, in the story he remembered, cyclops were all really sad because they were able to see the future but only the moment of their death. Benton somehow doubted the creature in front of him suffered from that particular malady, though.
So basically, he knew absolutely nothing of use about his potential enemy.
Just great.
As he was thinking about what he knew, the beast was moving. And it moved fast. In seconds, it had crossed half the distance.
Oops.
Caught off guard, Benton wanted to retreat, and since he knew the beast to be the equivalent of a Nascent Soul cultivator that probably possessed an aura, he activated his Aura Defense. He Quickstepped, intending to move a half mile back.
Something went wonky with the technique, though. Instead of stepping through air from one place to another, it felt like he moved through molasses, and he ended up only traveling a scant hundred yards, around ten percent of the distance he had intended.
When he looked at his qi expended, the short trip had taken five times more than moving the entire half mile should have.
Crap. What happened? He¡¯d bought the Aura Defense technique to Mastery. Did it not work? Or was there some other problem?
¡°System,¡± he said internally, not wanting to chance drawing any additional attention to himself, ¡°why didn¡¯t the technique work?¡±
Man, that sucked. Even with his cheat skill, he would be at a serious disadvantage. The fight was not going to be easy or simple.
It was definitely best if he could avoid it altogether. Which left him to his favorite tactic¡ªbluffing.
To do that, though, he¡¯d have to engage in a conversation with the beast. Ugh. He wasn¡¯t exactly optimistic about such an endeavor going well.
Feeling more nervous than he had in a long while, he found a clearing ahead of the cyclops in its path of travel, dropped his Stealth technique, and waited.
As he hoped, the creature stopped as soon as it saw him. To any cultivator or beast with a spiritual sense, not being able to sense an opponent was a huge, glaring warning sign that said, ¡°This dude might just be able to curb stomp me.¡± Thus, the beast had to have found his presence more than a little disconcerting.
¡°Hi,¡± Benton said.
¡°Human!¡±
¡°Yes, I¡¯m a human. Should I call you, Cyclops?¡±
¡°Human!!¡±
Maybe the beast wasn¡¯t quite as sharp as Benton had given it credit for being.
¡°I was wondering if I could perhaps prevail upon you to abandon your attack on my village?¡±
¡°Human!!!¡±
The thing was working itself up into a lather. Its muscles were tensed, and its body literally shook. Clearly, it wanted to do the ¡°Hulk smash!¡± routine on him and was only being held back by fear of Benton being at a higher level.
¡°I¡¯d prefer not to have to kill you. So few humans or beasts reach your level. It would be a waste.¡±
The cyclops snorted, which at least wasn¡¯t another increasingly loud shout identifying Benton¡¯s species, so ¡ progress?
¡°What do you say? Tell me what you¡¯re after, and maybe I can help.¡±
¡°Human weak!¡±
¡°Am I? Am I really?¡± Talk was only going to get Benton so far with the creature. He needed to back up his bluff and had an idea that might just work. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, I¡¯m probably slow, too?¡±
¡°Human slow!¡±
¡°Then if you try to hit me, there¡¯s no way I¡¯ll be able to dodge, right?¡±
¡°Human slow!¡±
¡°Try to hit me, then.¡±
Benton barely had an instant to crank up his Time Manipulation to full dilation, speeding himself to the maximum in comparison to the cyclops. It drained his qi like crazy and still the beast was ridiculously fast. He had to Quickstep out of the way, or he would have been flattened.
¡°See,¡± he said from behind the creature. ¡°I not only dodged, but I was able to move to your blindspot. I¡¯m not weak or slow.¡±
¡°No aura. Human tries to trick Cyclops. Human weak!¡±
Well, shoot. Nothing he could do could simulate an aura, and there would be no bluffing the beast without one. It all was going to have to come down to a fight.
Chapter 156 – High Tide
Benton hated that he would have to risk everything in a fight that he wasn¡¯t assured of winning. What was the saying? It was something like, if the outcome of a fight is in question before you start, you¡¯ve already messed up.
Well, he¡¯d definitely messed up.
The cyclops was shaking with barely contained rage. It could burst forward with an attack at any moment.
The beast¡¯s aura was screwing up all his techniques, making them cost more and be less effective. Even with Time Manipulation and Quickstep, the cyclops was simply faster than him, and he doubted that a gravity field would make much difference.
He needed another technique, one he hadn¡¯t bothered with previously because it had felt superfluous. To buy it, though, he had to find a way to stall the beast.
¡°Fine,¡± Benton said. ¡°Since you refuse to accept that I have an aura until I reveal it, I guess that¡¯s what I¡¯ll have to do. You¡¯ve not going to like it, though.¡±
The beast didn¡¯t believe him, obviously, but that was okay. He didn¡¯t need to stop it, just make it hesitate. Which was just what the cyclops did as it waited to see the demonstration of Benton¡¯s nonexistent aura.
As soon as the words left his mouth, he said internally, ¡°System, I want a movement technique based on my Concept of Speed. Confirm purchase to Mastery for me.¡±
Yes! Every little bit of speed should help.
With his other techniques active, Benton was only a little slower than the cyclops, and hopefully, the new technique would be enough to even out that imbalance or even give him the advantage.
Actually, speed wasn¡¯t enough. Every bit of anything and everything should help, and his Body Cultivation was currently still sitting at Gold minor realm one, meaning he had room to improve.
A Body Cultivator at the peak of Diamond, the next major realm up, was no match for the equivalent spiritual cultivator, a Nascent Soul cultivator, but he¡¯d take any increased attributes he could get. Besides, a peak Golden Core cultivator at peak Diamond was a lot different than just a peak Diamond. Maybe it would be enough to give him a physical advantage.
If the System let him buy what he wanted, that was.
¡°System, please take me to the peak of Diamond Body Cultivation.¡±
It was as he had feared. There were criteria limiting his advancement just like with Spiritual Cultivation. Still, there was something he could do that might help, however little.
¡°System, please take me to the peak of Gold Body Cultivation.¡±
Every little bit¡
Time to simulate that aura. Though he doubted what he was about to do would fool the beast, there was no harm in trying. If it worked, he might just be able to get through the situation without a fight.
He immediately used his gravity burst to enhance the planet¡¯s pull on the cyclops and triggered his Area Temperature Manipulation. Since his spiritual sense registered that the beast used Fire aspected qi, he hoped that removing heat from it would hurt it or, at least, hamper it somehow.
The beast snarled. ¡°An aura? Or not an aura. Aura strange. Human aura weak! Human weak!¡±
Well, that was about the reaction Benton had expected. He triggered his Time Manipulation, effectively accelerating his movements. Triggering his new Speed Enhancement made himself faster still.
The cyclops roared and charged at him.
At the last instant, Benton twisted to the side, letting the beast move right past him.
Man, that thing was fast. Even being constrained by gravity and with Benton having two separate enhancements making him move faster, there wasn¡¯t much difference between their combat speeds. He¡¯d barely been able to dodge in time.
With the beast¡¯s back to him, it was the perfect opportunity to attack. He was too close for the bow to be effective, so he threw a metal sphere.
He charged the projectile with ten thousand units of Earth qi to counter the beast¡¯s aspect in addition to an equal amount of the Void finisher.
As the sphere struck the cyclops, Benton tensed. Even though he was at the peak of Golden Core and the beast was in the low stage of Nascent Soul, they were still a major realm apart. Combined with the deleterious effect of the aura, it was very possible that the sphere would just bounce off the qi shield.
If his main attack proved ineffective even charged with a comparatively massive amount of qi, he wasn¡¯t sure he¡¯d be able to survive the battle, much less win.
Thankfully, the first part of his plan went well. Kind of.
The Earth qi, strong against Fire, penetrated the cyclops¡¯ shield, allowing the Void qi to do its job. The problem was that the huge spherical gouge Benton had seen when his attack hit any other living tissue was instead much diminished. A small amount of the beast¡¯s mass, maybe an inch or inch and a half in diameter, disappeared from the gray muscled back.
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Far from a devastating blow, Benton had given the beast an ouchy.
Even worse, he was burning through qi with so many techniques active. On the plus side, he had done some damage, and a death by a thousand cuts was still death. And he had a lot of qi to burn through, over five and a half million in fact, and a good regeneration rate of over two hundred eighty thousand an hour. That wasn¡¯t even mentioning the buttload of spirit coins stored in his ring.
To quote a particularly patriotic captain, he could do this all day.
Well, not all day, but for a while. A few hours? Maybe. After all, ten thousand here and ten thousand there used almost continuously added up fast, but it all depended on exactly how much he used and how quickly.
The beast stumbled, obviously not expecting either to miss or to be injured.
Benton took the opportunity to hit it with another sphere, charging it with twice as much Void qi as the previous one and triggering Chain Lightning to hit it at the same time.
The cyclops roared as it regained its footing. It spun and charged.
For the next several exchanges, Benton didn¡¯t even get a hit in. It was all he could do to avoid getting hit. Which was important. Because the cyclops was even stronger than it was fast. If it landed one of its colossal blows on him, the fight would be over.
He¡¯d need to strike the beast dozens, if not hundreds, of times. The beast would need to strike him once. Seemed fair.
Benton dodged a charge, catching sight of the cyclops¡¯ back again, though it turned before he had time to launch another sphere. The wounds were at least not healing. He¡¯d half feared that it would have Wolverine-esq healing factor to go with its incredible strength and speed.
The fight went on for a while with neither making contact and neither growing tired. With high ranked and high realmed individuals, stamina just wasn¡¯t much of an issue, so Benton couldn¡¯t even count on the beast making a mistake due to fatigue.
If he was going to get an opening to attack, he would have to make it himself.
Partially due to the flow of the fight and partially as a tactic, he¡¯d avoided using Quickstep after that first time. He hoped the cyclops either forgot about it or hadn¡¯t quite realized what he¡¯d done. After all, not many people could use such a technique, so the beast might not have ever seen anything like it.
Finally, the two ended up facing each other from several steps away, and the beast charged. Its arms and shoulders were spread wide, clearly ready for him to try to dodge.
Instead, at the last instant, he Quickstepped, passing through the beast and ending up dozens of feet behind it. He spun using every bit of speed his Time Manipulation and Enhanced Speed could give him.
The cyclops was already facing him, but Benton had summoned a handful of spheres midturn. He threw them all.
They exploded with Earth and then Void qi as they slammed into the cyclops. Each did a bit of damage, which was helpful, but that wasn¡¯t the interesting thing about the attack. The beast¡¯s reaction to one that happened to be aimed toward its eye was quite fascinating.
While it ignored the other spheres, letting them detonate on its body wherever they happened to land, it frantically swiped at the one closing in on its face.
Its eye.
Benton was an idiot. That was the cyclops¡¯ big weakness, that oversized, single eye.
Unfortunately, he¡¯d taken just a fraction of a second too long in making that astute deduction. The beast closed on him and swung.
Benton leaped to the side, perpendicular to the cyclops¡¯ motion, and tried to Quickstep away. A fist connected with his back.
The damage was mitigated by a number of factors. One, Benton was moving in the direction of the blow, so some of the force was transferred to speeding him on his way. Two, his automatic shield flared Earth qi to counter the beasts Fire qi, absorbing a great deal of the energy. Three, peak Gold Body Cultivation wasn¡¯t just a line on his status screen. It hardened his skin and muscles and organs, making them much tougher than they otherwise would have been.
Without all three of those factors working together, Benton was positive his back would have been broken. As it was, he suffered an intense, shooting pain throughout the area, and his legs went numb, not responding to his directions nearly as well or as quickly as they should.
The only thing that saved him was that the hit had propelled him forward away from the beast, and he was able to, in desperation, do something he¡¯d never even thought to try¡ªchaining a second Quickstep right after the first.
He even had the presence of mind to remove a trio of FEDs from his ring, activate them, and toss them behind him.
A series of three very satisfying explosions sounded behind him. Not that they¡¯d do much damage to the cyclops, but hopefully, the light and sound would slow the beast down for a moment.
Not knowing how bad the damage to his back was and needing quick regeneration to avoid death by massive hammering fists, Benton popped a Major Healing Pill before performing another Quickstep, unsure of whether the beast was about to crush his skull at any instant.
He couldn¡¯t say enough good things about anything supplied by the System, especially pills. They both worked extremely fast and were extraordinarily effective. By the time he turned around to face the beast again, he was fully healed.
Benton was panting, though, well aware that he¡¯d almost lost the fight, and with it, his life. Another mistake like that one might be the end of him and his sect. He couldn¡¯t let that happen.
Surprisingly, the cyclops was looking none too good. Several chunks had been blown out of various portions of its body by Void qi, and the explosions had left it charred.
It did not look happy.
¡°Human! Cyclops kill human!¡±
If Benton could just gain enough distance, he could shoot arrow after arrow at that eye. It would surely deflect most of them, but one had to hit eventually. But he just couldn¡¯t get far enough away to set up a shot.
If only¡ª
He truly was a moron. It occurred to him that there was one surefire way to gain distance from the beast. Flight.
Since advancing to Golden Core, he hadn¡¯t once let himself think about the possibility because flight in his realm required a flying sword. Considering how many Shop Points regular weapons cost, he didn¡¯t want to be tempted to spend such a precious resource on what he considered to be a frivolous luxury. Much better to wait until his next visit to Sixth Flawless Flowing City and spend easily attainable spirit coins.
Not trusting himself, he¡¯d literally banished the thought from his mind.
Now, though, he needed height, not flight. And he didn¡¯t need a sword to achieve that objective. There was no freaking reason he couldn¡¯t use his gravity burst on himself. He¡¯d even experimented with that when he¡¯d first bought the skill and learned that using gravity to tug him in the direction he wanted to go just wasn¡¯t the same as flying through the air like a superhero in a comic book.
Id. I. Ot. Idiot.
The cyclops charged at him.
Benton activated a gravity burst, propelling himself several dozen yards into the air and hovering there.
The beast roared in fury.
¡°Cyclops so small down there,¡± Benton said in his best imitation of the creature. ¡°Cyclops can¡¯t fly. Cyclops weak.¡±
It began uprooting trees and finding rocks to chunk at him, but without qi coating the projectiles, mundane objects, even thrown by a Nascent Soul cultivator equivalent, bounced harmlessly off his shield.
Benton calmly pulled his bow from his ring, nocked an arrow, pulled back the bowstring, and loosed. He wasn¡¯t quite the artist with the bow that Yang Xiu was, but he had Mastery of an archery technique. Any arrow he used went pretty much exactly where he wanted it to.
Which was the cyclops¡¯ eye.
The beast blocked the first one of course, but that was okay. Benton had more arrows. A lot more arrows.
If Yang Xiu had been in the same realm as Benton and had the same techniques available, her talent for the bow would probably have made her rate of fire exceed his, but as things stood in reality, he could fire two to three arrows for every one of hers, and she was fast. Darn fast.
Like the first he¡¯d shot, the beast was able to swat away most of the arrows, almost all of them in fact. Almost all were not all, however. One finally landed.
Earth qi and Void qi exploded. The eye was gone. In its place was a gaping hole in the beast¡¯s forehead. It was blind.
After that, it had a much tougher time blocking the rain of arrows, and soon, one wedged itself deeply enough for the Void burst to take out a portion of the beast¡¯s brain.
The cyclops¡¯ knees folded, and it collapsed to the ground, dead.
Or presumably dead. He wasn¡¯t about to get any closer to the thing without confirmation of it. Too many movies where the bad guy came back to life at the last second had taught him that lesson.
Suddenly, he practically shot up into the air, and it took him a moment to understand that his gravity technique¡¯s effectiveness was no longer being suppressed. With that realized, he was able to easily re-gain control and hover.
A box popped up.
Chapter 157 – Well Played
Benton slowly lessened the effect of his gravity burst, lowering him to the ground. Once he landed, he stowed the cyclops¡¯ corpse in his spatial ring. It occurred to him that the fight would have gone a lot better had he known about the beast¡¯s weakness earlier.
He should do something about that oversight, but it wasn¡¯t like he could just snap his fingers and gain as much knowledge of spirit beasts as he wanted. Oh wait¡
Heavens, he really didn¡¯t think that situation through, did he? Next time he was spending points, he¡¯d add a technique to give him knowledge of spirit beasts to his buy list.
Self-recrimination complete, he turned his attention to the question posed by the popup. Did he want to choose his rewards?
A far higher priority in his opinion was to get back to the village and make sure that everyone was okay. He was low enough on qi that he¡¯d need to consume a handful of spirit coins to afford a Quickstep traversing such a great distance, but he had plenty of the consumables available.
As he glanced down at himself, his appearance gave him pause. Far from looking like an all-knowing, mysterious master, he looked more like a hobo than he had since he¡¯d first appeared at the village. He really didn¡¯t want his disciples to see him dressed in torn, dirty, bloody robes.
But he needed to know if everyone was alright. Soon. Now.
Then it hit him. One of the rewards was contingent on the percentage of people surviving. The System should be able to tell him that quantity, and sure enough, after he posed the question, it did just that.
He let out a very relieved breath. Everyone had survived. That was the best news he could have gotten.
For a moment, he worried that some of them might have ended up injured, needing him to come heal them, but he remembered how many pills he¡¯d left them with. They¡¯d be fine.
Feeling like he¡¯d been rushing around like a chicken with its head cut off for entirely too long, he took a very deep breath and exhaled slowly. He took a moment to appreciate what he¡¯d accomplished.
In less than a year, he¡¯d built a sect of over two hundred members who were progressing nicely and who seemed to hold him in high regard. They¡¯d surely had challenges at the village with the spirit beasts that attacked, and they¡¯d come through those fights stronger.
He himself had become quite overpowered. A regular cultivator of his level would not have been able to defeat a beast with an aura, especially not one strong enough to control a beast tide. His techniques were complete cheats.
Benton had a lot of be proud of.
After a few moments of letting himself bask in his and his sect members¡¯ accomplishments, he sighed. There were miles to go before he slept. First things first. Getting clean.
He Quickstepped to a nearby pond, bathed, and dressed in a fresh robe. After finishing, he felt much, much better. Refreshed.
Satisfied that his sect could survive without him for a little while longer, he said, ¡°System, I¡¯m ready to choose my rewards.¡±
Benton¡¯s first impulse was to feel quite good about receiving top marks. His second impulse was to dig deeper into the first of the two prizes. Both won to one extent or the other.
If he grokked that correctly, the benefit would allow him to immediately ascend to Nascent Soul and, upon reaching one thousand sect members with the required minimum Average Loyalty, he¡¯d be able to ascend to Nihility.
That was nice. There were only a handful of Nascent Soul cultivators on the continent and none at Nihility level that anyone knew about. He¡¯d be quickly catapulted to, or even above, the ranks of the best.
He asked the System about the next choice.
That prize was ludicrous. Groundbreaking. The reward would allow an E to move to E+ or an F- to an F. Immediately. With apparently no chance of failure.
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More importantly, an E+ could move to a D- and so on for D+ to C-, C+ to B-, B+ to A-, and something that boggled his mind, presumably from A+ to S-.
Jumping to the next major rank was a big deal, changing the destiny of the cultivator in question.
Crazy.
Even if not moving to another major rank, each of his sect members from now to forever would be a bit stronger, achieve a bit higher realm, reach each minor realm a bit faster, and learn their techniques a bit easier. For each sect member, it would be a small but important increase. For the sect as a whole multiplied over eventually thousands or tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of members, it was absolutely amazing.
Once word got out that his sect offered such a boon, he¡¯d have to beat away applicants with a stick. He¡¯d have to beat away other sects with a stick as well, but that was a problem for future Benton.
His inclination was that there was really no choice. He was all about making his disciples stronger, not himself. Besides, whatever criteria the System threw at him, he was confident that he would eventually reach, and with the beast tide conquered, there was no pressing need for him to advance quickly.
At fifty sect members per month and with the overall mood of the villagers favorable to him, he fully expected to fulfill the criteria for Nascent Soul in less than a year and a half and probably much faster than that. Maybe even under a year.
Cultivation was a journey of centuries and millennia. Prioritizing speeding his journey at this low stage made no sense. In comparison, helping untold numbers of his sect members was too good an opportunity to pass up.
¡°System, the description says that the sect members will be allowed a choice if I pick that benefit. How does that work exactly?¡±
Benton nodded. He¡¯d been scared that they would all suddenly get pop up screens. The ability to spontaneously upgrade their rank was weird enough. Adding strange floating boxes to it would be a little excessive.
He definitely planned to take that second option but decided to wait to officially claim it until after he had a chance to prepare his people.
¡°System, I want to see the second reward.¡±
Interesting. Very interesting.
Benton asked the System to explain the first choice.
Captain Obvious much?
¡°System, I need more information than that. Please give me basic background on bloodlines and information such as can the sect members choose a bloodline? How much can it be improved? Etc.¡±
Okay. That cleared things up quite a bit. He liked adding power for his disciples and per Su¡¯s memories, bloodlines could either greatly ease a cultivator¡¯s difficulty in advancing or enhance physical prowess or grant the use of an overpowered technique or any number of other possibilities. It sounded, though, like the exact benefit was random, a fact that he didn¡¯t appreciate at all.
¡°System, tell me about the Trials Pagoda.¡±
Through a series of questions, he learned some interesting facts about the Trials Pagoda, including the variable safety of the trials, ranging from completely safe for advancing cultivation and techniques to possibly deadly when trying to improve spiritual roots. Given that death was on the table, he started to sour on the concept of the trials.
Then again, that result was only for the most consequential of the three trial types, which was a complete gamechanger. After all, there was nothing that said a sect member couldn¡¯t improve their roots multiple times, assuming they were willing to risk death and he was willing to spend the Sect Points.
At first, he didn¡¯t see the first trial type as a huge benefit, thinking it basically just sped up what his sect members would accomplish anyway. In an emergency like the approaching beast tide, it would have been worth it to spend Sect Points to get a few more cultivators into the Foundation Establishment realm, but with that potential disaster averted, they could afford to take things more slowly.
After a bit of thought, though, he understood the true benefit of that trial type¡ªbottlenecks. Sometimes, cultivators hit a wall and couldn¡¯t advance their realm or their technique, regardless of resources, the quality of their methods and techniques, or their talent level. They might get stuck for a month or a year or a decade. They might never breakthrough.
If he understood the System correctly, the pagoda could help with that.
The second trial type also provided a big benefit. A cultivator was born with their qi aspect. Given his maxim about being in a cultivation world, he was positive that someone somewhere knew how to add to it or modify it, but from Benton¡¯s knowledge and Su¡¯s memory, he didn¡¯t know of a way other than the offered trial.
He¡¯d already seen how much benefit having access to multiple qi aspects offered. The thought of his sect members having a similar, albeit more limited version, made him happy.
With the three trials and given enough Sect Points, he could raise almost anyone to immortal status.
That realization led him to another equally profound one¡ªthe trials pagoda was a freaking point sink. He shook his head. Every game had them, and he should have suspected something like it happening once Sect Points started to become so prevalent that he literally had no idea what he would spend all of them on.
Darn.
¡°Well played, System. Well played.¡±
Chapter 158 – Celebrate Good Times
Despite Benton¡¯s reservation about the Trial Pagoda being a point sink, he pulled the trigger, confirming that reward as his selection, and the System stowed the building in his spatial ring. The time taken to bathe and deal with the prompts allowed a decent amount of his qi to be restored, but he still decided to consume ten spirit coins to add another one hundred thousand units back into his pool.
With the tide finished, he wasn¡¯t expected to run into any danger, but it was better to be prepared than to be caught off guard.
Clean and replenished enough to handle any dangers he realistically might encounter, Benton could finally go to the village and check on everyone. Just as he was about to head that direction, however, he took a second to think about his next actions and discovered that he really wanted to perform one more task first.
He Quickstepped to the sect grounds and looked for a good spot for the new pagoda.
It would be a central building for the Rising Tide Sect, something that made the sect extraordinary. He wanted to give it pride of place instead of hiding it away. Unfortunately, with only the arena having been sited, it was hard for him to visualize exactly how the grounds were going to take shape.
He had mentally designated an area away from the arena to be the sect¡¯s central administrative complex, so he picked a location there that seemed like it would work and placed the Trial Pagoda. Unlike with the structures he took from the Righteous Rain Sect, there were no visible foundations to deal with. Instead, when he placed the building, he got a pop up.
¡°Yes, please.¡±
The prompt made him think that the placement would be permanent, but he could deal with that condition. The other buildings could be maneuvered around it. After all, one of them had to be the first to be sited.
Foundations grew out of the bottom of the building and burrowed into the ground.
Neat.
While he didn¡¯t know the exact layout of the area, he did know that he wanted the Contribution Points Shop to be near the Trials Pagoda because he planned to designate Peng Zhen as the one responsible for managing access to the trials. To an extent, anyway. Obviously, the merchant would have to coordinate with Benton for ones involving death stakes and for permission to use Sect Points, but the actual schedule and the amount of contribution points to charge the trial-takers wasn¡¯t something that the sect leader needed to concern himself with.
There was a small two-story building that he had planned to use for the shop as it was perfect for the application. It had a relatively large open area on the first floor that could be turned into a sales floor, plenty of storage space in back rooms, and living quarters upstairs. The entire Peng family should fit easily with space to spare.
Benton quickly removed the building from his ring, took a look at the alignment of the foundations, and stowed it back inside. Before he started digging, though, he had a thought. When he¡¯d set up the arena, he didn¡¯t have nearly the understanding of techniques or the plethora of Sect Points that he currently did. He¡¯d had to actually dig out spaces for the foundations by hand.
He was no longer so simple.
¡°System, I¡¯d like to buy an Earth aspected technique to dig out foundations. Please confirm purchase to Mastery.¡±
The new technique worked like a charm, allowing him to quickly and easily place the new Contribution Points Shop adjacent to the new pagoda.
Nice. That technique would come in super handy when he placed the rest of the sect buildings.
Time to go visit the kids.
He Quickstepped in the forest just outside the village gate and used his spiritual sense to find a spot clear of people in the plaza. One more Quickstep, and he was inside.
¡°Master!¡± Yang Xiu yelled.
Yang Ru, Kang Lin, Ye Zan, Jin LiJuan, and a lot of the others were there, meditating. All looked up at Yang Xiu¡¯s shout. They all had smiles on their faces as big as the one on his.
¡°All of you, great job,¡± Benton said. ¡°I cannot adequately express how proud of you I am. Now, someone tell me what happened after I left.¡±
It wasn¡¯t that easy, of course. Each of them had parts to interject, and Benton did not spare his praise as they related their harrowing adventure, especially when they told him about the badger that had made it inside the wall.
He was quite displeased with himself when he heard that. The thought of a beast going underneath the shield hadn¡¯t even occurred to him, and considering the number of animals that burrow, it definitely should have. It was only luck and the talent of his amazing disciples that prevented the entire village from being destroyed.
Another concern was that his super-fast arrows hadn¡¯t gotten the job done at all. The higher ranked beasts had dodged them ¡ as easily as he could have. He really should have thought of that as well. A homing function would have been better than making them faster. The formation would have been a lot harder, but the results would have been worth it.
The FEDs had also been almost worthless. His disciples had been too scared of the large explosions hurting nearby friends that they¡¯d never actually used any of them.
In contrast, he was so happy with his disciples that he could barely stand it. Yang Xiu, Yang Ru, Kang Lin, and Zou Tian had all defended against beasts well above their level, and Ye Zan, Jin LiJuan, and the others had shown true bravery and commitment in the face of what must have looked like certain death. When they finished the story, he singled each of them out by name and told them how incredible he thought their actions were.
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And of course, they all wanted to hear his story, so he related how the seventh, eighth, and ninth waves were actually pretty easy. More tedious than anything else as his biggest priority had been making sure none of the beasts escaped past him.
The cyclops, on the other hand¡ Since various Poison Claw Sect members like Pan Jiang were in the audience, Benton couldn¡¯t give the gathering the true blow by blow as those details would have given way too many clues about his actual cultivation level, but he did let them know that it was an intense fight and that the Big Boss of a beast tide was much stronger than an average beast of the same rank.
¡°With the beast tide officially over, though, we have two very urgent tasks to accomplish,¡± Benton said.
¡°Of course, Master,¡± Yang Xiu said. ¡°We¡¯re ready to obey. What would you have us do?¡±
¡°Number one, receive your rewards. Number two, celebrate!¡±
There were laughs and cheers all around.
¡°To the victors go the spoils,¡± Benton said, ¡°and you all stand victorious. Gather all the sect members and any villager who wants to come at the arena as quickly as possible. I think you¡¯re going to like what I have for you.¡±
With the tide over and so many beasts killed, the area around the village and the sect was safer than it had ever been. Benton didn¡¯t detect a single spiritual signal in range of his sense save for his sect members and their allies. He made sure to tell that to those assembled and have them pass it on to the others.
It was nearing nightfall when the last person took a seat in the stands. All the sect members and the Poison Claw Sect allies attended, of course, along with several hundred of the villagers.
Benton looked around at the five to six hundred people who had gathered in the stands and smiled. They¡¯d come so far and would only continue to advance. He was so pleased about their response to what could have been a disaster. Even the villagers had showed calmness and fortitude, not complaining at all during the entire beast tide.
Speaking of not complaining, though, he couldn¡¯t help but notice that Jin LiJuan was shivering. Even though she was only at the first minor realm of Qi Gathering and had a horribly damaged circulation system, she was a cultivator. It was rare for one to come down with an illness.
¡°Are you okay, Li¡¯er?¡± Benton said.
¡°Y-yes, M-Master.¡±
¡°Why are you shivering? Are you sick?¡±
¡°N-no, M-Master. I¡¯m f-fine.¡±
¡°Nonsense. You can barely talk your lips are trembling so hard.¡±
¡°Master,¡± Mistress Zhong said. ¡°The child is cold. The mortals and those early on the path of cultivation notice temperatures more than we do.¡±
Ah. He supposed it was getting close to winter. Trivial concerns like whether the weather was hot or cold wasn¡¯t even noticeable to him anymore. But having had his attention called to it, he noticed that the villagers were all huddled together and had on coats or wore blankets wrapped around them.
Luckily, he could do something about their comfort.
¡°Tell me when you start to feel warm enough, Li¡¯er.¡±
She looked confused but nodded.
He triggered his Area Temperature Manipulation, increasing the heat until Li¡¯er told him to stop.
¡°There,¡± he said. ¡°Nice and cozy.¡±
¡°Gratitude, Master,¡± Li¡¯er said, grinning at him.
He took that expression as a rare treat. The kid did not smile often.
After removing a wagon from his ring to use as a podium on the arena floor, he took his position atop it. The crowd grew silent in anticipation.
¡°Once again,¡± Benton said, ¡°I cannot adequately express how impressed I am with how all of you handled an extremely stressful and dangerous situation. Even though I would prefer to always be with you to provide protection, that luxury simply will not always be possible. That I can depend on you to help and defend each other is an enormous boon, one that deserves to be rewarded.¡±
His words had an immediate impact, especially to all who had not been present in the plaza earlier. He had a hard time fully understanding what he meant to these people, but it must have been something profound because a few words of praise elevated the mood even higher. There were smiles on practically all faces.
Of course, part of that might have been the promised rewards¡
¡°As you made your way to the arena, you may have noticed two new buildings. The smaller of those is the new Contribution Points Shop.¡± Benton looked around until he found who he was looking for in the crowd. ¡°Peng Zhen, that building is now yours. You¡¯ll find housing space for your family upstairs.¡±
¡°Gratitude, Master.¡±
¡°The larger structure adjacent to it is the Trials Pagoda.¡± Benton paused for a moment to let the impact of the statement sink in. ¡°Once per day, one person approved by Peng Zhen and me and requiring payment of contribution points to do so may enter the pagoda for the purpose of undertaking a trial. He and I will talk later to discuss the criteria for doing so.¡±
The villagers, of course, had no idea what such an announcement portended. Neither did most of his sect members who, until very recently, had been mortals and knew little about the world of cultivators. Yang Xiu looked excited, either because she¡¯d read about trials in a story or something or because she just expected that anything coming from Master was sure to be interesting.
The best reaction was from Kang Lin, who had grown up in a prominent family in a major sect. Her jaw literally dropped. She surely knew what a Trials Pagoda was, and Benton figured she never anticipated being able to see one.
¡°If you partake of the first trial, you will be able to work on improving either a chosen technique or your cultivation. This trial requires only contributions points to partake, and as the trial has no real risk, Peng Zhen may schedule your participation. While this trial is helpful to move you along your cultivation journey, please remember that taking the trial means that no one else will be able to use the pagoda that day. For those of you who are not bottlenecked, slots for this trial will be the absolute lowest priority.¡±
Benton grinned as he waited for the implications of his statement to sink in but ended up being disappointed. In Su¡¯s memory, all cultivators feared bottlenecks as a potential end to one¡¯s challenge of the heavens. His sect members, on the other hand, had no reason to fear such a thing. Even for the lowest talented ones, the journey thus far had been smooth.
Only the Poison Claw Sect members and the old harvesters truly understood what Benton said, that the trials were a potential path to breaking bottlenecks.
Oh well, he was used to failing to get the reaction he wanted. Some people were just no fun.
¡°If you partake in the second trial, you will be able to modify your qi aspect. Note that this action can result in a very profound change as your qi aspect is something that is integral to who you are as a person. Choosing to take this trial is something that requires careful consideration. On the other hand, the results can be profound as adding a new element to your repertoire could be a game changer. Unfortunately, though, participation requires a small amount of a limited resource that only I can contribute, so it requires my permission.¡±
The announcement of the second trial produced more of a reaction than the first. He could see wheels spinning in the heads of Yang Xiu, Zou Tian, and others as the potential revealed itself. Kang Lin just looked flummoxed.
Benton grinned. She was fast becoming his absolute favorite person to tease.
¡°If you partake in the third trial¡¡± He paused, allowing the tension of the moment to build.
A lot of the audience literally leaned forward in their seats.
¡°If you successfully complete the third trial, you will be able to improve your spiritual roots by one minor step.¡±
Finally, he got the reaction he had been looking for. Even the villagers understood the importance of the rank of one¡¯s spiritual roots as it was the sole determining factor in acceptance to most sects. They also knew that it was incredibly rare to change such a thing. After all, only a very few of his most talented sect members so far had been afforded that opportunity.
To hear that any of them could possibly do so was of profound relevance.
Benton couldn¡¯t wait announce that all of them would be allowed to advance one minor step free of charge. The reactions were sure to be hilarious.
Chapter 159 – Trials and Tribulations
Kang Lin waited in the stands of the arena, eagerly anticipating Master¡¯s presentation to begin. When he announced that there would be rewards, she was sure that, considering the source, it would be something over the top and nearly impossible.
She was not disappointed.
A Trials Pagoda was a thing of legend. No sect on the continent had one, but a few larger, more powerful sects in other places had found or established such wonders. Enough stories had made their way to the continent that she was familiar with the concept.
To see one for herself was truly amazing.
Obviously, as a mere disciple and not a Rising Tide Sect member, she would not get to experience a trial, but it was enough for her to simply be present at its unveiling. She exchanged a glance with Pan Jiang, who sat next to her. He looked just as excited as she felt.
Kang Lin was glad the young scion was also there as a witness as it meant that nothing Master said tonight would be a secret. She was mentally composing her message to Grandfather even as the announcement continued.
When Master started talking about specifics of the first trial, her ears really perked up. Prizes for trials were typically things like a spiritual weapon or a rare, valuable herb or a good technique or cultivation method. Instead, the very first reward had the potential to break bottlenecks.
What?
When the other sects found out about that possibility, they¡¯d surely be lining up for a chance to use it, considering how many old monsters were out there languishing at their current level unable to move forward. The news might cause a riot.
The second trial was no less heaven shattering. No wonder Master was able to use so many different types of qi. He had access to a trial pagoda that gave out new aspects as prizes like they were pieces of candy.
Kang Lin had never heard of such a thing. She¡¯d never even imagined it was possible.
Then, he told them about the final trial. To improve one¡¯s spiritual roots was a major advancement. The only way she knew of involved vastly expensive pills that required a minimum of a Golden Core level alchemist and several almost impossible to find ingredients to make. And those pills could only be consumed prior to the start of cultivating.
A method of increasing an existing cultivator¡¯s spiritual roots was unheard of. Literally. Every alchemist had searched in vain for such a thing and not found it. The fact that a new, small sect had it was going to cause major waves.
She hoped that Master was as strong as he seemed. He would need to be to keep the sect safe.
The fact that he¡¯d defeated a rank ten beast that commanded a tide and apparently suffered no ill effects from the battle boded well in that regard. She was sure that Grandfather would spread that story around to at least give other sects pause.
¡°There are a couple of very big caveats that go with the third trial, however,¡± Master said. ¡°One, that resource that I talked about earlier that only I can provide? The third trial consumes a not insignificant amount. Two, failing the trial risks death, and I don¡¯t currently know what percentage of applicants pass or fail or what percentage might die. I¡¯m going to be very reluctant to let anyone try this trial. Understood?¡±
¡°Yes, Master!¡± All the core sect members yelled in response, leaving the rest of the audience looking at each other.
Kang Lin felt a bit of relief. The limitations on the use of the pagoda for the most heaven shattering of the effects was a good thing. The big three sects would already be eying the small new sect that had sprouted in their midst with suspicion, fear, and avarice. That the new sect couldn¡¯t easily advance all their members to the peak of S rank talent would soothe some of the hotheadedness.
The news would definitely present challenges and opportunities for the Poison Claw Sect. Having established friendly relations already was a benefit in that they were in the best position to profit from Master¡¯s many impossibilities. If the other two decided to destroy the Rising Tide Sect, however, it could put her sect in a difficult situation.
Kang Lin was very glad that people much higher in realm than her would be making such life and death decisions. At the same time, she hoped they¡¯d stand strong with her Master and her new friends.
¡°On the plus side, I do have another surprise for you. All current sect members¡ª¡± He looked directly at Kang Lin and smiled. ¡°¡ªand disciples will soon receive the option of increasing their spiritual roots by one minor step at no cost. Additionally, anyone joining the sect or becoming my disciple in the future will receive this same boon.¡±
Kang Lin was absolutely floored by that revelation. In fact, if anyone besides Master had said it, she literally would not have believed it. Such a thing should not be possible. She wasn¡¯t sure that it was possible.
It couldn¡¯t be, right? That bonus was too heaven shattering to be real.
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¡°Be aware, however,¡± he said, ¡°that the process is quite painful.¡±
Yang Xiu, Yang Ru, Xun Wu, and Peng Hanying all nodded vigorously.
¡°You do not have to accept this boon,¡± Master said. ¡°It is not in any way a requirement for being in this sect. In fact, I will not tolerate anyone in this sect looking down on another sect member for their choice in this matter. The pain is nothing to scoff at. I hate that some of you will have to suffer through it.¡±
Kang Lin did not understand him at all. How could anyone, even a mortal, pass up the opportunity to improve their spiritual roots simply because it hurt? That choice would be insane.
She would have spoken up, but she was so utterly flabbergasted by the entire concept of such a choice being real that the possibility of someone refusing it was a bridge too far.
¡°Okay,¡± Master said, ¡°why don¡¯t we spread out so that all the Rising Tide Sect members and my non-affiliated disciple have some room?¡±
The arena had space for over a thousand people to sit, and only about half the seats were in use. The non-cultivating villagers all moved en masse to the opposite side, leaving plenty of room for the rest of them to spread out.
It was quite a surreal experience for Kang Lin. Yet again, Master was proclaiming to be about to do something that was literally impossible, and everyone around her trusted that he was telling the absolute truth. The problem was that she believed him, too. She¡¯d already seen too many ridiculous claims become reality for her to have any doubt.
No. She couldn¡¯t just sit there and say nothing. A mass changing of spiritual roots was too much. It was a direct challenge to the heavens. She would not remain silent.
Kang Lin stood. ¡°Master, you can¡¯t do this.¡±
He looked puzzled as if what he was about to do was completely normal and any claim otherwise was just silly. ¡°Why not?¡±
¡°Because it¡¯s impossible. I mean, a lot of the stuff you do is impossible, but this is really, really impossible. It¡¯s¡ I mean¡ You just can¡¯t!¡±
Master smiled. ¡°I know. You¡¯re right. It is impossible.¡±
Kang Lin let out a breath. Good. It had just been a joke. She didn¡¯t understand the humor, but he¡¯d just been teasing her. Or them. Or something.
¡°Just because something is impossible, doesn¡¯t mean I cannot and will not do it anyway, though,¡± Master said. ¡°This is a cultivation world. We are meant to challenge the heavens. Anything can and will happen.¡±
What? But¡
On top of the wagon down on the sand, Master did that thing where his eyes moved rapidly around, and suddenly, the late evening sky grew even darker. Lightning flashed.
¡°Oops,¡± Master said, still smiling. ¡°I think I¡¯ve made the heavens angry.¡±
If there was any lesson that Benton had learned from his years serving corporate bigwigs, it was, ¡°Never let them see you sweat.¡±
Internally, he was sweating up a storm. Just before he confirmed his choice to select the enhanced spiritual roots reward for his sect members, the sky flashed lightning. And it wasn¡¯t just any lightning. It was tribulation lightning.
He could feel the power contained in those clouds in his very bones.
Still, he kept a smile on his face for his sect members and made light of the situation. No reason to make them worried. He¡¯d either survive the experience or he wouldn¡¯t.
Not that he was planning on leaving something like that to chance. Tribulation lightning was nothing to play around with. Many cultivators had their paths ended due to it. And he, fortunately, was a cheating cheater who cheats.
¡°System,¡± he said internally, ¡°I¡¯d like to form a Concept of an Anti-Tribulation element. This element¡¯s sole purpose is to neutralize tribulation lightning. Please confirm purchase of the Concept to Mastery.¡±
There. Now when the lightning hit, his shield would be super effective against it. He just hoped that would be enough.
Kang Lin tensed.
One heard stories about cultivators undergoing a tribulation, of course, but it wasn¡¯t something any sane person ever wanted to witness, much less experience. Few if any who suffered heaven¡¯s lightning survived to tell the tale. Though Master appeared confident that he¡¯d make it through just fine, she was positive that she was about to witness his end.
When she¡¯d come to the village, it had been at the direction of her grandfather. She was to gather information for him as to what was happening with the mysterious and powerful Chao Su and, if it didn¡¯t appear too unsafe, gain experience by participating in the beast tide. Her instructions were to flee at the first sign of danger.
Since then, she¡¯d made friends. More than friends, actually. Yang Xiu was more like a sister. Yang Ru was a potential fianc¨¦. And Kang Lin had found a Master, and she was discovering that he meant a lot more to her than she¡¯d thought.
She didn¡¯t want him to die, but there was nothing she could do about it. None could come between the heavens and its target.
At the same time, it was impossible for him to survive. Only literal legends were able to come through such an experience alive. She estimated his chances to be one in a million at best.
The first bolt formed, splitting the sky with a violet burst. It lanced toward Master, and he didn¡¯t even attempt to evade, standing strong and tall against it, against the heavens.
The lightning exploded when it hit him, but no damage was done to the surroundings. Master glowed with purple light.
When the blast and the accompanying thunder faded, Master still stood, looking as fresh and uninjured as he had been before the blast.
Impossible. Kang Lin literally didn¡¯t believe her eyes.
Then another bolt formed and hit him. And another. And so on until a total of five lightning strikes exploded against him.
None so much a fazed him. Not a hair on his body was singed as far as she could tell.
Master truly was unfathomable.
¡°Well, now that little bit of excitement is over,¡± he said, sounding completely unperturbed, ¡°why don¡¯t we get on with the reward?¡±
His eyes made the funny motion again, and she felt something. It wasn¡¯t intrusive. Instead, it was just like she had a certainty that, if she chose to meditate at that time, she would improve her spiritual roots.
She¡¯d never experienced enlightenment, but the way she felt mirrored the accounts of it that she¡¯d read.
Considering that Master had just underwent tribulation for her to have the chance to improve her roots and it was a once in a lifetime opportunity, she surrendered to the moment and sank into a lotus position.
From her experiences so far, the Rising Tide Sect treated impossibilities as just another thing that happened. She might as well go along for the ride.
Master was rubbing off on her; she couldn¡¯t wait to explain everything that happened to Grandfather. Just imagining his reaction made her smile.
Chapter 160a – Arc 1 Epilogue
Benton shook his head. Kang Lin and every single one of his sect members had all chosen to embrace the pain in order to improve their spiritual roots by a single minor step.
Every. Single. One.
They were all in the stands in front of him in the lotus position, suffering. Occasionally, a grunt or a cry would escape from one or the other of them, but overall, they were mostly silent, the most intense expression of their agony a quiet writhing when they couldn¡¯t quite keep still.
On one hand, he was so very, very proud of them. They¡¯d accepted whatever cost was necessary for a small but crucial improvement in their status. On the other, he was horrified. Was the gain worth the pain?
He wished he could suffer for them. Instead, all he could do was stand watch over them as they endured.
Benton had waited for a little while after the cultivators began experiencing the intense pain before he released the villagers. He wanted them to see for themselves just how much the process hurt because they¡¯d all be making that same decision for themselves in the future. It was better they went into it with open eyes, and he was quite serious about not looking down on anyone who chose not to take the improvement.
Not that he believed anyone would decline based on recent evidence.
Cultivation worlds were crazy.
If he¡¯d made the same offer on Earth, some percentage would surely have taken him up on it. There were always driven people in any crowd, willing to overlook momentary discomfort for future gain. But he was positive most would have simply told him, ¡°No thanks.¡±
The process took around twelve hours, and he stood there, watching over them, not doing anything else other than scanning with his spiritual sense the entire time. If they were willing to undergo such agony, the least he could do was to remain vigilant.
Finally, though, all of them finished, and viewing the status of several of them revealed that they had, in fact, improved their spiritual roots. Kang Lin was now a B-, and he hoped that making a jump to the next major rank would soothe her feelings about a potential match with Yang Ru.
Not that Benton planned to push that particular relationship any more at all. He¡¯d got them started talking. If things worked out between them, he approved. If not, they were both great kids, great catches. He was sure that both of them would eventually find happiness.
Jin LiJuan advanced to F, which was actually quite a feat considering the state of her channels. He held her hand to check her cultivation and found it improved but still in bad shape. She would find cycling a bit easier, though. That was something.
Overall, everyone was quite happy when he told them the results. Despite their ordeal in obtaining their new rank, they apparently found the outcome worth the suffering.
He shook his head again. Cultivators.
Wan Ai and the three Foundation Establishment level cultivators all looked to have come through the experience just fine, but the low to mid ranks appeared to be absolutely wiped. It was nearing noon of the next day, and they hadn¡¯t had any good rest for a while. He sent everyone back to the village with street food from his ring and instructions to eat quickly and go to sleep.
After the arena cleared out, Benton remained behind, directing his attention to his To Do list. With the beast tide complete, there was little danger remaining. It would be a while, months probably, before even rank ones started returning to the area. Most of the sect members could fight such a beast one on one. By the time beasts became a threat, the wall would be finished, and his sect would be even bigger and his members more powerful.
All of those factors meant there was nothing preventing him from moving the sect to the grounds. He just had to start placing buildings. That was one task for him.
His other major goal was to get to Nascent Soul. The fight against the rank ten beast had been an eye opener. Benton was very powerful for his realm, but auras were no joke. A strong enough opponent could end him and everything he was trying to build.
He needed to get his sect to one thousand members quickly. That was his second task.
There were other smaller goals that needed accomplishing, and he would work on those as they came up. For the moment, though, it was good to keep his eyes on what the most important priorities were.
It was time to increase the number of sect members by adding another fifty. The mayor was indisposed, having just improved his spiritual roots, but he and Benton had worked out lists many, many inductions in advance. Everyone knew exactly when their turn was, so Benton only had to return to the village and find one of the mayor¡¯s still mortal administrators to get the word around.
Soon, he completed the ceremony, and as expected, each of the new sect members had received the option to increase their spiritual roots as well. And also as expected, each of them had chosen to do so.
Cultivators!
Benton didn¡¯t know what the future would bring. He was positive there would be new dangers and new challenges. Overall, though, he couldn¡¯t think of a better group of people to have standing next to him as he faced all that was to come.
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They were his new family. Obviously, no one could replace Evelyn or his children or his grandchildren, but he was ¡ happy.
He pulled up his status.
| Sect Name: |
Rising Tide |
| Sect Members: |
262 |
| Disciples: |
57 |
| Sect Points: |
840 |
| Shop Points: |
138 |
| Host Cultivation: |
Golden Core - Minor Realm Nine |
| Qi Available: |
5,647,745 |
| Host Body Cultivation: |
Gold - Minor Realm Nine |
| Host Mind Cultivation: |
Higher - Minor Realm One |
| Host Soul Cultivation: |
Manifestation - Minor Realm One |
| Host Techniques (Qi Gathering): |
| |
Basic Archery ¨C Mastery |
| |
Basic Spear Combat ¨C Mastery |
| |
Expert Golden Core Cultivation ¨C Mastery |
| |
General Knowledge of Mind Cultivation ¨C Mastery |
| |
General Knowledge of Soul Cultivation ¨C Mastery |
| |
Knowledge of Rank 1 Formations ¨C Mastery |
| |
Knowledge of Rank 2 Formations ¨C Mastery |
| |
Knowledge of Rank 3 Formations ¨C Mastery |
| |
Nascent Soul Cultivation Knowledge ¨C Mastery |
| |
Pill Basics ¨C Mastery |
| Host Techniques (Foundation Establishment): |
| |
Absolute Speed Enhancement - Mastery |
| |
Analysis ¨C Mastery |
| |
Aura Defense - Mastery |
| |
Automatic Reaction Variable Shield ¨C Mastery |
| |
Chain Lightning ¨C Mastery |
| |
Folded Space Quickstep ¨C Mastery |
| |
Extreme Area Temperature Manipulation ¨C Mastery |
| |
Foundation Excavation - Mastery |
| |
Healing ¨C Mastery |
| |
Layered Variable Shield Breaker with Void Finisher Weapon Augmentation ¨C Mastery |
| |
Meditation ¨C Mastery |
| |
Pause Time ¨C Mastery |
| |
Perception ¨C Mastery |
| |
Rank 1 Formation Construction ¨C Mastery |
| |
Rank 2 Formation Construction ¨C Mastery |
| |
Rank 3 Formation Construction ¨C Mastery |
| |
Rank 1 Formation Construction Acceleration ¨C Mastery |
| |
Rank 2 Formation Construction Acceleration ¨C Mastery |
| |
Rank 3 Formation Construction Acceleration ¨C Mastery |
| |
Rank 1 Inscription ¨C Mastery |
| |
Rank 2 Inscription ¨C Mastery |
| |
Rank 3 Inscription ¨C Mastery |
| |
Seeking Speeding Arrow ¨C Mastery |
| |
Stealth ¨C Mastery |
| |
Variable AoE Gravity Burst ¨C Mastery |
| |
Variable AoE Shield ¨C Mastery |
| |
Variable Spirit Coin Manifestation ¨C Mastery |
| Host Techniques (Golden Core Concepts): |
| Anti-Tribulation - Mastery |
Earth - Mastery |
| Fire - Mastery |
Gravity - Mastery |
| Healing - Mastery |
Ice - Mastery |
| Illusion - Mastery |
Light - Mastery |
| Lightning - Mastery |
Metal - Mastery |
| Momentum - Mastery |
Poison - Mastery |
| Smell - Mastery |
Sound - Mastery |
| Space - Mastery |
Temperature - Mastery |
| Time - Mastery |
Void - Mastery |
| Water - Mastery |
Wood - Mastery |
| Menus: |
| [Cultivation Method] |
[Technique] |
| [Quest] |
[Perk] |
| [Advancement] |
[Shop] |
| [Sect] |
|
Chapter 160b – End of Arc 1 Important Characters
| Name |
Spirit Cult |
Body Cult |
Roots |
Pavilion |
Weapon (P) |
Primary Technique |
Secondary Technique |
Origin |
| Chao Su |
GC-9 |
Gold - 9 |
N/A |
Sect Leader |
Spear |
Shield Breaker/Void Finisher - M |
Quickstep - M |
Earth |
| Guang Yin |
QG-5 |
Bronze - 7 |
D |
Woodworking |
Spear |
Spear - LS |
Bow - SS |
Wood Harvester |
| Hou Yazhu (GL) |
QG-5 |
Bronze - 9 |
F+ |
Martial |
Spear |
Spear - LS |
Bow - SS |
City Wagon Driver |
| Huang Yimun |
QG-5 |
Bronze - 9 |
E- |
Martial |
Spear |
Spear - LS |
Bow - SS |
City Guard |
| Jin LiJuan |
QG-1 |
None |
F |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
Village Orphange |
| Kang Lin |
FE-1 |
None |
B- |
N/A |
Spear |
Lightning Spear - LS |
Lightning Shield - SS |
Poison Claw Sect |
| Mo Jian |
QG-4 |
None |
F+ |
Village Admin |
Bow |
Bow - SS |
Spear - SS |
Village Mayor |
| Pan Jiang |
QG-6 |
None |
D |
N/A |
Sword |
Oak Sword - LS |
Bend Like the Willow - LS |
Poison Claw Sect |
| Pan Xiaolian |
QG-4 |
None |
C- |
Healing |
Dagger |
Healing - SS |
Dagger - SS |
Village Healer |
| Peng Hanying |
QG-5 |
None |
C+ |
Contribution |
Bow |
Appraisal - SS |
Bow - SS |
Time Aspect |
| Peng Zhen |
QG-5 |
None |
E- |
Contribution (L) |
Bow |
Appraisal - LS |
Bow - SS |
Town Merchant |
| Shi Long |
QG-6 |
None |
B+ |
Blacksmith |
Hammer |
Hammer Time - LS |
Forging - SS |
City Weapon Shop |
| Wan Ai |
QG-9 |
None |
D+ |
Alchemy (L) |
Dagger |
Herb Gathering - SS |
Dagger - SS |
Village Orphanage |
| Xiang Da (L) |
QG-4 |
None |
F+ |
Formations (L) |
Bow |
Math Knowledge - LS |
Bow - SS |
Village Math Expert |
| Xun Wu |
QG-6 |
None |
A |
Blacksmith (L) |
Hammer |
Forging - LS |
Hammer Time - LS |
Expert Blacksmith |
| Yang Ru (L) |
FE-1 |
Bronze - 9 |
A |
Martial (L) |
Spear |
Inevitability - LS |
Momentum Transfer - LS |
Second Disiple |
| Yang Xiu (L) |
FE-1 |
Bronze - 9 |
A+ |
Martial (L) |
Bow |
Slippery Arrow - LS |
Ice Shield - SS |
First Disciple |
| Ye Zan (GL) |
QG-5 |
Bronze - 9 |
F |
Martial |
Spear |
Spear - LS |
Bow - SS |
Guard Captain |
| Zhong Wen |
QG-6 |
None |
E- |
Outer Sect |
Bow |
Bow - SS |
Spear - SS |
Village Orphanage Mistress |
| Zi Delan (GL) |
QG-5 |
Bronze - 9 |
E- |
Martial |
Spear |
Spear - LS |
Bow - SS |
Town Gang Leader |
| Zou Tian |
QG-6 |
Bronze - 9 |
D |
Martial |
Dagger |
Hide Presence - M |
Dagger - LS |
City Gang Scout |
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Note: L = Leader of Pavilion; GL = Group Leader
Chapter 160c – Arc 2 Prologue
When Teng Wuying imagined climbing to a high position in the Jade Chameleon Sect, he never envisioned quite so much paperwork. As he signed one report and picked up another, his assistant stepped into the room.
¡°Your Esteemed Brother, Teng Jian, has successfully broken through the seventh minor realm of Golden Core, Esteemed Elder,¡± she said.
¡°Understood. No instructions at this time,¡± he said, dismissing her.
The moment had finally come. It was time to inform the hot-headed Teng Jian of the death of his son, Teng Chun, at the hands of a cultivator named Chao Su.
Hmm.
Between the weaselly worded missive from those simpletons at the Poison Claw Sect and the message his spies had intercepted from Pan Jiang regarding the beast tide, Teng Wuying had no doubt the region¡¯s newest sect leader could easily kill his brother. Which was not a problem. Such an outcome was, in fact, good.
The problem was blowback. Teng Jian wasn¡¯t a weapon to be pointed with precision. He was more like a disaster to be aimed in the general direction of an enemy.
Either way, it would definitely be best if he heard the news from a somewhat friendly face.
Teng Wuying quickly made his way to the designated cultivation cave and waited patiently outside. Well, more like impatiently. It took more than a half hour for his brother to emerge.
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¡°Ji¡¯er, congratulations on your advancement. The seventh minor realm is quite impressive.¡±
Teng Jian scowled. ¡°Why are you here, brother? Has something happened or is there a mission for me that is so urgent that I can¡¯t even have a decent meal before you approach me with it?¡±
¡°The former, I¡¯m afraid,¡± Teng Wuying said. ¡°I don¡¯t know how to tell you this, but Teng Chun has fallen.¡±
¡°Man or beast?¡±
¡°Man, but¡ª¡±
¡°Who?¡± Teng Jian said, his eyes narrowed into thin lines.
¡°A new sect, The Rising Tide, has been formed in the old village kept by the Righteous Rain Sect. Your son encountered the sect leader on the road. They fought.¡±
¡°How many people are in this sect?¡±
¡°A couple hundred,¡± Teng Wuying said, ¡°all lower realms except the sect leader.¡±
¡°I¡¯ll be leaving tomorrow morning. When I return, this Rising Tide Sect will no longer exist.¡±
Perfect. Except that, if Teng Jian somehow survived, not providing him all the relevant information could be a bad thing. A very bad thing.
¡°The sect leader recently killed a rank ten beast that led a tide,¡± Teng Wuying said reluctantly. ¡°He did so in a solo battle and apparently emerged unscathed.¡±
¡°Nascent Soul?¡±
¡°Doubtful, but possible.¡±
Teng Jian frowned. ¡°I¡¯ll bring Chen Jingguo and Hu Huiqing. Brother Huiqing will draw out the sect leader by attacking his people. Jing¡¯er and I will ambush him when he responds.¡±
As Teng Wuying had feared, there was no reasoning with his brother. No measured, careful response or planning. Just attack and salt the ground. Destroy everything. Which was fine if he succeeded. If he didn¡¯t, it was Teng Wuying who would have to deal with the consequences, which might include an attack on the sect annex in Sixth Flawless Flowing City.
Something told him that being around for that event would be bad for his health.
Hmm.
The main sect grounds were beautiful in the winter. Perhaps a visit was in order.
Chapter 161 – Volunteer
Nighttime neared as Benton watched over the fifty newest inductees into the Rising Tide Sect.
The experience was not a pleasant one. They all writhed in agony. He was pretty sure he hadn¡¯t previously actually seen anyone make a motion he¡¯d describe as writhing, but that was the only word that fit.
It was like they wanted to sit still, but they were in so much pain that they couldn¡¯t. Ergo writhing.
Before they¡¯d started the process, they¡¯d all appeared completely positive that improving their spiritual roots would be worth the pain. He dearly hoped that they all kept that same opinion when they finished.
Benton was almost positive he wouldn¡¯t if he were them.
Be that as it may, it was his second time in a very short period watching over a large group undergoing the improvement. He was, frankly, getting a little bored.
Honestly, he was really eager to begin setting up the sect buildings. It wasn¡¯t like anyone or anything could attack the arena while he was outside nearby. He could get all the pavilions and the required housing placed before morning. They could be fully using the grounds tomorrow.
The problem was that his new sect members were completely vulnerable as their bodies went through the upgrade. A single rank one beast could kill everyone in the stands without anyone raising a finger against it. Even if such an outcome was extremely unlikely, Benton just didn¡¯t feel comfortable leaving them alone.
Besides, these people were suffering for the good of the sect. It was his responsibility and his duty to watch over them. He just wished the job wasn¡¯t so boring.
Since he¡¯d told all the veteran sect members to rest until tomorrow with the only acceptable activity besides sleep being cultivating if they wanted to, he didn¡¯t expect anyone to relieve him of that boredom.
Literally just as he¡¯d finished having that thought, Yang Xiu showed up at that arena. He should have known.
¡°Master, this disciple has a question.¡±
If she was starting so formally, she surely wanted something, and it was probably something she knew he wouldn¡¯t want to grant. Poor girl. It would be a lot easier for her to get her way if he didn¡¯t already have decades of experience fending off requests from kids and grandkids.
¡°Please ask, Disciple.¡±
¡°Well, Master, you see, I got to thinking,¡± Yang Xiu said. ¡°You told us that the Trials Pagoda could be used only one time per day. I was wondering exactly when that reset.¡±
So that was her game. Interesting. And not a bad point, really.
¡°Daybreak.¡±
¡°Ah.¡±
His answer clearly broke her from whatever she¡¯d planned to say next. She probably thought he¡¯d say nightfall or midnight or something closer to the current time.
¡°Well, at any rate, if¡ Has anyone claimed the first spot, Master?¡±
There it was.
¡°No,¡± Benton said, ¡°actually no one has, since, you know, I told everyone to rest tonight.¡±
¡°Oh.¡±
Of course, Yang Xiu and Yang Ru were the two least in need of rest to consolidate their newly improved spirit roots. They were two of the highest three ranked disciples in the sect in terms of talent as well as being the two highest sect members in terms of realm. Additionally, they¡¯d gone through the process once already.
Benton felt that it would do no real harm for her to try the pagoda tonight, not that he would let her off quite so easily.
¡°I was thinking, Master, that it¡¯s a darn shame to waste resources.¡±
¡°You¡¯re right. We have all those beast corpses that need to be gathered and processed. With their high qi content, they don¡¯t decay nearly as fast as mortal animals, but they will need to be dealt with sooner rather than later. It¡¯s good of you to volunteer!¡±
Her face fell, and he almost chuckled. She purely hated skinning and deboning beasts.
¡°Actually, I was thinking about a different resource, Master.¡±
¡°Really? Which one?¡±
¡°The ¡ Trials Pagoda, Master? You said it could only be used once a day, and if no one else uses it, that opportunity will just disappear. If that happens, we can never get it back.¡± She started out plaintive but warmed up as she went along.
Benton made a big show of frowning. ¡°And what, pray tell, would you do in the Trials Pagoda?¡±
That was the question she wanted. He could tell because her eyes practically sparkled with joy. And because she literally clapped her hands. But mainly the eye thing.
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¡°My qi aspect, Master. It¡¯s great for combat, but I want to embrace the scouting role you chose for me when you recommended my perception technique. Sure, I can learn a non-aspected technique or try to work my aspect into one somehow, but imagine how much more effective I¡¯d be if my aspect actively supported such a thing!¡±
Okay. That was well reasoned. He¡¯d honestly thought her request would be a little more out there.
¡°What specific adjustment are you planning on making?¡± he said.
That question took the wind out of her sails as she visibly deflated.
¡°I was hoping you could help me with that, Master. You seem so good with qi elements.¡±
¡°No. Sorry. I can¡¯t.¡±
¡°Oh.¡±
The look on her face¡ She obviously wasn¡¯t used to him refusing her requests.
¡°Yang Xiu, I cannot express this strongly enough. Anything regarding your qi aspect, especially something as fundamental as actively altering it, has to come from you and only you. I can¡¯t help you. Kang Lin can¡¯t help you. Yang Ru can¡¯t help you. Us helping you now could cripple you later.¡±
¡°But what if I get it wrong, Master?¡±
¡°There is no right and wrong. It is what you think it is. The problem comes if someone or something external tries to impose their vision of what your qi is on you. Does that make any sense?¡±
¡°No, Master. Sorry.¡±
¡°There¡¯s nothing to be sorry about. It¡¯s not your fault. This is something that you should be learning and experiencing over the next couple of years as you advance through Foundation Establishment, not something to decide at minor realm one. The long and short of it is that you can only enter the Trials Pagoda for this purpose if you both have a concrete idea in mind of exactly what change you want to make and you are absolutely positive that the change resonates with the core of your being.¡±
She signed. ¡°I¡¯m guessing that I won¡¯t be allowed in the pagoda tonight, then, Master.¡±
¡°Not for that purpose¡¡±
¡°For improving my spirit roots again, Master? That would move me to S-!¡±
¡°No!¡±
She was so excited that he hated to burst her bubble, but he wanted to clamp down on that idea fast and hard.
¡°For one thing,¡± he said, ¡°you could die if you fail. Until I know more about the process, no one in our sect will be allowed to even try. For another, you¡¯ve already improved your roots twice in less than a year. Too much change too fast isn¡¯t good for your cultivation base.¡±
¡°Yes, Master.¡±
She looked suitably chastened. For an instant. Then, she smiled.
¡°So I can work on a technique then, Master? My shield is not coming along nearly as well as I¡¯d like.¡±
¡°Peng Zhen and his family have already moved into the upper floor of the shop. Tell him that you have my permission but that you¡¯ll have to negotiate contribution points with him. I want a full report about the trial after you¡¯re done!¡±
¡°Yes, Master!¡±
She practically skipped out of the arena.
Yang Xiu couldn¡¯t care less about her contribution points. She had tens of thousands of them, and they seemingly came to her from doing what she was going to do anyway. When Peng Zhen proposed a thousand to enter the lowest of the three trials, she readily agreed.
The important thing was that she was to be the first in the entire sect to use the pagoda. Her brother would be green with envy when he found out.
From the outside, the pagoda didn¡¯t look like anything special. It was two stories and, like the arena and the new Contribution Points Shop, painted in shades of blue. The door was a regular wood door, which opened with a regular old pull on a regular handle. The space beyond was ¡ nice? Wood floors. Empty except for a white pedestal.
She¡¯d been expecting the d¨¦cor to be more mystical or something. Not that she was disappointed. It was just that¡
Well, okay, maybe she was a little disappointed.
She walked up to the pedestal, and nothing happened.
There was a white sphere, an orb maybe, that appeared to be made of marble or some kind of polished stone with black and gold flecks mixed in. She touched it.
A weird blue box popped up in front of her eyes.
|
Welcome to the Trial Pagoda, Disciple Yang Xiu. You have the choice of one of the following three Trials:
Advance Cultivation or Technique
Add or Modify Qi Aspect
Improve Spiritual Roots
|
Yang Xiu clapped her hands. Ethereal blue boxes popping up in her vision that referred to her by name? That was what she expected. She should have known that Master wouldn¡¯t let her down.
Obviously, the first trial was the reason she was in the pagoda, and the most responsible, dutiful part of her urged her to select it. A more impulsive side of her couldn¡¯t help but be a little curious about the other choices, though.
After putting a bit of thought into it, she began to understand what Master was trying to tell her about her qi aspect. It was a deeply personal thing, and no one but her could figure out what worked. Which was unfortunate as such esoteric thinking wasn¡¯t one of her strong points.
She¡¯d figure it out eventually, though. There was nothing she couldn¡¯t accomplish once she put her mind to it.
Yang Xiu grinned. That confidence was definitely new. Back in her village, she would never have though to be that sure of herself, but with Master¡¯s teachings, she really thought she could do anything.
But she realized she was getting distracted, so she returned her focus to her task. Her primary Foundation Establishment technique was already at Large Success, an amazing accomplishment. The shield was ¡ more difficult for her. It just wasn¡¯t coming along nearly as well as she wanted it to, even though she¡¯d at least managed to get it to Small Success.
She really wanted to buy her third technique, one that would use external qi to augment her perception, but since she had the option of modifying her qi aspect, it made no sense to add that technique until she solved the issue of exactly what the modification should be. Which might take forever.
For all she knew, it might take her days or even weeks to figure it out.
Well, she definitely didn¡¯t have the solution at the moment, so there was no way she could pick that trial. And she was forbidden from picking the third trial for at least another year.
On the other hand, Master seemed interested in the workings of the pagoda. What would happen if she tried to choose one of those two forbidden trials? Would the pagoda let her? That would be good information for Master.
She grinned. He¡¯d probably praise her for her initiative in testing the pagoda¡¯s workings.
¡°Esteemed Trials Pagoda, please let me try the trial to improve my spiritual roots.¡±
Worst case scenario, she could just quit or something if it actually let her attempt it.
|
Selection to Improve Spiritual Roots requires an expenditure of sect resources and approval from Sect Leader Chao Su.
Contacting Sect Leader Chao Su.
Sect Leader Chao Su says, ¡°Yang Xiu, stop playing around and pick the correct trial, or I swear that I¡¯ll let every single person in the village go through the pagoda before you.¡±
|
Oops.
¡°Esteemed Trials Pagoda, please let me try the trial to advance my Automated Slippery Ice Shield.¡±
Chapter 162 – A Slippery Solution
Contrary to Yang Xiu¡¯s expectations based on Master¡¯s previous announcement, the Trials Pagoda sent a request to him to approve attempting a trial to improve her shield technique instead of simply immediately okaying it. Master, however, apparently did give his assent because the next thing she knew she was standing in a room that was unfamiliar to her. The floor was covered with some sort of springy material, and one wall was filled with mirrors.
Other than her and the mirrors, the space was completely empty.
A gangly man with long bushy hair and an equally unkempt beard appeared, wearing a dirty grey cultivator¡¯s robe. Overall, his appearance was more someone she would have expected to see begging for food on the streets of Sixth Flawless Flowing City than a powerful expert martial artist. The only thing that gave her pause was that she couldn¡¯t sense his cultivation level.
¡°Take the shield,¡± he said.
¡°What shield?¡± Before the last word was fully formed, a triangular shield about the width and length of her torso popped into being at her feet. ¡°Oh.¡±
It was laying face down with two leather straps for her arm on top. At first, she thought it was made of metal, but when she bent to grasp the straps, she realized that it was actually constructed of a thin layer of ice.
Interesting.
Yang Xiu hadn¡¯t known exactly what to expect from the trial, but she¡¯d thought that it would be something like how she normally trained her shield technique. Either Kang Lin or Yang Ru would throw weapons or qi at her while she tried to form her shield quickly enough to block it. The method had worked well enough to get her to Small Success, albeit slowly.
Apparently, the Trials Pagoda had a different approach in mind as it was supplying her with an actual shield made of ice instead of relying on her to conjure one.
As she slung her arms through the leather straps, she expected the ice¡¯s cold to sting, but it didn¡¯t. In fact, it didn¡¯t feel cold at all. The entire weapon was room temperature.
¡°Get ready,¡± the man said. ¡°A large sphere will be shot at you from that aperture.¡±
Before she could ask the obvious question, a hole about the diameter of Yang Ru¡¯s head appeared, hovering in the air at about chest height several yards away from her. On the other side of the hole was ¡ nothing that she could make out. Just a grey void.
¡°The sphere will be both fast and powerful,¡± he said. ¡°Prepare yourself. I will count down from three.¡±
Given the distance away and height of the aperture, she hastily placed the shield in front of her chest and, she thought, readied herself.
¡°Three. Two. One. Go.¡±
She didn¡¯t even see the sphere. She didn¡¯t really even feel the impact. One instant, she was standing, ready to receive the blow. The next, everything went black.
Literally everything. There was nothing around her but blackness. And not in an it was dark or she had her eyes closed and she couldn¡¯t see kind of way, either. It felt like she was the only thing in existence.
¡°You have died,¡± the man¡¯s disembodied voice said. ¡°Continue the trial or quit?¡±
Uh.
On one hand, she didn¡¯t even know what happened, so how could she fix it? On the other, she wasn¡¯t one to give up so easily.
¡°Continue.¡±
As soon as the word left her mouth, she was back in the room.
¡°Prepare yourself,¡± the man said, once again standing in the room with her. ¡°I will count down from three.¡±
Yang Xiu took a deep breath and took her preparations much more seriously. She dropped her back leg and really braced herself. The entirety of her not inconsiderable strength was focused on blocking the sphere.
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¡°Three. Two. One.¡±
She used her perception skill and focused on the hole. The shot wouldn¡¯t take her by surprise again.
¡°Go.¡±
Her concentration and resolve succeeded. Somewhat. In that she actually felt the sphere make contact, blowing right through the shield and her chest and coming out of her back.
The event only lasted a fraction of a second, but it hurt. A lot.
Then, she was back in the black space.
¡°You have died,¡± the man¡¯s disembodied voice said. ¡°Continue the trial or quit?¡±
There had to be something she was missing. The trial couldn¡¯t be unwinnable, but she didn¡¯t see how she could stop something so strong that it could pass through the shield and her body without being hindered in any way and so fast that she couldn¡¯t even see it move.
She gritted her teeth. ¡°Continue.¡±
The next six times, she did the exact same thing. Braced herself. Studied the sphere as much as she was able. Experienced brief, blinding pain. Died.
After eight failures with no sign of a way forward, she began to feel just a touch of despair. Maybe the trial was too tough for her. Maybe she should just quit. Tell Master. Ask his advice for the next time.
And completely waste the opportunity for today¡¯s trial for the entire sect by failing.
Master would be so disappointed in her. Not that he¡¯d say anything. In fact, he¡¯d probably console her. But she would be disappointed in herself, so he would have to feel the same way.
That line of thought did raise an interesting question¡ªwhat would Master tell her to do? As she stared into the infinite blackness, she pondered the answer.
He¡¯d say to work smarter, not harder.
No. He¡¯d said something like that before, but it didn¡¯t fit the situation exactly. She did need to work smarter, though. That was the key. How to work smarter.
He¡¯d say, if you can¡¯t win, cheat.
No. That wasn¡¯t it. He always said that he cheated, not that his disciples should.
He¡¯d say, go back to the root cause.
Yes. That was the answer. What was the root cause of the problem?
Easy. The sphere was too strong and too fast. So she should ¡ slow it down and make it weaker.
No. That didn¡¯t make any sense. The purpose of the trial was to improve her shield.
Yes. Something about the exercise was supposed to improve either her technique in using the shield or her knowledge of it or, most probably, both.
So what was she supposed to learn?
The shield couldn¡¯t stop every attack.
That lesson made sense. If Master attacked her, his qi would shred her shield like it was wet paper. She didn¡¯t see how that helped her.
From the man¡¯s instructions, he seemed to fully expect her to be able to block the sphere. But that made no sense. It was too strong and too fast.
Could she modify her shield? That idea was worth a try, and for the next five attempts, she tried adding her qi to the shield, managing to add some ice in the center so that it was a bit thicker.
The sphere was not impressed.
Okay. That didn¡¯t work. So what could she try next?
After a bit of thought, she circled back to the root cause. She refused to think that the trial was designed to teach her about futility or to give up, so there had to be a way to stop the sphere. With her shield.
Or, rather, with the shield provided by the trial.
¡°Continue,¡± she said.
Yang Xiu found herself back in the room. Again. She¡¯d honestly lost count of how many times she¡¯d died by that point.
¡°Prepare yourself,¡± the man said. Again. ¡°I will count down from three.¡±
¡°Wait for a moment. I want to study the shield.¡±
The man didn¡¯t say anything, but neither did he begin counting.
Yes! Maybe that meant she was on the right track.
She turned the shield over so that the straps rested on the floor and ran her fingers over the ice.
It was slick, more slippery than anything she¡¯d ever encountered. Master had introduced her to the idea of friction and had explained to her that her qi aspect was probably pretty close to an ideal frictionless surface. He¡¯d laughed after saying that and claimed that he wouldn¡¯t be at all surprised if it actually was frictionless.
Then he¡¯d laughed out loud and said something about a spherical horse*? It didn¡¯t make any sense to her.
The point was that the shield was so slippery that everything that touched it should slide right off it. That was basically the idea that she held in her mind about her qi aspect. Absolute slipperiness. Even other forms of energy, other forms of qi, should slide right off.
So why wasn¡¯t the sphere sliding off?
Because it couldn¡¯t. It was hitting a flat surface straight on at incredible speed with incredible force. Any inclination that the sphere had to slide to one side or the other was overwhelmed by the force pushing it forward.
Or something. She wasn¡¯t very good at what Master referred to as physics. He¡¯d said that it wasn¡¯t his area of expertise, either.
The takeaway was that she couldn¡¯t help but be curious about what would happen if the shield were angled instead of flat. It was worth a try, right? Worst case scenario, she¡¯d just die. Again.
¡°I¡¯m ready,¡± she said. ¡°Proceed with your count.¡±
She angled the shield about thirty degrees.
¡°Three. Two. One. Go.¡±
No blackness. And nothing hurt. She glanced behind her. A portion of the room¡¯s wall was just gone.
¡°Congratulations,¡± the man said. ¡°You have passed the trial.¡±
*In the version of the joke that I heard, there was a trainer at a local racetrack that was tired of losing, so he brought in three experts to help him get better performance out of his horses. The first was a scientist. He studied what the horses were eating and proposed a new diet. The second was a statistician. He studied all the races and the factors impacting each one. He advised the trainer to run his horses on a muddy track as they performed better than average in those conditions. The third was a physicist. He said, ¡°In the case of the spherical horse¡¡±
Chapter 163 – Placemaking
Benton frowned as he received a notification. Not a half hour had passed since he had sent Yang Xiu to the Contribution Points Shop to arrange payment with Peng Zhen for a trial.
Well, she must have accomplished that task because the System informed Benton that she had requested to participate in a trial. He was sure he¡¯d been very clear on exactly which trial she was to pick. Her mission was to advance her shield. In fact, he¡¯d explicitly told her she wasn¡¯t allowed to attempt to improve her spirit roots again for another year.
Why, then, was he receiving a notification asking his permission for her to do that very thing? What was she thinking?
He shook his head.
No. She did not have his permission.
He bet that, when he asked her why she¡¯d selected that trial, she¡¯d say something like she was just testing the pagoda¡¯s functionality. The little scamp!
It occurred to him that the kind of thing she had just pulled had made him very angry when he was parenting his own teenagers. Since he transitioned to grandfather mode with Greg¡¯s birth, though, such antics amused him more than anything else. Evelyn would have been rolling her eyes and shaking her head at him were she present.
Most of all, she¡¯d just be glad he¡¯d found a new family to love.
A short time later, a new popup appeared, informing him that Yang Xiu had selected the correct one, and immediately after the notification, she disappeared from his senses.
Her vanishing was not something he¡¯d expected to happen, and he almost rushed to the pagoda to investigate. Before doing anything in haste, he calmed himself. The Trials Pagoda was a product of the System, and it had told him that the one she was attempting was completely safe. He doubted that she¡¯d died.
He pulled up his status and checked, finding he still had two hundred sixty-two sect members and fifty-seven disciples. That information confirmed that she was still alive.
The trials probably occurred in a separate dimension or something. Once it was over, she should re-appear.
Yeah. It would be fine. He just needed to be patient.
At first, Yang Xiu coming to the arena with her request had helped to relieve his boredom, but the added tension of worrying about her made the wait even worse.
Hours passed, and he grew more and more anxious. He knew it was irrational. The System had told him that the trial-taker would not be harmed, but he did not like not being able to sense her.
And worries about her safety led to other worries. Even if she emerged unscathed, it was possible for her to fail the test. He worried about what that would do to her confidence. Not to mention that it would hurt her pride when the rest of the sect found out.
A while later, though, there was a popup.
|
Host¡¯s Disciple, Yang Xiu, has reached Automated Slippery Ice Shield ¨C Large Success.
Host is awarded one Sect Point.
Host has 841 Sect Points available.
|
As expected for such a talented disciple, she¡¯d passed. He didn¡¯t know why he¡¯d been worried. Such a good kid!
Immediately after the notification, she reappeared to his spiritual sense, though she remained completely immobile.
Ah. Consolidating her gains. Great kid!
After another hour or so, she ran to the arena.
¡°Disciple reporting to Master.¡±
Ever since she started hanging around with Kang Lin, Yang Xiu had started randomly being more formal with some interactions. Benton didn¡¯t know if she was trying to act more like she felt a true sect member should act or if the manner of speech amused her.
If there was one thing that he had learned about parenting teenagers, it was that it just wasn¡¯t worth trying to micromanage the small stuff. He and Evelyn had never tried to control their children¡¯s hairstyles or, for the most part, their clothing choices.
They focused on the important things. Did the kids do their schoolwork? Were they respectful? Did they stay out of trouble?
In other words, pick your battles.
Overall, Yang Xiu was a fantastic kid. Diligent. Respectful. Responsible. If she wanted to be a bit more formal in her speech, so be it.
¡°Master listening to Disciple.¡±
Of course, his resolution to let her choose her words for herself didn¡¯t mean he wouldn¡¯t gently tease her about it.
She looked chastened. ¡°The trial was a success, Master. I raised my shield technique to Large Success.¡±
Yang Xiu went on to tell him about the trial, about how the spheres were unblockable and how she died multiple times. That news concerned him, of course, but after he questioned her about the experience, it seemed like there was no mental trauma associated with it. One instant she was alive and the next she was in a void being told she had died.
Though she seemed fine, dying over and over again couldn¡¯t be healthy for her psyche. He¡¯d have to monitor the situation. If future trials used the same methodology but made the process of dying linger, he might have to consider not allowing his disciples to use the pagoda.
More tests were needed before he could make such a decision, though. He¡¯d have Yang Ru attempt an improvement next, following the pagoda¡¯s reset, and pending how that went, Kang Lin would be the next up. Both would be instructed with the strongest possible admonition to give up on the trial if it was in any way traumatic.
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He trusted them to adhere to the letter and spirit of his orders even if they didn¡¯t want to follow them.
With Yang Xiu having finished her report, he sent her back to the village with instructions to return at first light with her two fellow Foundation Establishment cultivators.
Since he¡¯d ended up waiting on pins and needles for her to get finished with the trial, most of the night had passed, and his newest sect members began finishing up the fiery ordeal on having their spiritual roots enhanced. Somehow, they all seemed happy with the experience despite looking like they¡¯d all been run through the wringer.
After another hour, the fifty new cultivators were all on their way back to the village, and he was finally free to begin placing buildings. The current sect grounds consisted of an old farmer¡¯s field overgrown with weeds, shrubs, and grasses. Not the most auspicious of locales, but that was okay. He was focused on what could be, not on what was.
He envisioned a wall surrounding the entire area with a gate in the direction of the village as that would be where almost all traffic came from. Upon entering, he wanted all the main sect buildings to be front and center.
From various projects he¡¯d been involved with over the years, he knew that creating a sense of place was very important. Or at least, the architects and developers had claimed that it was very important. One had gone on and on about how necessary it was to activate the ground plane, whatever that meant.
Benton had little idea what exactly placemaking entailed, but he was enthusiastic to give it a go.
There were three buildings already sited¡ªthe arena far from the eventual gate, the Contribution Points Shop, and the adjacent Trials Pagoda. The latter two were on the outskirts of what he termed his Central Business District in the direction of the arena.
Hmm.
In his mind, there was a large avenue leading from the gate through his new sect. Both sides of the avenue would be lined with his most important buildings, making everything easy to find. Ancillary facilities could be located on side streets leading behind the buildings on both sides. Housing would be in a different area entirely.
Perfect.
The first large structure a visitor saw when entering the gate should be the Administration Hall, a four-story pagoda he¡¯d stored in his ring for that purpose. He wondered how close to the wall it should be, though.
There definitely should be a gap between the wall and any buildings. That space would be used for guard shacks and for defensive forces to muster and what have you. Probably a fifty-yard distance between the wall and the structures would work.
Those decisions made placing the first structure easy. The Administration Hall went fifty yards from the eventual location of the gate on the north side of the planned avenue. Even better, the actual installation went lightning fast with his new technique for excavating foundations.
He removed the hall from the ring, held it in the air with his gravity burst, dug out the foundations in the appropriate places with his technique, and lowered the gravity to allow the building to gently fall into place.
Awesome.
Across from it, he placed a five-story library. As of yet, he only had a few dozen books to store in it, but that amount would expand over time.
Next to the library, he placed the Lecture Hall, a building that reminded him a lot of something he¡¯d find on a college campus but with an eastern flare. It was a more short and squat than most of the beautiful tall pagodas that housed the other functions, but the architect had done a good job of making it fit in with the surrounding buildings. The important thing was function, anyway, and it contained rooms that would fit up to several hundred in a single lecture all the way down to very intimate one on one study nooks.
Obviously, he also needed a space other than the arena where he could gather the entire sect, and next to the Lecture Hall seemed logical. Benton placed the Amphitheater there. As indicated by its name, it was an open-air facility, but its big advantage was that it held seating for close to five thousand people. It would be quite some time before the Rising Tide Sect outgrew it.
He hadn¡¯t checked on its formations yet, but he was willing to bet that it included one to protect the occupants from the elements. If not, he was positive that he could create one. The Amphitheater was destined to become the sect¡¯s new home for meetings and inductions and all kinds of other official functions.
Moving back to the other side of the street, he placed the five-story Martial Pavilion next to the Administration Hall. He figured that it would be his most important and most used pavilion as almost every sect member would be required to learn a weapon skill.
Eventually, when their sect was large enough to rival the big three, it would be okay for specialist crafters to forego learning to fight, but until then, everyone needed to know the basics of defense just in case the sect was attacked.
Benton paused in his thoughts.
Actually, he wasn¡¯t sure if it would ever be okay for any cultivator to completely ignore combat skills. The world was too dangerous. Unless one truly planned to never leave the walls of the sect, the ability to defend oneself, at least to some extent, was a requirement.
He hated that fact, but it was the truth. Maybe a part of his long-term plans should be to make the world safe enough that not everyone was required to know how to fight. To do that, he¡¯d need to establish the rule of law, which would require him to become so powerful that he could bring to heel anyone who stood against whatever justice dispensing organization he created.
Wow. His thoughts sure had turned heavy. Creating the place of his sect was supposed to be a happy occasion.
Benton banished those concerns, turning back to the fun project of building his physical sect. Next to the Martial Pavilion, he placed what he considered to be his second most important pavilion¡ªAlchemy. Though the structure was only three stories, he expected it to be of incredible importance. Once he got Wan Ai and others up to speed producing nearly perfect pills, he¡¯d start saving a lot of Shop Points. Her advancement was definitely one of his most important priorities.
He paused for a second. How lucky was it that she was so dedicated to cultivation? Despite her less than stellar roots, she was next closest to advancing to Foundation Establishment, and the sooner she accomplished that task, the better.
Departing from the main avenue, he placed the Bath House dedicated to Body Cultivation behind the Alchemy Pavilion. It wasn¡¯t a structure that demanded a place of prominence, but it would be much visited as he would require all his sect members to eventually reach at least peak Bronze Body Cultivation. And obviously, the building needed to be close to the alchemists who created the baths for the sake of efficiency.
Back on the main avenue, he installed the third of the major pavilions, Formations, next to the Alchemy Pavilion. At the moment, the math-oriented profession was the least developed with only five members and none who could even make the simplest of arrays. Like with alchemy, it played a major role in the development of all sects, so getting them up to speed was another priority.
Benton had a choice to make with his next placement. One side of the avenue was lined with all the pavilions and four total buildings. There were only three on the other side, creating an imbalance.
Not counting the Outer Sect, he had three pavilions left install¡ªWoodworking, Blacksmithing, and Healing. His first impulse was to keep all the pavilions on one side of the street, but that didn¡¯t make sense as he had nothing to go opposite them.
Hmm.
It was fine. All of them didn¡¯t have to line up next to each other as long as they were in the same area. In fact, he was pretty sure he¡¯d end up adding more later. Those would probably end up on side streets or even farther away from the CBD.
Okay. Decision made, then. He¡¯d balance the buildings on each side.
It was logical to keep Woodworking and the forge next to each other as they were similar types of craft and worked closely together, so he put those on the side next to the Amphitheater. That left the Healing Pavilion to go next to the building for arrays.
Great. That left only the auxillary building for the fletchers, which naturally went behind the Woodworking Pavilion.
Finished, he stood at one end and looked at his future main avenue. Big tall beautiful buildings lined it.
Of course, it wasn¡¯t perfect. There was no stone path yet for the actual road, and the area was still overgrown. There were no decorative trees or anything else.
But it was a start. A good start.
Chapter 164 – Goodbye Home
Benton grinned, happy that he had the core of his sect placed. The Administration Hall, the Library, the Lecture Hall, the Amphitheater, six pavilions, and a couple of auxiliary buildings had been installed near the eventual gate. A short distance away was the Contribution Points Shop and the Trials Pagoda. Farther on was the arena.
That was a great start.
With the work locations clearly established, he needed places for all his people to live and chose the large empty area opposite the arena to build the residential section. On his way there, he dropped the cafeteria, a large, single-story building that had enough kitchen space and seating capacity to handle roughly five hundred people at once. As long as everyone didn¡¯t go for meals at exactly the same time, it should work as the main eating location until sect membership reached into the thousands. Which was why he sited it where he did, halfway between the CBD and the housing area.
Once he reached the sector he¡¯d selected, his first placement was the Outer Sect Pavilion, an eleven-story building that contained sixty apartments easily capable of holding up to one hundred eighty sect members, more if they really wanted to stuff them inside. He planned to mainly use it for children and temporary housing for new, non-village recruits.
Dotted around the area along planned curved roads much like a suburban development back in the good old US of A, he placed twenty family homes of various sizes and configurations and thirty single dwellings favored by many cultivators belonging to various sects.
Hmm.
All told, he could easily house about three hundred members, which was good. The capacity slightly exceeded the current membership. On the negative side, he was all out of dwellings from his ring, and the Rising Tide Sect was growing rapidly. There was no way he¡¯d be able to fit all the people in the village into the current structures on the sect grounds.
To do so, he¡¯d need to begin either building his own houses or moving ones from the village onto the grounds. Neither of those options appealed to him, though. All the structures taken from the Righteous Rain Sect, while having various appearances, had a certain aesthetic similarity that he liked. The village houses would clash terribly, and the time required to build new ones while maintaining any kind of architectural conformity would be problematic.
It seemed like a visit to Vermillion Incomparable Rain Town was in order in the near future. Which was a good idea on multiple fronts. For one thing, he had kind of promised Fatty Ren a solution to his cultivation stagnation, and recruiting the large Town Lord might just be a way to speed up the growth of the Rising Tide Sect so that Benton could get to Nascent Soul even faster.
He would feel much better about the security situation if he were stronger than any known cultivator on the continent. Fighting against an opponent with an aura had not been easy or fun. If that opponent had been a human with scores of mastered techniques, Benton may not have won.
Adding that out-of-town trip to his mental To Do List, he moved on to his next priority¡ªgetting the sect moving in the right direction. The beast tide had been a positive in many ways. Lots of sect members had made significant improvements. Pretty much everyone had gotten at least some experience out of the deal. The sect would be flush with material wealth from all the spoils from the beasts they¡¯d killed. And best of all, no one had gotten killed. The village hadn¡¯t even suffered any significant damage.
The event couldn¡¯t have gone any better.
It had, however, disrupted his plans. Production on the wall had completely ceased, and for the most part, separation of sect members into their various pavilions had been abandoned as most everyone concentrated on learning weapon skills. Almost no progress had been made on pill production, and efforts to increase knowledge of formations for anyone but himself had been severely hampered.
Of course, the news wasn¡¯t all bad in terms of crafting. Forging and fletching had both proceeded at a fantastic pace, putting those sect members ahead of where they might have otherwise had been. Body Cultivation had also been pushed heavily. There was no way so many would have advanced so far absent the threat presented by the tide. And obviously, the number of hours spent practicing weapons had been immense, putting almost everyone further along the path toward Mastery than he would have otherwise expected.
Still, the sect needed to be able to win the peace just as much as being able to prevail in war. They needed crafting and production, not just weapons and fighting. His disciples needed to build and create.
Starting in the morning, he¡¯d refocus everyone on those tasks.
He Quickstepped to the village and found Yang Xiu cultivating in her house.
¡°Cancel my orders to have the three Foundation Establishment cultivators come to me at dawn. We need a council meeting instead. Oh, and I forgot to reward Pan Jiang and the other Poison Claw Sect members for their assistance. Ask them to attend as well.¡±
¡°Yes, Master.¡±
As the sun was still in the process of rising, all the council members¡ªYang Xiu, Yang Ru, Zhong Wen, Wan Ai, Zou Tian, Shi Long, Ye Zan, Hou Yazhu, Xun Wu, Peng Zhen, Zi Delan, Mo Jian, Guang Yin, Xiang Da, and Pan Xiaolian¡ªarrived at the arena accompanied by Kang Lin, Pan Jiang, and the other four Poison Claw Sect members who had participated in the beast tide.
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¡°Today represents the end of an era,¡± Benton said sadly.
All the assembled cultivators looked at him with confusion writ large on their faces.
¡°It¡¯s our last council meeting at the arena,¡± Benton said. ¡°In fact, we¡¯ll no longer be using the arena for meetings or inductions at all. From now on, it will be for spectated sparring and tournaments only. Council meetings will be held on the third floor of the new Administrative Hall and inductions and any meetings requiring the entire sect will be held in the amphitheater.¡±
They looked just as confused. Perhaps they were all too young to mourn small changes, but he would always remember the arena as being more to the sect than simply a place to house fights. It would always be the sect¡¯s first official building. In a way, they were saying goodbye to the sect¡¯s first home.
¡°I¡¯ll try to be brief. The purpose of today¡¯s meeting is to reset the direction of the sect now that the beast tide is past.¡± Benton turned to Guang Yin, the old wood harvester. ¡°One very high priority is to get the wall built around the sect grounds. Full speed ahead on production.¡±
¡°Yes, Sect Leader.¡±
Benton met the mayor¡¯s eyes. ¡°Another high priority is to get the last couple of induction classes into their respective pavilions. Interview each person and assign them based on their interests. Alchemy and Formations need the most help long term but are the most ill equipped to get people started. I¡¯ll take a personal interest in helping organize both of those. Martial is useful both in the short and the long term and is ready to accept and train new members. If anyone is waffling between Martial and something else or can¡¯t decide, try to push them to that decision.
¡°Woodworking, forging, and healing should be pretty straightforward. If the person was already at least apprenticed in one of those fields and wants to continue, then it¡¯s a no brainer. Otherwise, use your judgment. We also need to get started growing herbs. That will be a new pavilion. If we don¡¯t have at least five farmers already, let¡¯s prioritize that for the next induction.¡±
¡°Yes, Sect Leader.¡±
¡°All of you who are pavilion leaders,¡± Benton said, ¡°I know administration is a responsibility that takes time away from other tasks, but it is crucial to the sect¡¯s long term success. Please think about how you want to organize your pavilion and how you can both teach and utilize new members. I¡¯m available if you have questions.¡±
Some of his leaders would have no problem, especially experienced masters like the expert blacksmith, Xun Wu, the harvester, Guang Yin, and the old healer, Pan Xiaolian. If anything, they could teach Benton a thing or two. Others, like Wan Ai, were overwhelmed by even the thought of leading others. But that was okay. He was confident she¡¯d grow into the role. Which she would very much need to do. Production of the baths needed to continue while they shifted their training to create pills.
¡°One final task,¡± Benton said. ¡°I left the corpses of the sixth, seventh, and eighth waves where they died. I want three teams, each led by a Foundation Establishment cultivator, to go out and collect the spoils.¡±
He could see the obvious question on their faces. ¡°Go ahead and ask.¡±
¡°Why didn¡¯t you just collect them, Master?¡± Yang Xiu said.
¡°Anyone care to answer that for me?¡±
No one spoke for a moment, and as Benton had half expected, it was Zou Tian who finally came up with an answer.
¡°Experience, Master.¡±
¡°Good,¡± Benton said. ¡°Elaborate.¡±
¡°Everything that you do for us is something that we don¡¯t get to experience doing for ourselves. Even though storing bodies in a spatial ring is a relatively easy thing to accomplish, it is an important task that needs doing.¡±
¡°Exactly. But you left off that it¡¯s also an opportunity to gain contribution points, which is important to the sect and its members. I want each of the three teams to include the Foundation Establishment cultivator and one guard, but I want the actual work of finding and separating the bodies to be accomplished by regular sect members, the lower ranked, the better. Understood?¡±
¡°Yes, Master.¡±
¡°Great, now the final topic for today, rewards for our allies.¡± Benton turned to Kang Lin. ¡°As my disciple, you¡¯re able to participate in the same rewards as the Rising Tide Sect members. I hope that you¡¯re not too terribly disappointed not to also share in the same bounty as your actual sect members.¡±
She smiled. ¡°No, Master. This one is not quite that greedy.¡±
Ha. He did like her playful nature and really hoped things worked out between her and Yang Ru. She would be good for him.
¡°Good,¡± Benton said. ¡°Pan Jiang, may I please check your cultivation?¡±
The boy, of course, assented.
¡°Not bad,¡± Benton said. ¡°Earth grade method?¡±
¡°Yes, Sect Leader.¡±
Hmm.
¡°Okay, I think you¡¯re best off advancing to Foundation Establishment with the method and techniques you¡¯re currently using. How about an IOU that you can claim for a new method or technique of your choice once you advance?¡±
Pan Jiang nodded enthusiastically.
¡°Deng Meixiang,¡± Benton said. ¡°Is it okay if I check your cultivation?¡±
¡°Of course, Sect Leader,¡± the archer said.
Benton kept his face expressionless, but he wanted to grimace. His best guess was that the girl¡¯s cultivation method was rated low profound at best. Still, she was talented enough that she¡¯d probably reach Foundation Establishment. Eventually. Maybe.
He explained that situation to her.
¡°I can offer you a new cultivation method for Qi Gathering and can even reset your cultivation if you want. Your other option, though, is the same one that I gave Pan Jiang. I can give you a top heaven grade Foundation Establishment cultivation method once you advance.¡±
The look of avarice on her face at the thought of what he offered was almost funny, but it was tempered with the realization that she wasn¡¯t guaranteed to ever make that breakthrough.
Benton sighed. ¡°How about this¡ªif you take the Foundation Establishment option, I¡¯ll also promise to provide pills for your breakthrough if your bottleneck takes more than six months?¡±
He didn¡¯t like committing his dwindling supply of Shop Points, but with having so many Sect Points, he could always simply master alchemy to a high enough extent that he¡¯d be able to create the necessary pills.
¡°Yes, Sect Leader. Gratitude, Sect Leader!¡±
The evaluations of the other three kids were similar, and Benton ended up making them each the same offer. The number of points he¡¯d be spending on creating Foundation Establishment techniques would have made him apoplectic not that long ago, but he wouldn¡¯t be attuning the methods to their exact qi aspects. Some of his sect members would probably be able to use them eventually.
The Poison Claw Sect kids deserved the boon for their service to his sect, and he could afford to give it to them. Besides, he wanted it known far and wide that the Rising Tide Sect greatly rewards those who help it.
He wanted their reputation to be as a fantastic friend and a fearsome enemy. The rewards he was giving were the first step to establishing the first of those. Hopefully, he¡¯d never have to demonstrate the latter.
Chapter 165 – Vengeance
Jin LiJuan tried not to hate spirit beasts, but the task was difficult. She was highly motivated, though. Master didn¡¯t ask much of her. In fact, he¡¯d only really asked two things¡ªto obey him and to not hate.
She hadn¡¯t understood why Master even asked her not to kill beasts in anger. The strong sect members killed beasts wherever the creatures were found, and the entire sect had trained so hard learning weapons and techniques for what seemed like the sole purpose of killing beasts.
Mistress Zhong has patiently explained to Jin LiJuan that the issue wasn¡¯t with what she was doing but why. Killing beasts was fine. Admirable even. Being so consumed with hatred that she couldn¡¯t live a normal life and devoting her entire being to a singular pursuit were what Master wanted her to avoid.
She¡¯d also been told that she would never feel the satisfaction she expected to feel from the act. That she¡¯d feel colder and more dead inside with each act of vengeance.
Jin LiJuan didn¡¯t know if she believed any of those explanations, but in the end, the reason didn¡¯t matter. Master wanted it of her, and she owed him everything. He was the only reason she could finally cultivate.
Still, the task was extraordinarily tough. While the other sect members fought against the tide, she¡¯d clenched her fists, too weak to participate. All she could do was feed the barrier protecting the village¡ªan important job that she performed with all the diligence she could muster but one that ultimately wasn¡¯t what she wanted.
People in the village didn¡¯t actually know a lot about spirit beasts, but Pan Jiang was different. The Poison Claw Sect member had been educated on that subject and many others from the time he was a small child. He said that the beasts were driven by an instinct to grow stronger and would do anything it took to advance.
She understood that motivation. The pursuit of strength was paramount. If you advanced far enough, no one could ever hurt you. No one could ever hurt those you cared about.
That motivation did not explain why her parents had been killed, though. They were as mortal as mortal could be. None of her family had a single mote of qi inside them. The beast knew that. It hadn¡¯t consumed them, just killed them and left their broken and bloody bodies laying on the dirt.
She told that to Pan Jiang.
The boy had looked so sad. He¡¯d gotten down on one knee to speak to her and told her that her family was dead because cultivators had not done their duty. When an area wasn¡¯t regularly culled, beasts grew aggressive. When nothing was available that could fuel their advancement, they sometimes lashed out at mortals, killing for the sake of killing.
He told her of the destruction of the Righteous Rain Sect, how the village was part of their territory, and how none of the other sects could move into that territory without breaking the tenuous peace that existed between the big three.
She understood little of what he said other than that cultivators had a duty to protect mortals from spirit beasts, and the cultivators had failed her.
Jin LiJuan wanted to be a cultivator who protected mortals, one who never failed. She wanted to be like Master. He would always diligently and successfully do his duty, whatever it was.
She strove to follow his example. Even though she wanted to strike out at the beasts in any way possible instead of passively feeding coins to the formation, she did not complain. Not a peep.
And she¡¯d come to realize how necessary her job actually was. Without the barrier, many villagers would have been killed. Without her, the barrier would have failed. She felt important. She was contributing.
Master trusted her with that important and necessary task.
Then, the badger had gotten inside. It had wanted the bag of spirit coins and would go through anything in its path, including her. She had proved that, even if she wasn¡¯t as strong as the others, she was just as brave.
But she had failed Master. When she looked at that badger attacking her brothers and sisters, she had hated it. She¡¯d wanted with every fiber of her being to kill it. And in that moment, her desire had nothing to do with protecting protect her fellow sect members.
It was a spirit beast. She wanted it dead. Period.
After Kang Lin had delivered the killing blow, Jin LiJuan stared at the corpse. Even though it was already dead, she wanted to stab it until there was nothing left but tiny little pieces.
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It was then that she realized the depth of her failure, just how much hate she still had inside of her. She had a lot of thinking to do.
The aftermath of the beast tide helped her some. Processing the beast parts, separating out the cores and the meat and the skin and all the pieces useful for crafting had given an outlet to her anger, and it turned out that she was good at the job.
She¡¯d always been small and agile, and her small, nimble fingers guided the knife almost perfectly. With every beast she processed, she grew better. It was almost as if she was in a meditative state as her hands flew over the corpses, quickly and efficiently breaking them down. All the mortals and even some of the cultivators were amazed by her progress.
Contributing made her happy. She owed Master so much, and her failure loomed large in her mind.
Master called a council meeting, and so many amazing things had happened. Tribulation lightning had struck Master! And he¡¯d shrugged it off as if it were nothing. He was like a hero in a story.
And everyone was really excited about the new Trials Pagoda. She didn¡¯t one hundred percent understand what it was, but it sure sounded impressive.
The really amazing thing was the improvement to her spiritual roots. Master had said hers were the worst of the worst and that there was no way to make them any better. But he¡¯d found a way.
Was it arrogant to thing that maybe he¡¯d came up with the idea just for her? It did help everyone, but all the others were so much better off than her.
The actual process had hurt. A lot. But by then, she was used to such pain. She didn¡¯t utter a single sound. Not one tear slipped from her eyes.
Soon after they all returned to the village, rumors spread that each of the Foundation Establishment cultivators would choose a team to gather the beast corpses that Master had left behind.
Despite her newfound skill at processing, Jin LiJuan did not expect to be picked for such a prestigious duty. She was, after all, the lowest ranked and weakest cultivator in the sect. It would not have surprised her if all fifty of the newest inductees were already stronger than her.
When Yang Ru, the senior-most brother of the entire sect, requested that she be on his team, she was elated. Another chance to contribute. Another chance to repay some of her debt.
There ended up being three of them besides Jin LiJuan on their team¡ªSenior Brother Yang Ru, of course; Huang Yimun, a guard who had been really nice to her during the beast tide; and a newly inducted villager who Jin LiJuan had seen before but whose name she couldn¡¯t remember.
Master could cover incredible distances in a single step. No one else in the sect could match his speed, but after him, the three who had reached Foundation Establishment were pretty fast. With two very junior cultivators along, however, Senior Brother had to keep the pace slow. The trek to find the rank eight beast corpses ended up taking many days, and it was late afternoon before they neared the spot Master had described.
¡°I found the location,¡± Senior Brother said after returning from scouting ahead. ¡°It¡¯s not far now. Huang Yimun, make camp. Jin LiJuan and Luo Daiyu, come with me to begin processing.¡±
While Huang Yimun stayed behind at a location near a creek, Senior Brother led them to the site of the battle. Well, not really a battle. More like a massacre.
Jin LiJuan had been told these beasts were of the eighth rank, unbelievably more powerful than the badger. She had been given special knives that Master had inscribed with formations to be sharp enough to cut the beasts¡¯ bodies because her normal knife wouldn¡¯t have been able to even scratch them. Senior Brother, Senior Sister, and Kang Lin together wouldn¡¯t be able to stand against one of these beasts for a second had the creature been alive.
Eleven of them were dead in a tight grouping, killed by Master within seconds of each other. Jin LiJuan couldn¡¯t even imagine how strong he¡¯d have to be to achieve such a feat.
He was truly unfathomable.
While Senior Brother scouted the area to make sure no other spirit beasts approached, the other girl, Luo Daiyu, moved to one end of the group to start processing, and Jin LiJuan took the other.
Besides being bigger and tougher than the rank one, two, and three corpses she¡¯d learned on back at the village, there wasn¡¯t much difference in the process of breaking the bodies down. Their size and toughness, though, made an impact. Her hand tired quicker because, even with the formations, she had to apply more force, and because the beasts were bigger, it took a lot longer to finish one. It was nearly dark by the time she got through with the second one.
She looked at Luo Daiyu, who was only halfway through her second. The girl showed no sign of stopping, so Jin LiJuan moved on to her third, a wolf. The beast was massive, though, so she was still in the process of skinning it when her partner completed hers.
¡°Should I start another?¡± Luo Daiyu said.
Jin LiJuan looked at the sky. Darkness hadn¡¯t fallen yet, but it was rapidly approaching. With the tide finished and Senior Brother patrolling, though, there was no danger.
¡°Go to camp,¡± Jin LiJuan said. ¡°I¡¯ll just finish skinning, and I¡¯ll be right behind you.¡±
The other girl nodded and left, and Jin LiJuan returned to her work. Making the cuts actually was no longer the problem. It was just that the wolf was so big it was hard to move it around to pull off the skin.
The corpse was lying on its stomach, and she had to really put her shoulder into it to topple it onto its side. As soon as she did, the stomach moved.
Jin LiJuan tensed, fearing for a moment that the massive, powerful spirit beast could somehow still be alive. But that was stupid. It wasn¡¯t breathing. Its eyes were lifeless. It was clearly dead.
Why, then, was its stomach moving?
There was one way to find out. She took a formation-enhanced blade and sliced it open near the movement.
Jin LiJuan was a very brave little girl, but she wasn¡¯t stupid. As soon as the cut was made, she took several steps back to carefully observe whatever emerged from inside.
A small round shape tentatively pushed out of the bloody slit. The form was dark and covered in fluids.
At first, Jin LiJuan thought it was some kind of parasite. As more and more of the shape struggled out into the fading light, she realized the truth.
It was a cub. A baby. The wolf¡¯s baby.
She tossed down her knife and ran to it, grabbing it with both hands around its neck. Her hands tightened, squeezing.
Chapter 166 – Mercy
Even Jin LiJuan¡¯s small hands were able to completely encircle the wolf cub¡¯s neck. It struggled pitifully, trying to breathe, as she crushed the life out of it.
She ignored the desperation on its face as the brightness in its eyes dimmed just as easily as she paid no attention to the disgusting, slimy substances coating its body that had transferred to her fingers. All that mattered was that it was a spirit beast, and after waiting for so long, she finally had the power to kill it.
Obviously, it wasn¡¯t the one that killed her parents. It had just emerged from its mother¡¯s womb moments ago. It hadn¡¯t killed anyone.
But none of that mattered.
It was a spirit beast. That was enough.
Ending its life was the fulfillment of the wishes of so many sleepless nights. The heavens had given her the opportunity, and she was going to take it.
Its struggles grew even weaker. The light in its eyes dimmed more.
Jin LiJuan grinned.
Finally.
Everything was going great. Better than great. Fantastic. The beast was almost dead, slain by her very own hands. Until a niggle of a doubt wormed its way into her mind. There was a promise that she had made.
No. Not a promise. An oath.
She had sworn to Master that she would only kill beasts to protect, not because she was mad. Not because she hated.
As the literal weakest of the sect members, it was laughable to think that her actions killing this barely newborn beast were protecting anybody. If she could kill it, anyone could, even a mortal child.
At that moment, anyway.
If she let it free, it would grow. It would become stronger. It could threaten a mortal or the sect.
Her responsibility was to protect. She had to kill it. Yes. Duty called.
Jin LiJuan tightened her grip, sure that her reasoning was sound. Not even Zou Tian could refute her logic. Killing it was the correct decision.
The creature was almost dead, anyway. A few moments more, and there would be no choice left to be made.
She smiled as she watched its life slowly drain from its eyes.
Another thought niggled at her. If she was so sure that killing it was the right thing to do, a yell would bring Senior Brother or Huang Yimun. One of them could make the decision for her. One of them could do the killing.
No. She found the wolf cub. It was her responsibility. No one else¡¯s. Hers alone.
In fact, she needed to speed up the process. Her understanding was that spirit beasts born to other spirit beasts started out life as a rank one. Senior Brother would be able to sense it when he drew close enough.
She wanted to be the one to end its life. She needed to be the one to end its life.
She hated the creature with all the passion her heart could contain.
Her fingers suddenly released, and the barely breathing cub fell to the ground.
Jin LiJuan had sworn to Master that she would not kill out of anger, out of hatred, and he¡¯d made it clear that his healing her had been her second chance. She seriously doubted she¡¯d get a third.
The beast had to die but not at her hands. She would call Senior Brother. One stomp from his foot would end it.
She would watch, grinning, as the life¡
Jin LiJuan hung her head. Was calling Senior Brother to kill it any different than doing it herself? Master probably wouldn¡¯t think so.
He would expect her to ¡ try not to hate it?
But it was a spirit beast. If it had the chance, it would kill her and the entire village to make itself stronger. It deserved death.
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She stared at the creature. It struggled to draw breath and might die if she did nothing. After all, it had been cut out of its mother¡¯s belly, a mother who had been dead for quite some time. Days.
It was weak, starving. And she¡¯d done further damage to it. The surprising thing was that it still lived.
Maybe she could at least admire its perseverance. That was kind of like not hating it, right?
She had a half full skin tied to her waist, and she used it to pour water over the creature, washing away some of the gunk coating its fur and maybe, incidentally, giving it a bit to drink.
Her situation presented quite a riddle. She could neither kill it nor cause it to be killed without violating the spirit of her oath to Master. Nor could she leave it to die on its own. And if it were healthy enough to live, she couldn¡¯t in good conscience let it grow strong enough to threaten the sect.
Which left what option for her exactly?
None that she could think of.
If she did nothing, any choice would definitely soon be removed from her. It was scarcely clinging to life and needed food to survive. Prolonging what time it had left would at least give her a chance to make a decision.
She wasn¡¯t an expert on spirit beasts by any stretch of the imagination, but her understanding was that anything soaked in qi provided them with nourishment. Moving to a beast she¡¯d already processed, a fox, she cut off a tiny chunk of meat. Really tiny. Just a sliver, as she couldn¡¯t imagine that it would have an easy time consuming a large portion of a rank eight beast.
For all she knew, it wouldn¡¯t be able to chew or eat the higher ranked beast at all.
The cub was barely conscious, but it perked up, its eyes opening, as the meat was shoved into its mouth. It barely chewed at all before swallowing the morsel.
Then, it whimpered, clearly asking for more.
Jin LiJuan frowned. Keeping it alive long enough to decide what to do with it was one thing. Feeding it snacks was something else.
It whimpered again.
¡°Fine,¡± she said. ¡°One more sliver, but that¡¯s it.¡±
She cut off another tiny piece of meat, but the beast wasn¡¯t nearly unconscious when she went to place the morsel in its mouth like it had been the previous time. In its eagerness for the meat, it cut her finger drawing blood, which the cub lapped up with his tongue.
Jin LiJuan was furious. It had injured her. It had consumed her blood.
¡°Let¡¯s see how you like it!¡± she yelled.
Before she could consciously think about what she was doing, her knife sliced the cub¡¯s shoulder. It retreated from her, huddling against the body of its mother as if the corpse could provide it with protection.
Jin LiJuan waved the bloody knife in front of it. ¡°See. Here¡¯s your blood. See! Do you like it if I do this?¡± She licked the blade, and a coppery taste filled her mouth.
After forcing herself to swallow, she calmed down some. She honestly didn¡¯t think the cub meant to hurt her. It was just eager to get the meat.
She had probably overreacted.
Her anger again. Maybe Master was right about not letting her emotions control her. He probably was.
Meanwhile, the cub was clawing at its mother¡¯s body, and a small piece of meat fell to the ground. The beast grabbed at it.
¡°Eww,¡± she said. ¡°That¡¯s gross. You can¡¯t eat your own kin. No!¡±
Instead of the cub moving the meat to its mouth, though, it held it out toward her. She took the sliver, mainly to keep the beast from changing its mind.
It stared at her with a pitiful and pleading expression.
¡°You can¡¯t be serious,¡± she said.
It continued to stare with its wide eyes.
¡°You want me to eat this?¡±
She had no idea if it understood any of what she said, but she was almost positive that it did, in fact, want her to eat the piece of raw meat.
Jin LiJuan almost laughed. It was poetic, really. The thing that had got her into so much trouble, that had destroyed her chance to be a powerful cultivator and avenge her parents, was eating spirit beast meat without permission. Now, a cub was asking her to eat a piece of its mother.
Life was too weird.
She sighed. Now that she was a cultivator, no matter how weak, a tiny sliver of meat, even from a powerful rank eight beast, shouldn¡¯t hurt her. Neither would it help her.
It was disgusting, though.
Why was she even considering it?
Because she had made an oath to Master to stop hating spirit beasts and the cub was seeking common ground with her. She had fed it. It had tasted her blood. She had tasted its blood. It wanted to feed her.
There was a kind of logic to its actions. They formed a cycle, and cycles were of prime importance to cultivators. Some instinct told her she should complete this cycle.
She stared at the gross piece of raw wolf meat in her hand. Since she¡¯d become a cultivator, her body should be resistant to pests that caused food poisoning, and even if she caught something, a pill would cure it.
Jin LiJuan didn¡¯t think that Master would mind her actions even if it required her taking a pill. After all, she was trying to fulfill her promise to him.
¡°Fine,¡± she said. ¡°I can¡¯t believe I¡¯m doing this but fine.¡±
She popped the meat into her mouth and swallowed without chewing. It was all she could do to get it down her throat without throwing up.
As soon as she did, though, something happened. Her stomach started burning. She dropped to her knees as sweat poured down her face.
The cub likewise whimpered and whined, clearly in distress.
It was her core. Something was changing her core. And she wasn¡¯t experienced enough to know if it was a good thing or a bad thing.
Footsteps approached.
¡°Jin LiJuan?¡± Senior Brother said. ¡°Are you okay? What¡¯s wrong?¡±
¡°Th-the beast.¡± She pointed.
He glanced at the cub. ¡°It¡¯s okay. I¡¯ll kill it.¡±
As soon as he said those words, an intense dread settled over her. She suddenly grew very positive that him killing the beast would end her chances of ever cultivating again and might end her life.
¡°No!¡± she screamed. ¡°Don¡¯t, Senior Brother!¡±
¡°What? Why not?¡±
She paused, gathering her thoughts as the events of the past few minutes repeated in her mind. Her instincts told her what happened. The cycle was even more significant than she had thought. Whether it was to the good or ill, though, she couldn¡¯t say.
¡°The cub and I are bonded,¡± she said calmly. ¡°If you kill it, you might as well kill me, too.¡±
Chapter 167 – The Care and Feeding of Beasts
Benton had a busy couple of days after the council meeting. For one thing, he had to make sure that the important tasks like the wood harvesting and wall creation were moving in the right direction.
Honestly, though, the villagers, now sect members, in charge of those operations were pure pros. There was nothing he could do to enhance the process because they knew a lot more about it than he ever would. After ensuring that production was happening and proceeding at the same rate as before the tide, he left them alone.
Likewise, he felt no need to oversee the workings of the Martial Pavilion. The twins, Ye Zan, and Kang Lin had lessons and spars and even mini tournaments arranged. And not just for the direct members of that pavilion. Granted, the members were practicing the most, of course, but somehow the four leaders had arranged for all the other sect members to spend a minimum of one hour three days a week on improving their weapon techniques.
That level of organization exceeded Benton¡¯s expectations, so he left them alone as well.
He did have to spend a number of hours with Peng Zhen, the leader of the Contribution Points Store, but those meetings were about discussing what kinds of techniques Benton could offer and how many contribution points to charge and award for various items and services.
Pan Xiaolian had the Healing Pavilion well in hand since all their members were still in the Qi Gathering realm. Without fancy medical equipment or the ability to externally manipulate qi, all they really could do was diagnose any issues and feed the patient the appropriate healing pill. Since there were only the minor and major varieties available, the task was relatively trivial.
Still, all five of the doctors worked on improving their techniques, and Benton was sure that their diligence would pay off once they reached Foundation Establishment.
The Alchemy Pavilion was a bit trickier. Wan Ai, or more probably, Zou Tian, had found one of the newer members to oversee the Body Cultivation baths, and that process was proceeding along well enough. Without Wan Ai directly contributing to production, they¡¯d reduced their peak capacity from a high of over forty down to the low twenties.
That was fine, though. The beast tide was over, so there was no longer a dire catastrophe hanging over their heads requiring sect members to rush through advancing. Twenty baths a day basically meant twenty Sect Points for Benton every three days, which was a fantastic return on investment. Combined with inducting fifty new members every month, he was swimming in points.
Wan Ai had turned her attention to pills, a move that Benton highly encouraged. The baths were important, but pills were crucial to the sect¡¯s growth. Obviously, she wouldn¡¯t be able to make any real cultivation pills until she reached Foundation Establishment, but every bit of practice and every lesson learned now would benefit her in the future.
He was so focused on investing in her ability that he almost bought Alchemy techniques for himself so he could teach her. At the last moment, however, he hesitated and instead sought Zou Tian¡¯s advice.
¡°Master, that is the worst idea I¡¯ve ever heard from you.¡±
Zou Tian went on to explain that Wan Ai was so introverted that it almost physically pained her to work closely with another person. Since Benton had given her a book and all the tools she needed to learn, she¡¯d figure it out on her own. If Benton stood over her shoulder and tried to guide her, she¡¯d be so nervous that she wouldn¡¯t be able to concentrate.
Buying Alchemy techniques still might be a good idea at some point, but seeing as how his current use for it was suboptimal, he decided to wait until he had a justification to buy it.
Benton didn¡¯t even bother checking on the forge. If there was one true expert in the sect, it was the blacksmith, Xun Wu. The very idea of giving him ideas to improve how his pavilion ran was laughable.
It turned out, though, that there was one pavilion that A, was staffed by very inexperienced people; B, had a very large and very important job that needed to be accomplished; and C, involved an area of expertise that Benton had already Mastered¡ªFormations.
Poor Xiang Da was a smart guy and was trying his best, but the mission he¡¯d been saddled with was far beyond his abilities. At best, the five members of the pavilion could sketch out a profound grade rank one array and power it with a beast core. Which was a measure of success that was entirely appropriate for their level of expertise¡ªminimal.
In contrast, Benton needed the existing arrays for each of the former Righteous Rain Sect buildings to be studied, repaired if necessary, and modified to run on spirit coins instead of hooking into the power feed from that sect¡¯s grand array. The members of his Formations Pavilion were months¡ªrealistically more like years¡ªaway from being able to perform that function.
Luckily, Benton, being a cheating cheater who cheats, was a Formations expert. Even for him, though, the job was not an easy one. From his techniques, he knew all the basic rank one, two, and three inscriptions, and he could modify existing ones to serve new purposes. If necessary, he could even create new formations. And sometimes those new and modified inscriptions bore little resemblance to the standard ones that he had learned.
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Unfortunately, every other formation master had that same skill set, the ability to modify existing inscriptions and create new ones. Which made figuring out what an array did by studying it quite challenging.
A lot of the time, his intuition based on his enormous store of knowledge told him what was and was not dangerous, or he could piece together what a specific inscription¡¯s likely purpose was from the surrounding ones. Sometimes, though, his only option was to copy the inscription onto a separate plate and test it to see what happened.
After the first explosion, he moved to the forest far away from the village for those tests.
He spent a couple of days of doing nothing but examining formations and testing inscriptions, leaving him bored out of his skull. The really bad thing was that he was barely halfway through the first building on his list, the Alchemy Pavilion. At that rate, it would be months before he got his sect running the way he wanted it to.
Midway through examining a particularly complex formation, he got an unexpected popup.
|
The Quest, Recruit Additional Disciple, has been completed. This Quest may be repeated. Host is awarded one Shop Point.
Host currently has 139 Shop Points.
|
What the what? How the heck had he gained a disciple? He certainly hadn¡¯t recruited anyone recently, and there wasn¡¯t a single induction ceremony conducted or pot of tea drank.
¡°System,¡± he said internally, ¡°please identify new disciple and the disciple¡¯s origin if possible.¡±
| Host¡¯s disciple, Jin LiJuan, has bonded an unnamed rank one spirit beast. The bonded beast of a disciple is automatically considered a disciple for the purposes of the Quest. |
Interesting. Of all the people in the sect, Jin LiJuan would place exactly last in the list of people most likely to bond a spirit beast. She despised the things.
He supposed he should go check on her and see exactly what happened. If nothing else, it would be a great distraction from studying formations. But that wasn¡¯t why he was going. That would be irresponsible.
No, the reason that he was going to find Jin LiJuan was that he needed to personally greet his sect¡¯s newest member.
Yeah. He¡¯d go with that.
If he remembered correctly, she¡¯d gone with Yang Ru to the site of the fight with the rank eights. Decision made, he almost Quickstepped right to them, but another thought occurred to him¡ªhe knew literally nothing about bonding beasts.
From Su¡¯s memory, there was a vague understanding that it was possible to do such a thing, and Benton had even thought about at some point adding a Beast Pavilion. As far as how to bond a beast or any information about how best for both the beast and the cultivator to advance, though, he was clueless.
¡°System, please create a technique to impart to me knowledge of beast bonding and purchase it to Mastery.¡±
|
Technique creation confirmed.
Host has learned technique, Knowledge of Beast Bonding ¨C Mastery.
Host has 857 Sect Points available.
|
As soon as the knowledge flooded his mind, he Quickstepped near the site of the battle, reoriented using his spirit sense, and Quickstepped again to land right in front of Jin LiJuan, who was quivering under a stare from Yang Ru.
Jin LiJuan considered herself brave, but there was no one in the sect as intimidating as Senior Brother. Master was more powerful, of course, but there was an underlying kindness to him that was apparent in everything he did. That trait and his general cheerfulness really undermined how scary he was.
Senior Brother, on the other hand, rarely said anything, letting his actions speak for him. And she had no idea how he would react to learning she¡¯d bonded the wolf cub. If he decided to kill the beast despite her pleas, she was positive the end result for her would be terrible.
Before Senior Brother could speak or act, though, Master appeared. He seemed ¡ amused.
That was good. Amused was much better than angry.
Still, Jin LiJuan was nervous. Considering how much trouble Master had gone through to heal her, she feared that any misstep on her part would cause him to kick her out of the sect. So she immediately kowtowed, burying her face in the dirt.
¡°Forgive this lowly one, Master. This lowly one was only trying to fulfill the oath.¡±
¡°Rise, please,¡± he said.
She tentatively lifted her head and stared at him.
Master seemed to be trying hard to contain laughter. ¡°What oath exactly? And how, exactly, did fulfilling it lead to you bonding this cub?¡±
There was nothing for it but to explain everything that happened. How she¡¯d nearly strangled the beast until she remembered her promise to him and how that vow left her with no choice but to save the beast¡¯s life. About the cycle and how it felt important to her to complete it and what happened when she did.
¡°Well, Li¡¯er, I have to say that you are definitely not boring,¡± Master said. ¡°The wolf cub, which needs a name by the way, is now officially a member of this sect. I¡¯ll spread the word that anyone harming it will be considered to have harmed a sect member and will be severely punished.¡±
¡°Yes, Master. Gratitude, Master.¡±
¡°Feed the cub exactly one rank one core every day,¡± he continued. ¡°After a week to ten days, it should reach the peak of rank one. Once that happens, feed it a rank two. That should be enough for it to advance. Either way, bring it to me at that point for me to check its cultivation. Don¡¯t worry about paying for the cores. We¡¯ll work something out for the future, but I¡¯ll foot the bill to get it started on the right path. Oh, and save its mother¡¯s core for him. Obviously don¡¯t feed it to him until he¡¯s ready, but the core should belong to him.¡±
And with that, Master Quickstepped away.
Jin LiJuan looked up at Senior Brother hopefully.
He sighed. ¡°You heard Master. I expect you to continue to do your duty while keeping that beast out of trouble. Understand?¡±
¡°Yes, Senior Brother. Gratitude, Senior Brother.¡±
Chapter 168 – Distant Explosions
As soon as Benton left Jin LiJuan, he realized his mistake. He had told her to feed rank one cores to the wolf cub, but she didn¡¯t have any rank one cores. Further, she and her group were days away from the village. Either she¡¯d have to wait to begin following the regimen he desired, or he needed to deliver the cores.
Obviously, he chose the latter of the two options.
He¡¯d given all his rank one, two, and three cores to the Alchemy Pavilion to use in Body Cultivation baths, so he needed to find ten more for Jin LiJuan. Luckily, there was a house set up in the village for the express purpose of processing beasts, and there were likely a thousand or more cores there.
One Quickstep took him to a spot outside the wall, and a second brought him to the house. A few words to the person in charge got him a bag filled with ten rank one cores he needed.
It was pretty late into the evening by the time he got back to Jin LiJuan, where he found her in a camp eating dinner. Needless to say, she was surprised to see him but understood instantly after he handed her the bag.
¡°Gratitude, Master.¡±
When he¡¯d talked to her earlier, he¡¯d been focused on learning how the bonding had occurred and what needed to happen next. The situation had to be challenging for the little girl, considering how she felt about spirit beasts.
¡°How are you feeling about what happened?¡± he said.
¡°I don¡¯t know, Master. I didn¡¯t mean for this to happen.¡± Her little fists clenched. ¡°I hate it, Master. I¡¯m trying not to, but I do hate it so much.¡±
¡°You know that you¡¯re tied to it, right? If either of you perish, the backlash for the other will be severe. As you are now¡ Let¡¯s just say that I would not have advised you to bond a beast if you had asked.¡±
¡°I wouldn¡¯t have done it if I would have known, Master.¡±
¡°I believe you, Li¡¯er.¡±
She sighed. ¡°Could I have someone else take care of the beast, Master?¡±
¡°No. Absolutely not. However unintentional your act, it is still your responsibility. If you need help, ask, and I will provide you with assistance. But, ultimately, care for the cub is on you.¡±
Jin LiJuan nodded, appearing wholly unsurprised by his response to her request. ¡°I will, Master. Somehow, I will.¡±
¡°Take heart, little one. The situation isn¡¯t as dire as it seems, and there are advantages to offset the challenges.¡±
¡°If you say so, Master.¡±
He laughed. ¡°Come see me when you get back to the village, Li¡¯er.¡±
Shaking his head, Benton Quickstepped back to the Formations Pavilion and resumed his work, continuing examining each and every inscription. The break caused by Jin LiJuan¡¯s bonding had done him good, though, as he found his concentration renewed. The entire night passed and well into the next morning before something happened to break him away from his task.
Leaning into the habits he formed during the beast tide, Benton continued his practice of scanning with his spiritual sense at least four times per hour. He¡¯d stop whatever he was doing and scan to the extent of his range. Because he¡¯d done it so often, he was able to quickly look up from his task, scan, and return to work in seconds without breaking his concentration. Only in the rare event of the scan revealing something interesting did he not return to work.
Benton definitely found the fact that three Golden Core cultivators were approaching the sect at a high rate of speed to be interesting.
Jin LiJuan did not sleep well that night. In fact, it was one of the worst nights of sleep she¡¯d had since she had consumed the spirit beast meat that had so injured her.
For one thing, she had a lot on her mind. For another, there was a spirit beast sharing her tent.
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Honestly, she felt that the heavens were conspiring against her to punish her for her act of disobedience. First, she¡¯d had her ability to attain her one true desire, to become a cultivator, destroyed. Then, when she¡¯d regained some tiny aptitude in that regard, it had come at the cost of a promise not to use her power in anger against spirit beasts, which her pure hatred toward made very difficult to uphold.
Against all odds, she¡¯d found herself in a situation where, even as weak as she was, she had the ability to kill one of the heavens-damned creatures. But remembering her promise to Master, she¡¯d somehow, with much difficulty, convinced herself not to do so.
Only to end up bonded to the beast.
Jin LiJuan was not an expert on what such a bonding meant, but there was one thing that she knew for certain. If the beast died, either from natural causes or from her or any other cultivator killing it, there would be bad consequences for her. Her cultivation might be destroyed for good, beyond what even Master could repair. Or she might simply die. For all she knew, she might turn into a beast herself.
Which meant that her life was basically in the hands, or paws, of a creature she hated. If she let any harm come to it, she would suffer. Not only did she have to not harm it, she had to actively protect it. And as she had suspected would happen, Master had absolutely forbidden her from having someone else care for it.
She would have laughed if she didn¡¯t feel so much like crying.
Across the tent from her sleeping mat, the wolf cub had no trouble sleeping at all. In fact, it slept like a baby, which, she supposed, was what it was. She honestly had a hard time seeing it as anything other than a dangerous, evil creature that would grow up to eat other people¡¯s parents.
Maybe it was worth ending her own life to prevent it from ever becoming a threat. But she couldn¡¯t die, not with the huge debt she owed Master and the sect hanging over her head.
She should have called for Senior Brother as soon as she spotted movement inside the wolf¡¯s corpse!
Again, she¡¯d been faced with a major life-altering decision, and again, she¡¯d chosen wrong. The heavens didn¡¯t often give second chances. And it sure didn¡¯t give thirds.
As if it sensed her glare, the wolf cub began to stir.
Senior Brother had been nice enough to use his formidable dexterity and skill to craft an enclosure made of wood so that the spirit beast could not escape the tent or harm her in her sleep. That kindness was the only reason she¡¯d been able to get any rest at all through the long night.
Dawn had broken, though, and it was time to face her new responsibility. She took a rank one core from the pouch Master had given her and tossed it into the enclosure.
The cub stared at the core, hunger written on its face, before looking at her with the most pitiful expression imaginable.
¡°Go on, then,¡± she said. ¡°Eat it.¡±
Jin LiJuan apparently didn¡¯t have to tell it twice because it immediately pounced. Even though the core was the size of a small pebble, the cub¡¯s mouth was barely large enough to fit it inside.
The beast managed somehow, though,
There was no crunch or explosion of light or any other external sign of qi being used. The cub didn¡¯t even really swallow. One instant, the core filled the beast¡¯s mouth, and the next, it was gone.
The result was instantaneous. The cub grew several inches in each direction, looking like it had aged months in seconds.
Jin LiJuan despaired at what her life had become. Instead of killing spirit beasts, she was actively helping one grow stronger.
She really, really wanted to break down and cry.
¡°Well,¡± she said, ¡°I guess it¡¯s time to figure out how dangerous you actually are.¡±
Her instincts told her that hurting the beast was the same as hurting herself, so it was logical to assume that the cub¡¯s instincts gave it the same warning. So hopefully, she could pick it up without it attacking her.
There were way too many ifs and maybes around that idea for her to be comfortable. She needed to test it, and she needed to do so before it got powerful enough to truly hurt her.
¡°Realize, beast, that if you hurt me, you¡¯ll be hurting yourself,¡± she said. ¡°Not only that, but Senior Brother already had little patience for you. Believe me, you do not want to get further on his bad side.¡±
To her complete astonishment, the cub nodded. Like literally bobbed its head up and down just like a human would.
Surely it didn¡¯t understand her, and even if it did in some rudimentary fashion, there was no way it should be able to respond in such a manner.
The gesture was probably just an odd tic or something, one that she very involuntarily had to consider ¡ cute.
Jin LiJuan shuddered. The creature was a hideous, evil, deadly beast. Nothing about it could possibly be cute.
She moved cautiously to the enclosure, which consisted basically of a bunch of pieces of wood tied together with twine. Removing one of the sticks allowed her to also remove a small section of one of the walls.
Jin LiJuan did that and retreated. The cub slowly walked to the enclosure¡¯s exit and stepped out of it into the tent.
It kept its movements slow and displayed no aggression, so she calmly approached it and picked it up. Still, the beast made no attempt to bite or scratch her.
¡°Okay. Good job so far. As long as you behave yourself, I¡¯ll keep you with me and give you one core per day. Harm me or any other human, though, and you¡¯ll be sorry, no matter the cost to me. Understand?¡±
It nodded again, and the repetition brought no hint of cuteness to her mind.
Instead, she shivered. The thing¡¯s apparent intelligence was starting to scare her.
Before she could dwell too much on what it meant that the beast could both understand her and respond, she heard something loud and far away.
The noise sounded like explosions, and they came from the direction of the village.
Chapter 169 – Hatched Chickens Come Home to Roost
Benton knew of only one reason why Golden Core cultivators would be headed toward the sect¡ªto make him answer for the death of that thuggish Foundation Establishment cultivator from the Jade Chameleon Sect.
Of course, it could be something much more innocuous, like Kang Ya-Ting coming for a visit, but he wouldn¡¯t bet money on that being the case. Better to hope for the best but prepare for the worst regardless. Benton had to treat the visit as a hostile incursion.
His first action had to be to meet the intruders, and the farther away from the sect and the village, the better. He Quickstepped in their direction, putting them ahead of their path and near enough that they¡¯d be in sight in seconds.
Being so close, his sense gave him an estimation of their height, about a half mile above the ground. His next Quickstep brought him to that elevation, and an expert use of his Gravity technique kept him there.
It occurred to Benton that, not that long ago, the prospect of facing three such high realmed cultivators would have terrified him. With his completion of multiple iterations of his Ultimate Juggernaut Combat Build and all his recent experience fighting beasts, especially the rank ten, he had absolutely no doubt that he could handle them without any problems.
An instant later, three cultivators on flying swords flew into sight, all wearing the same gray-colored robes the slain Foundation Establishment cultivator wore.
Benton prepared himself for a fight as he doubted either bluffing or talking would get him out of the situation.
Teng Jian had been angry ever since being informed of his son¡¯s death at the hands of some nobody who was calling himself a sect leader. Teng Chun had his flaws. His diligence at cultivation was lacking, and a sense of entitlement had led him to develop laziness unbecoming of his station.
All his flaws were trumped by a single factor¡ªhe was Teng Jian¡¯s only son.
To let his death go unanswered would be an unacceptable loss of face. Honor demanded that the charlatan sect leader and all his followers and the entire village be killed. Only measures that extreme would wipe the slate clean of the shame of Teng Chun¡¯s death.
Teng Jian grew even more angry when Chen Jingguo and Hu Huiqing weren¡¯t ready to go. They had to wait several extra days, Teng Jian stewing in his rage the entire time.
The flight had been fast, at least, taking only a couple of hours to follow the road from Sixth Flawless Flowing City to Vermillion Incomparable Rain Town and from there staying above the much more overgrown path to the southwest. They were encouraged that they were indeed on the right track by the clear signs of recent travel on the old cart path.
That encouragement turned to certainty when they spotted a cultivator waiting for them.
Teng Wuying had tried¡ªnot very hard, but he¡¯d made some attempt¡ªto warn Teng Jian about the sect leader. Teng Jian hadn¡¯t listened.
He¡¯d assumed that the man was in the Golden Core realm, and he and Chen Jingguo acting in concert could defeat any cultivator at that level on the continent. Besides, why would a true monster establish a sect with mere peasants?
The likelihood was that the guy was a charlatan, either barely in the Golden Core realm or even just a trumped up Foundation Establishment cultivator. In truth, Teng Jian thought that bringing all three of them for this mission was serious overkill.
He thought that up until the moment he saw the cultivator waiting for them.
The sight gave him pause for two reasons. One, the man was hovering in the air. That wasn¡¯t something one could do without a Concept, meaning the guy was in fact at least a late stage Golden Core cultivator. Two, the guy was invisible to Teng Jian¡¯s spiritual sense. Literally invisible. As in might as well have been an illusion as far as his sense was concerned.
If the guy was not, in fact, an illusion, Teng Jian did not like what that said about his chances in a battle. He should be able to sense anyone in his realm and below. Period.
Which meant that the guy had to be an illusion.
The fact that the man used trickery meant he wasn¡¯t powerful enough to face the three of them. He probably wasn¡¯t even powerful enough to face two.
Simply killing him wasn¡¯t good enough. The man needed to suffer for killing Teng Chun.
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If the so-called sect leader really did care about his people, what better way to make him suffer than to hear their screams as they all died when he could do nothing about it?
¡°Hu Huiqing,¡± Teng Jian said, ¡°proceed to the village and kill everyone there while Chen Jingguo and I handle this fool.¡±
When Benton heard the lead cultivator¡¯s instructions, his stomach dropped. He had complete confidence that he could defeat all three of those jerks in a head-to-head fight, but could he stop one of them from escaping to the village?
That task was an entirely different story. Those cultivators were sect trained and had decades, if not centuries, to master many techniques. Anything was possible for them, especially since the only other person from their sect he had encountered had used illusions.
Speaking of which¡ He already had a Concept of Illusion at Mastery and a Perception technique, but there was one glaring hole in his build that he needed to fill before facing those guys.
¡°System,¡± he said internally, ¡°create a technique to detect and see through illusions to the greatest extent possible and buy it to Mastery.¡±
|
Technique creation confirmed.
Host has learned the technique, Illusion Detection and Mitigation ¨C Mastery.
Host has 849 Sect Points available.
|
Benton had been using the System for almost a year, and his expertise continued to grow. Purchasing a technique like that one was an almost instantaneous move for him.
Almost instantaneous, however, was not actually instantaneous. Fractions of a second count when fighting against Golden Core cultivators. In the time it took Benton to buy the technique, the three Jade Chameleon Sect cultivators had become hundreds of Jade Chameleon Sect Cultivators.
His new technique immediately went to work, and when he focused on a flying figure, it disappeared from his vision as the technique determined it was an illusion. There were hundreds of the illusions, however, and though the process was as quick as thought, it also was not instantaneous.
Maybe two or three seconds passed before all the illusions disappeared, leaving ¡ none.
Crap. The cultivators had turned themselves invisible, and the only way to see them was to focus on the area where they hid long enough for his technique to suss them out. And that method assumed they weren¡¯t constantly moving.
A blade hit him in the middle of his back, but his shield flared to life, neutralizing the strike.
Needless to say, the fight was not going as well as he had anticipated. Not that he was in any danger as he doubted any of their qi attacks could make it through his shield, but if one of the invisible opponents escaped, he could destroy the entire village in an instant.
Benton debated for a moment Quickstepping there, but his presence would immediately bring all three of the attackers. And he still wouldn¡¯t be able to even see them. At that point, his presence would be more of a liability to the village than an asset.
There had to be something he could do.
An area attack. He needed to get all three of the cultivators out of the sky. Gravity was the only way to go.
He triggered his Gravity technique, channeling ten thousand qi, all of it supercharged by his Concept, into the surroundings. The trees and everything else in a half-mile radius around him flattened to the ground.
Benton still didn¡¯t see his enemies, though.
¡°System,¡± he said internally, ¡°create a Light-based technique that reveals invisible people and objects cloaked in illusion when my qi hits the target and buy the technique to Mastery.¡±
|
Technique creation confirmed.
Host has learned the technique, Illusion Illumination ¨C Mastery.
Host has 841 Sect Points available.
|
He shined his new technique all around the surroundings. Two of the cultivators, the leader and one other, were struggling against the effects of his Gravity technique. It was a bit worrisome that they weren¡¯t fully immobilized, but that concern was minor compared to his second thought¡ªwhere was the third cultivator?
Probably on his way to the village.
Benton panicked and, for a moment, froze. He had to get back there. He had to kill the two he was fighting. He had to warn his sect members.
His three goals were all in conflict with one another, and he couldn¡¯t figure out what move to make until, suddenly, a thought struck him.
Lightning. It was both an attack and a warning. Two out of three wasn¡¯t perfect, but it was better than one and infinitely better than doing nothing.
He charged two consecutive bolts with a hundred thousand supercharged qi each and struck both the struggling enemies.
Yang Xiu stood on the allure deep in thought. She wasn¡¯t really meditating. Instead, she was thinking about how her qi aspect could be altered to give her better perception. Which led her to several questions about the nature of her qi and what, exactly, Perception was.
She frowned. Some instinct, perhaps connected to Perception, was telling her that something was wrong, but she didn¡¯t know what.
¡°Is something the matter, Senior Sister?¡± Ye Zan said. ¡°You look concerned.¡±
¡°I¡¯m not sure. Are my brother or Kang Lin back yet?¡±
¡°No, Senior Sister. We¡¯re not expecting either of them for another couple of days. Of course, we weren¡¯t expecting you until that time, either.¡±
As if she would let the pace of the two weak sect members slow them down. She and the guard had carried the lower ranked members on their backs, and since their mission had been to process the rank nines, they had fewer corpses to deal with than the other two teams.
It had taken her group less than three days total to get there, complete the job, and return.
¡°Something is definitely wrong,¡± she said, ¡°but I don¡¯t have any idea what it is.¡±
Several miles away to the northeast, two massive bolts of lightning struck in quick succession. The sky was clear and blue.
¡°Master,¡± Yang Xiu said. ¡°That wasn¡¯t practice. He¡¯s fighting something or someone. That was a warning.¡±
She nocked an arrow and readied her bow.
Chapter 170 – True Danger
Benton¡¯s first attack didn¡¯t kill either of the two Golden Core cultivators from the Jade Chameleon Sect, but that was to be expected. Even Nascent Soul cultivators rarely one shot Golden Cores.
There was a reason cultivators of that realm were respected and feared. It took a lot of effort to reach so high on one¡¯s journey. The other thing it took was time. Lots of time. Decades.
Benton¡¯s spiritual sense told him that the three men were in the seventh, sixth, and fifth minor realms respectively. They¡¯d each spent years and years learning techniques and acquiring treasures. Each was surely a killing machine feared by all who opposed them.
Despite all those deadly accomplishments, Benton had absolutely no doubt he could kill all of them. He was simply on a different level than a typical Golden Core cultivator. The only question was how much damage they¡¯d do first.
At the moment, he had a big choice in front of him¡ªfinish off the two struggling under the impact of a Lightning bolt and the effects of the Gravity technique or go after the one attacking the village. The obvious answer seemed to be to go after the one who was putting his sect members in danger.
There were multiple problems with that approach, however. One, the man was invisible and would take time to find, leaving the two here the opportunity to heal by consuming pills. Even worse was the fact that Benton would not be able to keep them suppressed with his technique while he was out of range at the village, giving them an even better opportunity to recover. Two, the men he left behind would be aware for the next encounter that he could immobilize them with Gravity, something he actually couldn¡¯t do as easily if they were close to the village, and that he could reveal their invisibility. Three, he¡¯d be demonstrating that he was desperate to protect the village, giving them a tool to use against him.
The counterpoint was that a Golden Core cultivator could destroy a bunch of mortals in an instant. And Benton¡¯s Foundation Establishment cultivators were all still in the first minor realm. With their shields and Body Cultivation, maybe they could withstand a single hit. Maybe.
But Yang Ru and Kang Lin weren¡¯t even back yet, leaving only Yang Xiu to protect the village. The girl was talented and powerful for her realm, but she was no match for a Golden Core Cultivator.
The most likely outcome of Benton waiting even a few seconds was for the entire village to be wiped out.
Which also happened to be the most likely outcome of him not taking that time to destroy the two intruders in front of him.
When in doubt, take the bird in the hand rather than counting the birds in the bush.
Benton drew his bow and shot seeking arrow after seeking arrow, all charged with Light and Void for the father of the jerk Benton had killed and with Fire and Void for the other one. As expected, the arrows were so fast that, combined with the homing feature, neither of the two were able to dodge. Also as expected, the two had some tricks up their sleeve, and even as roughed up as they were from dealing with the two previous techniques, they were each able to destroy the first volley of arrows.
And the second.
Benton was very frustrated. He needed to kill them and kill them fast. His people were in danger. True danger. Not even the beast tide had left them so vulnerable.
Ye Zan was tense. And there were more than just the two bolts in the distance and the way Senior Sister was acting causing him to feel that way. There was just something in the air. Danger.
¡°What is it?¡± he said. ¡°Is there something out there?¡±
¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Senior Sister scanned the forest and the sky, her bow held at the ready with an arrow nocked. ¡°I can¡¯t sense anything, but I think there is.¡±
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Ye Zan looked at the areas she was scanning and saw nothing. That wasn¡¯t his area of expertise. There was someone, however, who had spotted danger when no one else was able to.
¡°Zou Tian,¡± Ye Zan yelled. ¡°Get up here. Alert! Alert! Danger is near.¡±
The scout was still in the house that Wan Ai used for the temporary Alchemy Pavilion, but he had sharp senses and always kept an ear out. Seconds later, he came running and jumped up onto the allure with Ye Zan and Senior Sister.
Pan Jiang, who had been practicing his sword art in the plaza, and Huang Yimun, who had been sparring against one of the other guards, both jumped up as well.
¡°What do we know?¡± Zou Tian said.
¡°Master is fighting something,¡± Ye Zan said. ¡°Senior Sister thinks there is danger nearby.¡±
Zou Tian immediately sank into a lotus position and closed his eyes, presumably using Shadow to sense anything concealed nearby.
Suddenly, a laugh came from the sky above the wall. ¡°A baby Foundation Establishment cultivator will never sense me. Nor will you find me with Shadow qi.¡±
All of them looked in the direction of the voice, but as far as Ye Zan could tell, there was no one there.
¡°Poison Claw Sect scion,¡± the voice said, ¡°the Jade Chameleon Sect has no quarrel with you. If you and your sect mates flee the village within the next five seconds, you will not be pursued, and no harm will come to you. Otherwise, you and them will be killed along with the others.¡±
That was not good. Master was apparently tied up fighting others, and the man the voice belonged to was seemingly committed to killing everyone.
Yang Xiu loosed an arrow in the direction of the sound, but it sailed through the air, hitting nothing.
The voice laughed.
Ye Zan and the others looked to Pan Jiang.
¡°What? Do you think I¡¯d leave? I stayed through the beast tide, and I¡¯m staying now.¡±
¡°Five,¡± the voice said. ¡°Four. Three. Two. One. So be it. The Foundation Establishment baby gets it first, and you¡¯re next, scion. You might want to rethink your choices.¡±
Ten fast-moving blades appeared in the air, reminiscent of the attack the thug that had tried to rob them had sent at Zou Tian so long ago. Considering that these came from the air, though, Ye Zan believed them to be shot by a Golden Core cultivator, and all of them were headed toward Yang Xiu.
Instead of dodging, she loosed another arrow in the direction from which the blades came.
In one way, Ye Zan applauded her tactics. There was no way for them to kill an opponent they couldn¡¯t see. It only made sense to capitalize on any information their enemy revealed.
The problem was twofold. One, even if she somehow hit the Golden Core cultivator¡ªwhich was extremely unlikely¡ªher arrow would do negligible, if any, damage. Two, she probably thought that, with her peak Bronze Body Cultivation and Foundation Establishment realm toughness, she could take the hit and survive in time to be given a Major Healing Pill.
She¡¯d never taken a hit from such a high realmed opponent. None of them had. But they¡¯d all seen what Master could do. No one in the sect could stand up to even a single one of his strikes if he meant to kill them.
Yang Xiu was about to die, and Ye Zan could not allow that. He shoved her out of the way.
Only Benton¡¯s main attack would be able to kill a Golden Core cultivator. He¡¯d designed it to have the first bit of qi overwhelm an opponent¡¯s shield so that the Void qi charged second strike hit unprotected skin. Not even two very old and tricky sect members could defend against Void qi that got past their shield.
His Gravity technique was helpful for holding people in place. His temperature technique penetrated shields but was too slow to kill his opponents in the timeframe he needed. His Lightning delivered a strong bolt of qi to his enemy quickly, but most of it was absorbed by their shield.
No, his main attack was the way to go. Just because they¡¯d destroyed the first few volleys didn¡¯t mean they could keep it up.
So he kept firing arrows as quickly as he possibly could, alternating between the two cultivators.
The sixth realm was the first to falter. He whiffed as he tried to knock an arrow out of the air, and it struck. The dual charge worked exactly as intended. The Fire qi overwhelmed his shield, and the void qi hit him.
The man had been able to twist his body to avoid a killing blow, so the void only took a chunk out of his shoulder. That was okay, though. Benton doubled up on targeting him, making the seventh realm play defender.
The third arrow got through, hitting the sixth realm in the head. Game over.
For that one, anyway. Two more to go.
With one down, the rate of fire at the seventh realm effectively doubled. He wasn¡¯t able to keep destroying every arrow, missing the sixth one.
Like with the first target, the arrow only hit his shoulder, but the Void qi really did a number on him. His arm was only hanging on by a thin thread, and Benton could tell that it was painful.
The guy barely managed to block the next arrow, and he didn¡¯t even manage that much for the next one.
His other shoulder was obliterated, leaving him with no way to defend himself. One more arrow. One more hit. Target destroyed.
Now, Benton just had to Quickstep to the village fast enough to prevent his sect members from being killed.
If he wasn¡¯t already too late.
Chapter 171 – Eve of Destruction
Yang Xiu fell behind the rampart after being shoved, the blades missing her completely. Not that it mattered. Not that anything mattered.
Their opponent was simply too strong. He could fly, and given how the voice moved around, he was fast. Much faster than her or her arrows. And flying meant that he was probably Golden Core.
From her experience with Master, Golden Core meant power farther above her than she was above the Qi Gathering cultivators that surrounded her. As they stood no chance against her in the true fight, she surely had even worse odds against the man in the air terrorizing them.
And as if being a realm higher than her wasn¡¯t enough, he was invisible. She couldn¡¯t see him with her eyes or even perceive him with her spiritual sense. There was literally no way for her to land an attack. All the strength she¡¯d worked so hard to acquire was worthless.
The only saving grace was that her brother and Kang Lin were still on their mission away from the village. They should be safe from the enemy.
Even though fighting back was pointless, Yang Xiu would not give up. Even if all she did was distract the enemy for one more attack, that was one attack where the rest of the village wasn¡¯t being destroyed, one more moment that gave Master time to finish off whoever he was fighting and hopefully save everyone else.
She stood, nocking and loosing arrow after arrow with quick, smooth motions. Not that she had any real idea where the cultivator was. Honestly, it felt like she would have had the same chance to hit if she would have been able to see him. That was to say none.
¡°You¡¯ve got spirit,¡± the voice said. ¡°I¡¯ll give you that. Too bad you¡¯re just so young and weak. Too bad for you, anyway.¡±
At least the mocking gave her a direction to shoot her arrows.
If she somehow survived the day, she vowed to herself that she would become even more diligent in growing her power. No one should be so much more powerful than her other than Master.
¡°You will probably kill me,¡± Yang Xiu said. ¡°Maybe even everyone in the entire village. But you won¡¯t kill Master. Whatever sect or family or organization you hold dear, he will destroy. I will be avenged.¡±
The voice laughed. ¡°I¡¯m the weakest of the three of us, child. The other two have surely already killed your so-called master.¡±
It was Yang Xiu¡¯s turn to laugh. ¡°Mister, you have no idea who you¡¯re messing with, do you? You think Master is a normal Golden Core cultivator, don¡¯t you? Someone barely worth your time, right? You couldn¡¯t be more wrong.¡± She sighed. ¡°I just wish I¡¯d be alive to see you find out how wrong you are.¡±
¡°Enough stalling,¡± the voice said. ¡°Time for you to die.¡±
More blades appeared. They dotted the sky like rain. There had to be a hundred of them, if not two hundred or even more.
All shot with the power of a Golden Core cultivator.
Well, it had been a nice run. She was glad she¡¯d met Master and got to become a cultivator. Her life had been short but satisfying. She had no regrets.
Yang Xiu stood tall, waiting for the blades to slice into her.
Benton Quickstepped onto the alure right next to Yang Xiu. He¡¯d heard her bantering with the Jade Chameleon cultivator, and he was filled with such pride for her that his heart almost burst.
She was so brave and diligent, and she had so much confidence in him.
Since arriving in the cultivator world, there hadn¡¯t been a single instant where he felt undeserving of the way others looked up to him. Hadn¡¯t been. That moment was the first.
Benton had been a father. The trust that little kids have in their parents was on a whole different level. When he threw a child into the air, and they screamed with joy because there was no danger. Daddy would catch them.
Of course, it wasn¡¯t like he threw them all that high. Evelyn was watching, after all.
Still, he was used to trust, to absolute confidence. Until they became teenagers.
He shuddered.
The teenagers of the sect, in contrast, trusted him just like his children had when they were little. Up until that day, he hadn¡¯t realized just how deep their faith in him ran. He would do everything in his power to prove them right.
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An application of his Gravity technique caused all the blades, those that weren¡¯t purely illusionary, to plummet straight to the ground.
¡°I¡¯m hurt, Yang Xiu, that you thought it would take me longer than that to kill two measly Golden Core cultivators.¡±
¡°Well, I assumed they were invisible, Master. Maybe that would take you a little longer?¡±
¡°No. I just did this.¡±
Benton used his new Illusion Illumination technique like a flashlight and shone the beam into the sky, soon revealing the gray-robed man riding a flying sword.
The Jade Chameleon Sect cultivator looked terrified. ¡°You¡¯re lying. You couldn¡¯t have killed them that quickly.¡± He glanced back in the direction of the previous battle. ¡°They¡¯ll be along in any second, I¡¯m sure.¡±
¡°Believe me, they will not be along. Ever. In fact, let me demonstrate my abilities for you. I started by doing this.¡±
Luckily, the man wasn¡¯t directly over the wall and was, in fact, several scores of yards outside the village. With his position pinpointed and there being no friendly people or structures in range, it was an easy matter for Benton to apply his Gravity technique directly to his opponent.
The man¡¯s flying sword sank near the treetops before he was able to get it back under some semblance of control.
Benton nocked an arrow. ¡°Then I¡ª¡±
¡°Master!¡± Yang Xiu shouted.
He¡¯d noticed that she hopped down off the allure to land inside the wall but hadn¡¯t thought much about it.
¡°It¡¯s Ye Zan!¡± she yelled. ¡°Quick!¡±
The nice thing about mastering a technique was that the expertise granted by the System allowed him to do convenient things like keeping his Gravity technique active while doing other things, so the enemy Golden Core cultivator remained immobilized while Benton went to check on the problem.
Honestly, he wasn¡¯t expecting any issue that a Major Healing Pill couldn¡¯t resolve. Though maybe he should have been. Zou Tian and Yang Xiu both had the life-saving measures. If that was all that was required, they would have already taken care of it.
Of course, maybe they were trying to save using the pill since Benton¡¯s Healing technique could do the same thing for less cost.
An even more obvious tell that he missed was that his spiritual sense didn¡¯t register anyone beside Yang Xiu. He could only detect qi, not people. Mortals didn¡¯t have qi. Neither did dead bodies.
When he finally saw Ye Zan, Benton knew for certain that the guard captain was beyond hope. Benton¡¯s brain registered that fact, anyway. His heart, on the other hand¡
The boy¡¯s body was riddled with wounds. Five of the blades were still sticking out of him, and two more had obviously hit him. One in the neck. He was nearly decapitated.
One of the blades protruded from his forehead. Another from his chest.
Benton immediately tried pouring healing into the boy¡¯s body, but nothing happened. The qi refused to do anything.
He poured in more but still nothing. No matter how much he sent into the body, nothing happened.
Why wasn¡¯t it working? Why?
Benton stood stooped over the body, his hand on its shoulder as he tried to force qi into it. He felt a hand touch his shoulder.
¡°He died saving me, Master,¡± Yang Xiu said.
It was over. The boy was dead. There was nothing Benton could do to bring him back.
Ye Zan was a good kid and a very capable guard captain. His last act had been one of doing his duty, protecting the sect. He hadn¡¯t deserved to die.
¡°He will be remembered,¡± Benton said. ¡°He will be avenged.¡±
A Quickstep brought Benton to the air in front of the enemy cultivator. ¡°Your life is forfeit. Nothing can change that. Answer carefully, as your response might mean the lives of all the members of your sect are also forfeit.¡±
The man had the audacity to sneer at him. ¡°You think you can¡ª¡±
The most powerful lightning bolt that Benton had ever conjured, charged with one million qi, struck the man.
The bolt quickly overwhelmed his qi shield and left him shaking for several seconds as gigawatts of electricity coursed through his body. Anyone not as tough as a Golden Core cultivator would have been killed instantly.
¡°Silence,¡± Benton said. ¡°Do not speak unless answering a question.¡±
Not that the man could talk. He was barely conscious after the lightning strike.
Benton had to wait a few moments for the scum to regain his wits. ¡°Were you warned not to attack the sect and the village?¡±
¡°What?¡±
¡°I sent word that I would be greatly angered if any of my sect members or the villagers came to harm. You harmed one of my people. Were. You. Warned?¡±
¡°Y-yes.¡±
Benton frowned. They were warned and deliberately attacked innocents anyway. That was not okay. In a might makes right world, the only way for him to protect his people was to prove both that he was too powerful to mess with and that he would go nuclear if provoked.
Fine. The Jade Chameleon Sect wanted nuclear? He¡¯d show them nuclear.
Benton had been spending qi like it was going out of style, but he still had nearly three million left. He channeled two and a half million of that into a single lightning bolt. The strike was blinding, and the clap was deafening.
He didn¡¯t care. All that mattered was that the man die in the most horrific way possible.
Benton grinned as the man did the electrocution dance. The smell of cooked meat emanated from his body.
It wasn¡¯t enough, though. There was no amount of pain that could ever possibly be enough. But torturing the lackey wouldn¡¯t bring Ye Zan back.
Nothing could do that.
Incredibly, the scum still breathed. Barely. But he was already healing.
Golden Core cultivators were notoriously hard to kill.
The electricity had done so much damage that all the man¡¯s qi was being used in an attempt to repair his body, meaning his qi shield was no longer active. Benton tossed a small metal sphere at the man¡¯s head, and when it hit, a small burst of qi made the entirety of his brain cavity disappear.
It left his face recognizable, though. Somewhat. If one used their imagination.
Benton stored the corpse in his spatial ring, not even bothering to loot it except for the flying sword. He quickly bought and mastered a technique for using the device and picked up the other two corpses on his way out from the village.
He had a sect to destroy.
Chapter 172 – Strike First and Strike Hard
Kang Lin and her team had barely completed their mission to round up the corpses of the rank seven spirit beasts when she heard two immense lightning strikes in the general direction of the village.
¡°That¡¯s not good,¡± she told Hou Yazhu, the Rising Tide Sect guard who had been assigned to her group. ¡°Those strikes were powered with a lot of qi. They didn¡¯t sound like practice to me.¡±
¡°Go,¡± the man said. ¡°I can protect the two juniors in the unlikely event something happens. If there¡¯s trouble in the village, you¡¯ll be needed.¡±
She briefly thought about arguing. Her job as the highest ranked, after all, was to see to the protection of the team. But the man was right. The sect only had access to three Foundation Establishment cultivators, and she was one of them. It wouldn¡¯t take her long to check what was going on if she ran full out. If it was nothing, she¡¯d come right back. If not¡ Well, it would be good that she checked.
¡°Thanks,¡± she said and took off at a run.
Speed had always been one of her focuses as a cultivator as it resonated with her lightning aspected qi. Though she didn¡¯t actually have a movement technique that utilized the manipulation of external qi, she had long mastered her Lightning Dash in the Qi Gathering realm. At Small Success and to some extent Large Success, the skill had only been useful for short dashes. By Mastery, however, she¡¯d gained enough experience to be able to use it over long distances.
With her advancement to Foundation Establishment and the accompanying increase to all her physical traits, it felt like she was flying over the ground as she sprinted, dodging trees and rocks with ease and never misplacing so much as a single step. A distance that had taken her team more than a day to traverse consumed less than an hour.
She still missed the fights, arriving to find Ye Zan dead and Master having departed. Three presumably Golden Core realm cultivators from the Jade Chameleon sect had attacked, probably in retaliation for the killing of Teng Chun. Which meant that Teng Jian, the boy¡¯s father, was likely one of the assailants.
¡°It will be fine,¡± she told Yang Xiu. ¡°This kind of thing happens between sects all the time. They attacked. Master won. The Jade Chameleons will not hold the fight against The Rising Tide Sect, especially since Grandfather warned them against acting.¡±
The girl glared.
¡°What?¡± Kang Lin said.
¡°You think I¡¯m worried about those scum attacking us again? About our safety?¡± Yang Xiu said. ¡°I want Master to destroy the sect down to the last member and wipe ever vestige of it ever existing from the face of the planet.¡±
¡°What? Why?¡±
¡°They killed Ye Zan!¡±
Kang Lin wanted to say, ¡°So?¡± She rethought the response before actually speaking though. She hadn¡¯t seen the other girl angry often, and there was a madness to her tone. Words were not going to sway her.
As Kang Lin glanced around, she saw that same attitude reflected everywhere, even on the normally placid Zou Tian. Even the meek Wan Ai looked ready to spit nails.
Beyond the small number of guards that had been hired along with Ye Zan, none of these people had known the man for even as many as six months. Life was cheap in a sect. It was like they didn¡¯t expect anyone to ever actually die.
That was when it hit Kang Lin. That was exactly what the members of the Rising Tide Sect thought. They¡¯d challenge the heavens together, never experience hardship or death, and ascend to immortality together.
She frowned, understanding why they might have gained that impression considering their Sect Leader.
It was both not her place and beyond her capabilities to explain to them the realities of sect life. Instead, she went with placation.
¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± Kang Lin said. ¡°Master will make them pay. I¡¯m sure of it.¡±
As in literally pay. He will surely be as reasonable and extract payment from the Jade Chameleons for their trespass, right? Otherwise, he¡¯d be putting the fledgling Rising Tide Sect up against one of the big three.
Talk about dangerous.
And not just for him and the sect. For everyone. For Grandfather, who would have to make a choice to either back a friend of the sect or seek to maintain the already shaky truce with the Jade Chameleons.
That sect had already lost three Golden Core cultivators, a significant setback. A quick war might just benefit the Poison Claw Sect greatly, depending on which way the Swift Blizzard Sect went.
Kang Lin felt a headache coming on just thinking about the possibilities. Today¡¯s events could have ramifications that reached far into the future and upset the balance of power on the entire continent. She was really glad that she didn¡¯t have to decide her sect¡¯s actions going forward.
Even knowing the message would not be able to reach Grandfather before Master made it to the city, she quickly penned a report outlining what had happened.
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Good luck, Grandfather!
Having cut through the forest not all that long ago, Benton knew the basic direction of Sixth Flawless Flowing City, so he flew on that heading over a lake rather than following the road to Vermillion Incomparable Rain Town.
In any other circumstances, he was sure he would have loved the feeling of flying through the air on what amounted to a surfboard, but the loss of Ye Zan had sapped all the joy from the experience.
Benton¡¯s thoughts naturally turned to vengeance. His first idea was to destroy the entirety of the Jade Chameleon Sect, as he¡¯d promised his sect members. Raze its buildings to the ground. Kill all its members in Sixth Flawless Flowing City. Find its main sect grounds. Raze and kill there, too. Every man, woman, and child that ever even thought about wearing a gray robe would be destroyed.
That thought finally gave him pause. He wasn¡¯t honestly thinking about killing children, was he? No matter what punishment the elders and maybe even regular sect members deserved, the children were blameless. As were the mortals that worked for the sect. Should a janitor die because of the actions of three Golden Core cultivators?
Su¡¯s sect would have disagreed with that line of thinking. To them, leaving behind even a single mortal relative of a member invited the chance for retribution in the future.
And Benton could see that point of view. Cultivation fiction on the planet abounded with such tales. A man''s sect was destroyed. His cultivation base was ruined. An auspicious encounter leads him to becoming very powerful and visiting vengeance on the sect that wronged him.
A tale as old as time and something that really could happen.
To ensure that events like those didn¡¯t happen, all Benton had to do was to reject everything that made him the man that he was. Forget forgiveness. Empathy. Compassion.
Simply kill anyone that might one day bear him ill will.
He would not do it. He could not do it.
The city was rapidly approaching, and he had to make a decision before he got there. Not only that, but with all his enhancements to Speed, his flight approached the velocity of a jet fighter. He¡¯d used a lot of qi during his battle with the three cultivators, and even his prodigious regeneration wasn¡¯t up to the task of returning his levels to an acceptable level in such a short time span.
Spotting a clearing below, he landed and began to Meditate as he considered his plan.
Though he was resolved not to destroy the entire sect, he was entirely justified in unleashing his anger. He¡¯d promised his sect that Ye Zan would be avenged, and by the heavens, Benton would do that avenging.
Not only that, but he¡¯d sent a warning about his anger in an attempt to dissuade the Jade Chameleons from responding with an attack against anyone other than him. It was imperative that the sects learn he was not to be trifled with. Otherwise, his people would never be safe.
Benton let out a breath. Maybe he was rationalizing doing what he, at heart, wanted to do, but he felt better that he wasn¡¯t acting purely from anger. There was definitely a justification for whatever carnage he decided to inflict.
So what was a just punishment?
Not killing every man, woman, and child. Preferably, not even killing any of the low ranked members, anyone in Foundation Establishment and below. They might as well all be children anyway as far as he was concerned.
How about all the Golden Cores that were Jade Chameleon Sect members? Even that seemed ¡ extreme. If they fought against him, he¡¯d kill them. Otherwise, he would not seek out their deaths.
All those exclusions left ¡ what?
The sect grounds.
From what Kang Ya-Ting had told Benton, the sects in the city were showplaces designed to highlight wealth and power. Even more so than the main sect¡¯s grounds away from the city, the resources poured into those ostentatious displays were enormous. Losing all those materials and fruits of years of labor would be a serious blow.
Benton nodded. He would completely obliterate the Jade Chameleon Sect¡¯s grounds in Sixth Flawless Flowing City. Every building would be razed to the foundations. He¡¯d literally salt the ground. Well, more like Void the ground. But that qi usage would yield the same result. No herbs would grow there for generations after he was finished. No metaphorical brick would stand on another metaphorical brick by the time he was finished.
Yes.
That punishment was a fitting one for Ye Zan¡¯s death.
Well, not really. Nothing could bring the guard captain back. No punishment was enough. But the main culprits had been killed, and Benton understood that, on some level, the three had acted on their own.
He honestly didn¡¯t know if he was going too far or not going far enough, but it felt like the best solution he could come up with.
Next problem, how to go about the attack?
In some ways, sects were incredibly bureaucratic. Benton was sure that, in order to wipe one of the sect grounds off the map, there was some form he needed to fill out at the City Lord¡¯s office. Then a clerk would check it in triplicate, requiring Benton to pay a fee before stamping permission.
There were no Nascent Souls in that city, however. The nuclear deterrents lived at the main sect grounds or, in the case of the City Lord, at the Emperor¡¯s Palace. To Benton¡¯s understanding, the three sects were roughly similar in power, though one would wax and another wane with the specific number of Golden Cores available. All had exactly four Nascent Souls each, however. As did the Emperor¡¯s faction. Though the royals had grown a bit in standing since the destruction of the Righteous Rain Sect by expanding their recruiting in the city.
After Benton¡¯s recent fights, he felt confident about his ability to defeat any number of Golden Core cultivators as long as he wasn¡¯t protecting weak allies. His ability to use multiple aspects and create Concepts and techniques on a whim simply made him too powerful for any normal cultivator in his realm.
Nascent Souls, on the other hand¡
That beast had been tough. An aura was no joke. He probably could take down one of them in a solo battle. Maybe. But if two or three came against him at once, he had no chance.
His actions were definitely going to anger the Jade Chameleon Sect. More than anger. They¡¯d already lost three Golden Core cultivators, which was both a significant setback for them and a huge loss of face. The destruction of their base in the city would reduce their influence by a large degree. They would not be able to let such an attack go unanswered.
In an ideal world, the Poison Claw Sect would stand with him, and the Swift Blizzard Sect would remain neutral. But Benton didn¡¯t know if either of those outcomes were likely, just as he didn¡¯t know how the City Lord would react.
Benton went back and forth a lot on whether to attack immediately or to try to build political support first. In the end, his decision came down to a lesson learned in Su¡¯s lifetime¡ªcultivators respected strength above all things. Going hat in hand to the City Lord or the other two sects and asking permission was to admit weakness. His best chance of coming through the situation with his life and sect intact was to strike first and strike hard.
And deal with the consequences later.
Chapter 173 – Terms of Punishment
Kang Ya-Ting was not expecting a message from his granddaughter, Kang Lin, but reports were not wholly unexpected. A lot was going on at the new Rising Tide Sect, including the recent revelation of a Trials Pagoda.
He eagerly dove his consciousness into the messaging device.
Dearest Grandfather,
This message will probably not reach you before Master Chao Su makes it to the city, but you need accurate information as soon as possible.
I was away from the village on a mission for Master Chao Su when the events took place, so I can only report what I¡¯ve been told. The descriptions, however, come from reliable sources, and I believe the information to be as correct as is knowable at this point.
Three Golden Core cultivators from the Jade Chameleon Sect attacked the Rising Tide Sect earlier today. While Master Chao Su killed who I believe to be Teng Jian and another cultivator, the third attacked the village, aiming to kill Yang Xiu. The guard captain you hired saved her but was killed in the process.
Master Chao Su and the entire Rising Tide Sect are livid, far beyond the enmity that such an event typically creates. This lowly one cannot express enough how much importance has been placed on the loss of a single Qi Gathering cultivator.
This lowly one is hopeful that Master Chao Su can be persuaded to accept reasonable renumeration in the form of treasures and resources as is standard for this type of clash between sects. After talking to his other disciples, however, it is unknown whether Master Chao Su will be reasonable. Master Chao Su said something about Ye Zan being avenged and, after using Lightning to kill the third cultivator, flew toward the city at great speed on one of the flying swords he took from the defeated Jade Chameleon cultivators.
I hope you find this information useful.
Love,
Your Filial Granddaughter,
- Kang Lin
Interesting. Very interesting. And in interesting times, a smart man found opportunities. The problem was that the opportunities were as likely to be for disaster as for profit.
If the information in the message were accurate¡ªand Kang Ya-Ting had no reason to believe it not to be¡ªthe Jade Chameleon Sect had suffered a grievous loss. Besides the almost complete destruction of the Righteous Rain Sect, he couldn¡¯t remember in his lifetime a major sect losing three Golden Core cultivators in a single day, much less a single battle.
Even without being subjected to follow up repercussions, the Jade Chameleon¡¯s actual power would be severely diminished, especially considering that Teng Jian had recently broken through into the seventh minor realm and was a leading candidate to maybe eventually reach Nascent Soul.
Worse than that loss was the blow to their reputation. The fact that an unimportant, basically unknown sect inflicted such losses on them caused an extreme loss of face. All the major factions would be circling to see what they could gain from the circumstances.
The absolutely great thing about the situation was the letter Kang Ya-Ting had sent warning the Jade Chameleons of such an outcome. No one could place any of the blame for the event on the Poison Claw Sect.
With these thoughts on his mind, he raced to the office of his friend and sometimes more than friend, the designated leader for the sect branch in the city, and quickly reported the contents of the message to her.
¡°It appears you were right,¡± Elder Dai said. ¡°In order to defeat three Golden Core cultivators and only suffer the loss of a single minor subordinate, Chao Su must be at least in the Nascent Soul realm. Nihility stills seems a stretch, though, as the Jade Chameleons wouldn¡¯t be able to have reached anywhere near the village otherwise.¡±
Kang Ya-Ting cupped his hands. The mysteries of Chao Su ran deep, but it wasn¡¯t the time to argue the particularities. ¡°There has been no word of Chao Su approaching the city or the Jade Chameleon Sect yet, correct? I can¡¯t believe I would have missed such news.¡±
¡°No. It¡¯s interesting that the message reached here before Chao Su did. Even if he backed off his vow to avenge the Qi Gathering cultivator, surely he would have come to us?¡±
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Kang Ya-Ting shrugged. ¡°We have to plan for the worst and assume that he will soon appear in the city to seek recompense from the Jade Chameleon Sect branch here, perhaps violently. What should we do in response to such a scenario?¡±
She frowned. ¡°I¡¯m assuming you still advocate for supporting him?¡±
¡°A free agent who has, at the least, reached Nascent Soul with access to a seemingly infinite supply of heaven grade techniques and cultivation methods and now a Trials Pagoda? We definitely shouldn¡¯t continue to pursue a friendship with that individual.¡±
Elder Dai fixed him with a glare. ¡°Your sarcasm is unbecoming of a sect elder, Kang Ya-Ting, but I accept your point. Speaking on his behalf to the City Lord and the Swift Blizzard Sect costs us little and provides potentially huge benefits. Obviously, we won¡¯t put our own resources on the line, but being outwardly supportive is a wise course. I¡¯ll message the sect leader.¡±
He again cupped his hands. As long as Chao Su continued to come out a winner, both Kang Ya-Ting and his granddaughter would benefit from their association with the enigmatic cultivator.
Benton had spent just over two hours in Meditation regenerating his qi. Obviously, he could have finished a lot quicker by consuming spirit coins, but the process centered him, allowed him to let go of some of his anger.
Not all of it, of course. He needed it to drive him for what he had to do next, but it was better to face the upcoming task with a clear mind. The ramifications of what he was about to do would reverberate for a long time. Being seen as calm and someone that could be approached would help him and his new sect much more than appearing in the sky like a crazed god of vengeance.
He blew out a breath. If he were being honest with himself, a crazed god of vengeance was exactly what he wanted to be. Those assholes had killed Ye Zan. They deserved what they got.
But giving into such desires didn¡¯t help anyone, least of all the others he was responsible for protecting.
To best provide that protection, his message needed to be clear. The Jade Chameleon Sect stepped on his bottom line, and there was a price they had to pay for that transgression. Once the price was paid, he would no longer pursue the matter unless they further wronged him or his. If that happened, the new payment would exceed the first one.
As he prepared to mount the flying sword once again, he noticed that he still wore the emblem marking him as a friend of the Poison Claw Sect. Given the major mess he was about to make, he decided it was best not to drag his friends into the muck with him. He stored the emblem in his spatial ring.
The actual flight didn¡¯t take long, and his spiritual sense once again proved to be a superior navigating tool. Soon, he found himself approaching Sixth Flawless Flowing City, but he hesitated outside the gate.
He was about to cross the metaphorical Rubicon. No turning back. Crossing the plane of the wall on a flying sword without registering with the guards was in itself an aggressive act. But while it failed to show the City Lord the proper face, it also demonstrated strength. If Benton wanted to be taken seriously as a power in the region, he would have to take that respect by force.
The necessity of the act irked him, though. Benton would much prefer to approach the City Lord and explain the situation. That would be the polite thing to do.
Ignoring the guards was just rude.
Benton sighed. Considering everything else he was about to do, he supposed that worrying about not being polite was a bit silly.
As the guards below watched helplessly, he flew over the gate.
The city was so big that even spending a month there hadn¡¯t made him overly familiar with the entire layout, but the important places were well known. The City Lord¡¯s Palace. The grounds for the Poison Claw Sect, of course. And the location of the Jade Chameleon Sect¡¯s branch.
He flew straight to the latter. As he hovered over the wall separating the grounds from the city, he thought about what to do next.
First, he supposed that he needed to get everyone¡¯s attention. And he had a pretty good idea on how to do that, Then, he¡¯d need to announce his terms, which was more problematic as he didn¡¯t currently possess a way to do that.
Luckily, he was a cheating cheater who cheats.
¡°System,¡± he said internally, ¡°please create a technique to amplify my voice and buy it to Mastery.¡±
|
Technique creation confirmed.
Host has learned the technique, Voice Amplification ¨C Mastery.
Host has 838 Sect Points available.
|
Perfect.
That task taken care of, he channeled one hundred thousand qi into a Lightning Bolt and targeted the big pagoda that he assumed served as the sect¡¯s administrative hall.
A bright bolt lit up the cloudless sky and struck the building, doing no damage as a defensive formation blocked the attack. The light show and the accompanying thunder accomplished what he wanted, though. Everyone outside was looking around trying to figure out what was going on.
¡°Members of the Jade Chameleon Sect,¡± Benton boomed, using his new voice technique, ¡°you have attacked my Rising Tide Sect and caused the death of one of my sect members. The three Golden Core cultivators you sent have been killed, but that is not consequence enough. Your sect grounds here in Sixth Flawless Flowing City are hereby forfeit as punishment for your aggression. I will return in thirty minutes to destroy the grounds. Anyone not evacuated by that time will be included in the destruction.¡±
Benton really didn¡¯t like that last part, but he didn¡¯t see that he had any other option. The sect grounds were a big place, and it would take a lot of qi to destroy the entire area, especially when he had to overwhelm the defenses of each building first. He would do what he could to not kill innocents, but he was going to be throwing around a lot of power. Better to set expectations from the outset.
With nothing else to do for a half hour, he set out toward the Poison Claw Sect.
Chapter 174 – Real Trouble Brewing
Ma FenFang was in quite the panic. With Teng Jian off on some kind of mission and Teng Wuying, the branch¡¯s normal leader, having been suddenly called back to the main sect, she was nominally in command as the highest realmed cultivator for the Jade Chameleon Sect remaining in Sixth Flawless Flowing City.
Her specialty was combat, not administration. And certainly not making decisions that impacted the sect¡¯s reputation. In fact, she¡¯d never before been put in charge. It was unfortunate that the first instance was just in time for a crazy person to attack the administration building and issue an insane ultimatum.
¡°Do we evacuate the juniors, Elder Ma?¡± Teng Wuying¡¯s subordinate said.
¡°If this turns out to be a bluff or a ruse, an evacuation will make us look like idiots. What do we know?¡±
¡°The cultivator used a flying sword, so he is obviously well into the Golden Core realm. No one sensed him, so it¡¯s possible he¡¯s advanced even higher. There was no aura, though. The lightning strike was strong and utilized a Concept, but it wasn¡¯t overwhelming.¡±
¡°How strong?¡± Ma FenFang said.
¡°Within five percent of breaking through the shield.¡±
Those indicators all were definite proof that the man could present a serious threat.
Ma FenFang felt her forehead crinkle as she pondered the situation. ¡°What about his claim to have killed three Golden Core cultivators that we sent against some sect I never heard of?¡±
¡°It¡¯s possible. Someone killed Teng Chun recently, and when Teng Jian came out of seclusion, he gathered two allies and departed, presumably seeking vengeance.¡±
Ma FenFang spent most of her time sparring, cultivating, and practicing weapons. She had vaguely heard that Ting Chung had died. Maybe? If so, it was just a murmured rumor, and she¡¯d heard nothing about Teng Jian going after the killer.
Was it possible that the madman had killed Teng Jian? Yes. Was it probable? No. On the other hand, she had to treat it like it was a fact as she lacked evidence to the contrary.
¡°We cannot and will not abandon the sect. How many golden core cultivators do we have in the city?¡± Ma FenFang said.
¡°Fifteen counting you.¡±
Numerically speaking, fifteen Golden Core cultivators were an impressive force, but she knew that the ones left in the city besides her were not exactly the cream of the crop. Still, the sheer quantity made a formidable force with more than enough power to fight a single cultivator, even one who¡¯d stepped into Nascent Soul.
More probably, given the lack of an aura, he was probably only a half step Nascent Soul, which boded well for their chances. Between the sect¡¯s shields, her prowess, and fourteen Golden Cores for backup, she felt pretty good.
Of course, if he were late Nascent Soul, they¡¯d all die defending the sect, but that risk was one they¡¯d all have to take.
The biggest question was what to do about the juniors. They were worthless in a fight between higher realmed cultivators. Leaving them in the sect grounds would only put them in danger.
¡°Gather all the Golden Core cultivators at the gate. Tune all formations to resist Lightning qi. Evacuate the juniors. When the madman returns, we¡¯ll make him sorry he ever challenged the Jade Chameleon Sect!¡±
Benton was more than a little nervous as he waited outside the gate of the Poison Claw Sect. He had a growing friendship with the people inside. They¡¯d exchanged favors. They were the first to recognize him and stand behind him. Kang Ya-Ting¡¯s granddaughter, and others, helped protect the village during the beast tide.
Bringing them into the Rising Tide Sect¡¯s mess was a horrible way to repay that friendship. Which was why Benton waited outside the gate instead of using his token to gain entrance. His actions were likely to bring trouble to everyone involved.
He felt even worse when he saw the smiling face of Kang Ya-Ting.
¡°Friend Su,¡± the elder said, ¡°greetings.¡±
Benton cupped his hands and bowed lower than he ever had previously.
¡°What is this, Friend Su? Such obeisance, and you¡¯re not wearing your token. Has something happened?¡±
¡°I¡¯m afraid it has, but perhaps that is a tale best told in a more secure environment?¡±
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¡°Of course. Let¡¯s retire to my study and discuss over tea.¡±
As Benton followed, he got his thoughts in order, from the beast tide to the Trials Pagoda to the incursion from the three cultivators to Ye Zan¡¯s death to the journey to the city and removing the token to the ultimatum delivered to the Jade Chameleon Sect. By the time Benton was seated with a cup in his hands, he was ready to talk, and words spilled forth from his mouth.
¡°I see,¡± Elder Kang said after the torrent ended. ¡°Well, first of all, I appreciate your consideration for my sect in trying to keep us from trouble, but we are not fair-weather friends. We will stick by you through good times and ill. It would be my preference that you continue wearing the token.¡±
Benton smiled. It had been well within his expectations for the Poison Claw Sect to politely wash their hands of him. Such a gesture from his friend warmed his heart.
Then again, he wasn¡¯t a complete idiot. He knew that there were reasons the sect¡¯s leadership had made the decision it did, and little if any of it had to do with the goodness of their respective hearts. Access to heaven grade techniques and cultivation methods and the Trials Pagoda were all incredible incentives without which they may have decided completely differently.
Still, that they stood beside him did mean something. No matter the ulterior motives, he appreciated not having to navigate the difficult waters ahead alone. To that end, it was time to take advantage of his friend¡¯s knowledge.
Benton removed the token from his ring and pinned it to his robe again. ¡°I am so happy to hear you say that, Friend Ya-Ting.¡± He sighed. ¡°So exactly how much trouble have I caused?¡±
¡°First of all, how confident are you in your ability to handle whatever force the Jade Chameleons put together to defend their territory?¡±
¡°Extremely. There is no one in the city that I cannot defeat, and I have serious doubts that everyone combined could match me, including the City Lord¡¯s forces and your own.¡±
Benton might have been overstating his combat prowess, but he didn¡¯t think so. Not having to protect innocents meant he could go all out, and the power he could bring to bear was formidable. The fact that he could tailor qi usage for both his offense and defense gave his foes a huge handicap. His shield was incredibly efficient, using only a fraction of the qi a normal cultivator¡¯s shield did and providing vastly more protection.
All those advantages added up to make him crazy strong for his realm.
There were also no Nascent Souls nearby, meaning no auras to compete against, and all potential opponents most likely only had a single Concept to fight with, if that many.
He was strong and versatile. Even if he had to retreat and come back, picking them off one by one was certainly possible. There just didn¡¯t seem to be a reasonable way for the enemy to compete.
Then again, there was many a slip twixt the cup and the lip. It wouldn¡¯t do to be too overconfident.
Benton shrugged. ¡°I could be wrong. There are many things on this planet I haven¡¯t yet seen.¡± He laughed. ¡°There are probably more that I haven¡¯t seen than that I have, despite my years. Still, let¡¯s just say that I¡¯m tougher than I look.¡±
For the first time since he¡¯d met the man on the other side of the table, Kang Ya-Ting appeared nervous. His fingers twitched, however minutely, and his eyes widened.
¡°Nihility,¡± the man whispered.
Benton couldn¡¯t exactly say anything to the contrary since he¡¯d worked hard in the past to establish just that misunderstanding, but he was starting to feel bad about that particular deception. ¡°Regardless of my realm, I do feel some degree of confidence about defeating all who I¡¯ve sensed here in the city.¡±
¡°And the Nascent Souls back in the main sects and the Emperor¡¯s palace?¡±
¡°To be perfectly honest, I haven¡¯t had the opportunity to sense them, so I can¡¯t say for sure.¡±
¡°But you honestly don¡¯t fear them?¡± Kang Ya-Ting said.
Benton paused for a moment, considering. The battle with the rank ten beast had been somewhat challenging, and he didn¡¯t relish the thought of going against another aura. Having his abilities restricted wasn¡¯t fun. Additionally, a cultivator was likely to have more up his sleeve than the beast did, making the fight much more challenging.
That being said, depending on the circumstances, Benton¡¯s ability to use any qi type along with a Concept and create techniques and bring them to Mastery on the fly gave him tremendous flexibility surely unmatched by any potential opponents.
¡°I¡¯m not saying that fighting the greatest cultivators on the continent would be a piece of cake or anything, but fear them?¡± Benton said. ¡°No. I can¡¯t say that I do.¡±
That didn¡¯t mean he wasn¡¯t wary of them, especially in numbers. He definitely needed to step up recruitment in order to fulfill the requirements to advance in realm as soon as he possibly could.
Kang Ya-Ting gave a brief shake of his head. ¡°The Poison Claw Sect stands with you, and no matter how the matter concludes, your manner of confronting the Jade Chameleon Sect has made them an enemy.¡±
Benton nodded. That was fine. The Jade Chameleons had made him an enemy by killing one of his. Frankly, he didn¡¯t give a rat¡¯s ass about giving them any face under the circumstances.
¡°The other two factions are more up in the air,¡± Kang Ya-Ting said. ¡°The Swift Blizzard Sect will act in whatever manner appears to give them the biggest advantage. Whether that is to join with the Jade Chameleons, to befriend you, or to stay neutral is something that I honestly can¡¯t answer. What is your disposition toward them?¡±
¡°Completely impartial at this point. I literally can¡¯t remember coming into contact with any of their members. I¡¯m not seeking enemies, though. If you think a gift or something would help, I would be open to that idea.¡±
¡°I will discuss with my sect leadership and give you a recommendation,¡± Kang Ya-Ting said.
¡°That leaves the City Lord, then.¡±
¡°Yes. That one is both more and less problematic. He won¡¯t care about your sect or your individual power or how any of that impacts the balance of power between the three sects. As long as you don¡¯t try to recruit in the city, none of that really affects him. The disturbance you caused today, however¡¡±
Benton knew it. He should have gone down to city hall to fill out those forms! Could there really be a Destruction of Sect Grounds Permit? ¡°How bad?¡±
¡°To this point, all you¡¯ve really done is bypass the gate guards, a trivial matter for one possessing true power. Threats don¡¯t really matter. Following through with those threats, on the other hand, means real trouble brewing. I don¡¯t suppose you¡¯re willing to relent and call the sect before a city tribunal instead?¡±
Benton barked out a harsh laugh.
¡°Yeah.¡± Kang Ya-Ting sighed. ¡°I didn¡¯t think so.¡±
Chapter 175 – Rise
Kang Ya-Ting slowly sipped his tea as he sat across from Chao Su.
The man was as inscrutable as ever. Though he would not admit to his cultivation level, his access to high level treasures, demonstrated combat prowess, and the inability of anyone in the Golden Core realm to sense him proved he was at least Nascent Soul. The fact that he didn¡¯t fear the strongest cultivators on the continent lent credence to the suspicion that he had reached even higher.
Kang Ya-Ting sighed, wishing he had more information. In the end, though, all he could do was base his decisions on the best data he had. If Chao Su thought he could defend himself from whatever forces were arrayed against him, then that was what they had to plan on.
That decision didn¡¯t mean that they shouldn¡¯t minimize the amount of enemies as much as possible, though. Sending a gift to the Swift Blizzard Sect should keep them neutral for the moment, and a properly worded apology to the City Lord would give him face and go a long way to preventing a response that was too severe.
On the other hand, Kang Ya-Ting had to also think about what actions would most benefit the Poison Claw Sect. If Chao Su really did destroy the Jade Chameleon¡¯s branch sect in the city, that act would seriously decrease the sect¡¯s prominence, turning the big three instantly into the big two.
Or back into the big three with the Rising Tide Sect ascending.
An all-out war in which Chao Su destroyed the Emperor and both the other sects completely would make the Poison Claw Sect ¡ subordinate to their current friend.
Even if Chao Su didn¡¯t desire that level of control, he would be granted it regardless as the winner. No one would consider the Poison Claw Sect as anything except a dog licking at its master¡¯s heels.
No. It would be better for Chao Su¡¯s true power to remain as hidden as possible. A big three featuring the neutral Swift Blizzard Sect, the small and somewhat subordinate Rising Tide Sect, and their strong ally, the ascendent Poison Claw Sect, would be perfect.
¡°This is what we should do¡¡± Kang Ya-Ting said.
Benton quickly fired off two missives. The first one, addressed to the City Lord, apologized for Benton¡¯s actions, laid out his case for the destruction of Jade Chameleon branch, and promised to appear in person at the City Lord¡¯s palace as soon as the grounds had been destroyed. The second one, addressed to the Swift Blizzard Sect, introduced Benton to the sect leader, repeated the case for the destruction of the Jade Chameleon branch, and included a bribe to remain in his favor, a top heaven ranked cultivation method for ice aspected Foundation Establishment realm cultivators who used that element.
He almost laughed as he spent the forty Sect Points necessary to create the jade slip. At one point, he would have been apoplectic at the thought of losing that many points with little hope of regaining most of them. Looking at the nearly eight hundred points he retained, however, he just wasn¡¯t worried about it.
¡°You really think this will work? An apology and a bribe?¡± Benton said.
¡°The messages and the gift are just a way to give face to the two factions,¡± Kang Ya-Ting said. ¡°There is much politicking to be done before we can say which way either of them will go. All this does is let them know that you¡¯re willing to be reasonable and give them cause to take a neutral position until they have more information. A lot of their response will be dictated by how overpowering your attack on the Jade Chameleon branch is.¡±
¡°Then I should really go all out?¡±
¡°No! If you¡¯re too strong and make them fear you too much, they¡¯ll start taking extraordinary measures to protect themselves, like reaching out to larger sects on other continents to bring in someone close to your level or acquiring a treasure that would trouble even you.¡±
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That advice was the exact opposite of what Benton had expected the man to say. In a might makes right cultivation world, power was everything. It seemed really counter intuitive to hold back. Kang Ya-Ting¡¯s logic did seem to make sense, though.
¡°You¡¯re saying that I need to be overwhelming but not too overwhelming?¡± Benton said.
¡°Exactly.¡±
Actually, that worked out pretty well. Since Benton didn¡¯t have access to an aura, he¡¯d be able to play off not using one to Kang Ya-Ting as trying not to be too overwhelming. Perfect.
¡°I¡¯ll do my best,¡± Benton said.
Standing atop the allure, Yang Xiu wiped a tear from her eye. She couldn¡¯t stop thinking about Ye Zan. The captain had died saving her. Had thrown himself in front of blades meant for her.
Her mind kept going back to that moment, and she asked herself if she could have done anything differently. If she hadn¡¯t shot those arrows and instead jumped down off the wall, Ye Zan might still be alive.
But maybe someone else would be dead.
And she couldn¡¯t help but think that her actions were correct. Standing bravely in the face of sure defeat and death was exactly what a cultivator should do.
Right?
Not in every situation, of course. Master was clear that his disciples should seek to save their own lives when possible. But she hadn¡¯t been trying to save face. She¡¯d been trying to keep the superior cultivator¡¯s attention on her as long as possible to preserve what lives she could.
She had acted to protect the good and the innocent, exactly as Master had taught. Ye Zan, too, had acted correctly, judging his sacrifice to be for the good of the sect.
The two absolutely correct actions, though, had resulted in tragedy, so how could they be right?
She glanced down at the spot where his body had lain. The mayor had arranged for it to be taken away and prepared for burial, but the dirt was still rust colored from the blood that was spilt.
That blood. His loss. The ceremony that they¡¯d be having once Master returned. Saying goodbye to a good man and trusted friend. None of it was because either of them had acted wrong. No. All that was solely because they were not strong enough.
¡°Huang Yimun,¡± she called.
The man was sitting on the ground near where Ye Zan had been slain. ¡°Yes, Senior Sister?¡±
¡°In Master¡¯s absence, I¡¯m appointing you interim Guard Captain. I want a council meeting. Gather everyone and have them meet me in the arena.¡±
In other circumstances, she supposed it would have given her some sort of thrill to make such an appointment or to call a meeting on her own. Instead, she felt numb, able to recognize what she should feel but unable to muster the proper emotions.
She dashed to the arena and waited for the others to arrive.
In relatively short order, they began to trickle in, her brother and Kang Lin first. Eventually, they all came, even the mayor and the old wood harvester. Yang Xiu hadn¡¯t been positive they would obey a summons that didn¡¯t come from Master.
¡°We¡¯re not strong enough,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m not strong enough. What can we do?¡±
Her brother and Kang Lin shared a glance, but it was the mayor who spoke.
¡°There will always be someone more powerful.¡±
¡°I know,¡± Yang Xiu said, ¡°but that doesn¡¯t mean that I shouldn¡¯t be doing everything I can to grow.¡±
¡°There is a resource we¡¯re not properly exploiting,¡± Zou Tian said. ¡°The Trials Pagoda. You¡¯re the only one who has used it at all.¡±
¡°You¡¯re right,¡± she said. ¡°Someone should be using it daily.¡±
Peng Zhen shook his head. ¡°We need Master¡¯s permission.¡±
¡°The Trials Pagoda seeks his permission after the trial taker makes a selection,¡± Yang Xiu said. ¡°I doubt he¡¯ll allow us to change our aspect or improve our spiritual roots, but he should be fine with us working on techniques or our cultivation.¡±
¡°Maybe not the cultivation,¡± Kang Lin said. ¡°My understanding is that treasures like the Trials Pagoda can give your cultivation a huge boost, but there are dangers of accelerating too fast. Barring a bottleneck, no one in the village besides Master is qualified to tell us when such a boost would be beneficial.¡±
¡°Fine. We can at least use it for techniques, correct?¡±
No one objected.
¡°Who will use it today?¡± Yang Xiu said.
¡°Me,¡± Yang Ru said.
¡°Your shield?¡±
Her brother grunted.
¡°Fine,¡± Yang Xiu said. ¡°Peng Zhen, please make sure that someone is using it daily. If no one else wants to, find me near the end of the day and either I or Yang Ru will.¡±
¡°Yes, Senior Sister.¡±
¡°Any other thoughts on how we can get stronger?¡± she said.
¡°People have only been sporadically using the Wood for cultivating,¡± Zou Tian said. ¡°People haven¡¯t been sparring as much. It was fine for everyone to take a little break after the stress of the beast tide, but it would be appropriate to return to more structured training.¡±
¡°Good,¡± Yang Xiu said. ¡°Yang Ru and I will work out a schedule that includes weapons training and cultivating for all the members of the Martial Pavilion. I expect all the other pavilion heads to do the same.¡±
¡°Yes, Senior Sister.¡±
The Rising Tide Sect needed to rise. Quickly. So that no one else had to die like Ye Zan had.
Chapter 176 – Power of the Heavens
The fact that destroying the Jade Chameleon Sect branch in Sixth Flawless Flowing City might result in the Rising Tide Sect gaining the enmity of not only that sect but the Swift Blizzard Sect and the Emperor¡¯s faction as well gave Benton pause. On one hand, following through with his threat risked his sect members. On the other, showing weakness by not following through garnered just as much risk.
To a sect, there was nothing worse than a coward. Sure, one had to give higher realmed cultivators face, but if he told the Jade Chameleons he¡¯d reign righteous fire upon them and then did nothing? No one would ever take him seriously again. His reputation would be ruined.
And his reputation as a cultivator of an unknown high realm was the only thing that might keep his people alive.
Besides, his cause was righteous. He had warned the Jade Chameleons to leave his people out of any pursuit of vengeance, and what had they done? Attacked his people.
Not only that, but they¡¯d rubbed the fact that they were making the attack in his face.
Logically, it made sense for all three of the Golden Core cultivators to face him first back when they launched their attack on him, removing the true deterrent before moving on to killing the innocents. But that wasn¡¯t what they did.
Instead, they sent one of the trio ahead to the village.
They knew he valued his people and wanted him to suffer, knowing that his disciples and sect members were dying as he failed to defend them.
Regardless of whether the trio had acted on their own or with the blessing of their elders, the sect deserved punishment. For a cultivator of any realm, no matter how low, one¡¯s actions reflect back on the sect. Period. For a cultivator as highly realmed as Golden Core, that fact held doubly true.
The Jade Chameleon Sect deserved punishment, and Ye Zan deserved to have his death avenged.
Benton¡¯s threats were fair and measured as far as he was concerned. If anything, he was being too lenient. A real Nihility realm cultivator would have simply wiped the branch off the map with no warning whatsoever.
¡°Well, Friend Kang,¡± Benton said, ¡°we¡¯ve enacted the proper mitigating measures, and I do believe that the deadline I gave for evacuating the sect grounds has passed. It¡¯s time for me to become death, the destroyer of worlds.¡±
Kang Ya-Ting gave a funny look for a moment, probably due to the, to him, odd turn of a phrase. ¡°Do you mind, Friend Su, if I and one other were to observe the spectacle? For purposes of serving as witnesses for the City Lord, of course.¡±
If not for the seriousness of what was about to happen, Benton would have chuckled. The elder obviously just wanted to satisfy his curiosity. There was no harm in that, though.
Unless Benton fell flat on his face, of course. That would be both embarrassing and deadly. He hoped he wasn¡¯t overestimating his own prowess.
By that point, though, he¡¯d already placed his bets, so to speak, so it was in for a penny, in for a pound time.
¡°No problem,¡± Benton said. ¡°That way you can tell me afterward if I dialed my power back enough.¡±
The elder cupped his hands in gratitude and nodded.
Soon, Benton was flying above the city with Kang Ya-Ting and an elder he¡¯d introduced as Dai Shuren following behind him.
Honestly, Benton¡¯s greatest worry wasn¡¯t that he would fail to destroy the sect or even that he would die. It was that the sect hadn¡¯t listened to him about the evacuation, and he¡¯d be forced to kill a bunch of mortals and teenaged cultivators. With the death of Ye Zan weighing on him, he¡¯d come to terms with the fact that he would be killing more people, but the mass slaughter of relative innocents wasn¡¯t something he wanted on his conscience.
Could he even bring himself to kill the Jade Chameleon Sect equivalents of Yang Xiu and Yang Ru and Zou Tian and Wan Ai and Kang Lin and all the others? Bright diligent young minds who just wanted a chance to find their own place in the world? How could he snuff out those lights so early?
No. There was no way. He¡¯d have to find some alternative.
Luckily, when he approached closely enough for the sect branch to be in range of his spiritual sense, there were only a small number of Golden Core cultivators present.
Perfect. He¡¯d probably be in for a fight, but he found that he didn¡¯t mind that at all.
Just before he entered what he suspected was the range of his opponents¡¯ senses¡ªsuddenly relevant considering the two cultivators following him¡ªhe got a popup notification and quickly paused his progress, hovering to read the prompt.
|
Host¡¯s disciple, Yang Ru, requests to use the Trial Pagoda:
Requested Trial: Advance Cultivation or Technique
Requested Technique: Momentum Dissolution Shield
Allow Trial: Y/N
|
With the Foundation Establishment cultivators on missions to retrieve beast corpses and no clear plan for how, or which, Qi Gathering cultivators should use the pagoda, access to it had fallen by the wayside since Yang Xiu¡¯s successful completion. It was good that his disciples were taking advantage of the resource and following the guidelines he¡¯d given.
And Yang Ru advancing his shield was a good choice. Getting the technique to Large Success would be a huge improvement to the boy¡¯s power set, and it seemed like all three of his Foundation Establishment disciples had difficulty learning their shields.
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The Momentum Dissolution aspect was quite interesting as well. Once Yang Ru attained Mastery, anything that hit it with Momentum would find that Momentum just ¡ gone.
Powerful indeed.
Benton selected yes.
As he glanced back, Kang Ya-Ting arched his eyebrows.
¡°Just needed a second to take care of something,¡± Benton said. ¡°I¡¯m ready now. Let¡¯s proceed.¡±
Seconds later, Benton reached the sect grounds and stopped just outside the wall. No less than fifteen Golden Core cultivators floated opposite them. Kang Ya-Ting and the other elder quickly retreated to a position out of easy striking distance.
¡°Any of you who leave now will not be harmed,¡± Benton said, using his new booming voice technique despite the nearness of his audience. ¡°All who remain will die.¡±
He almost got goosebumps with how dark he sounded. The thing was, though¡ he wasn¡¯t playing. There was no acting. No games. Every word had been completely serious.
The part of him that had been a grandfather back on Earth and who had suffered no true evil at the hands of others hoped that all fifteen of the Jade Chameleon cultivators would simply leave so he wouldn¡¯t have to kill them. The part of him who had seen Ye Zan¡¯s body, on the other hand, prayed to the heavens that they wouldn¡¯t.
That second part of him had his wish granted.
¡°Advance one inch past this wall or take any aggressive action, and it will be you who dies this day,¡± the lead cultivator, a woman with a stern visage and who held a sword, said.
Benton had put a lot of effort into coming up with his ultimate juggernaut combat build. He figured it was time to put it to the test.
Channeling a single qi into a lightning bolt, he tossed it toward the lead cultivator. It was intercepted by a dome shield extending above the wall, an earth qi aspected shield.
Interesting. Lightning qi was weak against Earth. He was willing to bet that the Jade Chameleon Sect, having experienced his Lightning attack previously, assumed that was his sole qi aspect and tuned their defenses against it.
That mistake would be their undoing.
Well, part of their undoing. The first, most crucial, part had been attacking his sect members.
¡°System,¡± he said internally, ¡°please create a technique that blasts a high-pressure stream of Water and buy it to Mastery.¡±
|
Technique creation confirmed.
Host has learned the technique, Hydro Blast ¨C Mastery.
Host has 790 Sect Points available.
|
Nice. Since the shield was attuned to Earth, the Water would blast right through it fifty percent more efficiently than a neutral aspect and two hundred percent better than Lightning.
¡°Well, what are you waiting for?¡± Benton said. ¡°That was an aggressive act. Show me what you¡¯ve got.¡±
The fifteen had been hesitating, clearly unsure how to respond to such a tepid little shock that wouldn¡¯t have hurt any of them even had it gotten through the shield. His taunt got them moving, though, and all of them launched attacks almost as one.
Strike after strike hit his shield, which activated only when it was struck and only in the area in which it was struck and countered each strike with the most efficient aspect that he had a Concept for.
After several minutes, only a few hundred thousand qi had been drained. The shield had performed as well as he¡¯d hoped. Better even. It was perfect.
¡°If that¡¯s all you¡¯ve got,¡± Benton¡¯s voice boomed, ¡°then it¡¯s my turn.¡±
He charged a full one million qi into his hydro blast, which turned out to be overkill as the dome shield barely held for an instant against the onslaught. The cultivator¡¯s individual qi shields performed a little better. But only a little.
One by one, he directed the blast at them until they were each overcome.
The high-pressure Water did a number on each of them, but Golden Core cultivators¡¯ bodies were too tough to be killed by just that amount of force. They immediately tried to flee.
A Gravity burst stopped them, causing them to sink toward the ground and holding them in place.
Benton removed his bow from his storage ring and used a quarter of a million qi to power his signature attack, aimed at the lead cultivator. The shield breaker didn¡¯t have a lot of work left to do after the damage done from the hydro blast and thus ended up taking out most of her chest. The Void finisher made the rest of her torso disappear.
As Benton charged the second arrow, he realized he felt no pleasure in executing the cultivators. It was a duty. Nothing more. His sole purpose was to avenge Ye Zan and protect his sect members.
Arrow after arrow fell. Cultivator after cultivator died.
By the tenth one, the Jade Chameleons realized their fate. The eleventh stood there atop his hobbled flying sword, resigned, as the arrow hit him.
Same for the twelfth.
The thirteenth jumped to the ground and kowtowed. The force of the Gravity technique buried his face in the dirt. His two remaining compatriots quickly matched his cowardice.
Presented with his first true quandary, Benton winced. It was one thing to kill a foe, however underpowered, in battle. It was quite another to execute someone who surrendered.
How could he look his disciples in the eye if he killed these three cultivators in cold blood? But how could he not follow through? He¡¯d specifically told them that any who remained were dead.
And if he did decide to let them live, what the heck was he supposed to do with them? Imprison them? Three Golden Core Cultivators? How?
See if Kang Ya-Ting could take them? But that was too big of an ask. The problem was Benton¡¯s, and he needed to deal with it.
¡°System,¡± he said internally, ¡°can you create a technique to destroy someone¡¯s cultivation base?¡±
| Tribulation aspected qi could theoretically destroy a cultivator¡¯s core, and since Host is in possession of a Concept for Anti-Tribulation qi, it is also theoretically possible for Host to also gain possession of Tribulation qi. |
That was one of the most reluctantly worded notifications Benton had ever received from the System, and considering some of the stuff he¡¯d pulled in bending the System to do what he wanted, that was saying something. Regardless, Tribulation aspected qi sounded like exactly what he needed.
¡°System, please purchase a Concept for Tribulation qi to be the antithesis of cultivation and create a technique that allows me to fire a bolt of Tribulation Lightning at a cultivator¡¯s core in order to destroy it utterly and completely. Please purchase that technique to Mastery.¡±
|
Concept creation purchase confirmed.
Technique creation confirmed.
Host has learned the technique, Power of the Heavens ¨C Mastery.
Host has 766 Sect Points available.
|
Benton let out a sharp breath. The title of his new technique was more than a little ominous, and he briefly considered if he should be wielding power that maybe should remain the domain of the heavens.
Then again, if he really wasn¡¯t supposed to have it, the System wouldn¡¯t allow the purchase, right?
It would be fine. Probably.
¡°You shall live,¡± Benton said coldly, ¡°but you will no longer be cultivators.¡±
Before his statement had a chance to sink in, he released his Gravity burst and fired a small bolt of Tribulation lightning at each of the three Golden Core cultivators.
Shortly after the bolts hit, the three were more accurately referred to as the three former Golden Core cultivators. The lightning had only been slightly hindered by their qi shields and penetrated their bodies, destroying meridians and their cores as it ravaged their bodies.
They¡¯d live.
Well, if they found healing quickly enough, anyway. That wasn¡¯t his problem, though.
They would not, however, ever cultivate again.
That was a more than satisfactory solution to him.
¡°Friend Kang,¡± Benton said, ¡°would you please remove this trash from the grounds so that I can destroy this branch completely?¡±
Chapter 177 – Heaven Blessed
Kang Ya-Ting and Dai Shuren followed Chao Su on their flying swords. Just as they were all about to reach the territory claimed by the Jade Chameleon Sect, the mysterious sect leader paused in the air.
Confused, Kang Ya-Ting shared a glance with his friend, Elder Dai.
After moving his eyes back and forth a few times, Chao Su glanced back and said, ¡°Just needed a second to take care of something. I¡¯m ready now. Let¡¯s proceed.¡±
How wonderfully confusing and mysterious, as expected from the sect leader.
The two Poison Claw Sect elders followed him for a little longer until the target came into sight. Fifteen Golden Core cultivators were arrayed on flying swords waiting inside the wall, waiting for them.
Interestingly enough, there was no sign of Teng Wuying, the head of the Jade Chameleons in the city. He must have suspected something like Chao Su¡¯s attack was going to happen and fled like the scheming, mangy jackal that he was, leaving Ma FenFang, a woman renowned for her martial proficiency, to deal with the problem.
Kang Ya-Ting glanced at Elder Dai. The two of them were way too close to the combatants, and there was absolutely no reason for the Poison Claw Sect to become involved in the actual fighting.
He gestured to a position far off in the distance, and Elder Dai nodded. The two of them retreated to that spot, close enough to observe but hopefully far enough away to avoid being the target of any hostilities.
They had barely even reached the position when Chao Su and Ma FenFang began exchanging threats.
Kang Ya-Ting listened with interest. The Rising Tide Sect Leader was normally so affable and kept most of his intimidation tactics so low key that it was fascinating to see him so overtly hostile. Hearing him tell others in a cold tone that all who remained would die was a new insight into the man¡¯s character.
He was not someone to be trifled with.
Good. The Poison Claw Sect was, to an extent, tying itself to the man¡¯s power. If he was too weak to carry through on his threats, a rethinking of policies would be necessary. Besides, the man usually acted so contrary to expectations that it was comforting to see that at least some part of his behavior corresponded with how a high realmed cultivator should act.
Kang Ya-Ting settled in to listen to a lengthy exchange of jibes, as was typical when rival sects started posturing. He was quite surprised, then, that Chao Su soon baited his opponents into attacking.
Even suspecting that the sect leader was in a much higher realm than his opponents, Kang Ya-Ting tensed as the fifteen cultivators, all of whom had developed Concepts, launched their techniques. Even a strong Nascent Soul cultivator could be taken down by enough Golden Core practitioners.
The attacks began to hit, and concurrent to his expectations, the first ones to hit were all rebuffed by the target¡¯s qi shield. He sensed no aura, though, meaning the techniques all landed at full power. A shield could only hold for so long, no matter how strong the cultivator that created it.
Chao Su¡¯s shield was quite strange, though. First, it only seemed to flare in the location it was hit. That type of modification was rare but not unheard of. Definitely something to be anticipated from someone who gave out top heaven ranked techniques like they were candy.
Second, the shield only seemed to flare just as it was about to be hit. Normally, a cultivator had to trigger a shield and leave it active for the entirety of the attack. One didn¡¯t typically turn it on and off. Chao Su¡¯s, on the other hand, only reacted for an instant just as an opposing technique hit. That trait, combined with the first, must have made it incredibly efficient in terms of qi usage.
Kang Ya-Ting marveled at the possibilities. He¡¯d never seen a shield like it.
The third bit of strangeness was the most astounding, though¡ªthe shield flared qi that opposed the aspect that hit it.
Many cultivators could use multiple qi aspects, some of them even able to manage three or four. In fact, having access to at least two was more common that being restricted to a single one.
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To be able to use more than four would be an unparalleled feat.
The attacks were happening too quickly for even Kang Ya-Ting¡¯s enhanced senses to track each one, but he was positive he¡¯d detected at least all five of the primary elements in use by the shield. Such a feat was possible if the shield were powered by a formation fed by spirit coins, of course, but he didn¡¯t detect any of the normal signs of a treasure being used.
The man frequently used Lightning and Void. If the sect leader truly could use all five primary elements as well, that meant he had access to at least seven aspects.
Incredible.
The enigmatic Chao Su had just managed to become even more mysterious.
As the barrage continued, Kang Ya-Ting kept expected for Chao Su to have to dodge or for the shield to fail or something. But that didn¡¯t happen. The shield held.
Seconds were a long time in combat. A minute was an eternity when cultivators fought. The barrage kept up for nearly five minutes before Chao Su seemingly grew bored and decided it was his turn.
His onslaught laid waste to his opponents in seconds, penetrating the sect¡¯s outer shield, a formation created by a master, like the defenses were made of nothing sturdier than paper. The Jade Chameleon cultivators tried to flee, but a great expenditure of qi held them in place as Chao Su began his execution.
Ma FenFang, a terror in the arena who always placed in the top three in tournaments pitting the sects¡¯ top fighters against each other, was killed as easily as if she were a mere Qi Gathering cultivator. Or maybe even a mortal. She offered no resistance at all.
Each arrow from Chao Su found a target, and each target died.
Finally, the last three jumped off their flying swords and surrendered.
Kang Ya-Ting initially scoffed at their cowardice, but at heart, he understood their actions. When dealing with an opponent whose power made you akin to a child facing a martial expert, there was no dishonor in admitting your lack.
He was not watching a fight between equals. It wasn¡¯t even a battle. It was a high realmed cultivator taking juniors to task, and Chao Su didn¡¯t even have to use his aura to beat them.
Extraordinary!
The surrender seemed to give him pause, however. Which made sense. Killing them despite the fact they¡¯d given up sent a message of brutality. It said, ¡°Defy me at your peril!¡± Sects would have to be extra cautious not to anger him.
On the other hand, such brutality came with a cost. Opponents would be forced to fight to their dying breath because they were doomed either way.
Sparing them sent the message that he was reasonable. It said, ¡°I¡¯m willing to listen.¡± It also displayed weakness, saying, ¡°I¡¯m not strong enough in my convictions to finish the job.¡±
Chao Su faced a momentous choice, and Kang Ya-Ting was fascinated to find out which decision he¡¯d make.
The sect leader did that thing with his eyes again before saying, ¡°You shall live, but you will no longer be cultivators.¡±
What followed was the most terrifying thing Kang Ya-Ting had seen yet from the man. Three bolts of Tribulation Lightning flew from the man¡¯s fingertips, one hitting the chest of each of the surrendered opponents.
Though the men still lived, they disappeared from Kang Ya-Ting¡¯s spiritual sense. Chao Su had wielded Tribulation Lightning, something no cultivator should be able to do. He¡¯d completely destroyed the cultivation bases of three former Golden Core cultivators as easily as shearing a limb off a mortal.
Kang Ya-Ting began to suspect that Chao Su wasn¡¯t simply an incredibly high ranked old monster. Instead, he was something completely outside the understanding of a mere Golden Core sect elder. He was Heaven Blessed.
The revelation was so shocking that Kang Ya-Ting was slow to react when asked to remove the former cultivators from the grounds. It took Elder Dai¡¯s urging for him to respond. Quickly, the two of them flew forward, grabbed the three mortals, and dashed back off to a safe distance.
They wanted to be well clear of whatever Chao Su had planned for the sect grounds.
He started small. There was a small administrative building, no more than two stories, next to where he had ended the cultivation of his former opponents, and he directed a small blast of water at it, quickly overwhelming its shield. A small metal sphere followed.
A quarter of the building simply disappeared into nothingness once the ball hit it.
Chao Su nodded to himself and threw another sphere. After that one hit, the rest of the building vanished.
That must have been his test to see how much effort the destruction would take because, after the slow start, he accelerated almost faster than Kang Ya-Ting¡¯s eyes could follow. The sect leader dashed from building to building, overwhelming each structure¡¯s defenses with a high-pressure jet of water and following up with one of those terrifying spheres. Before the ball even had a chance to hit its target, he was off to the next one, repeating the procedure.
In minutes, there was not a single structure standing on the grounds. He¡¯d even destroyed the fields of spiritual herbs.
Kang Ya-Ting was involved with setting the budget for the Poison Claw Sect branch in the city. He had a good idea how much all those buildings had cost.
Chao Su hadn¡¯t cared. He hadn¡¯t looted the branch, hadn¡¯t taken a single loose tael or grabbed any of the undefended resources. They¡¯d all been destroyed. Billions of taels worth of treasure. Gone.
The approach was interesting, and it sent another powerful message. Actually, it sent at least two powerful messages. One, do not mess with the Rising Tide Sect, or you will be utterly annihilated. Two, he had access to so many resources that the wealth accumulated by the Jade Chameleon branch held no interest to him. He could not be bought.
Kang Ya-Ting was startled out of his thoughts by the appearance of several cultivators on flying swords, eight of them to be exact. Four wore the robes of the City Watch. One was the City Lord himself. Three were high ranked members of the Swift Blizzard Sect.
Whatever happened next was sure to be interesting.
Chapter 178 – That Could’ve Gone Better
Between the time Benton arrived in the cultivation world and a short while ago, he had killed a limited number of people. The young master and his men who had accosted Yang Xiu and Yang Ru in the forest. The cultivator gang who¡¯d invaded the warehouse. The Foundation Establishment cultivator who had tried to rob the caravan on the road. The scum in Vermilion Incomparable Rain Town. And of course, the three Golden Core cultivators who had sought to kill his disciples.
When added up, that seemed like a lot for such a short time, especially since he¡¯d never killed anyone in his life on Earth, but for the most part, he¡¯d felt justified in each of those killings. They¡¯d been necessary. But he¡¯d never felt any pleasure in doing what he had to do.
Despite everything he told himself in advance, avenging Ye Zan¡¯s death by executing those twelve men and women had almost been pleasurable. Benton couldn¡¯t bring the guard captain back, but he felt good that he¡¯d at least been able to make someone pay for the loss.
At the very least, he had been afforded the opportunity to, in some small measure, honor Ye Zan. By raining devastation on the Jade Chameleons in such a public manner, anyone wanting to harm any of Benton¡¯s sect members in the future would have to take pause and worry that he might do the same to them and theirs.
Ye Zan would have been happy to know that his death not only saved Yang Xiu¡¯s life but protected the rest of the sect as well.
On the other hand, Benton was also glad that he hadn¡¯t killed the ones who had surrendered. Removing the cultivation from those three was the right call. They still had their lives, but they¡¯d never forget the punishment.
Vengeance was fine to a point, but he didn¡¯t want to lose himself. When he got back to the Rising Tide Sect, he wanted to be the loving, doting grandfather figure to those kids just like always instead of a cold, miserable wretch obsessed with killing.
With the destruction of the Jade Chameleon Sect branch in Sixth Flawless Flowing City, he was ready to let bygones be bygones. As he sensed eight new Golden Core cultivators approach him, however, he sighed. It was unlikely that the rest of the world would be willing to adopt the same philosophy.
Oh well. At least, they waited until after he¡¯d finished laying waste to the grounds before disturbing him. That patience showed some degree of manners on their part.
Benton hopped on his flying sword and ascended into the sky to meet his visitors, and when he arrived, he found Kang Ya-Ting and Elder Dai were already greeting the newcomers. From the robes the unfamiliar cultivators wore, Benton thought it likely that both the Swift Blizzard Sect and the City Lord factions were represented.
The conversation between his allies and the newcomers looked friendly enough. If all went well, maybe Kang Ya-Ting would be able to smooth the whole thing over.
Yeah. Like Benton was that lucky. He just knew the situation was almost guaranteed to turn into something troublesome.
Honestly, he was okay with that. He¡¯d done what he had to, but in doing so, he¡¯d stirred up some hornets by intruding on the territory of two relatively innocent factions. If someone had come into the territory of the Rising Tide Sect, started disrupting things in order to accomplish their own goals, and ignored him completely, he¡¯d definitely be more than a little peeved.
It was good to think about the opposing parties¡¯ point of view before entering into a discussion.
The flip side of walking a mile in another¡¯s shoes was keeping one¡¯s own objectives at the forefront. Benton¡¯s only goal was to protect his sect members, and the sole method of achieving that was to project strength.
Of course, being strong didn¡¯t necessarily mean being a jerk. If the two factions wanted a reasonable recompense for his rudeness and he could make that payment while maintaining a position of strength, he was just fine with that solution.
If they expected him to kowtow or wanted him to pay a price he couldn¡¯t stomach, things would turn ugly fast.
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As he approached the gathering, the entire group of new cultivators plus his two allies from the Poison Claw Sect watched.
Elder Dai turned to the larger group once Benton stopped. ¡°Luo Quan, Mao Biya, this one has the pleasure of introducing you to the leader of Rising Tide Sect, Chao Su.¡± She turned to Benton and gestured toward a tall, youthful man wearing very ornate purple robes. ¡°Chao Su, this one is pleased to introduce His Imperial Majesty¡¯s Servant, the Lord of Sixth Flawless Flowing City, Luo Quan.¡±
Benton cupped his hands and gave a modest bow to the man.
Elder Dai then gestured to an older woman wearing cerulean robes with white accents. ¡°This one is also pleased to introduce the branch leader of the Swift Blizzard Sect, Mao Biya.¡±
Benton cupped his hands to her as well.
¡°Sect Leader Chao Su,¡± the City Lord said, ¡°you have destroyed property in my city.¡±
¡°I have.¡±
The honest, straightforward reply seemed to throw the man off his game.
¡°Such an act is not acceptable,¡± the City Lord said.
Benton shrugged. ¡°I told them there would be consequences if Teng Jian or anyone else from the Jade Chameleon Sect attacked my people. One of their cultivators killed one of mine. The destruction is the consequence of their actions.¡± He paused, letting his tense body relax somewhat. ¡°That being said, I understand that I have disturbed the peace in your fair city. It is your responsibility to maintain order, and I have contributed to a rise in disorder. I am more than willing to pay an appropriate fine.¡±
The man frowned.
At first, Benton had suspected that the City Lord¡¯s youthful appearance wasn¡¯t indicative of his true age. After all, cultivators age differently than mortals and have many ways to combat the ravages of time. His overbearing and somewhat haughty manner, however, was beginning to remind Benton of the characteristics of an arrogant young master.
Before the man could speak again, a cultivator who Benton assumed was one of the City Lord¡¯s flunkies chimed in. ¡°There is precedent for levying a fine, my lord. The esteemed sect leader has provided an explanation for his actions, verified by the testimony of the honorable leader of the Poison Claw Sect branch, and showed his contriteness. The damage was also limited to just the offending party. One thousand spirit coins of the ten thousand qi denomination would surely provide an adequate balm to soothe nerves of the residents.¡±
The City Lord¡¯s frown deepened briefly before he relented. ¡°Very well. One thousand spirit coins. Next time, however, I will not be so lenient.¡±
Well, that had gone much better than Benton had expected. One thousand spirit coins were not a trivial sum as it represented over ten million qi when inefficiencies of the process were considered. Even using meditation to recoup nearly two million qi per hour, Benton would have to spend pretty much the entire night creating coins to pay the fine.
He cupped his hands toward the City Lord. ¡°Gratitude for your fair and lenient ruling. I will bring the coins to the administrative building on the morn.¡±
¡°That is acceptable.¡±
With that, the City Lord and his four flunkies departed, but Benton wasn¡¯t out of the woods yet. As soon as they were out of earshot, Mao Biya, the branch leader of the Swift Blizzard Sect met his eyes.
¡°Leader of the Rising Tide Sect?¡± she said.
Her tone made it clear that she was not happy to hear about the existence of his sect.
Benton had a choice to make. He could either downplay the existence of the sect as simply a way to counter the beast tide or start the process of legitimizing it.
Honestly, though, there wasn¡¯t really much of a choice. For him to grow as a cultivator, he needed to grow his sect. Given that he planned to expand soon into Vermilion Incomparable Rain Town and had every intention of exploiting the Orange Vigor Spirit Wood and its market in the city, there was really no hiding that growth.
¡°Yes,¡± Benton said. ¡°We¡¯re a small outfit at the moment with almost all our members being in the Qi Gathering realm, but I plan on expanding quickly.¡±
Kang Ya-Ting looked shocked at the admission.
¡°Is that why you dealt such a major blow to the Jade Chameleons?¡± Mao Biya said. ¡°They¡¯re your rivals, and you¡¯re planning to take their place?¡±
¡°Honestly, I couldn¡¯t care less about their place or about the Jade Chameleon Sect in general. Had they left me alone, I would not have had a single issue with them. Instead, they sent a thug to try to rob me on the road, and after I killed him, his father came after me. Which is fine. To be expected, right? But since when is it okay to deliberately kill juniors? I delivered the response they deserved, and if anyone else messes with my people, the next time I¡¯ll do worse.¡±
Everyone, even the Swift Blizzard leader, seemed taken aback by Benton¡¯s outburst, and as soon as the words left his mouth, he worried that he had gone too far. His plan had been to be as conciliatory as possible, but the woman¡¯s accusations and hostility had made that approach difficult.
Mao Biya frowned. ¡°You believe that a major sect, one of the big three, owes you and your so-called sect face? Should I give you face as well?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°You dare dictate my actions?¡±
Benton knew he was treading on dangerous ground. He already had one sect gunning for him. It would have been better if he could have established friendly relations with the Swift Blizzard Sect. The woman¡¯s attitude was making that task impossible.
¡°Yes,¡± Benton said simply.
To make any other statement would be to admit weakness.
The woman and her associates turned their flying swords and zoomed off into the distance.
Well, that could¡¯ve gone better.
Chapter 179 – Salt the Ground
Benton spent the night as a guest of the Poison Claw Sect, though he didn¡¯t get much sleep. He had committed, after all, to create one thousand spirit coins to pay as a fine.
With his coin creation technique at Mastery, it cost him eleven thousand qi to create a ten thousand qi coin, so he spent the night converting batches of one hundred and eighty qi batteries before spending an hour using Meditation to restore his pool to nearly filled. So most of the night passed before he was finished with his task.
On the plus side, he was able to definitely cross that item off his To Do List, and he got some other good news the previous evening. Yang Ru must have done well with his trial because he advanced his Momentum Dissolution Shield to Large Success.
With the sun up and cultivators moving about the sect grounds, Benton ventured forth from his room. After a quick breakfast, he found Kang Ya-Ting and handed over the coins, the elder having been kind enough to offer to have one of the sect minions run them down to the city administration building to pay the fine.
The two friends talked for a while about relatively meaningless topics. Benton caught the elder up on the doings of his granddaughter and the Rising Tide Sect members that he was familiar with. Kang Ya-Ting reciprocated by expressing his condolences about Ye Zan, sharing stories that research had turned up about the guard captain that had led to him being hired.
¡°If only he was less competent,¡± Benton said. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t have hired him. He¡¯d probably still be alive.¡±
¡°And you think he would have wanted that?¡±
¡°To still be alive? Who wouldn¡¯t?¡±
Kang Ya-Ting¡¯s expression mixed condemnation with compassion. ¡°From what I knew of the boy, Ye Zan desired a life and a death that held meaning. Better he died protecting those he cared about than on a random battlefield fighting for a noble who had a grudge against another noble. That¡¯s how most mercenaries die, and that was the path he was on.¡±
Benton knew all that information, but admitting it wasn¡¯t good for the wallowing that he wanted to do. So he decided a change of subject would be a good idea. ¡°Overall, how did yesterday go? Did I display the correct level of power? The City Lord didn¡¯t seem pleased with me, but it sounded like he was letting the matter slide. The sect lady, though, really didn¡¯t like me.¡±
¡°It is as you said. As long as you don¡¯t cause any more problems in the city, Luo Quan will bear you no further malice. He¡¯s as bureaucratic as they come. You broke the rules, which drew his ire, but you paid your penalty. My best guess is that, as far as he is concerned, you are no longer a problem.¡±
¡°Good,¡± Benton said. ¡°And the Swift Blizzard Sect?¡±
¡°The posture taken by Mao Biya is not a good sign.¡±
¡°What exactly was the issue? Do you think she didn¡¯t like the bribe? That was a nice technique, right?¡±
¡°Frankly,¡± Kang Ya-Ting said, ¡°her attitude was uncalled for. At the very least, she should have been the picture of politeness upon addressing someone who had just laid waste to an entire sect branch. The only explanation I have for her manner is a rumor that I hadn¡¯t given any credence.¡±
Benton looked at him quizzically.
¡°This is not from a reliable source,¡± Kang Ya-Ting said, ¡°but it has been said that she was friendly with one of the elders from the Jade Chameleon Sect.¡±
The way he said friendly left no doubt as to his meaning.
¡°Such rumors abound about sect elders. In my experience, they are rarely true, especially when they fantastically claim a relationship between elders of different sects.¡± Kang Ya-Ting shrugged. ¡°Given her attitude, maybe the gossip happened to be true this time.¡±
¡°Regardless, I guess I shouldn¡¯t expect any invitations to tea from them in the near future.¡±
¡°Don¡¯t be so sure of that. The ultimate judgment will be made by their sect leader, and I doubt he has enough information about you and your sect yet to make any firm decisions. The fact that no one can sense you spiritually will, of course, give them pause. As will the fact that you easily defeated fifteen hostile Golden Core cultivators at once. As will your complete destruction of the Jade Chameleon branch.¡±
¡°Did I go overboard?¡±
Kang Ya-Ting smiled. ¡°Had you used an aura to suppress those cultivators, everyone would have understood your rank. That you limited yourself to Concepts and still won so handily will be cause for much consternation.¡± He shrugged. ¡°Confusion could be to your benefit or to your detriment. It¡¯s hard to say.¡±
Back on Earth, Benton had mainly enjoyed his job. He had not, however, had any patience for office politics. Which was one of the reasons that he never rose higher than he did.
He was beginning to feel that dealing with sect politics would make the machinations at his office seem like a junior high rumor mill in comparison. While the ins and outs of sect relations were certainly important, there was only so much of it he could take at once.
¡°Getting down to brass tacks,¡± Benton said, ¡°should I be prepared for an assault by the Jade Chameleons, and if so, will the Swift Blizzard Sect join them?¡±
¡°The latter part is easier to answer. No. All of the big three sects are rivals as much as allies. We would only band together to fight an overwhelming external threat. The Swift Blizzard Sect will be seeking to figure out what moves will benefit them the most. If you show yourself to be weak, they may move against you out of sheer opportunism, but they won¡¯t directly support the Jade Chameleons.¡±
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¡°That¡¯s good news at least.¡±
¡°You should expect much more attention to be placed on you and your sect. Visitors. Spies. Probing attacks. Be aware and cautious going forward.¡±
Benton nodded. That response for any new faction that appeared was to be expected.
¡°As to the other part of your question,¡± Kang Ya-Ting said, ¡°I honestly don¡¯t know. You have attacked the Jade Chameleon Sect, and they cannot let that indignity stand. The loss of face would be too devastating. At the same time, you have literally inflicted great damages on them. They¡¯ve lost eighteen Golden Core cultivators. Eighteen. And the amount of money they had tied up in the buildings and grounds you destroyed is tremendous. That is not a setback they can easily recover from. Suffering another loss like that risks the entire sect breaking apart. They¡¯ll have a hard time determining the correct response. An all out frontal attack is definitely an option, or they could try sending more subtle attempts to determine the extent of your power.¡±
Benton was very comfortable by that point in taking on any number of Golden Core cultivators, but facing more than one or two Nascent Souls at once would be problematic. His biggest concern, however, was one group attacking him while the others attacked his sect like Teng Jian had done. When Benton explained that worry to Kang Ya-Ting, however, the response was encouraging.
¡°Teng Jian was on a mission to punish the man who had killed his son. He was not a representative of his sect sent to battle a rival sect. It was personal. As a general rule, sects do not deliberately go after juniors because they wouldn¡¯t want a rival sect going after theirs. Now that the conflict has been elevated to a sect versus sect level, etiquette demands that they go directly after you and any elders you have first.¡±
Benton let out a relieved breath.
¡°That being said,¡± Kang Ya-Ting continued, ¡°you have made that entire sect an enemy. There will be no mercy or suing for peace. If you are killed, they will destroy your entire sect and the village that supports it. Every member will be hunted and killed. They will salt the ground upon which it was built.¡±
Benton didn¡¯t curse often, but he almost let an f-bomb slip upon that revelation. After a moment¡¯s reflection, however, he calmed down. That response was within his expectations. It was just startling to hear it voiced so aloud so bluntly.
¡°The overall situation could have been better, but it¡¯s not horrible,¡± Benton said. ¡°I always expected the Jade Chameleons to retaliate, and as long as the Swift Blizzard Sect doesn¡¯t attack me outright, I¡¯ll consider it a win.¡±
¡°That¡¯s a good way to look at it,¡± Kang Ya-Ting said. ¡°What are your plans now?¡±
Benton knew exactly what he would do next. The question was how much to reveal to the Poison Claw Sect.
In a cultivation world, it was not smart to be too trusting. On the other hand, allowing paranoia to rule his actions didn¡¯t seem like the best way to live his life, either. Kang Ya-Ting and his sect had stood behind Benton. The least he could do was extend a little trust.
¡°Honestly, I think my best bet is to actively expand my sect. We only have a little over two hundred members, and not counting your granddaughter of course, only two of those have even reached Foundation Establishment. I¡¯m planning to extend an invitation to Fatty Ren and starting a branch in Vermilion Incomparable Rain Town.¡±
¡°That¡¯s a bold move. I¡¯m not sure, however, that the addition of one more Foundation Establishment level cultivator and even more at the Qi Gathering rank will help you against Nascent Souls, especially as it will only hinder your relations with the Swift Blizzard Sect.¡±
¡°I understand your concerns,¡± Benton said, ¡°and I share them. Unfortunately, there are other factors involved that provide benefits to me that I believe to be in excess of the risks created.¡±
Kang Ya-Ting cupped his hands. ¡°I yield to my friend¡¯s judgement.¡±
¡°Can I count on the Poison Claw Sect to back me up?¡±
¡°It¡¯s possible that something could be arranged.¡±
¡°I do believe I could swing a few spots in the Trials Pagoda and maybe a technique or cultivation method or two for close allies.¡±
Kang Ya-Ting smiled. ¡°I misspoke. I¡¯m positive that something can be arranged.¡±
Benton didn¡¯t know whether to grimace or to laugh, but after a moment¡¯s thought, he settled on the latter. The statement had been made at least partly in jest, and honestly, he had no reason to expect the Poison Claw Sect to risk themselves for nothing in return. Their guaranteed backing in return for a few spots in his pagoda and maybe fifty or so Sect Points was a steal.
The only thing he regretted was giving away that cultivation method to the Swift Blizzard Sect, considering how the situation had turned out. Then again, if the branch leader¡¯s reaction had been purely based on a personal vendetta, it was possible that his gift might still buy some good will with the actual sect leadership.
¡°Why don¡¯t you take a bit to think about what techniques or methods you might want and come out to the village for a visit?¡± Benton said.
¡°You make it sound like you can provide anything we want.¡±
Benton shrugged. ¡°Well, the older one gets, the more junk accumulates in one¡¯s spatial ring. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve experienced similar issues.¡±
Kang Ya-Ting¡¯s expression said that he most definitely had no encountered the particular problem of having too many heaven grade cultivation methods and techniques. Benton wanted to laugh but wisely refrained.
¡°I see,¡± Kang Ya-Ting said. ¡°Elder Dai and I will give the matter some thought.¡±
¡°Sounds good. Maybe bring along a few of your members who are bottlenecked, and we can see if we can get them past it.¡±
¡°That brings us to the crux of the matter. I doubt it will shock you to discover that I have an understanding of what you publicly shared with your sect members about the pavilion?¡±
Considering that Benton had made that speech in front of six members of the Poison Claw Sect, that fact did not surprise him at all. ¡°It is of no particular concern to me.¡±
¡°Perhaps it should be. Is it true that your Trials Pagoda can assist in breaking through a bottleneck?¡±
¡°I honestly don¡¯t know,¡± Benton said. ¡°We don¡¯t have much experience with the pagoda, yet, but one of the trials is for the specific purpose of advancing cultivation. Based purely on my assumptions, that trial may be able to propel cultivators past bottlenecks, granted they pass it.¡±
¡°How much confidence do you have in your assumptions? Desperate men and women will cling to any hope, and I¡¯d hate to see them disappointed. Such emotions might do much to damage the relations between our sects.¡±
¡°Definitely don¡¯t over promise,¡± Benton said. ¡°None of my current sect members are bottlenecked, so I can¡¯t test it at the moment. If Fatty Ren accepts my offer, though, we¡¯ll see how he does, and I¡¯ll let you know.¡±
¡°How difficult are the trials?¡±
¡°My disciples are two for two so far, but that¡¯s Yang Xiu and Yang Ru. Both are pretty extraordinary.¡±
Kang Ya-Ting sighed. ¡°Do you have any comprehension of what kind of commotion it will cause if a wave of our elders starts having breakthroughs? We won¡¯t be able to hide the presence of the pagoda for long. Just the possibility of such a thing existing will alter the balance of power. If it actually works¡¡±
Benton¡¯s first impulse was to tell his friend to send over a few Golden Core cultivators. If they could advance to Nascent Soul, that would make the Poison Claw Sect supreme on the continent.
Before he could voice that inclination, a small bit of paranoia crept into his head¡ªif the Poison Claw Sect got too strong, couldn¡¯t they just take the Trials Pagoda away from him?
He needed to get stronger. Fast.
Chapter 180 – Assuaging Feelings
Zou Tian stood anxiously outside the Trials Pagoda. With a new day dawning, someone needed to make use of the facility, and Yang Xiu had decreed that, barring someone with a specific need, she would choose the order of entry based on cultivation strength. She and Yang Ru, obviously the strongest members of the sect, had already had a turn, so the next logical choice was Wan Ai.
Who had promptly refused.
It had been funny watching his sweetheart, who never stood up for herself ever, squaring off against Yang Xiu and adamantly rejecting the choice. Wan Ai would work for each advance she received, ¡°Thank you very much.¡±
Zou Tian would seek to change her opinion about that stance, but he¡¯d have to approach the subject carefully. The Trials Pagoda was too big of an advantage to pass up, and as she was the lead alchemist, the sect needed her to improve as quickly as she could.
He suspected, though, that her main problem was fear. She didn¡¯t want to be the first to fail and the attention that would come along with something like that happening to her.
Understandable. As he stood in front of the Pagoda, that fear was way, way too understandable.
Yang Xiu and Yang Ru had breezed through their trials. Of course. What were the chances of either of them failing at anything ever? They each had more talent in their pinky toes than Zou Tian had total, though.
Failure was definitely an option for him.
He¡¯d tried to refuse the honor and had even had a good excuse. Both the expert blacksmith, Xun Wu, and his apprentice, Shi Long, were also in the seventh minor realm of Qi Gathering, and all three of them were anticipated to break through to the eight minor realm in a relatively close time frame. The thing was that both of the other two were likely to advance before Zou Tian, a month for Xun Wu and a couple of weeks for Shi Long.
Therefore, Xun Wu deserved the honor based on being higher in terms of cultivation.
The problem was that Yang Xiu believed they needed martially inclined members to advance much more than they needed blacksmiths, and no one, not even Yang Ru or Kang Lin, could convince her otherwise. Maybe, if Xun Wu or Shi Long had fought for the opportunity, one of them could have changed Senior Sister¡¯s mind, but neither of them seemed to care one way or the other.
Which left Zou Tian stuck with accepting the honor.
With no small amount of trepidation, he entered the Pagoda and, as he¡¯d been instructed, placed his hand on the white marble orb atop the pedestal there. Forewarned was forearmed, so he wasn¡¯t surprised at all with the blue screen that popped up in his vision asking him to choose one of three trials.
¡°Esteemed Trials Pagoda, this lowly one wishes to take a trial to secure the chance of improving Foundation Dagger Essentials to Mastery.¡±
|
Selection to Improve a Technique requires approval from Sect Leader Chao Su.
Contacting Sect Leader Chao Su.
Sect Leader Chao Su says, ¡°Make Kang Lin the next trial taker.¡±
|
Zou Tian didn¡¯t know how to feel about that message. On one hand, he didn¡¯t have to risk being the first failure that day. On the other, he had the added shame of being refused entrance by Master.
Was Master angry? He had to be. Why else would he refuse Zou Tian admittance in favor of someone who wasn¡¯t even a member of their sect?
He must have done something to make Master mad, but what?
It was with a heavy heart that Zou Tian trudged toward the village to tell Yang Xiu and the others about the message. He could only hope that he wouldn¡¯t be ostracized too much.
Whatever it took, he swore he would climb any mountain, complete any task, overcome any obstacle required to regain Master¡¯s favor.
When Zou Tian was moving at top speed, the journey from the sect grounds to the village took a matter of minutes, no more than ten and probably less. On that day, he¡¯d barely made it a quarter of the way once that much time had passed.
He wished he had hurried when he spotted a blue reptilian creature flying directly toward him. It was about the length of his hand with an elongated body, fearsome wings, and four limbs, each with claws.
After pulling his daggers from their sheaths, he took a defensive position.
As the creature drew closer, however, something odd stood out about it, odder even than its color, size, and the fact that it flew. No, the feature that drew his attention was the material it was made of. He would have expected scales or feathers or even fur. That thing, though, appeared to be made of ¡ paper?
It dove right at him but not very fast. He easily dodged out of the way, trying to figure out if he should stab it or not. Instead of pursuing him, though, the creature just hovered in the air an arm¡¯s length away at about the height of Zou Tian¡¯s chest.
It didn¡¯t seem too terribly hostile¡
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Zou Tian stepped back. The creature followed, keeping the same distance.
He reached out with his dagger and carefully, lightly, touched the weapon¡¯s tip against the creature¡¯s torso.
As soon as the metal made contact, the creature ¡ unfolded. Literally. It turned from some sort of flying construct into a flat sheet of paper.
Zou Tian snagged it out of the air and discovered a message, one addressed to him.
Zou Tian,
Apologies for the brevity of my previous response. I wasn¡¯t in a position to fully explain my position at the time of the notification, so I hope this message finds you before you draw any incorrect conclusions.
Kang Lin is not a member of the Rising Tide Sect. However, she is a member of a sect that recently stood by my side in trying circumstances. She is also my disciple. Because of those two factors, I feel it is the right thing to do to include her in whatever rotation that you and the other council members have created for the Trials Pagoda, and as the sole remaining Foundation Establishment cultivator that hasn¡¯t had a chance to use the pagoda, that means it should be her turn next.
Were it not for those factors, I think you would have made a fine choice for next up. I will in all probability be back at the village (hopefully!) before tomorrow and will happily approve your participation in a trial at that time.
Please let the others know that I am well and that I will be returning as soon as possible.
Sincerely,
Master
A rather large weight lifted off Zou Tian¡¯s shoulders as he read the note, and he felt greatly relieved. He hadn¡¯t angered Master.
Zou Tian sighed. Whew.
Then it hit him. Kang Lin was almost as talented as the twins, and anything she lacked in aptitude, she made up in both knowledge and experience. The odds of her not passing her trial were basically nil.
There was still a good chance that he¡¯d be the first to fail.
Great. Just great.
Benton took one final sip of tea and put the cup down. ¡°Well, Friend Kang, this conversation has been very informative, but I really need to get back to my disciples.¡±
¡°Understood, Friend Su. Will you be heading directly back to your sect?¡±
Just as Benton was about to answer, a notification popped up asking for him to approve Zou Tian taking a trial to improve his dagger technique.
Not wanting to delay his response to Kang Ya-Ting, Benton almost reflexively agreed. At the last instant, it occurred to him that, politically speaking, it would be a good move to have Kang Lin use the pagoda, and since both his other two Foundation Establishment disciples had a turn, she really should go next.
Keeping the message as brief as possible, he passed along instructions to do just that.
¡°Actually,¡± Benton said, ¡°I have a couple of minor errands to run, which I plan to accomplish with all due haste, and then I need to stop by Vermilion Incomparable Rain Town. With any luck, though, I¡¯ll reach the village by this evening.¡±
Hopefully. Maybe. His tasks in the city shouldn¡¯t take long, but who knew how much time it would take to recruit Fatty Ren and start a branch of the Rising Tide Sect there. Not to mention that he¡¯d need to go by the orphanage.
Still, he was going to push to be back in the village before the sun rose the next day.
The two finished saying their goodbyes, and Benton left the sect. No sooner had he stepped out of the gate, though, than he started reconsidering his all too brief note to Zou Tian via the notification. Benton had been in a hurry, and the brevity of his message had probably made his words sound too harsh. He hoped the boy didn¡¯t take it the wrong way.
Well, there was nothing Benton could do about it until he reached the village¡
Wait. He¡¯d seen a lot of people using those message things that apparently could move between cities pretty darn fast. The devices hadn¡¯t been for sale in any of the stores, but maybe he could borrow one from Kang Ya-Ting.
Benton would prefer not to, though. Not being able to take care of a task that was so trivial without help would eat into the mystique he was building.
A thought hit him, and he grinned. Why would he need help with something like that? After all, he was a cheating cheater who cheats.
¡°System,¡± he said internally, mindful of the people around him on the street, ¡°can I purchase a technique to create message devices?¡±
Awesome! Succinct, but awesome.
One he¡¯d seen previously that had stood out in his memory had been in the form of a green origami butterfly. Which was cool. But he thought he might be able to do better than that.
¡°System, please create a technique to create blue origami dragons capable of delivering messages to specific recipients at far distances. Please also imbue the creations with my Concept of Space so that it can skip a large portion of the distance between the sender and the recipient. Please purchase that technique to Mastery.¡±
|
Technique creation confirmed.
Host has learned the technique, Space Dragon Origami Messenger ¨C Mastery.
Host has 760 Sect Points available.
|
Perfect. Benton Quickstepped to an alley, triggered his new technique, and penned a note to Zou Tian.
There. If the boy had his feelings hurt at all, that should assuage them.
With that bit of necessary business out of the way, Benton moved on to his errands, beginning with replenishing herbs for the baths. Since he no longer had to hide, he Quickstepped from store to store, buying all each location had. By the time he finished, he figured he had enough for at least one thousand new Bronze baths.
More important, though, was obtaining enough herbs for fifty-four baths, twenty-seven each for Yang Xiu and Yang Ru. Now that they were Foundation Establishment cultivators, he wanted them to advance to the peak of Silver Body Cultivation as well.
The big challenge for that realm was finding a qi source that closely matched their aspects, but since they could manipulate their qi externally, that problem was solved. All they needed was for an alchemist to mix up the correct herbs. Though those ingredients would be much more expensive, the actual process should be only a little bit more difficult. Benton felt confident that Wan Ai could work it out.
He spent forty more Sect Points buying a Body Cultivation Method for each of his two exceptional disciples and used the knowledge he gained to make sure he bought the right herbs.
As he¡¯d expected, the higher quality ingredients required a higher quality store, which was actually a good thing. He was able to spend spirit coins instead of dipping further into his limited supply of silver.
That task accomplished, he quickly visited every street cart and restaurant he could easily access and purchased whatever meals they had handy, most of the time overpaying to avoid the lengthy process of having the cashier find correct change for him.
Finally, just as Benton was preparing to leave town, he spotted a candy store, and that jogged his memory. On his first trip so long ago, he had intended to buy some candy to give to the children, but that goal had completely slipped his mind.
As he walked out of the store having bought just about the entire stock, he smiled, thinking of the reactions the kids were going to have. Next stop, the Vermillion Incomparable Rain Town orphanage.
Chapter 181 – Condition of Membership
With the recent tragedy a little way in the rearview mirror and the unpleasantness in Sixth Flawless Flowing City dealt with, Benton could actually enjoy flying on a sword. It was as neat as he¡¯d hoped. The wind whipping through his hair. The sheer exhilaration of hurdling over the land at speed.
If anything back on Earth compared to the experience, he didn¡¯t know what it was. Obviously, he¡¯d flown before. Many times. But being crammed into a packed airplane was not nearly the same thing as standing on a flat piece of metal not much wider than his feet and just ¡ moving. Flying. Maybe hang gliding or parasailing or something like that would have come close to making him feel the same way, but he¡¯d never done any of those things.
To be honest, he had been a bit ¡ cautious in his old life. Death defying risks hadn¡¯t exactly been something he would have embraced.
Being isekai¡¯d to a new world was very liberating in that sense. That he had been given an opportunity of a brand-new start was already beyond anything he¡¯d expected. That fact combined with the feeling that he¡¯d already lived one full life made it a lot easier than he would have thought to risk himself battling fearsome cultivators and wild beasts.
His lack of regard for his personal safety made flying so, so fast hundreds of yards above the ground with nothing separating him from the ground other than a thin strip of metal exciting instead of terrifying. Well, that lack and the fact that, with his Body Cultivation and high Spiritual Cultivation realm, a fall even from that height at that speed wasn¡¯t likely to even hurt all that much.
Honestly, flying was a practical as it was fun, requiring less effort, less qi, and less concentration than Quickstepping. He also suspected that the flying sword was also, in a way, faster than the movement technique for long distances.
Benton couldn¡¯t help but remember how bored he¡¯d been the last time he¡¯d made the journey between the city and Vermillion Incomparable Rain Town. How slowly the wagons had moved. How long the trip had taken.
With his new flying sword, he reached his destination in way less than an hour. As he approached the orphanage, he began to feel a little bad. In the two months since he¡¯d last visited, he¡¯d barely even given the place a single thought.
He had, of course, provided them plenty of funds for food and clothes and asked Fatty Ren to look out for them, but the town surely had some number of beasts attack it during the tide. There was no guarantee than none of the creatures got inside the walls, meaning there was no guarantee that the orphanage survived unscathed.
It looked fine from the outside, though. No damage. No sign of recent construction or repairs. And kids were playing happily.
Good. They had apparently come through the tide just fine.
Even though he was only visiting for the third time and those visits were really spread out, the kids knew exactly who he was. Apparently, the street vendor meals he¡¯d fed them previously had been a huge hit because they surrounded him as soon as he walked close enough.
In contrast to when he¡¯d first found the place, the kids looked great. Well fed. New clothes that fit. They were all recently bathed. It seemed like Mistress Gong and her helpers were making good use of the money he¡¯d supplied.
Fantastic.
¡°You kids don¡¯t look hungry,¡± Benton said. ¡°What exactly do you think I¡¯ll give you?¡±
¡°We don¡¯t know,¡± one of the little guys said, ¡°but we¡¯re sure it¡¯ll be good!¡±
Benton laughed, removed a handful of candy from his ring, and distributed one to each of the kids. ¡°Try this. I think you¡¯ll like it.¡±
They did like it. They really liked it.
The commotion had attracted Mistress Gong, who met Benton at the door.
¡°Greetings, Esteemed Master Cultivator.¡±
The first time he¡¯d met her, the woman had been worn and beat down. The second time, she¡¯d appeared more rested but still weary. She looked even better than last time. No dark circles under her eyes. A new dress.
Good. Mistress Gong had taken on a thankless job, looking after the children when no one else would. She deserved to do well for herself.
He cupped his hands. ¡°It looks like you¡¯ve got things well in hand here.¡±
¡°Because of your generosity, Esteemed Master Cultivator.¡±
He got a brief status report from her. Fatty Ren had been taking a more active role in governing the town, and when the beasts came, he¡¯d been at the forefront of the defense. The attacks seemed relatively minor as far as Mistress Gong could tell, and she hadn¡¯t heard of any casualties or of any civilians being put in danger by the beasts.
The children had been doing as well as they looked. With the money he provided and, just as importantly, the help, the kids were getting fed three times a day. Other than the normal sniffles and bruises normally associated with childhood, they were all healthy and, as far as she could tell, as happy as kids in their situation could be.
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¡°How are the children you took to your village, Esteemed Master Cultivator?¡± she said.
¡°They all came through the tide great. They¡¯re growing and cultivating and, hopefully, having the time of their lives.¡±
She cupped her hands. ¡°Gratitude, Esteemed Master Cultivator.¡±
¡°That brings up a question, though. What are we going to do with the rest of you?¡±
She looked at him quizzically.
¡°The more stuff I get done, the more stuff I have yet to do,¡± Benton said. ¡°It was always my intention to, at some point, bring you and the rest of these kids back to the village, but once again, I need to get back quickly, which means that I cannot escort you right now.¡±
¡°It¡¯s no problem, Esteemed Master Cultivator. We¡¯re all doing fine here.¡±
¡°That does appear to be the case. Seeing as how things are looking up here in Vermilion Incomparable Rain Town, it might even be best for you to stay. Either way, I want you and the children to join my sect.¡±
¡°You want me, us, to be cultivators, Esteemed Master Cultivator?¡±
¡°To be clear, none of you have very much talent, so it is highly unlikely that any of you will be challenging the heavens or anything, but cultivation offers many advantages, mainly better health and a longer life. It would be highly beneficial to all of you to join.¡±
¡°Of course, Esteemed Master Cultivator. Gratitude.¡±
¡°As I see it, you have a few options. One, I can arrange guards to escort you back to the village. With the beast tide over, the way should be relatively safe. Two, you can wait until I return again. I promise I¡¯ll do my best to plan to bring you back with me next time. Three, you can remain here. My intention is to recruit the Town Lord into my sect so that he can create a branch here. I will have him prioritize adding you and your charges.¡±
¡°The children have lived here all their lives, Esteemed Master Cultivator. I would suspect that most of them harbor hopes that their parents will one day return. This one would prefer not to take them away from their home unless you believe it is beneficial to do so?¡±
Benton thought about it for a moment. With him starting a branch of the sect in Vermilion Incomparable Rain Town, there was no real reason for them to move to the village. The only hitch was that, in order to qualify for the System advancing him to Nascent Soul, he had to have half of his sect members living at the main sect grounds.
Still, that wasn¡¯t a hard task. He¡¯d soon have all the inducted villagers move to the grounds, so all he had to do was keep the membership at the village higher than the membership in town.
¡°Things seem to be better since we replaced the Town Manager, right?¡± Benton said. ¡°No more thugs taxing you right and left or anything like that?¡±
¡°Correct, Esteemed Master Cultivator.¡±
¡°Well, then, I see no reason for you to move.¡± He handed her a few message talismans. ¡°If you ever need me, simply write a note on one of these pages, and it will find me.¡±
¡°Gratitude, Master.¡±
They talked about the orphanage for a few more minutes, but there wasn¡¯t really anything else he could do for them as they had everything they needed. He promised to drop off more money for her with the manager he¡¯d established before he left town, and they parted amicably.
His next stop was Fatty Ren¡¯s palace.
¡°Greetings,¡± Benton said after Quickstepping into the Town Lord¡¯s combination cultivation and throne room.
¡°Friend Su! Welcome. You survived the beast tide, I see?¡±
They exchanged stories about recent events, with Fatty Ren being appropriately impressed with Benton singlehandedly beating a rank ten boss beast. The Town Lord''s adventures were tame in comparison. The highest rank he¡¯d had to fight was a five, and there were only a few of those. Between him and all the help provided by the sects, the town was never in any danger.
Benton finished up by explaining about the new sect he¡¯d created.
¡°That kind of brings me to the reason I dropped by,¡± Benton said. ¡°I¡¯d like you to join.¡±
Fatty Ren grimaced. ¡°It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t want to join your sect, my friend. It¡¯s just that it would put me in an awkward political situation. Being only affiliated with a sect that has been all but destroyed allows me to be on good terms with each of the big three.¡±
¡°I understand,¡± Benton said, ¡°and if you refuse, I will bear you no ill will. Neither will the refusal impact our friendship as far as I¡¯m concerned. I do think it¡¯s important, however, for you to hear the benefits before you make any decision.¡±
¡°Of course, Friend Su. Tell me of the advantages of your sect.¡±
Benton had been thinking for a while about the best way to get Fatty Ren to break through to Golden Core, and the obvious solution was to provide him with a pill. The Shop would charge him two points for one of those, however. Which, honestly, was fairly reasonable for the benefit it provided. He was positive that a lot of sect cultivators would cough blood to learn that their bottleneck could be resolved so easily.
Benton, however, had recently happened upon a better way, one that would cost him nothing at all. ¡°First, I¡¯ll give you access to a Trials Pagoda. Assuming you pass the trial, it will help you bypass your bottleneck. If you join me and for some reason are either unable to pass the trial or the reward isn¡¯t enough for you to breakthrough, I will provide you with a pill to do the job.¡±
Fatty Ren¡¯s eyes lit up. The man had been in the Foundation Establishment realm for more than twenty years. He had to be absolutely desperate to reach Golden Core.
¡°Additionally,¡± Benton said, ¡°I will provide you with a top heaven grade cultivation method perfectly suited to you personally as well as a single Foundation Establishment level technique of your choice, also top heaven grade.¡±
No cultivator could pass up such resources, and Fatty Ren was no different. ¡°I don¡¯t have a choice, Friend Su. I have to join your sect!¡± He paused. ¡°What about my fellow members of my former sect, though?¡±
Those members had had their cultivation damaged by the demonic cultivators and had been stuck at Qi Gathering for the last two decades. It was a sad situation, one that Benton was glad to have a chance at resolving.
¡°I¡¯ll examine each of them individually and see what can be done,¡± Benton said. ¡°Regardless, they¡¯ll be offered membership in my sect, but I honestly don¡¯t know what damage was done to them or if it can be reversed. I can only promise to determine what is wrong, figure out if it can be fixed, and if so, what the cost for the remedy would be.¡±
Fatty Ren cupped his hands. ¡°Gratitude, Friend Su.¡±
¡°As one of my sect members, there is one thing that I require of you.¡±
¡°Name it, Friend Su.¡±
¡°I need you to create a branch of my sect here in Vermillion Incomparable Rain Town and start recruiting. I care not about the quality of the talent, but I need numbers. Fast. Within a month, you are to set up an organization here and induct a minimum of two hundred members.¡±
Chapter 182 – A Complete Idiot
Benton offered to induct Fatty Ren into the Rising Tide Sect immediately, but the Town Lord was too concerned about his former and future fellow sect members to focus on his own advancement. He insisted on summoning them to the palace immediately.
Not wanting to waste time, Benton decided to bring up the organization of the sect and the new sect branch. Fatty Ren would obviously be the branch leader for Vermilion Incomparable Rain Town, but his high cultivation realm created a major issue for Benton.
¡°I like you, Fatty Ren. You¡¯re loyal and a diligent cultivator,¡± Benton said. ¡°We can do great things together. We¡¯ll build a fantastic sect.¡±
¡°But, Friend Su? I definitely sensed a ¡®but¡¯ coming.¡±
¡°But there is little trust between us, yet. As the second highest realmed cultivator in the entire sect, especially as one who will probably be advancing to Golden Core soon, you rightly should be placed second in command of the entire Rising Tide Sect, but I can¡¯t do that. For one thing, I have two core disciples who I intend to inherit the sect. You cannot be placed above them.¡±
Fatty Ren nodded. ¡°Fighting was something that came easy to me. Even before joining the sect, I was a big guy, stronger than others. And I wasn¡¯t afraid of pain. I excelled in the arena. Up until after my breakthrough to Foundation Establishment, my cultivation came easily to me, too.¡± He paused. ¡°I was never very ambitious, though. I didn¡¯t seek to lead missions or form a faction or even try to teach others my methods in the Martial Pavilion. I never asked to be City Lord.¡±
Benton was very relieved that the big guy wasn¡¯t planning on pushing to be put in what could be considered his rightful place. ¡°I am so glad you understand and promise to find ways to compensate you for being so agreeable. You will, of course, still be needed to fill a leadership role here. You understand that, right?¡±
¡°I understand, Friend Su. Duty is as heavy as a mountain.¡±
Benton snorted. ¡°Better than the alternative, death being light as a feather. Anyway, I am sorry to be adding more of a leadership burden on your plate. The good thing is that the travel time is minimal when flying, so I can be here as often as I need to be.¡± He removed a stack of message papers from his spatial ring and gave to Fatty Ren. ¡°Use these whenever you need.¡±
The Town Lord cupped his hands and accepted the papers.
¡°Honestly, I¡¯m not sure that I want to replicate pavilions here yet,¡± Benton said. ¡°For the first several months, all the new inductees will be doing is cultivating and learning weapons, anyway. As long as we provide them a space to do that, feed them, and take care of all their basic needs, there¡¯s not a lot of oversight required initially.¡±
¡°You said two hundred people, right, Friend Su? I can house that many here. It might be a little cramped as far as sleeping space, but there¡¯s plenty of room outside to cultivate and spar.¡±
¡°Perfect.¡±
Well, not exactly perfect. It was more like kicking the can down the road to be dealt with at a later time, but that was usually the case when it came to expediting projects. And the expansion of the sect to Vermillion Incomparable Rain Town was definitely a fast-tracked project, considering Benton had only started giving serious consideration to the idea in the last several days.
When he thought about the logistics, though, there was no reason that delaying the organization tasks shouldn¡¯t work. Fatty Ren could draw on the new Town Manager sent from Sixth Flawless Flowing City to organize food and other arrangements for the new members. Considering it would take most of them almost a month to reach Qi Gathering minor realm four, the point at which Benton would allow them to start learning techniques, he had plenty of time to figure out what the heck to do with them after that point.
The decisions weren¡¯t exactly difficult, but they were tricky. Should he send experienced people from the village to the town to be trainers? Or should he send the new inductees from the town to the village for training? Or perhaps, mix and match. Some stay in the town and some go to the village.
Ugh. Not decisions he wanted to make immediately. Maybe he should ask the advice of the full council. He sighed. If he found the time.
Yeah. Kick the can down the road. Definitely.
Soon after Benton and Fatty Ren reached that conclusion, the four former Righteous Rain Sect members arrived, and Fatty Ren introduced them.
¡°These three are my junior brothers¡ªSong Yongliang, who is in the seventh minor realm, and Su Cai and Dai Weimin, who are both in the fifth minor realm.¡± He moved over to stand beside the lone female. ¡°And this is my junior sister, Sun Jiao, who is in the sixth minor realm.¡±
¡°Greetings, junior cultivators. I am Chao Su, leader of the Rising Tide Sect.¡±
¡°Greetings, Esteemed Sect Leader,¡± the four chorused.
¡°City Lord Fatty Ren has decided to join my sect,¡± Benton said.
The four looked absolutely stunned.
¡°I guaranteed him that I will assist him in breaking through to Golden Core in the very near future,¡± Benton said.
¡°Was there a time limit given for this miraculous breakthrough?¡± Song Yongliang said.
Fatty Ren opened his mouth, probably to castigate his junior for being so rude in tone, in the content of his question, and in not using an honorific.
Benton held up a hand to forestall the Town Lord. ¡°It is good to be skeptical of promises, and you are right. I did not specify a time frame. My hope is to resolve the situation in a few days, but it could take as much as a week. Honestly, though, until we test a few approaches, I can¡¯t tell you how long it will take. All I can promise is that I will devote significant attention to the problem, and it will be resolved. Soon.¡±
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Song Yongliang looked like he wanted to object again, but Fatty Ren spoke up.
¡°Junior Brother, do not be rude again. Friend Su has proven himself to me, and I have the utmost confidence in his ability to deliver.¡±
Neither Song Yongliang nor the others looked happy, but no one further voiced concerns.
¡°Fatty Ren has summoned you so that I may examine each of you to determine how to correct the damage caused by the demonic cultivators¡¯ attacks,¡± Benton said.
The four looked just as skeptical about his current claim as they did the previous one.
¡°I make no promises about my ability to correct the damage, but I am extremely confident that no one on this continent is better equipped to diagnose the problem than I am.¡±
After a glare from Fatty Ren, none of them spoke. Song Yongliang, in particular, looked like he was biting his tongue to keep from voicing his complaint, but he didn¡¯t actually say anything.
Benton sighed. He could definitely relate to their suspicion, but it was mildly annoying all the same. In the end, though, their attitude didn¡¯t matter. As long as they complied with what he told them to do, he¡¯d let the matter slide.
Then again, he was a sect leader. Disrespecting him was disrespecting the sect. He didn¡¯t want to turn into a stereotypical cultivator who ran around demanding to be given face, but maybe a little lesson was in order.
He used his technique to increase the pull of gravity by ten times on each of the four Qi Gathering cultivators. The two ones in the fifth minor realm fell to their knees. The other two resisted.
Benton doubled the pull on the two still standing, forcing them to the ground. ¡°Whether you believe me or not is immaterial. Frankly, I don¡¯t care what you think. I am, however, a sect leader and a cultivator much, much higher in realm than you. You will extend me respect.¡±
All four of them cupped their hands.
¡°Apologies, Esteemed Sect Leader,¡± Song Yongliang said. ¡°This lowly one forgot himself, having not been in an actual sect in twenty years.¡±
Benton released the Gravity technique and reflected on what he had just done. He¡¯d forced four people into a submissive position just because they weren¡¯t being respectful enough to him. That was not something he would have done back on Earth even if he¡¯d had the ability to do so.
Living on a cultivation planet was changing him.
Then again, he wasn¡¯t sure his actions were incorrect. Providing protection to his weak sect members meant being a true sect leader. There was a reason that people in his position demanded respect. If those four cultivators didn¡¯t fear him, his existence didn¡¯t provide the deterrent he and his disciples needed.
¡°Very well,¡± he said. ¡°Keep your opinions to yourselves, even from your faces, and do what I tell you to do, and I will forget this unpleasantness. Song Yongliang, come forward and give me your hand.¡±
As the young man hesitantly walked forward, Benton scanned him.
| Name: |
Song Yongliang |
| Affiliation: |
Vermilion Incomparable Rain Town |
| Age: |
34 |
| Cultivation: |
Qi Gathering - Minor Realm Seven |
| Qi Available: |
??? |
| Techniques: |
Flowing River Steps ¨C Mastery; Obscuring Waves ¨C Mastery; Righteous Rain Sword Art ¨C Mastery |
| Spiritual Roots: |
C+ |
| Qi Aspect: |
Torrent of rushing rapids cascading over a fall |
The first bit of information was exactly what Benton had expected as far as name, age, and realm went. Like with Fatty Ren, the man¡¯s affiliation was associated with the town instead of the sect. Maybe its destruction had removed it as a valid organization? There were a lot of things like that about the System that Benton didn¡¯t know.
He also didn¡¯t know what the two techniques other than the sword art did, but he could guess that the first was some kind of movement skill and the other maybe something to do with stealth? The interesting thing was that they were all at Mastery.
Usually, once a cultivator mastered all his techniques, he¡¯d find a new one to start working on. Either the young man followed a different philosophy, or he didn¡¯t have access to any other techniques.
His spiritual roots were fine, equal to Kang Lin¡¯s prior to her recent upgrade, and his water related aspect was somewhat expected as a former member of the Righteous Rain sect.
Benton grabbed the young man¡¯s hand and sent a pulse of qi through his body. The results the spiritual sense returned were interesting. There wasn¡¯t a thing wrong with him.
His cultivation was fine, exactly what Benton would have expected for someone in the seventh minor realm of Qi Gathering. The cultivation method being used was inferior to anything one of Benton¡¯s disciples had access to, but it wasn¡¯t horrible. There was no reason Song Yongliang shouldn¡¯t be well into the Foundation Establishment realm.
Literally. Benton didn¡¯t find even the slightest discord. Likewise, there was no damage to the dantian, meridians, or channels. According to everything that Benton could find, the young man should be sailing through the minor realms.
¡°Interesting,¡± Benton said, dropping the hand. ¡°Sun Jiao, as the second highest realmed, I¡¯ll examine you next. Please let me touch your finger.¡±
The young woman was demonstratively more reticent than Song Yongliang, but she bravely stepped forward and extended her hand. Benton grabbed it and sent a pulse of qi into her body, finding the same thing as he had with the young man. She was perfectly healthy with only the most minor of discords, one that shouldn¡¯t have prevented her from breaking through to the next major realm, much less the next minor one.
After releasing her hand, Benton discovered that she, too, had mastered three techniques and had a water related qi aspect. Sun Jiao¡¯s talent was slightly inferior to Song Yongliang¡¯s at a C- but was still quite respectable.
There was no reason for either of those two not to be advancing.
By that point, Benton was engrossed in figuring out the problem. He curtly ordered the other two young men to be examined in turn. Both of them were D ranked and had mastered three techniques. Dai Weimin was water aspected.
Finding three out of the four to match the sect¡¯s obvious qi preference was against Benton¡¯s expectations. Neither Su¡¯s old sect nor the Poison Claw Sect was close to being so homogenous. Since Water was one of the five primary elements, cultivators with that aspect were much more common than any particular secondary element, so presumably, the Righteous Rain Sect might have had more of an ability to be highly selective regarding the qi aspect of their members.
Regardless, none of that mattered to the problem at hand. The point was that all four of the cultivators should be advancing without issue. Benton couldn¡¯t find the problem.
After all his previous bluster in telling them how qualified he was to diagnose the issue, announcing the fact that he couldn¡¯t was going to make him look like a complete idiot. Crap.
Chapter 183 – Soul Man
More than a little frustrated, Benton was just about to open his mouth and admit that he could not diagnose the issue with the four Qi Gathering cultivators when a thought struck him.
What the heck was he doing? He wasn¡¯t a normal cultivator who had to figure things out on his own. He was a cheating cheater who cheats.
¡°System,¡± he said internally, ¡°is there a technique that I can purchase that will help me figure out what is wrong with these cultivators and, even better, tell me how to fix it?¡±
| Host could upgrade the Analyze technique to use externally manipulated qi to examine a subject¡¯s soul. For maximum effect, it is recommended that Host also form a Concept of Soul qi as well. |
That response was interesting as it implied that the source of the damage was the soul instead of the body, the mind, or any part of the qi circulatory system. No wonder Benton hadn¡¯t been able to sense anything wrong.
¡°System, what kind of Concept should I form to help me with this endeavor?¡±
| Any Concept centered around Soul as a qi aspect will be sufficient as the purpose is to make use of the technique more effective with supercharged qi. |
From the wording of the original response, he should have guessed that answer. Heck, he probably would have figured it out on his own had he stopped to think about it.
¡°System, please add to the functionality of Analyze to give it the ability to examine a subject¡¯s soul. Please also purchase the Concept of Soul as a qi aspect that is the element that forms the immaterial essence of a person. Please purchase both at Mastery.¡±
|
Concept creation purchase confirmed.
Upgrade of technique, Analyze ¨C Mastery, confirmed.
Host has 700 Sect Points available.
|
Seven hundred? Wow. It wasn¡¯t that long ago that he¡¯d had over eight hundred and fifty. He¡¯d been spending points like they were going out of style.
Hmm. His purchases had been useful if not completely necessary, but he might have to put himself back on a budget if his total kept trending downward.
After a moment of internal debate, he decided to endeavor to keep his total at seven hundred or above unless an actual emergency arose. Considering he was expecting to gain at least two hundred and fifty points in the next month just from new inductees, that goal seemed readily attainable and not too restrictive.
Perfect.
Fatty Ren and the four Qi Gathering cultivators had been watching Benton closely, and he grew a bit embarrassed. They must have thought he had a screw loose by that point.
¡°Sorry about the delay,¡± Benton said. ¡°I was just processing all the information my examination technique returned. The bad news is that I didn¡¯t determine the exact problem. The good news is that I narrowed down exactly what to do next. I¡¯ll need to examine each of you one more time, though.¡±
Each of the four looked hesitant.
¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Benton said. ¡°It will be the same as last time. Just a quick touch so I can send a small pulse of qi into you. There¡¯s no pain and no danger.¡±
Song Yongliang, either the denoted or de facto leader of the four by virtue of having reached the seventh minor realm, stepped forward and held out his hand.
¡°Good man,¡± Benton said, taking hold of the proffered finger.
Much the same as last time, he sent a burst of qi into the young man¡¯s body, the difference being that Benton commanded the qi to examine the soul instead of any other part of his being. The directive must have worked because, when the qi burst returned, his mind was flooded with information about the young man¡¯s soul.
There was damage. Extensive damage. Benton lacked the words to describe exactly what was damaged or how it was damaged or really anything related to the soul or its damage, but there was definitely a problem, one that would not be easy to resolve.
He frowned.
¡°Did you find the issue, Friend Su?¡± Fatty Ren said.
¡°I¡¯m afraid I did. I still want to examine the others to make sure, though.¡±
Benton carried through on the actions called for by his words, examining Sun Jiao, Su Cai, and Dai Weimin each in turn. They all had the same type of damage as Song Yongliang.
¡°System,¡± Benton said internally, ¡°can I buy a soul healing technique?¡±
| No technique exists to heal the soul. |
That answer was unfortunate, but Benton had learned not to give up that easily.
¡°System, is there any way to repair soul damage, or is it permanent?¡±
| Soul damage can be repaired through Soul Cultivation. |
Further questioning revealed that, though any Soul Cultivation would work eventually, the process would be greatly aided by Benton creating a specific Soul Cultivation method tailored to repair damage caused by demonic cultivators. He also found out that cultivation of a Manifestation realm cultivation method to peak should be sufficient to heal Qi Gathering cultivators completely.
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
Just to cover all his bases, he also made sure there were no pills or other alchemical solutions to the issue. There weren¡¯t.
Benton sighed. He had not fifteen minutes prior resolved not to spend any more Sect Points unless there was a true emergency, but there he was about to spend twenty-five more.
¡°Time for the official diagnosis,¡± Benton said. ¡°The first bit of good news is that there is no damage to your bodies or cultivation. In fact, all four of you have a solid foundation, and once the issue is finally resolved, you should be able to continue on to Foundation Establishment without more problems.¡±
The three men stared at him stoically, but he detected a bit of hope in Sun Jiao¡¯s eyes.
¡°The bad news is that the attacks from the demonic cultivators damaged your souls,¡± Benton said.
The eyes of each of the five people in the room with him widened at that news. Though soul damage was not a completely unfamiliar circumstance, Soul Cultivation and any techniques dealing with the soul were not widely known or practiced. If one suffered such damage, one usually just dealt with the ramifications of it. Permanently. There was no cure.
After the initial shock, Song Yongliang looked resigned to his fate. The others nodded in sad acceptance as well.
¡°The final bit is more good news,¡± Benton said. ¡°I can provide each of you with a Soul Cultivation method that will mend the damage. Cultivating the method will not be a quick fix as the Manifestation realm takes about the same amount of time as Qi Gathering, between one to two years for such talented individuals as yourself. I am confident, however, that by the time you reach peak, your souls will be healed. In fact, you should see gradual improvement, hopefully allowing you to improve your Spiritual Cultivation before reaching peak.¡±
Fatty Ren clapped enthusiastically. ¡°That¡¯s wonderful news, Friend Su! Thank you!¡±
The others¡¯ reactions were more muted. Benton met Sun Jiao¡¯s eyes. The surety of disappointment warred with hope on her face.
¡°What is the price of this cure, Esteemed Sect Leader?¡± Song Yongliang said.
He kept his tone and words respectful, but scorn and doubt wormed their way in. Benton thought for a moment about punishing the young man but couldn¡¯t. He had suffered two decades of disappointment. How many times must he have thought to have found a cure only to suffer anguish when it didn¡¯t work? Lacking the discipline to keep his true feelings from his voice wasn¡¯t worthy of reprimand.
¡°For one outside my sect, the method is literally priceless. It is not something any of you can afford,¡± Benton said. ¡°For one who is a member of my sect, it is free.¡±
He could practically see the wheels spinning in the four Qi Gathering cultivators¡¯ heads, and without Su¡¯s memories in his head, he probably would have thought, ¡°What¡¯s the big deal?¡± They could just join the sect, get the cultivation method, and then quit.
But things didn¡¯t work like that in real life. Leaving a sect happened, but it wasn¡¯t an easy process. And ex-sect members typically had a heck of a time getting accepted anywhere else. Besides that, joining a sect under false pretenses wasn¡¯t something a cultivator with any honor did.
Well, except when directed to do so by sect elders of a sect you¡¯re already a member of, meaning spying. That practice, somehow, was considered to be perfectly honorable and acceptable. Go figure.
Unless someone in the big three was playing a two-decade long game on the off chance that a super powerful cultivator showed up and established a fledgling sect in the area, though, Benton figured he didn¡¯t have to worry about that particular motivation for any of those four to join up.
¡°Can we examine the promised cultivation method before making our decision, Esteemed Sect Leader?¡± Song Yongliang said.
That was a reasonable request, and the young man had done an admirable job that time of keeping his skepticism out of his voice.
Benton silently brought up the Soul Cultivation menu and started off by selecting the first realm, Manifestation. The next screen was the one where he had to make real decisions.
|
Please allocate 100 Soul Cultivation Method Creation Points in the following categories:
Inviolability
Attribute Enhancement:
- Size
- Strength
- Tempering
|
From memory from the first and only other method he¡¯d created, Soul Inviolability involved protection against demonic attacks, so higher was obviously better. He wasn¡¯t sure, however, if having a method high in that facet was akin to locking the barn door after the cows got out. Would that help the four heal faster or not?
There were three attributes that could be enhanced. Increased size typically led to the person leading a more fulfilled life¡ªfinding more enjoyment, being more empathetic, making it easier to love. That kind of thing. Those were all really good quality of life things that he wanted for his sect members, but he wasn¡¯t sure how it helped with healing damage.
The second attribute, Strength, seemed more on point to Benton¡¯s purposes. A stronger soul was more resistant to attacks, had the potential to ease Spiritual Cultivation, and might even lead to development of abilities like astral projection. All of that was really cool. Preventing damage was really good. But again, did increasing the attribute help with correcting damage that was already present?
The third attribute, Tempering, was just as practical. Tempering a soul increased one¡¯s capacity to hold and use qi, which was obviously crucial for a cultivator. It also made one¡¯s body healthier and more vigorous, which was of more limited usefulness for people with access to Body Cultivation. Did making the body healthier include healing soul damage, though?
Even with his basic knowledge of the soul cultivation at Mastery, he didn¡¯t feel like an expert on the subject. Any or all of the four categories might be absolutely necessary for healing, but he just didn¡¯t know. Luckily, he had access to a source that surely did.
Being the cheating cheater who cheats that he was, he followed his normal procedure and asked the System.
| When concerned primarily with attacks by demonic cultivators, Inviolability is the best for preventing damage. Size has almost zero impact. Strength is critical for a soul repairing itself after being damaged. And Tempering aids the soul adjusting to changes, which is important for individuals whose souls have been damaged and then repaired. |
Awesome.
For the particular application regarding the four soul-damaged Qi Gathering cultivators, Size was obviously the least important of the categories. He mentally set that value to five.
The other three were all important but not equally so. Inviolability was needed because he didn¡¯t want those four healed only to be helpless if they again encountered demonic cultivators. On the other hand, the category was not imperative to address their immediate concerns. He chose fifteen for the value.
The System¡¯s description made it sound like Tempering would aid in the recovery process in a way that, frankly, wasn¡¯t clear to Benton. Since it seemed to be important, he allocated twenty-five points to the category.
That left fifty-five for the most important attribute, Strength.
He felt pretty darn good with that distribution, so he locked it in, leaving only the name. Building on the convention he used for his last method, he settled on the first thing that popped into his head and confirmed the purchase.
|
Name accepted.
Congratulations, Host, on the purchase of the Restoration from Effects of Dark Incarnation Soul Cultivation Method.
Host has 675 Sect Points available.
|
He chuckled. The four cultivators would be REDI for anything once they began cultivating that method.
On the other hand, yikes! One purchase and he was already so far below the seven-hundred-point bottom line he¡¯d set for himself. Now all he had to do was hope the four Qi Gathering cultivators were impressed enough with the method to actually join his sect so he could begin to recoup some of those points.
Chapter 184 – An Exciting Twenty Years
Benton summoned four copies of the new REDI Soul Cultivation method from his spatial ring and distributed one each to the four former Righteous Rain Sect Qi Gathering cultivators. Each immediately dove their consciousness into the respective jade slip.
Song Yongliang was the first to finish his brief examination. ¡°This is a Soul Cultivation method.¡±
Benton wasn¡¯t sure exactly how to respond to that statement. He had promised, after all, to provide exactly that. ¡°Yes?¡±
At the commotion, the three other Qi Gathering cultivators raised their heads, their faces stunned.
¡°This one has never even seen a Soul Cultivation method, Esteemed Sect Leader,¡± the young man said. ¡°And the one provided, to this lowly one¡¯s insufficient powers of observation, appears to be high quality. Very high quality.¡±
¡°Of course. I only provide top heaven grade methods and techniques to my sect members.¡±
Benton almost laughed as he watched the contortions happening to the young man¡¯s face in reaction to that statement. With the initial confusion cleared up, Benton was starting to enjoy the conversation. Providing unexpecting people with things they couldn¡¯t imagine ever even seeing much less owning was definitely one of the best parts of his new life.
Song Yongliang looked to Fatty Ren for confirmation.
¡°I have not had personal experience with such marvelous scriptures from Friend Su yet,¡± Fatty Ren cast a hopeful look at Benton. ¡°But Elder Kang Ya-Ting of the Poison Claw Sect has vouched for their quality. I was also able to examine a sword technique that was gifted to a Poison Claw Sect member. It was confirmed to be top heaven grade.¡±
Song Yongliang sank to the ground and kowtowed, his face literally touching the floor. ¡°This lowly one apologizes for doubting the Esteemed Sect Leader.¡±
The young man¡¯s three companions quickly followed suit.
¡°So,¡± Benton said, ¡°I take it that you four are interesting in joining my sect?¡±
Fatty Ren hadn¡¯t been so happy in quite some time. As a soon to be new member of the Rising Tide Sect, he would have a genuine elder, the sect leader no less, to lean on for decisions. Running the town for the last twenty years had been so stressful, and Fatty Ren had never felt comfortable asking any of the important elders back in Sixth Flawless Flowing City for assistance as they were always so busy and probably had more significant issues to deal with the whatever problem he was concerned about.
When Sect Leader Chao Su had breezed into town and exposed the corruption of the former town manager, Fatty Ren had felt so bad. His citizens had suffered because he hadn¡¯t done his job correctly. He really should have asked for help.
That moment had been something of a turning point for him. Since then, he¡¯d been much more involved in the actual governance of the town, and hearing the townspeople cheer for him when he killed spirit beasts had been really nice.
Still, he couldn¡¯t help but feel out of his depth.
In comparison to those old elders in the city, Sect Leader Chao Su felt approachable, more like a kind friend than an important man who was too busy to talk to anyone. Granted, the sect leader was definitely an important and busy person, but Fatty Ren still felt like it was okay to ask for advice.
It was with some trepidation, however, that he agreed to take on the responsibilities for running a branch of the sect as well. He made sure that his former and current sect brothers and sister would join at that same time. If there was anyone in the world he trusted, it was those four. They¡¯d all gone through so much together. And they were all very competent.
If any of them had reached Foundation Establishment instead of him, he was sure they¡¯d already be at Golden Core, and the town would have thrived under their leadership. He should have appointed one of them town manager instead of that scummy merchant. It was just that, at the time, all of them had been so focused on trying to get their cultivation healed.
Well, that problem was hopefully resolved. Not immediately, of course, but Fatty Ren trusted Sect Leader Chao Su when he said that cultivating the method he¡¯d gifted would fix the issue right up. In a couple of years, their souls would be right as rain once more, and they could all proceed to Foundation Establishment.
Yay! He was so happy that had worked out.
He was also quite glad that the four had apologized so strenuously to Sect Leader Chao Su. For a few moments there, Fatty Ren had feared the whole situation was going to turn out really poorly. It had been so much of a relief when the four had completely given up their suspicions.
¡°Great,¡± Sect Leader Chao Su said. ¡°I plan to get you inducted into the sect before I leave today, but first there¡¯s some business to discuss, namely what I need you to do in the immediate future to further my goals and the goals of the sect.¡±
His first instruction was to reiterate the mission he¡¯d given to Fatty Ren¡ªinducting two hundred members into the sect before the end of the month, regardless of talent. The sect leader followed that message with a directive to begin recruitment with the members of the orphanage. The unfathomable thing about that directive was that he also provided a list of those under the age of fourteen who were able to already begin cultivation.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
Fatty Ren had so many questions. How did the sect leader know which kids could cultivate? Did he test every single one of them just in case? Why? Since he had specifically said he didn¡¯t care about talent level, why not just choose the ones that were fourteen or above instead?
Before Fatty Ren was able to decide if he should voice those questions or not, the second instruction was being delivered. He was to travel to the village two days hence to attempt a trial to break through his bottleneck. Apparently, the pagoda only allowed one attempt per day, and the slots for both today and tomorrow were already filled.
¡°It¡¯s a long journey to the village,¡± Sect Leader Chao Su said. ¡°Leave as soon as you¡¯re able in order to make it in time, preferably before nightfall.¡±
¡°That¡¯s not necessary, Friend Su. That journey should take only a matter of hours for me. I am, after all, at the peak of Foundation Establishment.¡±
The sect leader looked genuinely surprised at the news, which was awesome. It felt pretty good to be the one shocking him for a change!
The third instruction was much more problematic. Apparently, there had been some conflict with the Jade Chameleon Sect, and anyone from that sect was to be considered Rising Tide¡¯s sworn enemies. The Poison Claw Sect, at least, was still a close friend, and for the moment, Swift Blizzard was neutral. Sect Leader Chao Su directed them to be very careful if encountering any members of the enemy sect.
¡°Should we seek to make moves against the against any Jade Chameleons we encounter, Friend Su?¡±
Sect Leader Chao Su¡¯s answer to that question had led to the fourth instruction. They should keep their membership in the Rising Tide Sect on the down low for the time being. From context, Fatty Ren determined that the odd phrase meant that they shouldn¡¯t advertise their new affiliation, which was a very odd thing to hear from a sect leader.
When Fatty Ren made his confusion known, Sect Leader Chao Su said, ¡°I understand. I wish we could be out in the open about all this, and eventually, we will be. At the moment, though, I want all our enemy¡¯s attention focused solely on me. I want the five of you to be safe. The fewer targets they have, the better.¡±
Fatty Ren was almost positive that the leadership of the Righteous Rain Sect had never given a single thought about the safety of its members. From the start, it appeared that his new sect would be much different from his old one.
That feeling was cemented when Sect Leader Chao Su said. ¡°I probably should leave you with some additional resources just in case they¡¯re needed for anything.¡±
He grimaced for a moment, and then his eyes started darting around at nothing in particular. Once they¡¯d stilled again, he began producing spirit coins in his hand. He gave eleven to Fatty Ren and began making more.
Fatty Ren examined them. They were all infused with Gluttony aspected qi. All eleven of them! One held ten thousand qi and the others a thousand each.
By the time he¡¯d gotten over his shock enough to speak, Sect Leader Chao Su had handed stacks of six coins to Fatty Ren¡¯s sect brothers and sister. Each stack held one ten thousand qi coin and five one thousand qi coins. The three Water aspected cultivators had received coins of that element, and the final one, Su Cai, had also received coins matching his qi aspect, Lightning.
It was not beyond the realm of possibility for a single cultivator to produce spirit coins infused with three different qi aspects, but to be able to produce the exact three that corresponded to the cultivators one was gifting the coins to was unfathomable. There was no way Sect Leader Chao Su somehow used Gluttony, Water, and Lightning as his elements. Fatty Ren had never even met anyone else who used his element, and Lightning, though common in terms of a secondary element, was still relatively scarce as well.
¡°That¡¯s about it,¡± Sect Leader Chao Su said. ¡°I really want to get back to the village as soon as possible since I left the sect members there in a hurry. They need to hear about what¡¯s happened since. I also need to pick up some more buildings from the old sect site. Any issue with me doing that?¡±
Fatty Ren cupped his hands. ¡°Take whatever you need, Sect Leader.¡±
Sect Leader Chao Su smiled. ¡°Gratitude. I¡¯ll take you up on that this time. After all, you can basically request anything you need from me as my branch sect leader.¡± He paused. ¡°There¡¯s just one more thing we need to take care of before I induct you five into the sect¡ªdo you have guards who can watch over you while you¡¯re incapacitated?¡±
¡°Incapacitated, Friend Su?¡±
The sect leader grinned. ¡°Something is going to happen as soon as you accept the invitation to join my sect that has the potential to be a great benefit to you. At the same time, accepting that benefit will cause you so much pain that you¡¯ll be out of commission for about half a day. I definitely recommend trustworthy guards.¡±
The five of them looked at each other.
¡°Can you explain more about this benefit, Friend Su?¡±
¡°Not without spoiling the surprise.¡±
Fatty Ren was pretty sure that the sect leader¡¯s response meant there was no way to pry any more information out of him, so a squad of palace guards were sent for and, when they arrived, given instructions to stand guard for at least twelve hours.
As soon as protection was arranged, Sect Leader Chao Su had the five of them spread out and make themselves comfortable. He then made a speech that culminated in him declaring them new members of the Rising Tide Sect.
Literally the instant he declared them to be so, Fatty Ren felt something. A surety. An instinct. Something. He became absolutely positive that, if he wanted to, he could meditate and improve his spiritual roots by one minor rank.
Which of course made no sense. There were few ways to improve one¡¯s spiritual roots, and none of them occurred randomly after a bit of meditation. On the other hand, he had never been so positive about anything in his life.
Finally, he realized that the improvement was the surprise that Sect Leader Chao Su had mentioned. Choosing to accept it would result in great pain for the next twelve hours, but that consideration was trivial. What were twelve hours of agony compared to a lifetime of benefit?
There was no choice involved.
Before he made that decision official and began meditating, however, Fatty Ren couldn¡¯t help but think, ¡°Who in the heavens have I gotten involved with?¡±
Improving spiritual roots as a benefit to joining a sect was not normal. Giving access to a Trials Pagoda that could overcome bottlenecks was not normal. Handing out top heaven grade cultivation methods and techniques was not normal.
He was positive that the next twenty years, if he survived that long, were sure to be more exciting than the last twenty.
Chapter 185 – Fly to the Moon
Benton truly loved flying. It was fast and practical and exhilarating. Even though he could do all manner of crazy superhuman things like manipulating gravity and slinging around lightning bolts, zipping through the air on a thin piece of metal made him feel more like he belonged on the pages of a comic book than any of those other abilities.
He had Quickstepped from the palace to several hundred feet in the air about a half mile from the old Righteous Rain Sect grounds, smoothly ejected his flying sword from his spatial ring, used his preternatural coordination and balance to land his feet on the blade, and flew the rest of the way in seconds.
Too cool.
The trip to pick up some more buildings wasn¡¯t as exciting as last time, but it was necessary. He only had housing for a few hundred sect members at present, a number that was almost equaled by his current roster. Considering that his plans were to rapidly expand, he needed more places for his sect members to live.
Luckily, placing the pavilions and a bunch of other structures had freed up storage space, so he was able to quickly acquire two more apartment buildings, a score of single-family houses, and thirty more individual dwellings.
There. His new acquisition of structures would provide housing for another two hundred people or so, enough to last a few months. Since he planned on making more frequent trips back to Vermilion Incomparable Rain Town what with the new branch of his sect and all, he didn¡¯t need to get everything he might ever want at once. Filling the immediate need was fine.
Besides, between Quickstep and flying, the trip from the village was super fast, less than an hour.
Of course, the limiting factor on how much he grabbed wasn¡¯t storage space. It was time. He was eager to get back to his disciples. Leaving them so abruptly on the heels of them suffering such a tragedy didn¡¯t sit right with him.
With the orphanage visited, Fatty Ren and the Qi Gathering cultivators officially recruited into the fold, and the buildings collected, Benton only had one more errand before leaving town, one he considered waiting until the next trip to deal with¡ªdropping more taels off with the money manager supplying Mistress Gong. After all, they should still have plenty of funds.
The only reason he didn¡¯t procrastinate was that he¡¯d specifically told her that he¡¯d take care if it before leaving town, and it wouldn¡¯t do for the sect leader to start breaking his word. Trust was hard to gain and easy to lose.
So reluctantly, he Quickstepped to the house in question and dropped off another couple of thousand silver taels. Feeding and clothing over thirty kids cost a lot, especially when combined with paying Mistress Gong and her assistants, and Benton was starting to run low on cash. Luckily, spirit coins had value, and the money manager indicated he¡¯d have no problems converting them into something easier to spend.
Benton handed him a fist full of coins containing a thousand qi each of a random aspect.
¡°Esteemed Master Cultivator,¡± the man said, ¡°this is too much. I could fund the orphanage for years with this amount.¡±
Benton shrugged. ¡°Perfect. I¡¯ll assume that the finances are well in hand for the foreseeable future, then. Feel free to invest the surplus. Use your judgment but err on the conservative side.¡±
The man kowtowed, obviously terrified by the responsibility. Which made sense. He was in a very tricky position.
Cultivators represented almost ultimate authority in matters of such business arrangements because it wasn¡¯t like the Emperor¡¯s people would stick their necks out for a commoner. If Benton decided he was being cheated, no one would question him if he decided to execute the guy.
¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± Benton said. ¡°If something weird happens and you lose some of it, that¡¯s fine. Just make sure there¡¯s a paperwork trail for an audit, and as long as you can defend your thinking at the time, I¡¯m not going to punish you for a business having a weird downturn. Just do your best, okay?¡±
The man cupped his hands, and Benton quickly departed, eager to get back to the village. It wasn¡¯t like the errand had taken a horribly long time; it was just that those visits always seemed to take a lot longer than they should with the guy making sure he wrote all of Benton¡¯s instructions down and then having the paperwork signed.
Of course, Benton could have dispensed with all that work by exercising his right as enforced by his might, but the guy was just protecting himself. As a former middle manager, Benton fully understood the necessity of getting everything in writing. It was just that the practice was so, so much easier when everyone had email.
Which reminded him¡ªhe really needed to think about Earthifying the sect some. Modern conveniences like emails would be great for making things run more efficiently, and he¡¯d already planned on bringing things like movies to his new world. He¡¯d just been so busy with everything else that he hadn¡¯t had a chance to do any of that.
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Maybe he should create an Inventions Pavilion.
Oh. He liked that idea. He liked it very much.
Hmm.
Benton put a halt to that line of thinking. He had much more important issues on his mind, starting with getting back to the village to check on his people. Highest on his priority list after that was recruitment. He needed to get to Nascent Soul as soon as possible to provide adequate protection for the sect.
Then again¡ Number of members wasn¡¯t the only criteria. He also needed at least half of his members living on the sect grounds, which he was working on. The last big factor, though, was a big one. He had to keep his average loyalty rating at six point five or above.
It was a given that a random person he recruited off the street wouldn¡¯t be as loyal to him as his current members, meaning his value would likely decrease with each new inductee. Providing something as cool as movies might help win people over, right?
Okay. He¡¯d maybe devote some time to the subject when he could.
Benton again Quickstepped into the open air hundreds of feet high at a distance well on his way toward the village and started flying. As he¡¯d predicted, it took less than an hour for the familiar Orange Vigor Spirit Wood walls to come into view.
Finally.
Though he¡¯d only been gone less than two days, it felt like forever, especially as they all must have been grieving over Ye Zan¡¯s death. He should have been there for them.
The plaza was sparsely populated, but he sensed a bunch of people in the Wood. He assumed that the ones not actively engaged in harvesting were probably making use of the increased qi to cultivate. He Quickstepped to an empty area and discovered that his educated guess was correct.
Word of his arrival spread quickly, and soon, Yang Xiu and Kang Lin had quickly approached.
¡°Where¡¯s Yang Ru?¡± Benton said.
¡°Escorting his team of beast processors back, Master.¡± Yang Xiu said. ¡°They should be here tomorrow.¡±
Ah. Yang Ru must have rushed back to investigate the fight, stayed to participate in the Trials Pagoda, and then returned to his team to finish his duty. Since Huang Yimun had presumably remained with the others for protection, Yang Ru¡¯s actions were acceptable given the expected threat level.
To an extent. Maybe he should have gone back immediately instead of attempting a trial at the pagoda?
Benton wasn¡¯t going to second guess the boy to that degree, though. Micromanaging was not good.
¡°How are things?¡± Benton said. ¡°Is everyone doing okay?¡±
The two looked at each other.
¡°We¡¯re all angry, Master,¡± Yang Xiu said finally. ¡°We want to punish the people who killed Ye Zan.¡±
Benton understood that sentiment. He really understood that sentiment.
¡°I take some things as my prerogative as sect leader. That is one of them.¡± Benton described his actions in Sixth Flawless Flowing City, killing fifteen more of the Jade Chameleon Golden Core cultivators and completely laying waste to their branch sect.
¡°Fifteen, Master? Fifteen?¡± Kang Lin said. ¡°And you destroyed their entire grounds? Buildings and everything? There was nothing left?¡±
¡°Correct.¡±
Yang Xiu huffed. ¡°Master should have destroyed even more. Ye Zan was worth a thousand of those Golden Core cultivators.¡±
Benton understood exactly what she meant, but Kang Lin went white as a sheet. Which he also understood. In her world, a single Golden Core cultivator was more valuable than literally any number of Qi Gathering cultivators. There was simply no comparison.
¡°I wanted to, Yang Xiu. Believe me. But my priority had to be your safety and your brother¡¯s safety and the safety of everyone else in the sect and in the village. We¡¯re basically at war right now with the Jade Chameleons. Going overboard would have risked the Emperor¡¯s faction and the Swift Blizzard Sect joining them. In those circumstances, I¡¯m not even sure that the Poison Claw Sect could have afforded to remain standing next to us. A measured approach was called for.¡±
From Kang Lin¡¯s expression, she was having a hard time seeing what he¡¯d described as a ¡°measured approach.¡±
¡°Our sect is different, Kang Lin,¡± Benton said. ¡°Ye Zan and all these kids, including you, are like my grandchildren. Family. If someone killed your family member, what would you do?¡±
Her tensed posture eased somewhat. ¡°When put like that, Master, I understand. I mean, I liked Ye Zan, too. He was a good person and excellent at his job. It¡¯s just¡¡±
¡°That wholesale destruction of an entire sect branch and more than a dozen Golden Core cultivators isn¡¯t the typical response to the loss of a single Qi Gathering cultivator?¡±
¡°Yes, Master.¡±
¡°If it helps, I discussed the matter with your grandfather and Elder Dai before following through with the attack, and they were both present when I did so.¡±
¡°That does make me feel better.¡± Kang Lin cupped her hands. ¡°Gratitude, Master.¡±
¡°Now, why don¡¯t you tell me why it¡¯s so late in the day and you haven¡¯t tried the Trials Pagoda yet?¡± Benton said.
¡°Uh¡¡±
¡°Just spit it out,¡± Benton said.
¡°I¡¯m not a member of your sect, Master.¡±
¡°What was that thing you called me at the end of your sentence there?¡±
Kang Lin gritted her teeth. ¡°I called you Master.¡±
¡°Really? Did you mean it?¡±
If anything, she ground her teeth together even harder. ¡°I did, Master.¡±
She spit out that last word, so Benton decided it was probably time to stop teasing her.
¡°You are my disciple. Period. I¡¯ll say it again¡ªour sect is different. You are no less our family than any of these other kids. Okay?¡±
¡°Okay, Master.¡±
¡°What are you waiting for, then?¡± Benton said.
Kang Lin sighed. ¡°I guess I¡¯ll go to the Trials Pagoda now, then.¡±
Kang Lin was seriously conflicted. On one hand, she had been taught since birth the ways of sects. One simply did not accept too many gifts from a sect if one wasn¡¯t a member.
On the other hand, Master was difficult to refuse. Actually, Master was difficult period, but that was a whole different problem.
An ironclad rule of dealing with other sects was that one should comply with the requests of a sect leader unless those requests touched on face, honor, etc. Master was insisting she use the Trials Pagoda. She would not violate her own honor by complying, and since she was his official disciple, she was not impacting the Poison Claw Sect¡¯s face by accepting. Thus, she should just shut up and take the trial.
Not to mention that she really, really wanted to do it. Such treasures were a thing of stories. Just seeing the structure from the outside had given her a thrill. To actually use it?
Besides, no one outside of her actual family had ever treated her like Master and the people in the Rising Tide Sect did.
Kang Lin let out a deep breath, letting go of her reservations about using the Trials Pagoda.
She immediately felt better. In fact, she felt good, like she could fly to the moon without the use of a sword or a technique.
Chapter 186 – Move-in Ready
Benton was working on the sect grounds when he received a pop up notifying him that Kang Lin requested an attempt to improve her Lightning Shield. He smiled. She, unlike Yang Xiu, didn¡¯t attempt to try his patience by selecting one of the trials he¡¯d forbidden.
After granting his permission, he returned to his labor. Though he¡¯d previously done preliminary work on the sect grounds by placing a lot of the main buildings and housing, that didn¡¯t make the area exactly move-in ready. There was no running water or sanitary system or roads. In order to actually get his sect members living out there, he needed to check all those items off his To Do list, which was why he planned to dedicate the whole night to the task.
Of course, he could use the villagers as a labor force instead of doing it himself, but they would take weeks or even months just to quarry stone, crush it, transport it to the sect grounds, and place it on the streets. And that was just one step in the process.
First, they¡¯d have to dig out a foundation for the streets. Then, they¡¯d need a layer of sand, followed by a layer of gravel. Finally, the top layer would be paving stones.
The final product would be much fancier than anything in the village, where they mostly used dirt with some gravel to shore up muddy spots. But the sect grounds should be fancy. It wouldn¡¯t do to skimp on the infrastructure. If for no other reason, Benton didn¡¯t want people to trapse mud into his nice buildings.
Anyway, his point was that trying to get mortals to do the work would take way, way too long.
He did have a second labor force available, one consisting of over two hundred fifty members. And those laborers were stronger and had much better stamina than any mortal. That group, however, had much more important things to be doing than basic construction, namely growing stronger and earning him Sect Points.
Which meant that the workload fell to him. So work he did.
The good thing about techniques, especially when learned to Mastery, was that they were highly flexible. Just because he¡¯d purchased one specifically to dig foundations did not mean that he couldn¡¯t use it to dig other stuff. It came in really handy to quickly excavate streets about a foot deep and fifteen feet wide.
He ran the main boulevard from his planned location for the front gate, between his pavilions, past the cafeteria, and to the residential area. There, he laid it out between the rows of houses. Finally, he went back to the Central Business District and forked it off to the arena.
Perfect.
The next few hours were spent flying to a nearby river in order to gather sand and rocks. He shuddered to think how difficult that part would have been without his spatial ring.
Once he had those two layers placed, he just needed something to use as paving stones. The rock itself wasn¡¯t an issue as there were literally mountains of the stuff nearby. He did, however, have to figure out how to slice off thin chunks to serve as the top of his roads.
The easiest thing, obviously, would have been to purchase a new technique using Earth qi to separate rock slabs exactly the size and thickness he needed. Unfortunately, his cheating ways were on hold since he¡¯d promised himself to only spend more points in an emergency, and he could come up with no spin that justified simplifying his workload of adding pavers on top of his streets as an emergency. Worst case, he could just leave the gravel as the upper layer until he had more time or points to spend.
On the other hand, he really did want the task done done, and done done meant pavers. With all the power at his command, there had to be something he could do.
Hmm.
Well, his Gravity burst was good for manipulating things. He could use that to move slabs around however he wanted to, so that was a start.
He needed something to slice the rock, though. Lightning seemed grossly unsuited for the task, as did increasing temperature. Even if he were able to melt the rock into some kind of lava, he¡¯d have to mold it back into shape, and volcanic rock just wasn¡¯t what he pictured for his streets.
There was his main attack technique. Void was really good at creating ¡ voids. The problem was that he could only deliver it via metal, and it came out as a sphere. But did it have to?
The first part, yes. When he¡¯d created the technique, he¡¯d very specifically made it contingent on having something metal deliver the qi to the target.
The second part, though¡ Not necessarily. The technique layered two types of qi, one variable and the other Void, on metal. The shape the expended qi took depended on... He had no idea.
¡°System, can I make the shape of qi coming from my technique any shape I want? And if so, will that cost me a modification using points?¡±
| Host may modify the shape of qi expelled by a mastered technique using willpower and concentration. No Sect Point expenditure is required. |
Perfect. That answer was exactly the one he¡¯d both wanted and, frankly, had expected to receive. The response was completely logical, considering everything he knew about qi manipulation. Using qi externally required a technique, but once a cultivator mastered one, it could generally be modified to a reasonable extent to fit the needs of a moment. Otherwise, normal cultivators would be way too limited in their abilities, considering how long it took to learn techniques.
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Benton Quickstepped a short distance into the forest and found a downed tree to practice on. He tossed one of his metal spheres at the dead wood, charging his attack technique with a single unit of Void qi, and, at the moment of impact, tried to shape it into a thin circle about the diameter of the tree.
It didn¡¯t work. Nor did the next. Or the next. In fact, it took him almost a dozen tries and two more downed trunks before anything other than a sphere of Void erupted from the point of impact. He was really glad none of his disciples were watching him because about fifty attempts were required before he felt proficient with the modified technique.
After flying to the mountains and finding an outcrop of rock, though, the technique worked beautifully. He was able to produce two and a half inch thick slabs of stone in seconds, and like he¡¯d figured, his Gravity technique worked wonderfully to separate the cuts from the rest of the stone.
With the hard part figured out, the work went pretty fast, and shortly after nightfall, the roads were finished. And they looked pretty darn good if he did say so himself. In the future, he might create a new construction technique to make them look fancier, but he was fine with them for the moment.
He crossed that task off his mental To Do list.
Next came plumbing.
Metallurgists, especially ones who could cultivate, could do some amazing things, but industrial processes weren¡¯t all that advanced on his new planet. A blacksmith could create a pipe, but each was a one-off, meaning they weren¡¯t cheap.
It was simpler and easier to use bamboo. When treated with an alchemical solution or a bath or something¡ªBenton hadn¡¯t learned much about the actual process¡ªthe thin wood became strong and durable, placing somewhere between PVC and cast iron when compared to the materials used on Earth.
He didn¡¯t have access to any alchemical resources to strengthen bamboo, though, and Wan Ai had more important things to learn than how to create plumbing pipe. So Benton decided to apply a different method¡ªformations. It was a bit time consuming as he had to sketch out an array on each piece of bamboo, but after a few tests, he discovered that it wasn¡¯t all that difficult to accomplish.
Besides formations providing a method to strengthen wood into pipes, another positive was that the buildings were all internally plumbed, meaning all he had to do was hook up to the domestic water connections going into them and the sanitary connections coming out. Though most of the village buildings didn¡¯t have such amenities, they were apparently relatively common for sects and larger cities. Even most of the structures he¡¯d seen in Vermilion Incomparable Rain Town had them.
Though the presence of internal plumbing simplified his job, Benton still had work to do, mainly finding a source of clean water and running it to the buildings and figuring out what to do with the waste that came out. One might think that, without electricity, both those tasks would be extremely difficult.
That was where qi came in.
Dealing with the sanitary disposal was made particularly simple. On Earth, he would have had to use drains to collect all that foul material before pumping it to a waste treatment facility. Instead, he just used his excavation technique to dig a hole outside each building, ran the waste pipe into the ground, applied a common formation created for the purpose of purifying such matter, and covered the hole back up.
Easy peasy.
Water was a little more complicated than sanitary but was still somewhat more straightforward than on Earth. First, Benton needed a pump house. Well, a small structure that served to move water by using qi instead of a pump.
Screw it. He decided to still refer to it as a pump house, at least to himself.
Anyway, the main feature of the structure were two arrays. The first acted as the pump, drawing water in one side of a pipe and propelling out the other side. The second purified the water, eliminating microbes, waste materials, dirt, etc.
Deciding to become a formations expert really paid dividends for him.
Carpentry, unfortunately, wasn¡¯t one of his talents, and he wasn¡¯t going to violate his emergency use only rule for the purposes of constructing a shelter to hide and protect a couple of arrays. Instead, he threw up a temporary frame of bamboo with fabric walls. To make it look better, he¡¯d hire villagers to construct an actual building. That job could be finished at a later date, though, as it would function just fine as it was.
Next, Benton dug a well and ran bamboo pipes from the water source to the pump house, which was actually fairly easy. The biggest issue was deciding how big to make the pipe.
Back on Earth, construction projects hadn¡¯t been the primary part of his job, but he¡¯d been involved in reviewing enough architectural and engineering design sets that he understood the basics. He figured that, for the number of buildings he was hooking up, an eight-inch diameter main might be about right to start with?
Actually, he really had no idea what size to use.
He didn¡¯t think an eight-inch main would possibly be too big, and if it were too small, adding more capacity would be easy as he could simply create a whole new run.
Actually, if he completely screwed up and it didn¡¯t work, he could always pull it out and start over. Qi combined with his other superhuman abilities made the whole process a whole heckuva lot easier that using a backhoe to dig and lifts to place heavy cast iron pipe.
The following step was a much bigger pain in the butt¡ªdistributing the water to each of the structures. If he¡¯d only wanted to serve the buildings in the CBD, it would have been fine, but he wanted his sect members to live high on the hog, meaning the houses needed running water as well.
All the construction drawings he¡¯d ever seen stepped down the size of pipes based on calculations performed by engineers. He had no idea what those calculations entailed, though, so he just had to wing it, transitioning to smaller diameters when it felt right.
Ugh.
Benton foresaw a lot of trial and error in his future because there was no way he was going to magically get it right on the first try. He¡¯d just have to accept that the distribution wouldn¡¯t be perfect right from the start as he didn¡¯t have time to mess with it. As long as an occupant could trigger a formation and have water come out of a spigot, he¡¯d be satisfied even if the flow dried up if too many people did it at once. Making capacity match demand could wait until a later date.
As it was, trenching a path leading to every single building, sizing the mains, connecting the pipes, and covering the open channels took pretty much the entire night. When he finished, though, the sect grounds were marginally ready to have people start living there.
Benton couldn¡¯t wait to get started with the move.
Chapter 187 – Fear of Failure
Zou Tian waited outside all night next to the Contribution Points Shop. Yang Xiu and Yang Ru had taken only a few hours each inside the Trials Pagoda. Kang Lin, on the other hand, had entered before sunset and, as of dawn, had not exited.
There was no cause for concern. Probably. Master had been in the area working throughout the night installing roads and piping, and he hadn¡¯t given the building a second look. If Kang Lin were in any peril, surely he would have appeared anxious at the very least if not tearing the place apart to get to her.
So Zou Tian merely waited, observed, and cultivated.
Finally, mid-morning, Kang Lin came out of the pagoda and walked right past him. Which made him feel good. He was hardly even hidden, barely in the shop¡¯s shadow, but his Hide Presence technique did such a good job that even a Foundation Establishment cultivator didn¡¯t detect him.
¡°Good morning, Kang Lin,¡± he called out from behind her.
The girl spun, surprised. ¡°Zou¡ª¡± She glared at him. ¡°Stop doing that!¡±
He shrugged. It wasn¡¯t like he¡¯d really even been trying. ¡°How did the trial go?¡±
Kang Lin grimaced. ¡°Okay. I passed in the end, getting my shield to Large Success, but it wasn¡¯t easy. I almost gave up many, many times before finally figuring out the trick.¡±
As he¡¯d suspected, she¡¯d struggled, and if someone as talented as she was with spiritual roots more than a full major rank above his barely passed, how was he supposed to complete his trial successfully? ¡°Any advice?¡±
She hesitated for a moment. ¡°Just be persistent. It didn¡¯t feel like there was a time limit or that the pagoda would kick me out. Each time I died, it asked me if I wanted to continue. Just keep saying yes until you figure it out.¡±
He nodded. That made sense. If there was a trait all three of the Foundation Establishment cultivators shared, it was a certain degree of stubbornness. His determination didn¡¯t match theirs, but maybe it would be enough. Maybe.
His face must have showed his doubt because she said, ¡°Hey, you¡¯re the smartest one of us. If you can¡¯t figure it out, no one has any hope. Trust in yourself. You can do this.¡±
Zou Tian cupped his hands. ¡°Gratitude, Senior Sister.¡±
She smiled at him and turned to continue on her way.
Since Kang Lin had finished, the Trials Pagoda was empty, and he was next up. With no ready excuse to put his task off, he went inside the shop and paid his contribution points to Peng Zhen.
Zou Tian¡¯s heart pounded in his chest like one of Xun Wu¡¯s hammers hitting an anvil. The stakes just seemed so high. Since Zou Tian already had Hide Presence already at Mastery and his dagger technique at Large Success, advancing his weapon skill would open up an opportunity for him to study a perception technique. As he as nearing Qi Gathering minor realm seven, he didn¡¯t have a lot of time to master whatever new skill he learned before reaching Foundation Establishment. It was pretty much obtain the new technique now or never.
Combined with really wanting a perception technique to enhance his ability to be the sect¡¯s head scout, fear of failure was also hitting him hard. Sure, someone had to be the first to exit the pagoda having failed, but he really didn¡¯t want it to be him.
He¡¯d been accepted as a kind of leader in the sect, but he really didn¡¯t feel like he brought nearly as much to the table as some of the others. The twins were much better fighters. All the guards had more experience than him. Wan Ai had figured out how to do the baths for Body Cultivation and would surely discover even more miraculous things in the future.
What special talent did he provide? The ability to stand in an alley and watch people come and go from a building? How would the sect ever survive without that unique skill?
He stepped up to the pedestal with the white orb, placed his hand on it, and requested a trial to improve his dagger technique. Seconds later, permission was granted, and everything went black.
When light returned, Zou Tian was in what appeared to be a large cavern. The ceiling glowed in patches, and large stalactites growing down from above blocked portions of that light, creating many shadows. On the other end of the cave were five creatures.
They were humanoid in size and shape with large bug eyes and four arms each. Zou Tian couldn¡¯t help but wonder if they were real or if the pagoda had created them. And if they were created, were they based on something real or had the pagoda made them up?
Either way, the creatures were obviously part of the trial, and while it wasn¡¯t a given that his objective was to kill the creatures, he needed to be prepared for that eventuality because it was the most obvious course of action. He drew both of his daggers and settled into a fighting stance.
None of them held weapons, but as Zou Tian watched, a blade formed in the hands of the one closest to him. The creature threw it.
He¡¯d had enough practice that he¡¯d gotten pretty good at blocking both melee and ranged weapons with his knives. Senior Sister¡¯s arrows were way too fast to even dodge, much less parry, but he regularly deflected ones from other sect archers. The blade launched by the creature was slow in comparison, and Zou Tian easily knocked it to the ground.
With no more projectiles having been sent his way, he took an instant to examine the first one.
Ice. It was a shaped chunk of ice with a wickedly sharp edge. He was positive the thing would slice into him as easily as steel would.
Interesting.
When he looked at the creatures again, all five of them were holding blades in each of their four hands, meaning he faced twenty total ice shards.
Blocking one was easy. Two would be fine. Three or four or five? Possibly. Twenty? No way.
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He found a nearby shadow and disappeared into it.
The creatures launched their projectiles in a wide spread, but it was clear they had no idea where he was exactly. Considering that he wasn¡¯t stupid enough to stay in one spot, none of the shards came close to hitting him.
Hopping quickly from shadow to shadow, he approached the creatures.
Fatty Ren was nervous. Sect Leader Chao Su expected him to recruit two hundred members for the Rising Tide Sect, and he expected that task completed quickly.
Two hundred people were a lot of people. Granted, Vermilion Incomparable Rain Town had a population in the thousands, probably less than twenty thousand but more than ten. The new Town Manager was in the process of conducting a census, but those results would take a while.
Regardless, Fatty Ren didn¡¯t know nearly two hundred people. Besides his fellow sect members, all he really came in contact with were the servants and guards at the palace, and those didn¡¯t number nearly enough.
They did represent a start, though. The guards, at least.
Actually, the real start were his three sect brothers and his sect sister who were with him in his cultivation room. He was so thankful he didn¡¯t have to complete the task alone.
¡°Brother Song Yongliang, how many guards does the palace have?¡± Fatty Ren said.
¡°Fifty, Senior Brother.¡±
Wow. That many? Fatty Ren had always thought that having mortals guard him, a Foundation Establishment cultivator, was pointless, but whenever he¡¯d voiced any objection, he¡¯d always been told that it was important to keep up appearances. His desire not to rock the boat might be about to pay dividends.
¡°Are they loyal, Brother?¡± Fatty Ren said. ¡°Can we trust them to be good sect members?¡±
The last thing he wanted to do was be the reason his new sect was infiltrated by spies from the sect leader¡¯s enemies.
¡°We have no way to test their talent, Senior Brother. They¡¯re most likely all trash. Unless the Esteemed Sect Leader left you a testing device?¡±
¡°Did you not hear him, Brother? He does not care about talent level, only quantity.¡±
¡°He was serious about that, Senior Brother? Surely not. If we deliver a bunch of trash to him to be inducted, surely we will be punished.¡±
Fatty Ren understood why Song Yongliang thought that way. Had either of them even suggested to the Righteous Rain Sect Leader that anyone with spiritual roots rated below a C- be inducted into the sect, they would have been punished. Severely.
¡°Sect Leader Chao Su is unfathomable, Brother,¡± Fatty Ren said. ¡°Do you know of anyone else who carries around top heaven grade Soul Cultivation methods in his spatial ring, has access to a Trials Pagoda, and somehow, raises the spiritual roots of everyone who joins his sect?¡±
¡°No, Senior Brother.¡±
¡°He is something unlike anything we¡¯ve experienced, Brother. If he wanted talented recruits, he would have told us to recruit only talented individuals and given us a method to do so. We don¡¯t have a way to test, and there are not likely to be two hundred citizens of this town who are even at D- and above. Even if there were, it would be almost impossible to find them all in the timeframe that Sect Leader Chao Su demanded.¡±
¡°It just feels wrong to induct trash into our new sect, Senior Brother.¡±
For the first time in a long while, Fatty Ren felt anger toward his sect brother. ¡°Do not let the sect leader ever, ever, ever hear you say such a thing! He has given you a chance to continue your challenge to the heavens. You owe him everything. If he wants low talent recruits, I will not gainsay him. You will not gainsay him. None of us will. Understand?¡±
All four of the Qi Gathering cultivators immediately kowtowed. He didn¡¯t use his authority often, but when he did, they knew to obey immediately, as was expected for a sect member responding to a senior.
¡°For twenty years, we¡¯ve languished,¡± Fatty Ren said, ¡°not advancing and unable to avenge our former sect. Out of nowhere, an opportunity has been dropped into our laps. I intend to embrace that opportunity with all my being. You four are advised to do the same.¡±
¡°Yes, Senior Brother,¡± the four said.
¡°Good, now back to my question. Can we trust the guards?¡±
¡°Thirty-four of them are veterans who were all investigated and found not to have taken bribes from the old Town Manager,¡± Song Yongliang said. ¡°The remaining veterans failed the investigation and were executed. Their replacements are unproven but could be considered marginally reliable.¡±
It was not going to be possible to find two hundred recruits who were all perfectly vetted, so marginally reliable, while not great, would have to do.
The second source of inductees was provided by the sect leader himself.
¡°What about the orphanage, Brother?¡± Fatty Ren said. ¡°How many recruits will it provide?¡±
¡°There are thirty-one children housed there with five adults taking care of them. Thirteen of the children have not completed growing their spiritual roots, though, so that source yields a total of twenty-three, Senior Brother.¡±
¡°That¡¯s all, Brother?¡± Fatty Ren frowned. He¡¯d been hoping for more.
¡°If we included the families of the adults the sect leader hired, that adds ten more, Senior Brother.¡±
Eighty-three down, one hundred seventeen to go. Not even half.
¡°Any other thoughts on who to recruit, Brother? I¡¯d prefer not to use the palace servants, but I will if we must.¡± Fatty Ren shook his head. If he recruited all the servants, who would prepare his food and clean the palace?
¡°Brother Su Cai, Brother Dai Weimen, Sister Sun Jiao and I have made some acquaintances over the years, Senior Brother. Give us a few moments, and we can come up with a list of those we would consider recruiting.¡±
Fatty Ren gave them leave to retreat to another room to discuss. Meanwhile he called his valet forward. ¡°I am ready for my mid-morning snack.¡± It was a bit early, barely a half hour since breakfast, but hunger gnawed at him.
The man cupped his hands, but instead of departing immediately, he hesitated. That wasn¡¯t normal. He was usually very prompt, the very essence of efficiency.
¡°Is there a matter that needs my attention?¡± Fatty Ren said.
¡°This lowly one is not qualified to interject in such matters, my lord.¡±
Well used to overly polite speech, Fatty Ren internally translated his servant¡¯s message. The man felt he had something to contribute to the conversation he overheard but was terrified that he¡¯d be punished for speaking up.
The situation was quite extraordinary. His servants, as a rule, did not offer opinions. Compared to most citizens in the town, they lived well. The pay was good, and they were neither mistreated nor fired from their positions without a serious reason. Given those circumstances, they were not inclined to do anything to call attention to themselves.
Considering that the man had even broached the subject, whatever he had to say must be very important to him.
¡°Speak,¡± Fatty Ren said.
The valet hesitated again, which was understandable. He¡¯d only been ordered to voice his opinion. He hadn¡¯t been given any assurance that he wouldn¡¯t be disciplined for doing so.
That lack was not an oversight on Fatty Ren¡¯s part. Avoiding punishment was entirely dependent on the content of the message.
¡°My lord, this lowly one and the other palace servants have loyally served for years. Some of us decades. This lowly one understands that none of us are worthy of joining my lord¡¯s sect, but this lowly one wonders, since my lord is searching for loyal recruits, if sons and daughters of the palace staff might be a possible avenue if extra numbers are needed?¡±
That idea was ¡ not horrible. Fatty Ren had always treated the servants reasonably well, and he had to assume that, like the guards, they¡¯d all been investigated after the incident with the previous Town Manager. All who remained were probably quite loyal. It was quite possible, likely even, that their children would have been taught to be loyal as well.
¡°Compile a list. Include ages and what jobs they have if they¡¯re old enough. There are no guarantees that all or, indeed, any of them will be chosen, but the idea isn¡¯t bad,¡± Fatty Ren said. ¡°Carry on.¡±
It took a while before both lists were ready, a time during which Fatty Ren ate his snack, ordered another one, and ate that one as well. Not only did his qi aspect drive his hunger, but he tended to eat even more when he was stressed. And the thought of failing Sect Leader Chao Su¡¯s orders was stressful indeed.
Chapter 188 – Explosive Growth
Zou Tian smoothly darted from shadow to shadow, moving ever closer to the four-armed bug-eyed creatures slinging ice shards at him. The cavern provided plenty of cover in the form of rocks growing both from the floor and the ceiling, and each blocked the glowing light from above, giving him ample options for hiding.
He was still one against five, but the environment tilted things in his favor. The question was, though, what did the encounter have to teach him about using his daggers?
Short-bladed weapons were ideal for close in work. He struggled when dueling with trained fighters who used swords or spears. Or bows.
He shuddered. Especially a bow wielded by Senior Sister.
Those spars had taught him to dart in close and strike fast. Which often cost him the match when he was unable to avoid or block attacks. Staying at range, though, only made him lose faster.
He doubted the lesson from the trial was one he¡¯d already taken to heart, so there had to be something he was missing.
Still, moving closer to attack was the only way he could determine to handle the encounter, so that was what he did.
Occasionally, one of the creatures would launch an ice shard but always in a random direction. Zou Tian was too good at stealth to be seen or heard by an opponent given the terrain. By the time he¡¯d drawn near and circled around the group, it was apparent from their throws that the creatures had no idea where he was.
Next came the hard part, though. He couldn¡¯t fight any of them one on one because the ranged weapons of the others would kill him almost instantly as he couldn¡¯t block thrown shards while engaging in melee. A quick backstab followed by darting back into the shadows was a possibility, but he knew nothing about the creatures¡¯ physiology. It was entirely possible that, if he buried his blade deeply into one of them, he might not be able to draw it back out in time.
From experience, he judged the problem to be more likely to occur than not.
Zou Tian was not a Foundation Establishment cultivator. In addition to not being able to externally manipulate qi, he had not yet been gifted a spatial ring. The two daggers were all he had.
First lesson learned from the trial¡ªcarry more weapons. A backup dagger and some throwing knives would have been great to have.
The safest plan of attack was to dart out of shadow, slice one of the creatures with his blade¡ªor blades if the momentum of the attack allowed¡ªand retreat immediately back into the shadows, maintaining situational awareness to block or dodge incoming projectiles at all times.
Zou Tian crept within a few feet of the rearmost of the creatures, its back facing him. With it being behind the others, it was tempting¡ªoh so tempting¡ªto attempt a backstab, counting on the suddenness of his ambush to give him time to extract his blade and get back into cover.
But he¡¯d already discarded that idea as risky. Light slices were the order of the day.
He stuck to his plan, darting quickly and quietly from shadow and swiping the creature¡¯s back with both his daggers. What he had first thought to be black clothing turned out to be fur, and very satisfying twin red slashes opened on the thing¡¯s back.
Not that he took the time to properly savor his successful strike. No sooner had the cuts been made than he dashed back behind a nearby rock.
And that movement was a good thing. He¡¯d barely made it out of sight when a dozen ice shards cracked into the rocks near him.
His plan had been sound, and he was thankful he hadn¡¯t given into temptation and abandoned it.
Of course, he didn¡¯t remain in one place once he¡¯d moved out of the creatures¡¯ sight. Instead, he was immediately on the move, stealthily relocating before attacking a different creature from a different location.
The task of killing all five of them was long and, frankly, a bit boring. They had no perception skills capable of locating him, and as long as he employed hit and run tactics and avoided getting entangled with any of his targets, they really had no way of stopping him at all.
Which he supposed was the whole point of the trial. He was a stealth oriented fighter who employed short-bladed weapons. Going toe to toe with someone in a duel was the height of stupidity.
Obviously, there was merit to sparring with other sect members because one would not always be able to choose their battleground. He needed to be able to hold his own against swords and spears. But a straight up fight should never be his plan going into a fight if it could be avoided.
It was a good lesson, one he was glad to have learned.
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Once the last creature had died, a man appeared.
¡°Congratulations,¡± he said. ¡°You have passed the trial.¡±
Practically before the echo of the last word had faded, Zou Tian found himself back in the room with the orb and pedestal. He immediately sunk into meditation and consolidated the lessons he¡¯d learned.
It didn¡¯t take long before he felt something click in his mind. He¡¯d reached Mastery with his dagger technique.
Zou Tian grinned. He¡¯d passed his trial on the first try. None of the others had done that, not Yang Xiu, not Yang Ru, and not Kang Lin.
What had he been so worried about?
Fatty Ren had just finished his second mid-morning snack when his valet returned with a list of sons and daughters of the palace staff. Seeing as there were dozens of servants from cooks to maids to gardeners to positions he didn¡¯t even know the definition of, the list was quite extensive, and as it was arranged by servant, he couldn¡¯t help but notice that some of them seemed to have an awful lot of children.
Maybe he wasn¡¯t working them hard enough because those workers seemed to have an awful lot of time for ¡ other activities given the number of kids listed.
¡°How many are on this list?¡± Fatty Ren said.
¡°One hundred fifty-eight, my lord, but that includes some nieces and nephews. Those are marked with an N for the sake of clarity and transparency.¡±
¡°I see. Good. I¡¯ll take this into consideration.¡± Fatty Ren said before dismissing the man.
Shortly thereafter, his sect brothers and sister returned.
¡°Senior Brother,¡± Song Yongliang said, ¡°here is the list.¡±
That one was much shorter than the one compiled by the servants, so Fatty Ren quickly counted the names himself. Twenty-six. Not a paltry number but less than he¡¯d hoped.
¡°You are confident in these people, Brother?¡± Fatty Ren said.
¡°We would not be willing to stake our lives on most of them, Senior Brother, but they have all proven to be competent and reliable in the past. None of them were touched by the taint of the previous Town Manager, and we have always been cautious that people in our circle might use news of our activities to curry favor with the big three. None of the ones on this list ever did anything that aroused our suspicion.¡±
That recommendation was good enough for Fatty Ren. He mentally added the twenty-six names to the previous total of eighty-three combined from the guards and the orphanage. The new total became one hundred and nine. Adding in himself and his sect brothers and sister got him to one hundred fourteen. All he needed was eighty-six more.
He handed the list of servant¡¯s children to Song Yongliang. ¡°The four of you take a look at this list and choose eighty-six people from it by whatever criteria you decide. Once you¡¯re finished, bring all the guards, the orphans and their watchers, and your friends to the palace.¡±
Using almost half of the servant¡¯s children was a bit of a risk, but by that point, Fatty Ren needed more people, regardless of where they came from. Absent using those from the list, he¡¯d probably end up grabbing random passersby from the street.
He¡¯d just have to task his sect brothers and sister as well as the guards with keeping an eye on the others.
Yes. That would work. As soon as the two hundred were all gathered, he¡¯d send a message to Sect Leader Chao Su, who would surely be very happy that the task had been completed in well under the month time period.
Perfect. Fatty Ren¡¯s membership in his new sect was getting off to a wonderful start.
It was the morning of the fourth day since Jin LiJuan had found the wolf cub spirit beast, and she still hadn¡¯t named it. With all that was going on, she doubted anyone, not even Master, would fault her for not doing so.
Cultivators from a rival sect had attacked the village. Ye Zan had been killed. Master had dashed off to avenge him.
The news had been shocking.
And she¡¯d been stuck hiking back from her processing mission and taking care of a filthy spirit beast.
Not literally filthy, of course. She bathed the cub daily in addition to feeding it and giving it a core.
After the cub ate its second core on the morning on the third day, it outgrew the cage Senior Brother made for it. Given the beast¡¯s intelligence and apparent understanding that harming her would be bad, she¡¯d let it sleep in her tent without the cage rather than asking him, having recently returned to camp from the village, to rebuild it.
Jin LiJuan had woken up with the creature snuggled up to her, and her cuddling it in turn. She¡¯d immediately pushed it away as soon as she realized what was happening, but she couldn¡¯t get the image out of her mind.
It was a hateful, evil spirit beast. Its brethren had killed her family. She knew that. She believed that. With all her heart.
But.
Taking care of a creature night and day and having it depend solely on her to meet all its needs wore on her. She found it more and more difficult to hate it.
Maybe she should kill it and get it over with. She¡¯d get to hang onto the hate in her heart, and all it would cost her was her oath to Master.
Conflicted, she fed the beast its third spirit core, expecting it to grow like normal after consuming it. And it did. First, though, it collapsed, unconscious.
Jin LiJuan was elated. Maybe it was going to die. And through no fault of hers.
She couldn¡¯t imagine a better outcome no matter the consequences for herself.
As they broke camp, their final time as they were no more than three quarters of a day¡¯s hike from the village, the beast remained unconscious. Looking after it was her responsibility, so she tried to carry it. But it had grown too large. Huang Yimun had to transport the beast.
It wasn¡¯t until after lunch that it experienced the growth she¡¯d expected. In fact, it exceeded that growth in an explosive manner, expanding to the size of a large dog in seconds. Senior Brother rushed over as the beast woke.
¡°Congratulations,¡± he said, his voice deadpan. ¡°You are now bonded to a rank two beast, and unless my spiritual sense deceives me, you¡¯ve reached the fourth minor realm.¡±
Jin LiJuan stared at Senior Brother blankly. It wasn¡¯t out of the realm of possibility for the beast to advance in rank. She was, after all, feeding it cores daily. That was how beasts grew.
But the part about her reaching minor realm four?
What? How? He¡¯d never said anything about her getting to the second or third realm. She hadn¡¯t felt anything different when she tried to cultivate.
With her ruined channels, she couldn¡¯t have possibly reached so high so fast. Could she? But as unfathomable as such explosive growth being true for her, it was equally as unfathomable for Senior Brother to be wrong.
Master had said that the bond would bring benefits to her, but jumping three minor realms in as many days was insane!
Chapter 189 – Three Notifications and a Message
As Benton had been hard at work installing the infrastructure for the sect grounds, he¡¯d ignored his notifications other than granting permission for Zou Tian to start his trial. By mid-morning, Benton¡¯s tasks were finally complete, and he took a few moments to review the popups.
|
Host¡¯s Disciple, Kang Lin, has reached Lightning Shield ¨C Large Success.
Host is awarded two Sect Points.
Host has 709 Sect Points available.
|
Nice. Great job, Kang Lin.
On another positive note, he was now firmly above seven hundred points, mainly due to sect members advancing in Body Cultivation. The increase wasn¡¯t quite high enough to afford much of anything, but it was definitely a step in the right direction.
That notification was followed by a similar one.
|
Host¡¯s Disciple, Zou Tian, has reached Foundational Dagger Essentials ¨C Mastery.
Host is awarded two Sect Points.
Host has 711 Sect Points available.
|
Awesome, Zou Tian. That kid was a real go-getter. He¡¯d mastered both his Qi Gathering techniques, so he¡¯d need a new one.
Benton reached out with his spiritual sense and discovered an extra person, one at the sixth minor realm of Qi Gathering, in Peng Zhen¡¯s Contribution Points Shop. That had to be Zou Tian, probably asking about the new technique at that moment.
Definitely a real go-getter.
Benton would need to create the technique, of course, so once he was finished reviewing his notifications, he¡¯d Quickstep on over there.
First, though, he pulled up the final one.
|
Host¡¯s Disciple, Jin LiJuan, has reached Qi Gathering ¨C Minor Realm Four.
Host is awarded three Sect Points.
Host has 714 Sect Points available.
|
Wow. Go Jin LiJuan.
Benton didn¡¯t know if he should be proud, happy, or concerned that Li¡¯er had jumped from the first minor realm all the way to the fourth in one step.
The amount of benefit a cultivator got from a bond depended on a lot of factors, and one of those was compatibility of qi aspect. If he had to guess, he¡¯d have to say that Li¡¯er¡¯s lack of an aspect counted basically as one hundred percent compatibility.
That was lucky for her. At best, Benton had anticipated that the beast advancing to rank two would propel her to the second minor realm. Instead, she was keeping pace with it.
If that trend continued¡
On one hand, such a leap could not possibly be good for her foundation. On the other, her channels were so messed up that normal cultivation was never going to be a good path for her. Bonding the wolf cub might just turn out to be one of those auspicious encounters around which legends were formed.
He reached out his spiritual sense again, focusing on the returning processing party. They weren¡¯t far from the village and should reach it before nightfall. Benton wanted to see how she was doing and definitely needed to check her cultivation. But there was no emergency. It could wait until she returned.
Just as he was about to Quickstep to the Contribution Points Shop, he sensed something else¡ªone of his message dragons.
Yikes. That thing moved fast, kind of skimming through space by skipping over about half the distance it should have traveled.
A few moments later, the origami creature landed in his hand and unfurled.
Friend Su,
This lowly Town Lord has been busy. My sect brothers, sect sister, and I have identified one hundred ninety-five additional recruits, and by the time you receive this message, they should all be gathered at the palace.
If I don¡¯t hear from you by tomorrow, I will conduct the ceremony myself before leaving to find you at the village. Since I don¡¯t have any cultivation methods or other resources for them, however, I¡¯m not sure what to have them do in the meantime.
Your Loyal Sect Member,
Fatty Ren
Benton had given the Town Lord a month to find the required number of recruits. Instead, he¡¯d done it in a day.
The plan had been to discuss logistics, including discussing how to provision the new inductees with cultivation methods and the like, the next time Benton flew to Vermilion Incomparable Rain Town, but that idea was out the window. Not that the early completion was a bad thing. Sooner was better.
Amazing. Benton hadn¡¯t known that Fatty Ren was so proactive.
Hmm.
Benton needed to get the new inductees cultivating as soon as possible, which necessitated a trip to town. That day.
He reviewed what was on his plate. First came supplying the new technique for Zou Tian. After that, Benton had wanted to continue his work on the sect building arrays that the Jade Chameleon Sect attack had interrupted as he would prefer that project to be complete before letting his sect members use the facilities.
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Other than that, he just needed to touch base with Jin LiJuan.
Well, the first and last of those tasks could be accomplished even with a quick trip to town. The arrays would just have to wait. He shrugged. That was what night was for, right? It was a good thing he didn¡¯t need to sleep much anymore.
Zou Tian had exchanged pleasantries for a good half hour with Peng Zhen. The former merchant and current proprietor of the Contribution Points Shop was a really nice guy, but wow, he liked to talk. Then again, he and his family were the only ones actually living on the sect grounds. Maybe he was a bit starved for company that wasn¡¯t his wife or kids.
That situation would probably change soon. Considering all the work that Master was doing to the grounds and how quickly things were changing, Zou Tian suspected that it wouldn¡¯t be long until the entire sect was living in the new buildings.
Which was both good and ¡ concerning. All the houses were well made and luxurious. Master had even apparently installed running water in all of them. Such a thing was reserved for cultivators and the extremely wealthy back in Sixth Flawless Flowing City. As a former street rat, Zou Tian would never have believed that he¡¯d live somewhere so nice.
Everything had happened so fast and been so extraordinary that he sometimes didn¡¯t feel like a real cultivator. Moving into a place that befit his presumed new status would be a good thing. Hopefully, it would help to make him feel like he belonged.
On the other hand, he didn¡¯t know how to navigate the new living arrangements and his budding relationship with Wan Ai. Currently, they were both living in the same house. In separate bedrooms, of course. But that house was the temporary Alchemy Pavilion. Others belonging to that pavilion lived there, too.
As far as Zou Tian could figure from the layout that Master had created, the pavilions were for work. There was more than enough room in apartments and residences for all current sect members to live.
If Zou Tian suggested that he and Wan Ai live together in one house, she might take that as being too forward, which would create problems for them. If he suggested that he take a single person dwelling and that she choose her own living situation, she might think he was rejecting her, which would create problems for them.
He knew that he should just talk to her about the situation, but the conversation would be awkward. She would hate it. He would hate that she hated it.
Ugh.
¡°So, Senior Brother,¡± Peng Zhen said. ¡°You¡¯ve already accessed the pagoda, so what other service can the Contribution Points Shop provide you today?¡±
Zou Tian still felt more than a little weird when a married father more than twice his age referred to him as Senior Brother. Sect protocols took some getting used to. At least he didn¡¯t have to refer to him as Junior Brother. Since the man was the head of a pavilion, master was an entirely appropriate form of address.
¡°This one needs a new technique, Master Peng Zhen.¡±
¡°A specialized one, I presume, Senior Brother?¡±
That was a good question. As Zou Tian understood it, Master¡¯s philosophy was that, for the most part, using techniques attuned to one¡¯s qi element in the Qi Gathering realm was not all that advantageous. It was the for the most part that caused the issue. Master seemed to want his most talented disciples to all use only attuned techniques.
Of course, Zou Tian did not fit that category. At all. As someone with D-, now D after the recent improvement, roots, he was barely a step up from common trash on the street. The difference between him and gutter trash, however, was his weirdly strong affinity with his qi aspect.
Master had been fine with Zou Tian learning the same dagger technique that literally anyone else in the sect could have learned regardless of their qi aspect. Master had also insisted on Zou Tian learning Hide Presence, which was specifically attuned not just to Shadow but to him personally.
He had no idea what Master would choose for a perception technique.
Just as Zou Tian was about to relay that to the shopkeeper, Master appeared behind the counter right next to him.
Benton hid a frown. He¡¯d just appeared out of thin air, and neither Peng Zhen nor Zou Tian had so much as jumped a little.
They weren¡¯t even the slightest bit surprised! Bummer.
Benton sighed. Everyone was way too used to his Quicksteps. He needed to find a new, even flashier entrance.
Both his disciples cupped their hands.
¡°Zou Tian, congratulations on passing the trial and getting your weapon technique to Mastery,¡± Benton said. ¡°You¡¯re ready for your next technique, correct?¡±
¡°Yes, Master.¡±
¡°And you want something to enhance your perception to improve your scouting abilities, right?¡±
The boy nodded.
¡°Is there any particular sense that you want to improve?¡± Benton said.
¡°No, Master. Something like Senior Sister uses would be perfect.¡±
Benton could see the wisdom in that choice. If Zou Tian improved his eyesight, it wouldn¡¯t help with invisible enemies. A better ability to sniff out scents might be great for tracking, but it wouldn¡¯t assist him in seeing details of an enemy force from a long distance.
Not that the opposite choice would be exactly bad. A team of scouts where each member was an expert at detection using one sense would be very effective.
Zou Tian¡¯s decision very much met the needs of the moment, however. The sect would mainly be using him on solo scouting missions. There was no ready team to send with him, and that state of affairs might continue for quite some time.
¡°Very well,¡± Benton said. ¡°I seem to recall that you¡¯ve had some success using Shadow to assist in your detection abilities recently?¡±
¡°Yes, Master, but only because my opponent used Shadow to hide. It would not have helped had another element been in play. I don¡¯t wish to limit myself.¡±
Good point. Actually, that was a great point.
Benton nodded sagely. ¡°Understood. I still advise, however, that we go with a specifically attuned technique. I¡¯ll make sure that the one I give you has enhanced capabilities against Shadow but will still work as well as Yang Xiu¡¯s against foes using other aspects.¡±
The boy cupped his hands. ¡°Gratitude, Master.¡±
Benton turned to Peng Zhen. ¡°Remind me, what are we charging for Qi Gathering techniques?¡±
¡°One hundred for general techniques, two hundred fifty for ones attuned to a qi element, and five hundred for ones specifically attuned to the cultivator¡¯s qi aspect, Master.¡±
¡°Zou Tian, do you think those are fair prices in contribution points?¡± Benton said.
¡°Of course, Master.¡±
None of the sect members had any real idea of the value of contribution points, so the question had not been a fair one. So far, members like Zou Tian had run up points like scores on a pinball machine and had little to spend them on. That situation would change, hopefully soon.
¡°Well, I don¡¯t,¡± Benton said.
Both Peng Zhen and Zou Tian looked at him with surprised expressions.
¡°Those definitely work as the standard prices, but you, Zou Tian, have earned a discount for reaching Mastery in both your previous techniques. Well done, my disciple. Truly well done!¡±
The boy actually looked like he got a little emotional as he cupped his hands.
¡°Peng Zhen, do you concur that one hundred points is a sufficient price given Zou Tian¡¯s accomplishment?¡±
The merchant smiled. ¡°Of course, Master!¡±
¡°Good. Give me a moment,¡± Benton said.
He pulled up the technique creation menu and obviously selected Qi Gathering for the realm and attunement to Zou Tian exact qi aspect. He used Yang Xiu¡¯s perception technique for a template for what he wanted it to do, only adding the enhancement to work with the boy¡¯s superior connection to the Shadow element.
The distribution of attributes proved tricky, as always. Foundation was probably the least important of the three, but it wasn¡¯t a throwaway stat. Zou Tian would be using enhanced senses a lot as it was foundational to his job. At the same time, most of his true techniques would come later when he gained the ability to manipulate qi externally. Benton set it to fifteen.
Ease held greater importance for the technique than usual because of the situation. Zou Tian was closing in on minor realm seven, and it would be advantageous if he reached Mastery in the new technique before reaching Foundation Establishment. Ease controlled how quickly he would learn it.
Power was, of course, the most important of the three, as that attribute determined how much Zou Tian¡¯s senses would be enhanced. The higher, the better.
Fifty for Power left thirty-five for Ease.
Benton didn¡¯t feel like he got the distribution perfect, but then again, he almost never did. It would have to do.
He named it Shadow Perception, agreed to the purchase, and tossed the slip to Zou Tian.
Next task, fly to Vermilion Incomparable Rain Town and induct almost two hundred new sect members, not quite doubling the membership.
Things were looking up. That would put him near the halfway mark to qualifying for Nascent Soul. In terms of sheer quantity of people, at least. It was going to be interesting to see what the large induction did to his average loyalty rating.
Chapter 190 – Procrastination
Benton soared through the air on his way to Vermilion Incomparable Rain Town, the wind washing through his hair and scouring away his troubles. He wished, anyway.
There was no telling when, not if, the Jade Chameleon Sect would retaliate for his actions or what form that reprisal would take. Part of his reason for destroying the branch sect grounds had been pure vengeance, but the main motive had been to send a message that he and his people were not to be messed with. He¡¯d done it to keep his sect members safe.
His greatest fear was that the very act meant to protect them would be what led to their deaths.
If a single Nascent Soul cultivator came after him, he felt good about his chances of defending the sect and the village, but if multiple higher realmed cultivators attacked, there would be nothing he could do. His only way to truly defend his people was to become stronger, which meant ascending to Nascent Soul himself.
And to do that, he needed one thousand sect members who viewed him with an average loyalty rating of at least six point five and a minimum of half of whom lived in the main sect grounds.
With the loss of Ye Zan and the gain of the wolf cub, Fatty Ren, and the four former Righteous Rain Qi Gathering cultivators, the Rising Tide membership sat at two hundred sixty-seven. After inducting the one hundred ninety-five recruits Fatty Ren found, that number would rise to four hundred sixty-two. The next induction of villagers would put the sect at more than half the target.
It was tempting¡ªso, so tempting¡ªto simply recruit the rest of the people immediately. Dragging the rest of the villagers out to the amphitheater and inducting them would be a piece of cake. Everyone was eager to join up. Even considering the recent trouble with the Jade Chameleon Sect, the advantages far outweighed the risks for the mortals.
The problem was that the sect was not big enough to take in so many people. They didn¡¯t have the infrastructure or the personnel to handle the influx. Benton¡¯s gut told him that trying to do that in an unorganized manner would hurt the sect in the long run.
The question was whether it would save them in the short run, in which case the long-term risk was worth it.
Really, the decision came down to the answer to two questions. The first was how and when would the Jade Chameleon Sect react? If they immediately sent all their Nascent Souls to the village, he was cooked if he didn¡¯t reach that realm first. But everything he and Su knew about sects told him that the Jade Chameleons would move cautiously.
They had been put in a precarious position. The Emperor¡¯s faction and the other two of the big three had to be sniffing at their holdings. One wrong move could cause everyone to pounce. Trying to strike at Benton and failing would prove disastrous for them.
They also had no idea of Benton¡¯s true strength. He¡¯d proven strong enough to kill a large force of Golden Core cultivators, which was something no one of a similar realm should be able to do. Combined with the inability of anyone to sense him, they should suspect he was at least at Nascent Soul. No other interpretation of the facts made sense as his true situation was, to the best of his knowledge, unprecedented.
Taking those two factors together, it was logical that the Jade Chameleons would not move aggressively anytime in the near future. Their best bet was to turn the other factions against him in order to build a coalition. That maneuvering would take time. Months at the very least.
Of course, cultivators were sometimes known to behave very irrationally, and he was basically risking his entire sect on them pursuing the wisest course.
The second question was how the new recruits would affect his average loyalty rating.
¡°System, what is my current Average Loyalty Rating?¡±
That number wasn¡¯t bad at all. He hadn¡¯t checked it since before the beast tide, and it had actually risen zero point two points since then. He¡¯d feared that, with Ye Zan¡¯s death, it might have fallen.
Then again, the combination of coming through the beast tide unscathed, the Trials Pagoda, and the enhanced spiritual roots probably helped a lot.
Doing some quick math, Benton would be in the six point seven five range even if the new recruits he was about to induct had even a very neutral loyalty of five towards him.
It seemed like the villagers held him in good regard in general, so it was possible that his average loyalty rating would end up being okay if there was an emergency and he had to add a bunch of them at once.
That was good to know.
In the end, he decided to take a middle course. He¡¯d accelerate recruitment as much as he felt was reasonable, starting with adding seventy-five villagers every two weeks instead of fifty every four weeks. Just that increase would bring him near a thousand sect members in about fourteen weeks. By tasking Fatty Ren with adding another hundred, he could drop that by an additional two weeks.
Twelve weeks. If Benton could just hold off an attack for three months, he¡¯d be unbeatable by anyone on the continent.
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In the meantime, he¡¯d make it a priority to finish checking all the arrays in the sect buildings and set up enough housing on the grounds for more than five hundred people. He¡¯d also monitor his average loyalty rating after each induction to predict where it might end up after adding more people. Finally, he¡¯d make sure that the mayor and the twins were ready to induct villagers at a moment¡¯s notice if he needed an emergency boost.
The plan wasn¡¯t perfect. If he was caught by surprise by multiple Nascent Souls, he was likely toast, but it gave him the best balance between long-term benefit and short-term safety.
By the time he¡¯d decided on his priorities, he¡¯d reached the outskirts of Vermilion Incomparable Rain Town. From there, a Quickstep took him to Fatty Ren¡¯s combination throne room and cultivation chamber.
¡°Friend Su, you came!¡± the Town Lord said.
¡°Of course I did,¡± Benton said, ¡°but I unfortunately can¡¯t stay long. Is everyone ready?¡±
Fatty Ren wrung his hands, clearly worried. ¡°I need just ten minutes, Friend Su. I didn¡¯t know what time you¡¯d get here, so I didn¡¯t have them gathered up.¡±
Benton was in a hurry, but the rush wasn¡¯t that severe. He hadn¡¯t meant for his question to cause so much anguish. ¡°It¡¯s my fault entirely. I should have messaged. Just gather everyone as quickly as you can.¡±
Ten minutes turned to fifteen which turned to twenty with Fatty Ren sweating the delay the entire time. Benton wasn¡¯t really that impatient, however. If timeliness had been that crucial to him, he definitely would have sent a message to have everyone ready.
Once he saw the mass of one hundred ninety-five recruits, he decided it was a good thing he¡¯d decided to come. For one thing, doing the induction ceremony himself would hopefully result in more loyalty toward him. The people were probably already somewhat loyal to Fatty Ren, and Benton doubted that transferred to him automatically. He needed to keep his rating up.
The main reason his being there was so advantageous, though, was the distribution of cultivation methods. No one else could do that as effectively as he could.
If he¡¯d been forced to delegate the chore to Fatty Ren, the only option would have been to give everyone the generic Supreme Foundations of Heaven scripture that allowed anyone with any qi aspect to cultivate it.
Not that the method was a bad choice. In fact, all but five of the people in the crowd received it as most everyone was E ranked and below with a wide variety of qi aspects. Three, though all in the F range, happened to have a nature aspect. He distributed the Supreme Growth of Heaven scripture to them as using a method tuned to their element would provide a minor benefit and, since it had already been created, the providing that tiny advantage cost him nothing.
The remaining two exceptions were relatively young people with decent roots. There was a twenty-year-old girl with E+ roots and ice aspected qi. With the spiritual root enhancement she¡¯d receive upon induction, she¡¯d be elevated to D-, the minimum rank at which he¡¯d devoted a tailored cultivation method for all his previous disciples. He didn¡¯t see any reason to change that practice as the ten-point expenditure was trivial compared to the almost two hundred he was about to receive.
The second of the two was the real prize, though. He was a little old for most sects at twenty-six, but B- roots made him a fantastic find. His wind-based qi aspect wasn¡¯t anything particularly exciting, but with roots like that, Benton didn¡¯t care.
With the aid of Fatty Ren¡¯s four Qi Gathering cultivators, jade slips holding the appropriate cultivation methods were quickly distributed to each person.
It was at that point that Benton encountered a minor problem. He usually supplied beast cores to each sect member so that they could access the jade slips, but he didn¡¯t have nearly two hundred cores on him. Fortunately, Fatty Ren had a decent number available given the recent tide. There wouldn¡¯t be enough for each person, but twenty shared among the group meant that they would have decent access to one when they needed to refer to the jade slip.
¡°Greetings soon to be inductees to the Rising Tide Sect,¡± Benton said. ¡°You¡¯ve each been given a jade slip that contains a cultivation method. Tomorrow, Town Lord Fatty Ren and his subordinates will teach you how to access the information on it. Before that, though, you will be presented with a choice.¡±
He explained that, as soon as they became a member, they¡¯d have the opportunity to improve their spiritual roots. The men and women, except for those associated with the orphanage, looked to Fatty Ren for confirmation. He nodded.
Benton continued by explaining that, though the enhancement was a major improvement, it was also very, very painful.
¡°Please understand that, even with the improvement, all but two of you would never have been accepted to any other sect,¡± Benton said. ¡°In those sects, you would not have a chance to make it higher than the middle of Qi Gathering. I will personally guarantee you that, as long as you are diligent, I will utilize all reasonable measures at my disposal to make sure you reach Foundation Establishment. It is highly likely, though, that the vast majority of you will not reach much higher than the very beginning of that realm. Think carefully if the pain is worth the benefit given your slim odds of advancing higher. You will not be looked down upon for choosing not to go through that ordeal.¡±
His words might as well have fallen on deaf ears. After the induction, every single person in the crowd decided to go through with the improvement.
Crazy. They were all crazy.
After instructing Fatty Ren how important it was that he and the four Qi Gathering cultivators make sure that each of the recruits finish at least one cycle the next day, Benton left, dreaming of the nearly two hundred Sect Points he¡¯d receive once the recruits completed that task.
On the way back to the village, Benton started out thinking about his most important immediate task¡ªcompleting his examination of the arrays constructed by the Righteous Rain Sect in their former buildings. Another thought intruded upon that plan, though. There was something else pressing that he¡¯d been avoiding.
The other thing he needed to deal with was Ye Zan¡¯s funeral. Benton knew that everyone was waiting from him to set the date, but he¡¯d been avoiding thinking about it, much less planning the details.
His reaction was strange. Though Ye Zan was an important sect member who Benton had been quite fond of, the amount he cared for the guard captain, a relatively brief acquaintance, paled in comparison to the love of a husband for a wife of literal decades. Yet Benton had soldiered on through the planning of Evelyn¡¯s memorial service immediately.
He''d been sad and quite a mess, actually, but he¡¯d done his duty, making sure that her memory was honored through the ceremony. Ye Zan, who¡¯d given his life to save Yang Xiu, deserved no less.
Benton didn¡¯t understand why he was procrastinating so much.
Well, maybe he did. When Evelyn died, there was nothing he could have done about it. She received the best medical care they could find, and he¡¯d stayed by her side until the end. Her death was in no way his fault.
He couldn¡¯t make the same statement about Ye Zan, and that was ultimately the reason for the delay.
Chapter 191 – Another Impossibility Made Expected
As soon as Benton returned to the sect grounds, he decided to send a message to Yang Xiu. First, though, he dithered a bit about using a message instead of just Quickstepping to her. Two thoughts convinced him that sending an origami construct was the correct call.
One, his time was valuable. In the ten or fifteen minutes it would take him to find her, exchange pleasantries, give her his instructions, and return to the sect grounds, he could complete diagnosing another array or two. Sure, the savings seemed trivial, but small expenditures added up.
Two, his disciples needed experience receiving messages. If something more urgent were happening, it would be bad if time were wasted by his sect members not understanding what the paper dragon was. The more his people saw them in use, the better.
Decision made, he composed the note.
Yang Xiu,
When your brother and his party return, please bring him, Jin LiJuan, and Zou Tian to me at the sect grounds. As the core of my sect leadership, it¡¯s important that you all understand what happened to Li¡¯er and what my plan for her is going forward.
Gratitude,
Master
P.S. If Kang Lin wants to join us, I have no objection. It¡¯s sect business, of course, but nothing about it is top secret. Purely her call.
There. The note had only taken a few seconds and sending the message consumed a trivial amount of qi. Much more efficient than tracking someone down.
Benton was sure that he would come to be very glad he¡¯d created that technique. It was the next best thing to email. No more rushing around like a chicken with its head cut off when he needed something from someone. Instead, just pause a second to compose a message, fire it off, and wait for the person to come to him.
Awesome. That system was much more like how he¡¯d operated on Earth. There was value in occasionally showing up unannounced in a subordinate¡¯s office, of course, but it was much more efficient to have them come to him.
With that task accomplished, it was time to get to work. The residences had comparatively simple arrays¡ªa small shield, temperature control, alarm wards, and a cabinet designed to keep food in stasis. Even better for his purposes, each house and apartment pretty much utilized those exact four formations and only those four formations. Furthermore, whoever had crafted them had seemingly followed a template. There was little variation.
Unfortunately, they were all constructed to hook into a sect-wide array to feed them qi. The Rising Tide Sect didn¡¯t have a sect-wide array, and that wasn¡¯t something he wanted to attempt to create on the fly. That project was one that would require quite a bit of planning.
Yeah. Lots of forethought and planning. Wouldn¡¯t want to mess that up, especially as he¡¯d need to also create a sect-wide defensive array that was much more complex and versatile than the one he¡¯d used at the village.
He¡¯d leave that for another day.
That decision left him with two options to deal with the immediate problem. One, create an individual qi source to hook into each domicile. That meant that, for each house, each single dwelling, and each apartment, he¡¯d have to create a device that accepted spirit coins, converted those coins into qi, and fed it to the formations for that living area.
Doing one was simple, the work of ten minutes. Fifteen if he got fancy. The problem was that he had no trick for replicating his work. Maybe if he spent enough time, he could figure out some kind of automated factory formation, but creating such a complicated array would take as much time as making the power sources.
The second option was more palatable. Create a formation that networked all the residences together and feed it from a single power station. Much easier. Much faster. The only issue was that, instead of the individual or family being responsible for supplying their own power, the source was centralized, meaning he¡¯d probably end up creating all the coins for that purpose.
Which wasn¡¯t a terrible thing. Making coins was a relatively trivial task for him, and he could delegate the task of resupplying the source with coins. In fact, that was a good idea. He¡¯d have Peng Zhen create a job to check the power station daily or weekly or whatever and add coins as necessary. Since no special skill or knowledge was required to perform the task, any random sect member could take the assignment to earn some contribution points. The sect needed jobs like that.
The second option it was. Benton got started mentally designing the formation. Which didn¡¯t actually take all that long. The entire purpose of the array was to transmit qi from one point to another in the amount demanded by the receiving end. Formations didn¡¯t get much simpler.
More of an issue was the medium to hold the formation. He couldn¡¯t exactly etch it into the dirt. He basically needed a long thin strip of something that he could bury in the same trench he used for the water pipes. Something durable.
Benton had plenty of treated bamboo left over, so why not? After doing the appropriate engraving, he set up the coin station in the pump house, dug a small trench above the water pipe, and was in the process of laying the conduits when his disciples arrived.
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¡°Greetings, Master,¡± Yang Xiu said.
The others¡ªYang Ru, Zou Tian, Kang Lin, and Jin LiJuan, who was holding the wolf cub¡ªrepeated her greeting.
¡°Thank you for coming,¡± Benton said. ¡°Let¡¯s adjourn to my office for this conversation.¡±
He didn¡¯t have a real reason for holding the meeting in his office other than simply wanting to establish the habit of using the correct facilities according to their functions. So he led them to the top floor of the administrative building.
Unfortunately, he hadn¡¯t touched the arrays in that building yet, so there was no heat or light. It didn¡¯t have any furniture, either, so they all had to stand.
Maybe it would have been best to hold the meeting elsewhere. Oh well.
¡°Yang Xiu, Kang Lin, Zou Tian, as you can see, Jin LiJuan has bonded a wolf cub,¡± Benton said. ¡°This situation will have a big impact on her cultivation journey and, to an extent, on our sect. I wanted all of you to be aware of what¡¯s going on with her, so you understand my wishes on the subject.¡±
¡°Yes, Master,¡± they all chorused.
¡°First of all,¡± Benton said, ¡°Jin LiJuan, please give me your hand.¡±
He scanned her cultivation.
¡°Hmm. Qi Gathering minor realm four, and your channels have definitely improved.¡± Benton laughed.
¡°What¡¯s funny, Master?¡± Li¡¯er said.
¡°The entire situation. You all remember how I keep saying that this is a cultivation world and that we should expect that anything can happen?¡±
¡°Yes, Master,¡± they chorused.
¡°Well,¡± Benton said, ¡°this is one of those anythings. It is extremely unusual for a cultivator to bond a spirit beast. It is even more unusual for the cultivator to do so accidentally. It is highly improbable for a cultivator to do so accidentally and to achieve such a compatible bond that she gains one hundred percent of the benefits of the beast¡¯s cultivation. It is a sign that the heavens are laughing at us that the cultivator who happened to achieve this highly improbable feat is someone who loathes spirit beasts with every fiber of her being and is now tied to one so tightly that her future cultivation journey is inexorably linked to it.¡±
Li¡¯er looked like she was about to cry.
¡°I¡¯m sorry, little one,¡± Benton said. ¡°I know this feels like the worst thing that could possibly happen to you, but there are advantages. To be honest, I really didn¡¯t think that you¡¯d ever even make Foundation Establishment, no matter how many resources I poured into you. Your channels were that messed up. Even the enhancement of your spiritual roots didn¡¯t help you much.
¡°Now, with your bond, I expect you to advance to that realm in less than a month. Finding enough materials to get you to Nascent Soul might be a challenge, but there is no reason for you not to reach Golden Core before any of your fellow disciples.¡±
All of his disciples looked surprised.
No, shocked. They all looked shocked, and none more so than Jin LiJuan.
¡°The downside of that quick advancement is that, like I said, you are completely tied to the beast,¡± Benton said. ¡°You should still cultivate at least a cycle or two daily to keep your channels clear and open. Trust me, you do not want those to atrophy, and gaining cultivation realms without cultivating at all will do very, very bad things to you, understand?¡±
Jin LiJuan nodded vigorously.
¡°Right now, the cub isn¡¯t fighting the bond because it is a baby,¡± Benton said. ¡°It¡¯s depending on you for food and warmth and growth. The bigger and stronger it gets, though, the less it¡¯s going to need you. If I didn¡¯t already know that you don¡¯t particularly care for the beast, I could tell just from the way you¡¯re holding it. If you persist in not caring, the cub will pick up on that, and the bond will decay. When it does, your cultivation will revert back to the way it was a few days ago. Same thing if the cub dies, only worse.¡±
The girl looked like she had swallowed a fly. ¡°I¡¯d lose everything, Master?¡±
¡°Everything.¡±
¡°What do I do, Master?¡± Jin LiJuan said.
¡°Make yourself care about it somehow. Treat that beast like your life depends on it loving you because, in a very real way, your life does depend on that beast loving you.¡±
¡°Yes, Master.¡±
¡°In the meantime, keep feeding it rank one cores.¡±
Zou Tian looked puzzled.
¡°Yes,¡± Benton said, answering the unasked question. ¡°Feeding the cub rank two cores would make it reach rank three faster than feeding it rank ones, and it will still need a rank two to finally advance. I don¡¯t want it to go faster, though. The more time Jin LiJuan has before it ranks up, the better. In fact, it might be best to only feed it a core every other day or every third day. It is far more important for her to strengthen the bond than to strengthen the beast.¡±
Everyone looked like they understood, so Benton moved on to the next topic.
¡°Jin LiJuan, since you have reached the fourth minor realm, you can pick a weapon technique. Do you want to learn the spear, bow, or dagger?¡±
¡°What do you suggest, Master?¡±
Benton thought about it for a moment. ¡°If you were a beast tamer, I¡¯d say go with the bow as it would be the best choice from supporting your attackers, but you¡¯re not. You will, presumably, be fighting alongside your bonded wolf, though. A bow isn¡¯t a bad choice. Neither is a spear. Or if you want to go the stealth route, the dagger is fine. Really, it¡¯s your choice.¡±
¡°I¡¯m not a beast tamer, Master?¡±
¡°No. In addition to the fact that you¡¯d make a horrible beast tamer considering your clear dislike for them, you¡¯ve bonded a beast, which precludes you from taming additional ones. Normal beast tamers use a technique to bind a beast to them. They manipulate their qi to produce a sort of pseudo bond that allows them control of the creature.
¡°Those pseudo bonds aren¡¯t like yours. They¡¯re not as strong for one, and they don¡¯t go both ways for another. The downside is that tamers don¡¯t get cultivation boosts from their beasts, but the upside is that the number that can be controlled is limited only by the tamer¡¯s ability and time.¡±
¡°I¡¯ve heard of beast tamers, Master, but I¡¯ve never met one,¡± Kang Lin said.
¡°There aren¡¯t a lot of them around since high quality techniques are difficult to find, but beast tamers can really punch above their weight if they can get higher ranked beasts to fight for them,¡± Benton said.
The girl smirked. ¡°I bet Master has such a technique.¡±
Benton grinned. ¡°Mayhap I do.¡±
None of them looked at all surprised by his announcement. It was as he feared. He was completely losing his mystique. The impossible had become the expected.
Benton cleared his throat. ¡°Eventually, I¡¯d like to add a beast pavilion, but there¡¯s no reason to create it until we have interested sect members who have reached at least Foundation Establishment.¡± He turned to Jin LiJuan. ¡°That being said, I would prefer that you join the beast pavilion unless you really feel strongly about a different route. For now, you¡¯ll mainly be practicing weapons, anyway, and should participate in the Martial Pavilion as if you were a member.¡±
¡°Yes, Master.¡±
¡°Speaking of which,¡± Benton said, ¡°have you decided which weapon technique you want?¡±
¡°Uh¡¡±
Chapter 192 – Lifeline
Jin LiJuan clung to the wolf pup in her arms like she was drowning and it was a lifeline. Which, in a way, it was. All her dreams of being a powerful cultivator were within her reach as long as she kept her bond with the beast.
Golden Core. She had no real idea what that meant, but the way Master said it made it sound powerful. And he expected her to reach that level before any of the other sect members.
She looked around her. Senior Brother was staring at her, as was Senior Sister. They were the two strongest cultivators in the sect, save for Master of course. And Sister Kang Lin, a fellow disciple though she was from a different sect. All three were in the Foundation Establishment realm and could do things that seemed absolutely extraordinary to Jin LiJuan, running almost faster than she could follow with her eyes, jumping over walls, hitting each other with blows that would have torn her body to pieces and laughing about it.
Even Zou Tian, who was only at a late stage of Qi Gathering, was amazing. He could practically turn invisible if a shadow was nearby.
She was so much weaker than any of them. According to Master, though, she¡¯d soon be stronger than them, stronger than all of them.
Jin LiJuan could hardly believe it.
But her future wasn¡¯t assured yet. There was a very major condition involved. The bond she¡¯d formed accidentally with the wolf pup had to become a bond in truth.
She honestly didn¡¯t know if she could partner with a beast. Sure, she¡¯d managed to keep from killing it, but it was just a baby. Even for her, it was difficult to kill a baby. After the initial temptation had passed, anyway.
Even if beasts hadn¡¯t killed her family, she didn¡¯t think she would have been a person that particularly liked animals. Growing up poor hadn¡¯t left much room in her heart for anything but the essentials.
She and her parents had worked hard. If they were lucky, they were able to eat enough to avoid hunger pains most of the time. There had been nothing left over for anything that served no purpose such as toys or ¡ pets.
There had been animals around the farm, of course, but Father had made it clear that they were tools, a source of food, not pets. Never a pet.
Then, she¡¯d gone to the orphanage. Mistress Zhong had barely been able to feed herself and the children. There certainly had been no resources left over for pets.
Some of the other children whined about having left behind a dog or a cat, but Jin LiJuan had never understood the point of such creatures. She¡¯d envied those kids but only because their parents had been wealthy enough to waste money on feeding such useless animals.
The wolf pup, though¡ It had a purpose. An important one. It could give her strength. It could make it so that no one could ever take anything away from her ever again.
For such a worthy goal, it might be worth trying to keep the bond with the creature.
If only she knew how.
¡°Speaking of which,¡± Master said, continuing his conversation, ¡°have you decided which weapon technique you want?¡±
All the stuff that Master had just told her about the importance of the bond was more than a little overwhelming. She didn¡¯t know what to think or what to feel. Wrapping her mind around the crucialness of the bond with the wolf pup was hard enough. Deciding on what weapon she¡¯d be using for the rest of her life on top of that made her mind feel flooded. It was too much.
She couldn¡¯t admit that to Master, though.
¡°Uh,¡± she said, trying to stall for time.
Okay. There were three choices. She could choose one of the three. The decision couldn¡¯t be that hard.
Did she want to use a spear like Senior Brother, a bow like Senior Sister, or daggers like Zou Tian?
What she really wanted was a sword. When she pictured being a cultivator in her head, she was holding a sword, the proper weapon for killing beasts and enemies. But that wasn¡¯t one of the options.
A spear gave her reach. Which was good because she was on the small side. A bow ¡ didn¡¯t speak to her at all. She wanted to be close to her enemy, to feel a blade sink into their bodies. Daggers would work for getting her close, but Master had implied that she should only pick that option if she wanted to pursue stealth. Which she didn¡¯t. For her enemies to fear her, they needed to see her coming.
¡°I guess the spear, Master,¡± she said finally.
Benton frowned when Jin LiJuan finally announced her decision, but it wasn¡¯t because of her choice. Any of the three options were fine with him. It was how resigned she sounded, like his youngest choosing between asparagus or Brussels sprouts with dinner.
¡°You don¡¯t sound entirely enthused about the spear, Li¡¯er,¡± Benton said.
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¡°The spear is a fine weapon, Master. Its length will help make up for my small size.¡±
¡°But?¡±
She hunched her shoulders. ¡°It¡¯s silly, Master, but I always pictured myself using a sword.¡±
Benton almost reflexively refused the request, but he hesitated a moment as he considered. There were two really good reasons to limit his sect members to three weapons. One, the older, more experienced sect members could help the younger ones learn their techniques. By Jin LiJuan taking up the spear, there were countless sect members who could help her out by sparring with her and correcting her technique. The only person in the area who had any experience with a sword besides him in his memories of being Su was Pan Jiang, who would surely be happy enough to help teach the girl but who would be returning to his own sect at some point.
Two, Benton had techniques already created for all three weapons, meaning anyone who learned them represented pure profit for him. Given how many points he was bringing in, he wasn¡¯t nearly as pressed for them as he had been, but spending frivolously was still a bad idea.
The first reason was still extremely valid. If Jin LiJuan learned the sword, she¡¯d mostly be on her own. The second reason, however, was actually invalid, though, for her only.
Whether her not having a qi aspect would turn out to be mainly an advantage or a disadvantage to her in the long run remained to be seen, but for the moment, one upside was that she could use any technique he¡¯d created, even if it was specifically attuned to another cultivator¡¯s aspect. Obviously, she¡¯d get no benefit from the attunement, but there would be no detriment, either. It would be essentially the same as giving her a technique that was specced for any qi aspect.
Supplying her with the Strong Oak Sword technique he¡¯d created for Pan Jiang would cost no Sect Points. It would, in fact, provide Benton with a way to recoup some of what he¡¯d expended. He''d even picked up a few stray swords along the way from slain enemies. One of those would work fine as a starter weapon for the girl.
Why not?
Cultivating was the act of walking one¡¯s own path in defiance of the heavens. Just because choosing a weapon that no one else in the sect used didn¡¯t seem like the wisest course to him didn¡¯t mean that it wasn¡¯t the best choice for her. Maybe she had fate with the weapon.
Benton shook his head. Fate with the weapon? Where the heck had that thought come from? He¡¯d literally just unironically considered that the girl might have fate with a weapon as a serious justification for giving it to her. He hadn¡¯t even been living on a cultivation planet for an entire year yet, and he was spouting such nonsense in his head like it was entirely reasonable.
Alrighty, then.
¡°If you want to use a sword, you can,¡± Benton said. ¡°Know that the path will be more difficult for you because you won¡¯t have as easy access to trainers as you would with any of the other weapons, but I¡¯ll give you the same technique that Pan Jiang uses. I bet he can give you some pointers.¡±
¡°He definitely can, Master,¡± Kang Lin said.
Jin LiJuan cupped her hands. ¡°I¡¯d really like that, Master.¡±
Benton produced the appropriate jade slip and pulled it and a sword from his spatial ring. ¡°Good luck to you, Li¡¯er.¡±
A genuine smile lit up her face when he handed the items to her. ¡°Gratitude, Master!¡±
¡°I¡¯ll let Peng Zhen know that you¡¯re authorized to draw beast cores from the Contribution Store for a while. Eventually, we¡¯ll have to talk about you earning Contribution Points to pay for them, but the sect will handle the expenses at least until you hit Foundation Establishment, okay?¡±
With the addition of Fatty Ren, the sect had three members in that realm, though hopefully the Town Lord would be ascending soon. It was worth a few beast cores to speed another member along, considering the circumstances. Benton would have to think long and hard about how to handle Jin LiJuan moving further than that, though.
On one hand, it would be great to have two Golden Core cultivators for what was coming. On the other, she was a child. Reaching such a high realm carried responsibilities, especially during a sect war. He was not willing to use her for such purposes.
The wolf pup, though¡ A rank seven or higher beast fighting for the Rising Tide Sect might be able to protect sect members when Benton was otherwise occupied.
There was much to be considered.
She cupped her hands. ¡°Gratitude again, Master.¡±
It was time to dismiss the four disciples and get back to work on the arrays, but there was one thing he had to do first. The thing he didn¡¯t want to do.
¡°We need to have a memorial for Ye Zan,¡± Benton said.
The older disciples all looked at one another.
Ah. They¡¯d noticed that he¡¯d been avoiding the subject and were concerned. Benton hated that he¡¯d made them worry.
¡°We do, Master,¡± Yang Xiu finally said.
¡°I want the whole sect there and anyone from the village who wants to come.¡±
¡°Should we hold it in the arena, Master?¡± Zou Tian said.
¡°No. The amphitheater. And¡¡± Benton hesitated. He wanted to announce some decisions about the sect at the same time but wasn¡¯t sure it was appropriate for a funeral.
¡°Yes, Master?¡± Yang Xiu said.
Benton explained his problem.
¡°I think Ye Zan would have been fine with conducting sect business at his service, Master,¡± Yang Xiu said. ¡°He was very dedicated. Anything he could do to make us more successful, he would have. He would be happy to know that he was assisting even in death.¡±
Benton didn¡¯t know if Yang Xiu was right or not, but her words made him feel a lot better. ¡°Fine.¡± It was already getting late in the day, and he had a lot of work left to do to get the buildings move-in ready. ¡°Let¡¯s set it for the day after tomorrow in the mid-morning. I¡¯ll supply food afterward. We¡¯ll have a celebration of Ye Zan¡¯s life after mourning his passing.¡± All those street meals from Sixth Flawless Flowing City would be perfect for the occasion.
¡°Yes, Master,¡± Yang Xiu said. ¡°We¡¯ll make sure that everyone knows.¡±
¡°Gratitude, disciples.¡± Benton cupped his hands.
After a few seconds of silence, Yang Xiu spoke again. ¡°Should we find someone to attempt a trial today, Master?¡±
¡°No. That slot is spoken for. He should be arriving soon.¡±
The older disciples all looked at one another, not sure who Benton was talking about.
¡°I¡¯ll introduce your new sect brother to you at some point soon. I¡¯ll also take over scheduling people for the Trials Pagoda.¡± Or rather, he¡¯d use one of the administrators assigned to him for the purpose. ¡°I like the order you established, going by cultivation level. Tell Wan Ai that she will be taking her trial tomorrow. Make sure she understands that it is not a request.¡±
From the look on Zou Tian¡¯s face, Benton had been right in thinking that the quiet girl had demurred in taking a turn. He¡¯d make sure Xun Wu took one as well.
¡°It¡¯s smart to make good use of the resource by having someone use it daily,¡± Benton said. ¡°Good job making that happen while I was away. I also like having an easily definable order implemented. We¡¯ll keep that in place for the time being but understand that we¡¯ll break that sequence when anyone with a legitimate need makes a request.¡±
¡°Yes, Master,¡± they chorused.
¡°Good,¡± Benton said. ¡°Go back to whatever you were doing. I¡¯ve got a lot to accomplish still.¡±
Chapter 193 – Interesting Isn’t All It’s Cracked up to Be
After dismissing his disciples, Benton spent the next hour hooking up the residences to the main power supply, and once done, he was pretty happy with his accomplishment getting so many places move-in ready. The area could house over three hundred people at full capacity, and he¡¯d randomly tested many formations to make sure they operated as expected.
They all worked. Climate control, defensive shield, alarm, food preservation, and both water and sanitary all functioned correctly in every place he¡¯d tried. If someone did happen to move into a place and there was a malfunction, he¡¯d just have to wait until someone notified him of the problem and fix it then. Performing one hundred percent quality control just wasn¡¯t efficient.
He mentally checked housing off his To Do List for sect move-in. Perfect.
His next task was a bit more tedious, but it was also more important. In addition to standard arrays for climate control and shields and the like, all the big structures he was using for his pavilions had complex custom formations for various functions. For example, the alchemy building had heating arrays for cauldrons and heat and smoke removal arrays for when experiments went awry. The martial building had all kinds of cool features for protecting people who were sparring and various illusionary opponents to practice against.
Benton had started the process of going through all of those arrays to make sure they worked and removing anything he thought might present a danger to his sect members. Which was more arrays than he thought he would encounter when he¡¯d started. But upon reflection, the dangerous ones made sense. What might be deadly for the Qi Gathering cultivators who made up the majority of his sect was trivial for a Foundation Establishment cultivator to use.
He doubted that anyone below that realm had been allowed in some of the rooms without an escort when the building was in use by the Righteous Rain Sect. The Rising Tide Sect, in contrast, had no spare Foundation Establishment cultivators to employ for that purpose, so it was up to him to make everything safe enough for children ¡ uh, young adult Qi Gathering cultivators.
The exploration wasn¡¯t difficult, but it was tedious. Each building had so many rooms, and when walking into one, he never knew if he would encounter only the standard arrays and be able to leave in minutes or if he¡¯d have to spend hours tracing formations rune by rune.
It was a relief, then, when he sensed a very fast-moving Foundation Establishment cultivator heading toward the village.
In the past, the fact that no other cultivator could sense Benton¡¯s location was occasionally an annoyance. Instead of them heading directly to him at the sect grounds, a visitor would go where they sensed the largest concentration of cultivators, and Benton would have to Quickstep to them.
That bother was relegated to the past with the creation of his message technique. A moment of his time and a few qi later, and a paper dragon was on its way to Fatty Ren.
Benton watched through his spiritual sense, amused, as the big man halted for a moment and then changed course toward the sect grounds. A few minutes and a short Quickstep later, the two met.
¡°Fatty Ren, when you said you could move fast, I had no idea how truthful you were being. You know, Kang Lin uses lightning qi, and you would leave her in the dust. Well done!¡±
¡°It¡¯s nothing, Friend Su. I have a year or two or twenty worth of experience on the young lady. I¡¯m sure when she¡¯s had more time to work on her movement technique, she will, as you put it, leave me in the dust.¡±
¡°True enough, but I¡¯m still impressed,¡± Benton said. ¡°I¡¯ll be even more impressed when you reach Golden Core, and I see you flying back to Vermilion Incomparable Rain Town on a sword.¡±
¡°I hope that this lowly one can live up to your expectations, Friend Su. I must confess that I find the prospect of finally advancing to be quite exciting, but at the same time, I fear that I will fail the trial.¡±
Benton shrugged. ¡°Then either you¡¯ll wait and try again, or we¡¯ll find another way past your bottleneck. Never fear, friend. I fully intent for you to leave here as the Rising Tide Sect¡¯s first Golden Core member.¡± Well, second if Benton counted himself, which he didn¡¯t. Besides, no one needed to know his actual realm.
As soon as the words left his mouth, a notification popped up.
| Host has new Quests available. |
Benton was pretty darn sure that he knew exactly what the content of those quests were, so he could wait until after his conversation with Fatty Ren to check them out.
¡°I appreciate your confidence, Friend Su. It has been quite some time since I last held the amount of hope that I do right now. I¡¯m afraid, however, that, even were I to reach Golden Core, you won¡¯t see me flying anytime soon since I can¡¯t afford a flying sword.¡±
Benton laughed. ¡°You can have one of mine.¡± He extracted more than a dozen from his spatial ring and let them fall all over the ground. ¡°I¡¯ve managed to pick up far more than I can ever use. Every Golden Core cultivator who tries to kill me ends up contributing another one to my collection.¡±
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Fatty Ren¡¯s eyes went wide. Whether his surprise was at being offered such an expensive treasure or at the casual mention of killing so many high realmed cultivators, Benton didn¡¯t know. It just made him happy to have people around that weren¡¯t so used to him performing impossibilities that they could still be shocked.
He stored the swords back in his ring. ¡°Choosing one of those is a reward for advancing, though, so you don¡¯t get to select it yet.¡±
The big man cupped his hands. ¡°I understand, Friend Su, and I agree. I want to earn my place.¡±
¡°Well, my sect is a little underpowered at the moment, so you¡¯ll be earning just about anything you want at that point. Believe me, adding a Golden Core cultivator to our ranks will make me really happy.¡±
¡°Glad to be of service, Friend Su!¡±
Benton scanned with his spiritual senses and, as he suspected, detected four people standing just out of earshot.
¡°Great,¡± Benton said. ¡°Let¡¯s introduce you to several of my disciples, and then we can get you to the Trials Pagoda.¡±
Fatty Ren, having obviously sensed the four approaching as well, nodded.
Benton used his technique to amplify his voice slightly. ¡°Come on, you four.¡±
It didn¡¯t take them long to sheepishly reach where Benton and Fatty Ren were talking.
¡°Greetings, Town Lord Ren,¡± Kang Lin said.
The others looked at her, and she shrugged.
¡°Apologies, Master,¡± Yang Xiu said. ¡°I sensed a cultivator approaching and wanted to make sure everything was okay.¡±
Yeah. Benton was positive that ensuring his safety was foremost on her mind rather than simple curiosity, especially since it hadn¡¯t been that long ago when he¡¯d informed all of them that a new sect brother would be arriving soon. It was hard to fault them for being inquisitive, though. The trait, when tempered with caution, was a good one for cultivators to have.
¡°Fatty Ren, you know my disciple, Kang Lin, of the Poison Claw Sect, of course.¡±
¡°I do. Greetings, Kang Lin.¡±
¡°These other three are your sect sister, Yang Xiu, and your sect brothers, Yang Ru and Zou Tian,¡± Benton said.
¡°Greetings, sect sister and sect brothers. I hope for our relationship to be both cordial and fruitful.¡±
The three cupped their hands. ¡°Greetings, Senior Brother.¡±
¡°Your senior brother, in addition to being the Lord of Vermilion Incomparable Rain Town, is also the leader of the Rising Tide Sect branch in that town.¡± Benton cheered inwardly as he saw the faces of his four disciples. He did still have the ability to surprise them after all.
¡°Hey,¡± Benton continued, ¡°since all of you are here, do me a favor. Take your senior brother to the Contribution Points Shop and introduce him to Peng Zhen. Let him know that, as a branch sect leader, anything that Fatty Ren wants should be put on a separate tab that I will reconcile later, including access to the Trials Pagoda. Understood?¡±
¡°Yes, Master,¡± the four chorused.
It was good having help. Much easier to have them show Fatty Ren where to go, leaving Benton to get back to work.
¡°Fatty Ren?¡± Benton said.
¡°Yes, Friend Su?¡±
¡°Come and see me as soon as your trial is over, regardless of the outcome. We have matters to discuss.¡±
¡°Of course, Friend Su.¡±
With that, the five left, and as soon as they were out of sight, Benton pulled up the Quest menu to view his four new quests.
| Recruit First Golden Core Disciple |
| Prerequisites: |
None |
| Reward: |
25 Shop Points |
| |
| Recruit Additional Golden Core Disciple Quest |
| Prerequisites: |
Recruit First Golden Core Disciple Completed
|
| Reward: |
5 Shop Points |
| Special: |
Repeatable |
| |
| Advance First Golden Core Disciple |
| Prerequisites: |
None |
| Reward: |
10 Shop Points |
| |
| Advance Additional Golden Core Disciple Quest |
| Prerequisites: |
Advance First Golden Core Disciple Quest Completed
|
| Reward: |
2 Shop Points |
| Special: |
Repeatable |
There was something very soothing about having the System, the mysterious entity that controlled his entire destiny, doing exactly what he expected it to do. From the quantity of new quests to the content to the rewards, the information displayed matched his expectations.
Maybe it was a little bit boring for the System to be so predictable, but sometimes, boring was good.
What was the old curse? May you live in interesting times?
Yep. When his life and the lives of those he cared about were on the line, interesting wasn¡¯t all it was cracked up to be. Give him boring any day of the week.
With his curiosity about the new quests satisfied, he returned to his work examining arrays. It was going to be a long night.
Well, maybe not too long. He¡¯d gone without sleep for a while by that point. Grabbing a couple of hours would be a good idea to keep him sharp. Hopefully soon he¡¯d reach Nascent Soul and would be able to totally avoid the necessity of rest.
As for his current project, he just hoped he could finish it by the end of the next day. He dearly, dearly wished to be able to announce the opening of the sect grounds for use at Ye Zan¡¯s memorial service the day after that.
Benton rubbed his hands together. His sect was really coming together nicely. Moving onto the sect grounds was the next major step.
He couldn¡¯t wait!
Chapter 194 – Consumer of All
Fatty Ren had never met anyone who seemed so different between one encounter and the next as the sect leader did. One moment, he was literally the friendliest person ever, seeming like a generous grandfather giving wisdom and candies in equal measures to his offspring. The next, he was casually demonstrating the number of Golden Core cultivators he had killed.
Scary.
Fatty Ren wanted nothing more than to remain on the sect leader¡¯s good side, going out of the way to remind him of their relationship by constantly calling him Friend Su. Whether that slight manipulation helped or not remained to be seen.
At the moment, all Fatty Ren could do was try his best to advance to Golden Core. The sect leader had emphasized how important it was to him that the sect gain a member at that realm.
Fatty Ren shuddered. What would happen if he failed?
Word had reached Vermilion Incomparable Rain Town about what had happened to the Jade Chameleon Sect branch in Sixth Flawless Flowing City. There was nothing left. Nothing.
All that wealth. The buildings. The formations. Treasures. Everything. Gone.
The message that destruction sent to the sects was imposing. It said, ¡°I care not for wealth. I cannot be bought. Cross me, and I will not even leave enough of your bodies behind to be buried.¡±
Fatty Ren shuddered again. If he failed, would the same fate await his town? Probably not. Hopefully. But he couldn¡¯t be sure.
It was with tremendous motivation that he walked into the Trials Pagoda. He could not fail. He would not fail.
Another thing about the sect leader that was hard to figure was his expectations for his disciples. Sometimes, he seemed to take the greatest of care making sure that his student understood each step in the process. Other times, he seemed to expect the student to figure everything out on their own.
From the outside, it almost appeared as if the sect leader was a forgetful old man who sometimes didn¡¯t consider that his student might not know what to do.
Fatty Ren, of course, knew differently. Every action had not just one purpose but multiple.
Like what he experienced in the lead up to the Trials Pagoda. He walked into the Contribution Points Shop having been told absolutely nothing about the process, having been given no hints at all.
When he left the sect leader¡¯s presence, Fatty Ren had felt that he would surely fail as he walked into the complete unknown.
All four of the disciples sent to escort him, however, had all already underwent trials and were thus able to supply information about the what and the how of the process, from touching the orb on the pedestal to the blue screen that popped up to giving advice about the actual trial, persistence being the main key.
All that stuff the sect leader had said about not caring about the talent level of the recruits was weird, and Fatty Ren naturally held some doubts. What kind of sect was he joining that didn¡¯t care about talent? All sects cared about talent. Regardless of what the sect leader could provide, could a sect truly stand if it let just anyone join?
Then came the part where his new sect brothers and sister told him about passing their trials. The whole thing was obviously meant to reassure Fatty Ren that the Rising Tide Sect members were both capable and reliable. Maybe there was some weird reason to add random people to the sect, but the core members were just as talented as those in any other sect.
In having those four escort him, the sect leader had both improved Fatty Ren¡¯s chances of passing the trial and made him feel much more confident about his new sect.
As Fatty Ren entered the Trials Pagoda, that knowledge of what was about to happen calmed his nerves some, but he was still more than a little anxious as he touched the orb. And he was really glad he¡¯d been warned about the blue box.
He had been almost sure that his new sect mates were joking with him about it, but it actually existed. Which wasn¡¯t all that crazy, really. An illusion array that projected a screen wasn¡¯t hard to create. The somewhat strange thing was that he didn¡¯t sense any qi.
Once he made his selection of the type of trial, a new screen popped up.
|
Selection to Advance Cultivation requires approval from Sect Leader Chao Su.
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Contacting Sect Leader Chao Su.
Sect Leader Chao Su says, ¡°Fatty Ren, you obviously have my blessing to attempt this trial. I do have one last bit of information that may or may not prove useful to you, however. Your exact qi aspect is ¡®Ever hungry consumer of all.¡¯ If the trial becomes difficult, meditating on those words might be beneficial. Good luck!¡±
|
Fatty Ren hadn¡¯t sensed any qi at all when the screen said it was contacting the sect leader. Neither was any sensed when the message from the sect leader was displayed.
Of course, that message could have been built into an illusion array at any time. And Illusion was good at hiding qi.
If not for Yang Xiu¡¯s tale of trying to select a different trial and the sect leader clearly responding through the blue box, something he couldn¡¯t have known about in advance, Fatty Ren would have thought it all a trick. Instead, it was simply one more impossibility, and a lesser one at that.
For a man who could immediately increase every inductee¡¯s spiritual roots upon joining his sect, what was a blue box that operated with no visible qi usage?
Fatty Ren was soon transported to a gray room. Beyond the floor he was standing on, some form of rock, everything disappeared into a mist in all directions.
A man appeared to the side. ¡°Prepare to defend yourself. Three. Two. One.¡±
A burst of qi shot at Fatty Ren from the front. He triggered his qi shield.
The next thing he knew, he woke in a gray void with a voice telling him that he had died and asking if he wanted to continue.
From the tales of his fellow sect members, that result was not beyond his expectations, and he quickly confirmed that he did want to continue.
When the next burst of qi was shot at him, he converted a small amount of stored fat into energy and fed it into the shield. It apparently wasn¡¯t enough because he again woke in the gray void.
The next time, he converted a lot of stored fat, nearly ten percent of his total. The shield held.
¡°Prepare to defend yourself,¡± the man said again. ¡°Three. Two. One.¡±
Again, ten percent of his stored fat converted into qi was enough to hold off the burst of qi.
And again. And again. And again. Until he used his last ten percent of stored fat to hold off the burst of qi.
¡°Prepare to defend yourself,¡± the man said again.
¡°But I don¡¯t have any more fat!¡±
¡°Three. Two. One.¡±
The qi burst came, and Fatty Ren woke in the gray void.
Well, that had both worked and it hadn¡¯t. He¡¯d at least prolonged his failure. That was something, right?
Persistence was the main key, but then again, it wasn¡¯t. The true key was to persist until he figured out whatever the trial was trying to teach him.
¡°You have died,¡± the man¡¯s disembodied voice said again. ¡°Continue the trial or quit?¡±
¡°I wish to have a moment to think, please,¡± Fatty Ren said.
The man didn¡¯t answer, but neither was Fatty Ren transported back to the room.
He needed to go back to the beginning. The entire purpose of the trial was to teach him something about his cultivation so that he could get past his bottleneck. Thus, defending himself from that burst of qi was supposed to somehow teach him something about cultivation.
What was that something, though?
Fighting, he could do. Sitting and cultivating was easy for him. Thinking and figuring stuff out, on the other hand, was not his strong point.
He learned best by doing, not thinking. Maybe he could figure it out on the fly.
¡°Continue,¡± he said.
The next time in the room, all his fat had returned, at least, but he couldn¡¯t think of anything to try. He ended up dying when the first qi burst hit him. The time after that, the same thing happened. The third time, desperate to try something, he attempted to dodge the qi burst.
That didn¡¯t work. The burst followed him and sent him back to the void.
In thinking about what he tried, it was obvious that it wouldn¡¯t work. Dodging had nothing to do with his cultivation. His cultivation was about eating food.
It was then that Fatty Ren remembered the message in the blue box. His cultivation was tied to his qi aspect. Specifically, it was ¡°Ever hungry consumer of all.¡±
It wasn¡¯t ¡°Ever hungry consumer of all food.¡± Of all. Period.
The Righteous Rain Sect had only been able to determine his qi element, Gluttony. Though he knew that there existed ways to figure out one¡¯s exact qi aspect, those methods weren¡¯t common. He¡¯d never had access to such.
He¡¯d always simply taken the energy from food and stored it in his body in the form of fat for later use. His sect leaders had taught him that. They had, in fact, been overjoyed by discovering him. Even with his middling C- roots, he was celebrated. Gluttony cultivators were rare, and the ability to store qi for future use allowed them to fight above their realm.
Those quick bursts of power came at the expense of years of eating, but most cultivators had no way at all to fight enemies at a higher cultivation realm. He¡¯d always felt that he had a fantastic advantage over most everyone he encountered.
If what he was beginning to suspect to be true was in fact correct, he had been way, way underestimating his advantage.
¡°Continue,¡± Fatty Ren said.
He took a deep breath as the man began his countdown. Feeling nervous and a little stupid, he deliberately did not will his shield to activate.
The qi burst appeared as a fast-moving, teardrop-shaped ball of light heading toward his stomach at great speed. Despite knowing that the ball of light had killed him multiple times already, he made no move to dodge.
As it hit him, he focused on a single thought¡ªconsume.
And that was exactly what he did. Instead of expending fat to block the qi, he absorbed it into his body. His fat grew.
He grew!
The implications were huge. While he¡¯d still be weak to actual weapons like swords and arrows hitting him, qi that struck him would only make him stronger. Lightning. Fire. Maybe even anything made solely of qi. All of it would strengthen him.
¡°Congratulations,¡± the man said. ¡°You have passed the trial.¡±
The next thing Fatty Ren knew, he was back in the fancy entrance to the Trials Pagoda standing next to the orb on the pedestal. He immediately sunk into meditation.
Chapter 195 – Gluttonous Sword
Other than sleeping for a couple of hours, Benton worked through the night, making good progress. He felt confident that, with another eight to ten hours of labor, he¡¯d have all the building interior arrays completely analyzed and safed off where necessary, assuming he didn¡¯t hit any major snags. The final piece after finishing the work on the inside would be to hook all the buildings in the Central Business District, the cafeteria, and the arena to the main power formation.
Then, and only then, would the sect grounds be ready for move-in.
So there were ten to thirteen hours of labor required and about twenty-four hours before the start of the memorial service. Benton nodded. By his calculations, he had a safety factor of close to one hundred percent.
Perfect.
That was good, too, because finishing the construction wasn¡¯t the only task on his plate. He also needed to have a metaphorical sit down with Fatty Ren to discuss some details of sect management that hadn¡¯t yet been addressed.
Since Benton had received a notification that he¡¯d completed the Advance First Golden Core Disciple Quest, he¡¯d also need to provide the Town Lord with a cultivation method and perhaps a technique.
Too bad he hadn¡¯t been using one of the System¡¯s cultivation methods thus far as that was a minimum of six Sect Points Benton had missed just from last night¡¯s advance.
Oh well, he¡¯d take the ten Shop Points from the quest completion and be happy with it.
Besides, any amount of any kind of points paled in comparison to the relief he felt at adding another Golden Core cultivator to the sect. If the current Fatty Ren had been present at the village during the attack, Ye Zan would probably still be alive.
Benton was very happy with the progress of all his sect members. They were all diligent cultivators and hard workers, especially compared to almost anyone back on Earth. Considering that most of them were teenagers, he found them all to be extraordinary.
But cultivation was a marathon, not a sprint. With the exception of Jin LiJuan who had lucked onto a fast track, all the others were on a much slower path. It would be years before even the very talented twins reached that level and months before anyone else even joined them in the Foundation Establishment realm.
Until that time, the safety of the entire sect rested solely on his shoulders. Or it had. Fatty Ren was not nearly at the same level of fighting strength. He hadn¡¯t even formed a Concept yet. But the addition of a Golden Core cultivator who used the Gluttony element to punch above his considerable weight would give Benton the option of fighting on two fronts if needed.
Fatty Ren was a huge strategic asset, no pun intended.
Well, that wasn¡¯t strictly true. Benton always intended his puns.
The big man showed up at the sect a short time later and immediately cupped his hands. ¡°This one reports success, Friend Su!¡± He was grinning from ear to ear.
¡°Congratulations, Friend Ren. You have no idea how happy I am that you broke through. Tell me about your trial.¡±
¡°First of all, this one never would have made it without the advice of his diligent and knowledgeable juniors. They told me to persist until I figured out the trick. And that¡¯s what I did. I owe my success to them. The sect leader is wise to have had them escort me to the shop.¡±
¡°Of course. Of course.¡±
Truthfully, Benton had just been using the four as a matter of convenience, so he could get back to work. But it hurt no one to think he had intended that outcome from the start.
Fatty Ren proceeded to relate the tale of his trial, and Benton praised the big guy vociferously. His new capability was worthy of that praise. He¡¯d already been a powerful fighter and adding in the ability to absorb enemy qi attacks would significantly increase that prowess, making him formidable indeed.
The energy stored in his fat was basically supercharged qi, a lesser version of that which was powered by a Golden Core cultivator¡¯s Concept. Benton couldn¡¯t wait to see how much more powerful that energy stored in his fat would become when Fatty Ren eventually mastered his own Concept.
Wow. His future was bright.
¡°Okay,¡± Benton said when the tale was over, ¡°the first step is to get you a cultivation method. Do you have any preferences?¡±
¡°Preferences, Friend Su? I mean, I would not expect you to be able to provide a method tuned to my element, of course. Gluttony is quite rare. I used a very general scripture at Qi Gathering and thought myself quite lucky that the Righteous Rain Sect found an appropriate Foundation Establishment method for me.¡±
¡°Fatty Ren! As if I wouldn¡¯t supply you with a proper cultivation method. Who do you think I am?¡±
The man looked genuinely shocked. ¡°Sorry, Friend Su. It¡¯s just¡¡±
¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. In fact, I like that you¡¯re so surprised. My disciples here are no fun at all. They just take everything in stride.¡±
It was obvious that the big guy didn¡¯t have any idea how to respond to that. Judging from Fatty Ren and Kang Lin, the key seemed to be getting new people in to show off to, and the more the newbies knew about sect stuff, the more impressed they were.
Benton grinned. ¡°The kind of preferences I was referring to was stuff like, if you had a chance to rate the importance of three aspects of the cultivation method, say ease of cultivation so that you can advance quickly, the power the method provides, or the chances of it letting you reach Nascent Soul, which would you say was the most important?¡±
He''d happened on the question mostly by accident, but now that it had been asked, he was really happy with it. One of the two worst parts of the process was assigning the values to the attributes. Having the person who would be using the method pick them out was genius.
In fact, if he recalled correctly, he¡¯d done the same thing with Kang Lin, and it had turned out pretty well.
He¡¯d have to remember to make it a habit.
¡°I don¡¯t think a lowly one like me would have a chance at making Nascent Soul, Friend Su, so that aspect holds little importance for me.¡±
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Benton didn¡¯t respond. Frankly, reaching that high was a crap shoot for most people. He was positive that he could get the twins there, but he honestly had no idea how many resources he would have to spend to do so. Making that promise to anyone else just wasn¡¯t reasonable.
He¡¯d do what he could for all his sect members, obviously, but a silent determination to help was different than getting their hopes up.
¡°Advancing quickly isn¡¯t a priority, either, Friend Su. Traveling from the start of Golden Core to the peak, if one is lucky enough to reach that far, takes longer than I would have lived total as mortal.¡±
That way of looking at things was good, going back to the fact that cultivation was definitely a marathon especially at the higher levels. It wasn¡¯t unusual for Golden Cores to remain in seclusion for years cultivating.
¡°That leaves power,¡± Benton said.
¡°That is does. Power. I like that, Friend Su.¡±
Based on the big guy¡¯s preferences, Benton assigned ten to Foundation, fifteen to Ease, and the other seventy-five to Power. A few moments later, he handed a jade slip containing the Gluttonous Consumption cultivation method to Fatty Ren.
The big guy immediately dove his consciousness into the slip. ¡°Friend Su,¡± he said after he finished perusing the method, ¡°this is too much.¡±
¡°Nonsense. I¡¯m counting on you to protect my people when I¡¯m unavailable. If anything, it¡¯s not enough.¡±
¡°I¡¡± Fatty Ren cupped his hands. ¡°Gratitude, Sect Leader.¡±
Benton had not paid much attention to the big guy¡¯s techniques previously, but it was time to do so.
| Name: |
Fatty Ren |
| Affiliation: |
Rising Tide Sect |
| Age: |
35 |
| Cultivation: |
Golden Core |
| Qi Available: |
102,489 |
| Techniques: |
Flowing Shield - Mastery |
| |
Flowing Steps - Mastery |
| |
Righteous Rain Sword Art - Mastery |
| |
Seeker of Food - Mastery |
| Spiritual Roots: |
C |
| Qi Aspect: |
Ever hungry consumer of all |
¡°Tell me about your techniques,¡± Benton said. ¡°The sword art is self explanatory, but what is Seeker of Food?¡±
The big guy seemed shaken. ¡°Friend Su knows all my techniques? How?¡±
Benton shrugged. ¡°One grows older. One acquires abilities. You know how it goes.¡±
It was always good to build upon his old monster mystique.
¡°S-seeker of Food does at it is named, Friend Su. If there is food nearby, I can sense where it is and how much energy it contains. It¡¯s not really all that useful, but it was the only technique the Righteous Rain Sect could find that was specifically suited for a Gluttony element user.¡±
¡°Interesting,¡± Benton said. ¡°I¡¯m assuming Flowing Steps is your movement technique and Flowing Shield is, of course, your shield.¡±
¡°Yes, Friend Su. Those of the standard techniques the sect gave to members who did not cultivate the Water element.¡±
¡°Got it.¡± Such a powerful fighter would really benefit from an attack technique specifically attuned to him, but there was a matter to discuss first. ¡°How much do you know about the Golden Core realm and Concepts?¡±
¡°I feel like I know enough, Friend Su. As I neared the peak of Foundation Establishment, I got guidance from a knowledgeable cultivator who is part of the Emperor¡¯s faction.¡±
¡°Ah, I guess being Town Lord comes with some advantages, then?¡±
¡°Yes, Friend Su. I am not an important part of that faction, but I was raised to nobility in order to take the title.¡±
¡°Will the fact that you joined my sect cause issues?¡± Benton hadn¡¯t even thought about that possibility and was, frankly, a bit annoyed and concerned that Fatty Ren hadn¡¯t brought it up.
¡°Not at all, Friend Su! Having been raised from a sect, it is expected that I would want to eventually either rebuild my former one or join another. If my membership causes a conflict, I will simply resign my position as Town Lord. They never invested much into me, so there will be no ill will if I leave.¡±
Okay. That made sense. They¡¯d needed someone to lead a dying town and were willing to elevate that person to minor nobility to fill a hole. Benton could see how Fatty Ren would be considered expendable after twenty years of service in that position.
¡°Good,¡± Benton said. ¡°Obviously, the most important part of reaching Golden Core is forming your Concept, so I expect most of your time to be spent either doing that or cultivating. However, both are long-term pursuits. I wouldn¡¯t expect you to actually form your Concept for years yet.¡±
¡°It is as you say, Friend Su.¡±
¡°In the meantime, I could give you a couple of techniques. I think one would really help with your combat potential, and the other would just be a convenience. Do you think you have the bandwidth to take on learning new techniques with everything else you have going on?¡±
The term ¡°bandwidth¡± clearly confused Fatty Ren for a moment, but he slowly seemed to grok the meaning. ¡°A peak Foundation Establishment cultivator should know a lot more than four techniques, Friend Su, especially when only two of them are in the proper realm. The only reason I don¡¯t know more is because I haven¡¯t had access to any. This lowly one would greatly appreciate the chance to learn more.¡±
That wasn¡¯t the response that Benton had anticipated, but how could he say no to such a passionate request? ¡°Very well.¡± He paused for a moment to gather his thoughts. ¡°I actually had three ideas and planned to ask you to choose between the two attack techniques. Instead, I¡¯ll tell you all three, and you can pick the two you want.¡±
Fatty Ren cupped his hands. ¡°Gratitude, Friend Su.¡±
¡°First, the convenience technique. As you likely know, it can take a year or more for a Golden Core cultivator to advance far enough to be able to manipulate qi in a manner suitable for using a flying sword without a specific technique. To shortcut that process, I can simply give you a technique that makes the use of one much easier. You could potentially be flying today.
¡°Second, a technique that efficiently channels your stored energy through your sword instead of your fists.
¡°Third, a technique that channels your stored energy into a ranged attack. You¡¯ll lose power in the process, but it will give you an option that you currently lack.¡±
¡°Question, Friend Su?¡±
¡°Go ahead.¡±
¡°The first does seem convenient, Friend Su, but why spend the time to learn something that I¡¯ll pick up eventually as I work on my Concept?¡±
¡°Exigencies of the moment, my friend,¡± Benton said. ¡°I fear that times are about to get interesting, and while I¡¯m hopeful that most fights will center around me, there will be times when I need you to protect your sect mates. The time it takes you to get from the town to the village might matter a lot. Your movement technique exceeded my expectations, but it¡¯s not nearly as fast as flying.¡±
¡°For the good of the sect, then, I will accept the flying technique, Friend Su, and for my second, I choose the ability to channel energy through my sword.¡±
¡°Not the ranged option? It would make you more versatile.¡±
¡°I am a simple melee fighter, Friend Su. I¡¯m not sure I could make proper use of such a technique.¡±
¡°Understood,¡± Benton said. ¡°Staying true to yourself is important for any cultivator, and that truism only becomes more important the higher you advance in realm.¡±
He created a generic Flight of the Cultivator technique for twenty Sect Points that any of his sect members would be able to use in the future. It was a bit of a qi hog, though, so he doubted that anyone save maybe the twins would have a big enough pool to use it before Golden Core.
The Gluttonous Sword technique, costing only six Sect Points, was specifically attuned to Fatty Ren, and the look on the big guy¡¯s face when he figured out that fact was priceless.
He was also allowed to pick out one of the excess flying swords, ending the distribution of goodies portion of the conversation. The next part wouldn¡¯t be as fun, but it was probably more important in the long run.
Chapter 196 – Debt and Payment
Benton was happy with the techniques he¡¯d given Fatty Ren. The flying sword technique would allow the big guy to travel between Vermilion Incomparable Rain Town and the village in well less than an hour, and the weapon technique would make his attacks much stronger. He wouldn¡¯t truly be a powerhouse until he developed his Concept, but in the interim, he was more than a match for lesser Golden Cores and, depending on how far away Benton was, might be able to hold off against those higher in minor realm long enough for help to arrive.
¡°Are you satisfied with your choice to join the Rising Tide Sect?¡± Benton said.
Fatty Ren cupped his hands. ¡°Very much so, Friend Su. Everything I¡¯ve been given has been of a quality that the Righteous Rain Sect couldn¡¯t begin to provide, and I don¡¯t know if I would have ever broken through my bottleneck without that trial. I owe you and the sect a debt.¡±
¡°Good, because you may be called on to pay it.¡± Benton handed him a large stack of spirit coins and another bundle of blank papers primed to be converted into origami message dragons. ¡°I¡¯ll keep you informed of everything that happens with the Jade Chameleons and any other threats as well as getting you instructions as soon as possible. Be prepared to either defend the town or come here on a moment¡¯s notice. Keep your people ready to move as well. If things devolve into an all-out war, they may need to relocate here fast.¡±
¡°Of course, Friend Su.¡±
Benton frowned. Now that he¡¯d said that last part out loud, he began to consider the situation, and the more he thought about it, the riskier it seemed to have so many vulnerable people so far away. It would be so, so much better if all those people joined him here.
For one, they¡¯d be safer. It was easier to protect one big group than two smaller ones. Another benefit was that they could integrate into the pavilions a lot easier. Finally, they were much more likely to develop loyalty to him if they actually saw him on a regular basis.
But the counterargument was just as strong. If he wanted more people in the main sect, he could have simply added more villagers. He hadn¡¯t done that for a reason. The sect main branch simply wasn¡¯t established enough to handle huge influxes. They hadn¡¯t even moved into the building yet.
In a way, leaving the two hundred people in the branch sect more or less to their own devices was a jerk move, but it gained him needed sect members without hurting the main sect. His best bet was to continue on as he planned. Accelerate recruitment as much as possible without jeopardizing organization and morale and simply do his best to make sure the branch sect was safe and did right by its members.
¡°Is something the matter, Friend Su?¡±
¡°Just thinking. Sorry,¡± Benton said, returning his attention to the actual purpose of the conversation. ¡°It should take the new recruits around three weeks to reach Qi Gathering minor realm three.¡±
Fatty Ren looked skeptical.
¡°I know what you¡¯re thinking,¡± Benton said. ¡°Most of the inductees were trash tier. There¡¯s no way they can cultivate that fast. As a rebuttal, I have three words for you¡ªTop. Heaven. Grade.¡±
¡°It makes that much of a difference, Friend Su?¡±
¡°Absolutely. I¡¯ve been running groups of fifty villagers through the process, and three weeks plus or minus a couple of days is exactly what I¡¯m seeing.¡±
¡°Understood, Friend Su.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t want them doing anything other than cultivating ten hours a day until that point. No practicing with weapons. No exercising. Nothing. Cultivating only.¡±
Different sects had various ways of intaking new members. Some insisted on intense physical training like something out of a military bootcamp. Others wanted them sparring immediately.
The idea wasn¡¯t crazy. Straining the body could help make it stronger which, in turn, could provide future benefits for those focused on fighting. Considering that Benton planned for at least all his martially inclined members to do Body Cultivation, such an approach was wholly unnecessary.
¡°Yes, Friend Su.¡±
Benton quickly purchased one hundred ninety-five Qi Condensing Pills from the Shop for sixty-five Shop Points and handed them all to the Town Lord. ¡°Give each of them a pill as soon as they¡¯ve consolidated their advancement to the third minor realm. These are perfect purity pills that are guaranteed to take them to minor realm four in the course of less than a day.¡±
Fatty Ren was less impressed by the pills than with everything else he¡¯d been given. It wasn¡¯t uncommon for a major sect to provide such boons to sect members, and he probably didn¡¯t realize what perfect purity meant. He didn¡¯t strike Benton as the type to have studied much about alchemy.
¡°After they reach minor realm four,¡± Benton said. ¡°They can start learning a weapon technique, which brings us to a decision point.¡±
The big guy tilted his head quizzically.
¡°The sect officially uses two weapons¡ªthe spear and the bow,¡± Benton said. ¡°You and the other experienced sect members in Vermilion Incomparable Rain Town all use swords. I¡¯ve already got one member here who prefers the sword as well, not the mention the fact that I¡¯ve been known to use one as well. Should I give in and just make it so the sect officially uses three weapons?¡±
Fatty Ren¡¯s expression basically said, ¡°You¡¯re asking me?¡±
¡°I really would like your input,¡± Benton said. ¡°You are a branch leader and the highest realmed member other than me.¡±
¡°The Righteous Rain Sect focused strongly on the Water element, Friend Su. Everyone who joined understood that anyone whose aspect was Water based would find better cultivations methods, techniques, and training. Cultivators such as myself obviously still joined, but there was never any effort to make any other element an official focus. Concentration of resources has advantages.¡±
The big guy¡¯s point was well made. Having only two official weapons increased efficiency, especially when they were recruiting groups of low ranked people in large lots. Everyone would take either a spear class or an archery class, and even with the small size of the sect, there were enough people at any one level of expertise that it was easy to find fellow sect members in a similar position no matter how slowly or quickly one advanced.
¡°The sword is a fine and noble weapon, Friend Su, but that is no reason to make it an official weapon of the sect. Convenience is not a reason, either.¡±
¡°I understand and agree, Friend Ren. We¡¯ll stick with the two we have.¡± Benton cupped his hands to the Town Lord. ¡°That does leave us with the problem of teaching your new sect members, though. Should I arrange to have instructors from here travel to town when they¡¯re needed?¡±
Fatty Ren appeared deep in thought, so Benton gave him a few moments to consider the question.
¡°The whole point of the branch sect is for us to be as self-reliant as possible, right, Friend Su?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°The better idea, Friend Su, is for me to have Song Yongliang and the other three experienced sect members learn the techniques, so they can teach the inductees.¡±
That was a fantastic plan, much better than anything Benton had come up with. He quickly had the System create two hundred jade slips for both the sect¡¯s foundational spear technique and the foundational archery technique.
¡°Fantastic, Fatty Ren. You have exceeded my expectations. Take these techniques back with you.¡±
Four hundred slips made quite a big pile, so he pulled a table out of his spatial ring to put them on in order to facilitate the big guy transferring all of them to his own ring.
Once the Town Lord had stored all the jade slips away, Benton said, ¡°My preference is to have more spear users than archers by a ratio of around two to one, but I feel strongly that each person should choose which resonates with them the best. Do not dissuade anyone from picking the bow, but if someone is undecided, you can push them towards the spear if you want. If the balance gets wonky, though, it''s not that big of a deal.¡±
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¡°Understood, Friend Su.¡±
¡°When your inductees start hitting Small Success with their weapon technique, it will be time for the next decision,¡± Benton said. ¡°If they want to proceed on a martial path or they are undecided on a path, they should keep training with the weapon until hitting Large Success. If someone has a strong desire to enter one of the other pavilions, we¡¯re going to have to move them here. It¡¯s just not efficient to set up learning for specific professions.¡±
Benton hesitated for a moment, thinking. ¡°Well, not for the cultivator specific ones, anyway, like formations and alchemy. If you have a blacksmith who wants to continue smithing, I can supply you with appropriate techniques for that, and you can keep the blacksmith in town. The same goes for farmers who want to grow herbs and for healers, etc. They can all learn at least the basics there, and then we can do exchanges to make sure that everyone is learning the same things.¡±
¡°Yes, Friend Su.¡±
¡°Great. Take these, too, then.¡± Benton had the System create fifty jade slips for Hammer Time and handed them over. ¡°Blacksmiths can choose this instead of the spear or bow.¡±
Fatty Ren cupped his hands.
¡°The last thing I have for you is a new mission. Start looking out for new recruits. Not nearly as many as last time, but if you find fifty to a hundred worthy people, that would be a help. And no rush this time, either. Under no circumstances will we add to the branch sect numbers in less than a month, and only then if you think you can handle the extra people.¡±
¡°Yes, Friend Su.¡±
¡°I think that¡¯s it for now,¡± Benton said. ¡°We¡¯re going to have a memorial service for Ye Zan tomorrow morning, and it would be good if you were there. I¡¯ll leave it to you whether you want to head back to town and return tomorrow or if you want to stay.¡±
As the big guy left to do whatever it was that he wanted to do, Benton decided to check his status. There had been a lot of changes lately. Just over the last several days, five sect members had improved their techniques, twenty sect members had moved up a minor realm in Body Cultivation, and they¡¯d actually had some advancements in Spiritual Cultivation.
Each of the sixteen original guards had moved from Qi Gathering minor realm five to minor realm six. Which was great progress. Even better was the very talented Xun Wu had moved from minor realm six to minor realm seven. In a couple of days, the blacksmith would be given a Qi Condensation Pill to propel him to minor realm eight.
It was awesome to see another sect member closing in on Foundation Establishment, though that advancement was still at least a few months away.
At a thought, a pop up appeared.
| Sect Name: |
Rising Tide |
| Sect Members: |
462 |
| Disciples: |
56 |
| Sect Points: |
874 |
| Shop Points: |
285 |
| Host Cultivation: |
Golden Core - Minor Realm Nine |
| Qi Available: |
5,647,745 |
| Host Body Cultivation: |
Gold - Minor Realm Nine |
| Host Mind Cultivation: |
Higher - Minor Realm One |
| Host Soul Cultivation: |
Manifestation - Minor Realm One |
| Host Techniques (Qi Gathering): |
| |
Basic Archery ¨C Mastery |
| |
Basic Spear Combat ¨C Mastery |
| |
Expert Golden Core Cultivation ¨C Mastery |
| |
General Knowledge of Mind Cultivation ¨C Mastery |
| |
General Knowledge of Soul Cultivation ¨C Mastery |
| |
Knowledge of Beast Binding - Mastery |
| |
Knowledge of Rank 1 Formations ¨C Mastery |
| |
Knowledge of Rank 2 Formations ¨C Mastery |
| |
Knowledge of Rank 3 Formations ¨C Mastery |
| |
Nascent Soul Cultivation Knowledge ¨C Mastery |
| |
Pill Basics ¨C Mastery |
| Host Techniques (Foundation Establishment): |
| |
Absolute Speed Enhancement - Mastery |
| |
Analysis ¨C Mastery |
| |
Aura Defense - Mastery |
| |
Automatic Reaction Variable Shield ¨C Mastery |
| |
Chain Lightning ¨C Mastery |
| |
Folded Space Quickstep ¨C Mastery |
| |
Extreme Area Temperature Manipulation ¨C Mastery |
| |
Foundation Excavation - Mastery |
| |
Healing ¨C Mastery |
| |
Hydro Blast - Mastery |
| |
Illusion Detection and Mitigation - Mastery |
| |
Illusion Illumination - Mastery |
| |
Layered Variable Shield Breaker with Void Finisher Weapon Augmentation ¨C Mastery |
| |
Meditation ¨C Mastery |
| |
Pause Time ¨C Mastery |
| |
Perception ¨C Mastery |
| |
Power of the Heavens - Mastery |
| |
Rank 1 Formation Construction ¨C Mastery |
| |
Rank 2 Formation Construction ¨C Mastery |
| |
Rank 3 Formation Construction ¨C Mastery |
| |
Rank 1 Formation Construction Acceleration ¨C Mastery |
| |
Rank 2 Formation Construction Acceleration ¨C Mastery |
| |
Rank 3 Formation Construction Acceleration ¨C Mastery |
| |
Rank 1 Inscription ¨C Mastery |
| |
Rank 2 Inscription ¨C Mastery |
| |
Rank 3 Inscription ¨C Mastery |
| |
Seeking Speeding Arrow ¨C Mastery |
| |
Space Dragon Origami Messenger - Mastery |
| |
Stealth ¨C Mastery |
| |
Variable AoE Gravity Burst ¨C Mastery |
| |
Variable AoE Shield ¨C Mastery |
| |
Variable Spirit Coin Manifestation ¨C Mastery |
| |
Voice Amplification - Mastery |
| Host Techniques (Golden Core Concepts): |
| Anti-Tribulation - Mastery |
Earth - Mastery |
| Fire - Mastery |
Gluttony - Mastery |
| Gravity - Mastery |
Healing - Mastery |
| Ice - Mastery |
Illusion - Mastery |
| Light - Mastery |
Lightning - Mastery |
| Metal - Mastery |
Momentum - Mastery |
| Poison - Mastery |
Smell - Mastery |
| Sound - Mastery |
Soul - Mastery |
| Space - Mastery |
Temperature - Mastery |
| Time - Mastery |
Tribulation Lightning - Mastery |
| Void - Mastery |
Water - Mastery |
| Wood - Mastery |
|
| Menus: |
| [Cultivation Method] |
[Technique] |
| [Quest] |
[Perk] |
| [Advancement] |
[Shop] |
| [Sect] |
|
Chapter 197 – A Road Almost Taken
The day passed quickly for Benton. No emergencies arose, so he was able to devote his entire attention to completing his analysis of formations in the rest of the main sect ground buildings. He hit a couple of snags, and it ended up taking the rest of the day and into the night for him to finish.
In the meantime, Wan Ai entered the Trials Pagoda and successfully completed advancing her herb technique to Mastery. Which was fantastic. That would help her alchemy so much.
What would help her even more would be learning a beginning technique for pill making. He could easily create one for her that would cram all the information she needed into her brain. As it was, she was making do with learning from manuals that he¡¯d acquired for her, and as far as he knew, she had yet to be able to produce a single pill.
Not that her failure was a bad thing. She was still in the Qi Gathering realm. When she advanced to Foundation Establishment, he¡¯d give her an actual technique for making pills, and her current experience would really help her learn that one. Really, successes and failures weren¡¯t nearly as important at the moment as the process of digging in and learning and trying.
A knowledge technique on top of that, though, would speed her even further.
The problem was time. His best guess was that she would breakthrough to Foundation Establishment in two hundred to two hundred and twenty days. That was maybe enough time to master another Qi Gathering level technique. Maybe. But her dagger technique was also only at Small Success.
In an ideal world, she¡¯d have all her techniques mastered by the time she advanced, giving her a fresh start to work on the new, more important ones he¡¯d be giving her. The likelihood of her reaching Mastery with her weapon and a new technique seemed small. The likelihood was that she¡¯d advance with both of them at Large Success.
Was it better for her to move to the next major realm with two mastered techniques and purely mundane experience with pill making or to have only one mastered technique, decent control but not mastery over her weapon, and enhanced but not expert knowledge about pill making?
In the end, that was something only she could decide.
He used a message to summon her. It didn¡¯t take long for her to arrive, and unsurprisingly, she brought Zou Tian with her.
After they got the standard greetings out of the way, Benton explained her choices to her.
¡°I prefer to learn on my own, Master,¡± she said as soon as he¡¯d finished speaking.
Benton sighed. ¡°I get that. I really do. And I don¡¯t want to put any more pressure on you than you probably have put on yourself.¡± He paused. ¡°Alchemy is very important to any sect. It¡¯s maybe not quite as important to us because I have ¡ resources. Those resources are precious, however. The sooner you and the Alchemy Pavilion can produce high quality Qi Condensing Pills and healing pills and all the other miraculous medicines available to us, the better for the sect. I¡¯m not asking what you prefer.¡±
He wasn¡¯t exactly bleeding Shop Points, but he devoted a lot of them to accelerating cultivation. If not for that usage, he could really start to think about other, more wondrous options.
She looked chastened, which was not his intent at all.
¡°Wan Ai, I am so proud of you,¡± Benton said. ¡°You have taken to cultivating like a fish to water. You learned how to prepare the Body Cultivation baths much faster than I expected. You have risen to every challenge thrown at you. The sect is lucky to have you.¡±
Her subdued looked turned to one of uncomfortableness and embarrassment.
That girl! It was impossible to recognize her great work without making her face turn beet red. Even worse, there was nothing he could do to make her more at ease. Anything he could say about it would only make it worse for her, so all he could really do at that point was ignore it and move forward.
¡°First, I need your honest self-assessment,¡± Benton said. ¡°What would be the most helpful for you in the immediate and near-term future¡ªmastering your dagger technique or improving your knowledge of making pills?¡±
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¡°None of the others can prepare herbs well enough to make pills, Master. I haven¡¯t even managed it yet. Bai Xinyi is the closest, but¡¡± Wan Ai shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s not like the baths. If the preparation is not done perfectly, the pill fails to form. If any one of a dozen other things aren¡¯t done perfectly, all of which I feel like I understand but I obviously don¡¯t considering my results, the pill fails to form.¡±
¡°It sounds like you¡¯re saying you need both.¡±
She winced. ¡°If getting me better fast is required, mastering use of the dagger to make the cuts I need is imperative, but there are so many other details that I¡¯m struggling with. I can learn it from books, but it requires much practice. Which requires a lot of herb preparation. Everything takes time.¡±
¡°Are you close to reaching Large Success with the dagger?¡±
¡°Yes, Master.¡±
Assuming she judged her progress accurately and she was only days away from advancing the technique, it made no sense to use the Trials Pagoda again. It should be much more efficient with techniques that people were stuck on or had progressed to the middle stages.
Besides, from her expression and her tone, she obviously did not want the new technique, much less to have her progress artificially accelerated. And normally, that refusal would have been the end of the matter. She was considered an adult in her society and should be free to make her own decisions, even if those choices weren¡¯t the ones he would have made.
The particular subject they were discussing, however, impacted more than just her. The good of the sect was at stake.
Ah. To an extent, anyway. It wasn¡¯t like the sect would fail or anything due to her decision, but overall, her learning being accelerated would lead to a more effective use of resources.
He wondered how far he should go in forcing her to do what he wanted. Spock famously said at the end of Star Trek II that, ¡°The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. The one.¡±
Benton¡¯s eyes almost moistened at remembering the scene. It had hit him hard, burning itself into his memory as a really good scene. On the other hand, a movie hitting really strong emotional notes maybe wasn¡¯t exactly the best justification for making a particular espoused philosophy a founding principle of his sect.
So probably ordering her to take the pill technique was a bridge too far. And another attempt to convince her would be very coercive at that point. She¡¯d likely see it as an order even if he didn¡¯t phrase it in that matter. But maybe he was justified in being a little coercive given that the situation called for it?
One more attempt. He¡¯d drop it if she didn¡¯t agree.
Of course, if she took the new technique, his conscience was probably going to bug him quite a lot. Ugh.
¡°I¡¯m sure you have good reasons for the way you feel,¡± Benton said. ¡°Perhaps you want to achieve your success on your own merits and feel that a new technique is cheating. Perhaps you feel that you¡¯re already getting a lot of attention from your peers and me giving you a new technique will add to that. Perhaps your reason is something else entirely. The point is that I believe your reason, whatever it may be, is good and reasonable. My opinion of you is way too high for me to believe anything else.¡±
Wan Ai looked like she was about to cry. Zou Tian looked horrified.
Yikes. That last part was a bit manipulative. More than a bit, really. How could any of his disciples say no to any request that followed that particular lead up?
Danger, Will Robinson. Danger. Maybe coercing an impressionable young lady to take the technique was worse than ordering it directly.
¡°You know what,¡± he said. ¡°Just forget it. It¡¯s not that big of a deal. We can skip the introductory knowledge technique and go straight to one for pill making when you reach Foundation Establishment.¡±
¡°Master,¡± she said, her voice trembling, ¡°if it¡¯s truly important to the sect¡¡±
Benton almost laughed. The whole situation was feeling way too icky by that point. It was fine to joke around with his sect members, and manipulating enemies with misdirection and by other means was fair game. Whatever he¡¯d been doing to her, however, was pretty the definition of not okay.
¡°No,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯m officially taking the offer off the table, and if you try to buy the technique with your contribution points, it will not be available. Go back to practicing.¡±
Both the kids cupped their hands.
¡°I do expect you to reach Mastery with the dagger before you advance, though,¡± Benton said. ¡°If it doesn¡¯t look like you¡¯re going to reach that target on your own, you need to use the pagoda again.¡±
¡°Yes, Master.¡±
¡°Zou Tian,¡± Benton said, ¡°I expect you to keep an eye on that situation.¡±
¡°Yes, Master. I¡¯ll help her practice.¡±
As soon as they left, Benton felt a huge sense of relief. He¡¯d almost started down a bad road. What was the saying? ¡°Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.¡± Something like that.
He had to remember that he had almost absolute power over those kids. If he decided to kill one of them or destroy their cultivation or anything else, no one would say a word.
Maybe forcing one of the sect members to take a technique she didn¡¯t want to take for reasons that he didn¡¯t understand when his way would have benefited the sect wasn¡¯t exactly the moral equivalent of murder, but abusing his power felt like a slippery slope.
How far was it between coercing a sect member to take the choice he wanted and slapping them in the face and yelling, ¡°You dare!¡±?
He shuddered. Not far enough for his tastes.
Chapter 198 – Guilt and Regret
With the preparations for move-in complete, Benton moved on to a much less pleasant task¡ªgetting ready for Ye Zan¡¯s memorial service. The first order of business was to determine where the guard captain would be laid to rest.
He¡¯d died a hero, and he deserved a resting place befitting his deeds. To create an appropriate place, Benton would need a new technique. Luckly, the fact that the recruits in Vermilion Incomparable Rain Town had taken their first step along their cultivation journey had given him more than enough Sect Points to propel his total to well over eight hundred even given the recent outlays.
The random thought about point totals focused his attention on his determination. Frankly, that decision process was wrong. While the present circumstances couldn¡¯t be called an emergency, providing a proper entombment for the sect¡¯s first hero justified any expenditure needed regardless of point total. It was that important.
¡°System,¡± Benton said, ¡°I want a technique to use my Earth qi to shape stone. The technique needs to give me the knowledge and skill necessary to create stone buildings and other structures and to sculpt statues. Please purchase to Mastery.¡±
The technique would have been a bit more efficient if he bought a Concept for Stone qi, but with his pool size, using Earth instead would be fine.
|
Technique creation confirmed.
Host has learned the technique, Stone Shaping and Construction ¨C Mastery.
Host has 866 Sect Points available.
|
A flood of knowledge entered Benton¡¯s mind, and he momentarily reflected on the fact that he¡¯d normally take great joy in being able to perform magical feats that he¡¯d never envisioned having the capability to do. His task for the night was too grim to draw any happiness from his new abilities.
He threw himself into his work. First, the tomb. In the culture of his current world, the size of the tomb depended on the importance of the person to be entombed. As far as he was concerned, no one was more worthy of a grand palace than Ye Zan, the sect¡¯s first hero.
Benton sighed. Realistically, though, he was building a sect that would hopefully last for centuries. Maybe millennia. The sect would unfortunately have many, many heroes eventually. It wasn¡¯t reasonable, or maybe even possible, to build a huge tomb for each of them. Something like a Hall of Heroes would be much more practical.
Yeah. That would work. And Benton really thought that Ye Zan would have approved. Rather than a single structure devoted only to him, it would be something that served the entire sect, a distinction that honored his memory and sacrifice.
What Benton envisioned was a nice garden with flowers and hedges and a reflection pool, which suited his western taste more than the aesthetics of the eastern world he lived in.
He almost jettisoned the idea in favor of something more traditional according to the local culture, but he hesitated. The thought of having something unique appealed to him. The rest of the sect grounds were just like what he¡¯d find anywhere else on the continent. Wouldn¡¯t it be neat to have something completely different to draw attention to the resting place of their heroes?
Yes. He¡¯d lean into Earth for his design choices to make the area really stand out. The tomb would resemble something that would fit in well at Arlington National Cemetery instead of something he¡¯d see on a tour of an allied sect. And it and the statue would be created from white marble flaked with gold. Considering that white represented death and morning and gold riches, he was trying to convey how much he valued the sacrifice of those honored in the garden.
Hopefully, that purpose would shine through.
And he¡¯d create an array for both the statue and the tomb to prevent it from getting dirty and another one inside the tomb to preserve the ¡ contents.
With a firm idea in his head, he got to work. The mountains nearby provided plenty of base material, and his new technique gave him the knowledge to get the shapes just right and to adjust the color and composition to achieve just the look he wanted.
By morning, the tomb, statue, benches, paths, and basin for the pool were complete.
For another twenty-four Sect Points, he bought a Concept of Nature to Mastery and created a new technique for himself that allowed him to instagrow and shape plants from either seeds or a remnant of a mature plant. Though the surroundings were all dormant due to it being winter, Benton was able to find enough plant material of the types he wanted to create a beautiful flowering garden bordered by hedges.
Arrays added temperature control, which should make the garden a popular spot for contemplation in all seasons, and for plant preservation to keep it beautiful with minimal maintenance. When it was complete, including water being added to the pool from Benton¡¯s spatial ring, he sat on one of the benches and took in the garden he had created. He felt that Ye Zan would have liked the area.
It definitely wasn¡¯t traditional. No considerations were given to Feng Shui at all. The western sensibilities and the colors clashed with the rest of the sect. But the garden and tomb were still beautiful, and Benton didn¡¯t think that one needed to have experience from Earth to appreciate it.
Other than the aesthetics of the main buildings, most things about the Rising Tide Sect were different than other sects. The life of a Qi Gathering cultivator was valued as highly as most sects considered their Nascent Soul members. E and F ranks were gladly accepted and treated as respected members.
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It was good to be different, and honoring their heroes in a way that appealed to him instead of to the native culture celebrated that belief. Benton felt good about his decision.
Unfortunately, having completed the task several hours before the scheduled start of the service left Benton with too much time on his hands, and sitting in the garden staring at the tomb he¡¯d built focused his attention on a subject he¡¯d been trying to avoid thinking about. He couldn¡¯t help but consider about what he could have done differently.
If he¡¯d chased after the cultivator heading toward the village, the man would have been killed long before he had a chance to strike down Ye Zan. Of course, that action would have given the other Jade Chameleon cultivators the chance to separate and do great damage to the village, killing even more people.
Maybe they would have chosen to flee instead or decided that Benton, being the true threat, should be their sole target. He didn¡¯t think so, though. The father was dead set on vengeance, and Benton proving the importance he placed on his people might have prompted the lunatic to destroy the entire village before he could be stopped.
If the village¡¯s shield had been constructed to repel qi attacks, Ye Zan would be alive. But that wasn¡¯t reasonable. An array that protected against everything was too unfocused to be strong enough to really protect against anything. It would never have held up to the beast tide. To fully protect the sect, Benton would have had to construct three different formations¡ªone for beasts, one for qi attacks, and one for cultivators.
There had been no time to do build such an array.
Had he known that three Golden Core cultivators were going to attack, he would have made the time. But he didn¡¯t know.
Of course, if he hadn¡¯t killed that Foundation Establishment cultivator in the first place, none of the events that followed would have occurred. But that thought wasn¡¯t reasonable, either. The man had been intent on his purpose, and Benton wasn¡¯t strong enough at that point. He was honestly lucky to have been able to kill him with that spear thrust.
There were always things he could have done better, especially considering points management. If he would have known. If he could see the future.
¡°System, I¡¯d like to create a technique to know when bad things are going to happen so that I can prepare for them.¡±
| Divination techniques are not allowed on this plane of existence. |
Benton spent a good amount of time trying to work around the proscription like he had others in the past, but the System was adamant. And no mysterious entity came to his aid. Neither was he able to create a technique to bring back the dead once the soul had departed.
Frustrated, he was left to ponder his own failures and inadequacies. And really, mismanagement of Sect Points and not having the foresight to build enough protection into the village¡¯s wall weren¡¯t even the things that made him feel the guiltiest. No, that was something else entirely. It was a single thought¡ªhow much worse would he have felt if it had been Yang Xiu¡¯ body lying in the dirt instead of Ye Zan?
The older one gets, the more opportunities one has to deliver eulogies.
Benton was a firm believer in the fact that experience makes things easier. Eulogies stood in opposition to that principle. No matter how many he gave, he never found himself more comfortable delivering them. The fact that he¡¯d done it before meant that he knew how to structure the speech at least.
The morning stretched, and all too soon, it was time for the memorial service to begin. As ordered by Benton, the entire sect attended. Most of the villagers did, too.
He mostly let the other sect members lead the ceremony. The mayor officiated. Huang Yimun, who was apparently Ye Zan¡¯s best friend, told stories of their time together, making the crowd alternately laugh and cry. A few of the other guards spoke, too, but none were as impactful as Huang Yimun.
Yang Xiu was the final one slated to give testimonials. As she ascended the stage¡ªan actual one that woodcrafters have built instead of just a wagon¡ªand stood behind the podium, she showed more nervousness than Benton had ever seen her display.
¡°I would not be here today except for Ye Zan,¡± she said, her eyes glistening. ¡°I know he gave himself willingly, and I do not want to diminish his sacrifice. But I can¡¯t help but feel that he paid the price that was my burden without me asking him to. Without me wanting him to.
¡°I was prepared to make that sacrifice myself.
¡°Am I glad that he did it? I don¡¯t know. My brother appreciates it. He wishes that Ye Zan had family that we could reward, but he didn¡¯t. So there¡¯s not much either of us can do.¡±
Benton was almost positive that the girl hadn¡¯t actually prepared a speech and was instead simply speaking from the heart. Such an act was brave of her. Her emotions were obviously very raw, her confusion and sadness coming through in every word.
¡°Should I have acted differently that day?¡± Yang Xiu continued. ¡°If I would have ducked behind the palisade, we might both still be alive. I thought I was doing right, protecting the sect, but while I was willing to sacrifice myself for that end, I don¡¯t know if I would have chosen to sacrifice Ye Zan.
¡°My thoughts have been jumbled since Ye Zan died, and I don¡¯t know how to feel about his passing and my surviving. My intention is to move forward and become as powerful as possible in order to protect as many people as possible. Every person I save becomes someone who Ye Zan saved. I think he would have liked that. It¡¯s all that I can think of to do.¡±
There wasn¡¯t a dry eye in the place when she stepped down off the stage, turning it over to Benton.
He took a few necessary moments to gather himself before ascending the stairs, and he began the eulogy with the easy stuff. Kang Ya-Ting had done a lot of investigating before hiring Ye Zan for the escort job, so Benton was able to relate tales of the guard captain¡¯s childhood and adolescence growing up in Sixth Flawless Flowing City. To that background, Benton added anecdotes about the boy¡¯s early adventures and misadventures as a mercenary and his ambition to be a soldier. His capability and diligence as a guard captain were praised vociferously, bringing Benton near the conclusion of his speech.
¡°Ye Zan was a good man. His greatest ambition was to protect those he cared about and respected. Prior to becoming a member of the Rising Tide Sect, the number of people he placed in those categories were few, limited to his fellow guards.
¡°His time with us was short. Way too short. But I¡¯d like to think that the number of people in those categories grew by enormous bounds during that time. I know that he fit in both those categories for me and for many of you here today.
¡°There is nothing that we can do to bring him back, but we can honor his memory. One way we can do that is, as Yang Xiu stated, to grow stronger, so we can protect each other. Another is to visit his resting place, the newly built Hall of Heroes.¡±
Benton paused for a moment to let that name sink in. ¡°Yes. The Hall of Heroes. As the leader of the Rising Tide Sect, I officially declare Ye Zan to be our first official hero.¡±
Somber cheers sounded at the announcement.
¡°Outside the Hall is the Garden of Reflection,¡± Benton said, ¡°a perfect place to sit in quiet contemplation. It is a place for solitude. For consideration. For meditation. All are welcome to visit, mortal and cultivator, sect member and not, but please remember its purpose.¡±
Benton was positive that no one in attendance would ever disrespect the garden and that they would actively enforce the rules if necessary.
Good. He wasn¡¯t normally one for somberness, but Ye Zan deserved that measure of respect.
¡°Let¡¯s now observe a moment of silence to honor and remember our departed hero,¡± Benton said. ¡°Our departed friend.¡±
Chapter 199 – Spirit, Body, Soul, and Mind
The moment of silence marked the end of Ye Zan¡¯s memorial service, but with the entire sect present, Benton needed to take a few moments to conduct business. Which wasn¡¯t exactly an ideal scenario, definitely something he wouldn¡¯t have even considered back on Earth.
That understanding made the transition from the ceremony to other matters more than a little awkward. How was he supposed to begin, ¡°Since I have you here¡¡±?
Ugh.
¡°The creation of the Hall of Heroes was the last step in making the sect main grounds move-in ready,¡± Benton said finally.
That segue wasn¡¯t exactly a good one, but at least it somewhat tied what he¡¯d been talking about to what he wanted to bring up in a halfway coherent manner.
¡°Obviously, the grounds are by no means finished,¡± Benton continued. ¡°A huge priority is to get a wall built around the entire central area, including the pavilions and residences.¡±
The lack of beasts made danger of that sort of attack minimal, but the threat from rival cultivators loomed large. A permanent structure such as the wall constructed from a qi rich material like the Orange Vigor Spirit Wood made it the perfect conduit for formations. Benton was desperate to get that barrier finished and tie multiple defenses into a grand array that would hold off, for a time at least, even a Nascent Soul cultivator.
¡°The minimum crucial installations are complete, however.¡± Benton said. ¡°All the pavilions have a building dedicated to that specific purpose, and there is enough residential capacity for over three hundred people. My expectation for you is that most sect members move into one of the residences starting within the next several days. Mayor Mo Jian may choose to remain in the village at his discretion, and Lord Fatty Ren, the leader of the new Rising Tide Sect branch in Vermilion Incomparable Rain Town, will continue to remain in residence there along with his recruits. Otherwise, unless you receive direct dispensation from me, you are expected to relocate.
¡°Council members should find housing today and explore their pavilion tomorrow. The arrays in the buildings are complex. You will need guidance to understand all the functionality. Please schedule time with me tomorrow so I can provide that guidance.
¡°Regarding housing, the tallest apartment building is reserved for Mistress Zhong, the kids currently living in her orphanage, and any other resident she sees fit to allow to live there. All other housing will be assigned upon request based on a priority list. The order of that list goes by membership in the council, highest cultivation realm, longest time in the sect, and highest age. Thus, if two sect members who are not part of the council and who were inducted at the same time and are in the same minor realm want the same dwelling, the oldest one will be given priority. If the two happen to be twins, figure it out.
¡°The morning of the day after tomorrow, the housing not assigned to council members will become available for assignment. Tour the residential neighborhood and create a list of dwellings that interest you ranked in order of preference. Before noon, you need to submit that list to sect administration.
¡°My two assistants, Sun Hua and Xu Gang, can be found on the second floor of the Administration Pavilion. They will handle assigning housing based on the priority list and the submitted requests.¡± Benton eyed each of the two young ladies. ¡°I apologize for not consulting with you first and will provide you a list of dwellings and a list of sect members sorted numerically in the order I mentioned. I trust the two of you will be able to handle the rest?¡±
Truthfully, he¡¯d horribly underutilized the two assistants the mayor had long ago assigned to him. Basically, beyond introducing himself and telling them to cultivate, he hadn¡¯t given them much to do at all. Now that everyone was moving onto the main sect grounds, he expected their role to become much more important.
Sun Hua immediately cupped her hands, seemingly happy to be addressed. Xu Gang only followed along after noting what Sun Hua had done.
¡°Finally,¡± Benton said, ¡°I just want to say that I¡¯ve been very pleased by everyone¡¯s diligence and progress so far. Great job everyone. There are, however, two resources that are currently being underutilized¡ªSoul Cultivation and Mind Cultivation.¡±
Most people in the crowd stared at him blankly.
¡°Every sect has access to Spiritual Cultivation, and a lot of them practice Body Cultivation to some degree. Almost no one cultivates the mind, though, and even fewer have access to Soul Cultivation methods. These two types of cultivation give the Rising Tide Sect an advantage that no one else can match, and we¡¯re not utilizing them enough.
¡°While neither provides the pure physical benefits and power of Spiritual and Body Cultivation, both convey plenty of advantages. Cultivating the soul can make your life more satisfying, increase your ability to use qi, and protect you from demonic cultivators. Mind cultivation can give you access to mental attacks and let you split your thoughts, which is very beneficial to crafters. Scriptures will be available in the Contribution Points Shop. I highly suggest that everyone choose at least one or the other and begin working it into their schedules. Note that, for beginning cultivators, time spent on Soul and Mind Cultivation does not count against your ten-hour maximum per day.¡±
Given his experience in the past, making one of his desires so blatantly known should cause everyone to rush to comply. Which meant he had to follow through with his promise to have cultivation methods waiting for them in the Contribution Points Shop.
As soon as he dismissed them, he Quickstepped to his office in the Administration Pavilion, dropped into a lotus position, and pulled up his Cultivation Creation Menu.
He already made two Soul Cultivation methods¡ªthe one he¡¯d already given to Peng Zhen that focused on defense against demonic cultivators and the one for the former Righteous Rain cultivators to help them heal. The first question was whether or not more methods were needed.
Benton mentally reviewed the purpose each of the four soul characteristics given by the System. Inviolability made the soul resistant to outside influence, such as attacks by demonic cultivators and control by gu worms. Size made it easier for a person to lead a more fulfilling life. Strength helped both resist and heal damage as well as leading to special abilities. Finally, Tempering enhanced one¡¯s qi pool and physical prowess.
He didn¡¯t want to spend a lot of points creating a bunch of methods, but picking one or two more to give his members options was probably a good idea. He¡¯d only invested fifty Sect Points so far. Two more methods would devote another fifty. One hundred sect members reaching the first minor realm would return that many quickly, and everything after that would be pure profit.
Yeah. He could definitely afford to invest a few more points to give his sect members more choices.
One of the previous methods was heavily weighted to Inviolability for defense and the other to Strength for healing. An option for the new methods was to make one that was heavily weighted for each of the other two characteristics. The one devoted to Size would make people happier, but he didn¡¯t anticipate a lot of his sect members making that choice, considering how power mad the entire cultivation world was. The one focused on Tempering, on the other hand, would be a good choice for anyone set on a martial path.
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That last one actually sounded like a perfect option for some of his sect members, so he created the Martial Soul method for Soul Cultivation, allocating fifteen points to Inviolability to protect against demonic cultivators, ten to Size since he wanted his sect members to be happy, ten to Strength since preventing and recovering from injuries were both important, and sixty-five to Tempering. The method would increase the attributes his sect members most valued while providing them some defense if they someday happened to encounter a demonic cultivator.
Instead of creating the second one to be focused on the remaining characteristic, Size, he decided a balanced option would be better, so he allocated twenty-five in each category and called it Balanced.
He quickly wrote up a detailed description of what each characteristic did and how the characteristics were distributed in each of the four cultivation methods. Luckily, Peng Zhen was a reliable fellow who could be counted on to describe the contents of the note in detail before letting any of the sect members make a selection.
Next, Benton needed to create one or more methods for Mind Cultivation.
Of the four types of cultivation, Mind was probably the weakest, especially in the beginning. Like Soul, it had five major realms¡ªHigher, Inner, Myriad, Expert, and Grandmaster¡ªand a practitioner reaching the peak of the first realm couldn¡¯t process information much more quickly or in higher quantities than a mortal. The second level provided some benefits, such as weak mind attacks and the ability to achieve greater focus, but considering that the level of effort was equivalent to that needed to reach Foundation Establishment, it required a lot of work for a relatively small gain.
Myriad and above was where the cultivation type shined. A practitioner¡¯s mind attacks became much more powerful, and one gained the ability to split one¡¯s focus, a huge benefit for nearly anyone but something especially valued by alchemists and formation masters.
Unfortunately, the likelihood of reaching Myriad was about the same as the likelihood of reaching Golden Core¡ªsmall. Which was one reason Benton hadn¡¯t pushed for his sect members to learn that type of cultivation.
Even taking into account the level of effort required, however, reaching at least Inner could give his people a decent advantage. In a fight between two people of a similar realm, being able to distract one¡¯s opponent with a presumably unblockable mind stun could provide a decisive turning point in a battle, even if the distraction caused was quite brief.
The real advantage was that, with the extremely high-grade cultivation methods provided by the System, almost all his sect members would be able to advance to Inner.
When he¡¯d started recruiting every person he could find into his sect regardless of talent level, Benton hadn¡¯t had any plans other than, ¡°Hey, I need sect member. These people can become sect members.¡±
A Foundation Establishment cultivator in the mid minor realms held value. With access to techniques that allowed them to externally manipulate qi, they could learn to create low-level but necessary pills and arrays and weapons, etc. They¡¯d become the worker bees of his sect and, hopefully, experience a nice life featuring good health and a standard of living much higher than most mortals. Considering that most of them started as peasants, the fact that they¡¯d be expected to live around a hundred and fifty years as a cultivator was much better than the average peasant¡¯s expectation of death somewhere in the early fifties.
So it was a genuine win-win. They got a genuinely better and longer life. He got lots of Sect Points. Yay.
Now, though, he was considering how to improve their lives as cultivators even more. Power equaled success in a cultivation world, and the plan forming in his mind had the potential to maximize the strength of every single member of his sect.
The fact that he would also be on the receiving end of a lot more points was something that didn¡¯t really even factor into his decision making, but it was a nice bit of lagniappe.
Normally, rank made a lot of difference in battles between sect members. An A from one sect would beat a similarly realmed C rank from a rival sect nine times out of ten. In contrast, Benton expected his sect members to be able to compete versus similarly realmed cultivators from other sects based solely on the quality of his System-provided cultivation methods and techniques.
What would happen when he added Body Cultivation to that equation, though? Maybe they couldn¡¯t jump major realms, but the pure physicality of his sect members would allow them to punch upward several minor realms at least.
Add to that Soul Cultivation that advanced his sect members¡¯ qi pools and physical might. And on top of that, add in an ability to launch a mind stun at a critical moment.
Benton liked the thought of that. No one in the same major realm would be able to beat one of his members in a fight. And there was no reason that the same shouldn¡¯t apply to abilities in crafting.
Not only that, but some people had a talent for cultivation. For example, Wan Ai just took to Spiritual Cultivation like a fish to water, advancing much faster than her spiritual roots would normally suggest she would. By exposing sect members to the two additional cultivation types, it was possible that some of them would discover an unrealized talent and advance farther than projected.
He couldn¡¯t help envisioning a sect where his members advanced realms much slower than other sects, but they advanced Spirit, Body, Soul, and Mind simultaneously. It was a vision of the future that he liked.
In fact, he liked it so much that he decided he needed to advance his own cultivation in those areas, and with a total of seven hundred seventy-two Sect Points, he was seventy-two points above the floor he¡¯d decided on of seven hundred points.
¡°System, what¡¯s the maximum level of mind cultivation that I can advance to presently?¡±
| Host has met the requirements to advance to the peak of Myriad. |
The answer was exactly what Benton had expected. Myriad corresponded to Golden Core, the peak level he had currently qualified to reach. He quickly also confirmed that he was allowed to advance to the third level of Soul as well, the Fulfillment realm.
If his calculations were correct, it would take him eight points to reach the peak of Higher, eighteen to reach the peak of Inner, and thirty-six to get all the way to the peak of Myriad. That was a total of sixty-two points. And he¡¯d need the same amount to reach the peak he could climb in Soul. Which was more than he had available to spend unless it was an emergency.
Benton had a choice to make. Should he max out one or advance both equally? And if he went with one over the other, which should he choose?
If he knew he was going to fighting demonic cultivators soon, Soul would be the best choice. If not for Su¡¯s experience with his sect being wiped and what Benton had learned about the downfall of the Righteous Rain Sect, the thought of demonic cultivators would not have even entered his mind. Most sects never encountered a single one of their ilk.
Benton did have those memories and knew what happened to that sect, however, so he had to consider demonic cultivators a real risk. But he knew of only two attacks, one two decades prior and one about a year ago. That particular threat wasn¡¯t exactly looming on the horizon like his current issues were.
Being able to use mind stun and split his consciousness into multiple threads seemed like a better use of points for the immediate future, so he chose to advance his Mind Cultivation fully.
That selection left him with fifty-four Sect Points. Which was close to being enough to get him all the way to the peak he could go in Soul Cultivation but not quite. It was oh so tempting for him to just dip a bit into his nest egg, but he decided that, lacking a real need to do so, he¡¯d only spend down to the seven hundred mark, meaning he advanced to seventh minor realm of Fulfillment.
As soon as he triggered the upgrades, he braced himself. And rightfully so. The huge increase of his Mind and the lesser one of his Soul was intense.
When he recovered, his greater processing speed made him remember that he¡¯d completely forgotten to create methods for Mind Cultivation for his sect members.
Doh!
The proper thing to do was to dig deep into that area of cultivation just like he¡¯d done with Soul Cultivation earlier and create a selection of methods for his sect members, floor be damned. Practically speaking, though, he was wiped emotionally from the memorial service and physically from the huge upgrades he¡¯d just experienced. He just didn¡¯t have it in him to give the matter the attention it deserved.
Instead, Benton went twenty-five Sect Points under his floor to create a basic Mind Cultivation method that balanced all the characteristics. He¡¯d have Peng Zhen let the crafters know that more options would be coming in a few days.
Good enough.
He was confident that the steps he took today would lead to great things for his sect in the future. To reach that future, though, he needed time for his sect members to cultivate three different methods as far as they could, a process of many years even for the least talented of them.
To give them that time, Benton had to hold off all the threats facing the sect.
Not an easy task. Not an easy task at all.
Chapter 200 – Information, Risk, and Reward
Emperor Han Shu was not sure if the information contained in the report he just read represented a good thing or a bad thing for his faction. Peace had existed between his empire and the sects for more than a century, but a single cultivator seeking advantage could change that status at any time.
For as long as anyone could remember, three sects had ruled the portion of the continent he currently controlled, but they cared not for mortal affairs. His family dynasty had started humbly, his ancestor being the simple mayor of a small village. Over the next several centuries, they slowly and cautiously spread their influence, taking over managing more villages and then towns and then cities.
They had, of course, given the sects much face, kowtowing to them while gathering resources in secret. The cultivators had appreciated not having to govern lowly mortals while having their wants and needs met.
Favors were bought, and the most talented members of the family were sent to the sects to learn. Slowly, political power had turned into actual power. Over even more centuries, the family had acquired enough cultivation methods and techniques that they no longer had to rely on outside help.
Now, they stood on equal footing with any of the sects.
But only equal. Which rankled him more than he liked to admit. If he grew too strong, they would band against him. If he showed weakness, one or more would strike.
Cultivators were predatory and merciless.
Two decades ago, the Righteous Rain Sect, one of the Big Four, had been destroyed overnight. Han Shu¡¯s faction and each of the Big Three tried to take advantage, but the prospect of any two enemies combining strength tempered growth.
The four factions lapsed into stasis.
Days ago, that stasis had been upended. A lone cultivator of unknown realm had effected twelve verified kills of Jade Chameleon Sect Golden Core cultivators. Further, rumors on every tongue indicated that the inciting event of that massacre also resulted in deaths of three more Golden Core cultivators, including Teng Jian.
Even more unbelievably, there were credible reports that three additional Golden Core cultivators had their dantians destroyed. By tribulation lightning.
Obviously, no one, regardless of realm, could control tribulation lightning, but the one known as Chao Su had been able to mimic it to a degree such that Han Shu wasn¡¯t sure the distinction mattered.
Prior to the massacre, the Jade Chameleon Sect had forty-one Golden Core cultivators. If the reports were to be believed, they only had twenty-three left. And their sect branch in Sixth Flawless Flowing City had been utterly annihilated.
They continued to wield the influence of a major sect simply due to the fact that they still had all four of their Nascent Soul cultivators, but two of those were ancient and clearly in decline, each surely having only a century of life left. Two at the most.
And how did a sect replace Nascent Souls? By having Golden Cores advance. And the Jade Chameleons had lost nearly half of those, including rising star Teng Jian who everyone assumed was more likely than not to ascend.
Barring a miracle, the Jade Chameleon Sect would face a precipitous decline over the next half millennium. The Big Three had become, for all intents and purposes, the Big Two.
The balance of power was still preserved to an extent, however. The Jade Chameleons still held enough power to be a worthy acquisition target. If Han Shu or either of the two sects tried to assimilate them, though, the other two factions would be forced to band together to stop it.
Gaining an advantage out of the situation was the work of centuries, not years and certainly not months. Offer one of their Golden Core cultivators a good deal to switch. Marry another into the family.
The other factions would do the same, but that was okay as long as Han Shu¡¯s faction gained slightly more promising members or slightly more or, even better, both.
That scenario was what would have happened if all of them did not have to consider the existence of Chao Su.
The appearance of a potential new power created a completely different situation. The sect leader of, apparently, a bunch of peasant villagers was quite an enigma. Han Shu would have thought the man a joke if not for the numerous casual demonstrations of absurd power¡ªhanding out heaven grade scriptures as gifts, using a ridiculous number of qi elements in battle, a qi shield that protected him from fifteen Golden Core cultivators at once. And the list continued. His abilities went far beyond the ken of any cultivator in memory. Even legends didn¡¯t whisper of some of the things he could do.
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Was he beatable if enough Nascent Souls were gathered against him, or would he dominate them as easily as he had the Golden Cores? Reports stated that he hadn¡¯t even bothered to use an aura.
Two factions had already established clear positions. The Poison Claw Sect sniffed an opportunity in befriending him, and they were clinging to it like a mortal forced onto the back of a bucking bull. In contrast, the Jade Chameleons could only regain some semblance of face by utterly destroying the man.
That left Han Shu¡¯s faction and the Swift Blizzard Sect to either choose sides or remain neutral. The Swift Blizzards had signaled clear displeasure with the man, but Han Shu had no idea what was driving that display or if it revealed true intent or was some elaborate misdirection.
The smart play was for his faction to remain patient. One did not usurp the sects by blasting them away like rock pounding against rock in a cavalcade of dirt and dust. One wore them down over time with the steady beat of wind and wave.
Given the scriptures the man pulled from that storage ring of his, though¡ If either of the sects gained access to those, they would accelerate quickly in power. Han Shu could not allow that to happen.
The easiest way to prevent someone else obtaining the treasure was to make sure he gained access to it instead.
Was the proper course continued patience or was it time to finally make an aggressive play?
He didn¡¯t yet know. For now, he¡¯d wait and observe.
Dong Qiao shook his head in disbelief. He¡¯d read the reports, of course, but hearing a firsthand account made the fact much clearer. ¡°You¡¯re sure this Chao Su wasn¡¯t using a device to hide his cultivation?¡±
¡°I¡¯m positive, Sect Leader,¡± Mao Biya, the leader of the Swift Blizzard Sect in Sixth Flawless Flowing City, said. ¡°My detection device picked out a storage ring, a friendship pin from the Poison Claw Sect, and a flying sword. Interestingly enough, the sword was the one previously used by Teng Jian.¡±
That fact was interesting. Chao Su was sending quite the message by using that particular piece of battle loot in his attack on the Jade Chameleon branch.
¡°What do you make of him not using an aura during the fight?¡± Dong Qiao said.
¡°Kang Ya-Ting is spreading rumors that Chao Su deliberately restrained himself, Sect Leader.¡±
Doing such a thing made no sense to Dong Qiao. From an impossible shield to wielding some type of lightning that destroyed cultivation, the man displayed unimaginable power. Why hold back an aura? The only explanation was that he either didn¡¯t feel like he needed it or he didn¡¯t have one.
But if the latter were true, how come Mao Biya couldn¡¯t sense him?
¡°If the device he used was powerful enough to hide his cultivation from your senses, it would have been powerful enough to hide itself from your detection device,¡± Dong Qiao said.
¡°This lowly one is not as experienced with the use of the device as the Sect Leader, but wouldn¡¯t such a disruption have distorted my ability to detect the other three qi sources? Each of them was revealed to me clearly.¡±
That point was a good one.
¡°I can easily believe the man to be Nascent Soul,¡± Dong Qiao said, ¡°but Nihility? It is speculated that only about one in a thousand Nascent Souls advance that high.¡±
Mao Biya shrugged. ¡°I can¡¯t say one way or the other, Sect Leader. Kang Ya-Ting is convinced, but that is hardly definitive proof.¡±
A Nascent Soul, especially an ascendent, ancient one, being able to defeat fifteen Golden Cores at once was a mighty feat, but not one that existed outside the realm of possibility. The man was probably simply a very experienced and powerful cultivator of that realm.
And if so, a force consisting of several Nascent Souls would be able to defeat him.
If Dong Qiao was wrong, though, those Nascent Souls would go to their deaths, and losing even one would constitute a disaster even greater than the one experienced by the Jade Chameleons.
At the moment, the risk of attacking Chao Su was great, but the risk of not attacking was just as bad. He didn¡¯t have enough information.
¡°How did he react to your provocation?¡± Dong Qiao said.
¡°There was no visible sign of him becoming angry, Sect Leader.¡±
It had been a risky move on Mao Biya¡¯s part to test the man in such a way, but so little was known about the mysterious cultivator that every piece of information was crucial. Still, the move was aggressive. Perhaps too aggressive.
If Chao Su decided that the loss of face due to Mao Biya¡¯s insubordinate behavior was too much, he might destroy the Swift Blizzard branch sect as well. Dong Qiao didn¡¯t believe the data gained about his behavior was worth the risk.
Unless, of course, the maneuver ultimately resulted in no negative consequences.
He frowned. ¡°And the rumor worked?¡±
¡°My spies tell me that Kang Ya-Ting believed that I was angry over losing a lover, Sect Leader. If my actions cause problems, you can blame me acting against the sect¡¯s wishes.¡±
When Dong Qiao didn¡¯t respond, she continued. ¡°By Chao Su sending the gift that he did, he indicated a willingness to be reasonable. He didn¡¯t attack the Jade Chameleons due to a minor insult. My move was the right one. I have provided our Mind Cultivators access to my memories, so that their arts can guild our future interactions.¡±
Dong Qiao sighed. His junior was not known to be reckless. She had considered the risks and the gains, and the sect appeared to have benefited from it.
¡°Very well,¡± he said. ¡°No sanction is forthcoming, but I want you to stay far away from that man in the future.¡±
¡°Yes, Sect Leader.¡±
Chapter 201 – Plans and Ploys
Teng Wuying was equal parts pleased and anxious. By benefit of his brother¡¯s not so untimely death, he was now the sole inheritor of his family¡¯s resources. And he was still alive, which would have been a much more difficult feat to pull off had he remained in Sixth Flawless Flowing City.
On the other hand, he was standing in front of his sect leader, Duan Dandan, who did not look pleased to see him in the least.
Not daring to meet her eyes, he cupped his hands. ¡°Greetings, Sect Leader.¡±
¡°The reports I¡¯m getting indicate our branch in Sixth Flawless Flowing City, the one which you are the appointed leader of, was completely destroyed,¡± the icy-eyed, white-haired woman said. ¡°Why are you here?¡±
¡°To inform you of a likely incoming attack, Sect Leader,¡± he said meekly, keeping his face pointed toward the ground.
¡°You¡¯re a little bit late, aren¡¯t you?¡± Her tone was biting.
¡°Apologies, Sect Leader. Your¡¡± Flunky. ¡°¡assistant kept me waiting for days. If not for him, you would have received the warning in plenty of time.¡±
She pursed her lips. ¡°Explain.¡±
¡°My dear nephew, Teng Chun, got himself killed while accosting a higher realmed cultivator¡ª¡±
¡°Why would he do such a thing? He was a brute, but he wasn¡¯t an idiot.¡±
¡°The higher realmed cultivator did not behave like a higher realmed cultivator, Sect Leader, at least in the eyes of my dear nephew. Or that¡¯s what we believe was going through his head at the time. He disobeyed my direct orders to observe only and approached the cultivator.¡±
¡°I see. Continue your report. You will provide a written version with the detail explaining how that conclusion was derived.¡±
¡°Of course, Sect Leader.¡±
Teng Wuying triggered a non-qi based technique he¡¯d developed, causing sweat to appear on his forehead. The Sect Leader was considered the most intimidating person most people had ever met, and he took great pains to make it appear like he was just as cowed by her.
¡°Teng Jian, who was of course my brother and Teng Chun¡¯s father, eventually emerged from seclusion for a successful advancement to Golden Core minor realm seven, Sect Leader. It fell on this lowly one to inform him of his son¡¯s death.
¡°As branch sect leader, I had received a missive from the Poison Claw Sect concerning the events leading to Teng Chun¡¯s death, explaining that the higher realmed cultivator was a friend of the Poison Claw Sect named Chao Su. This Chao Su was willing to face Teng Jian personally in combat if necessary but, upon pain of major reprisals, urged that no attempt be made to harm his juniors.
¡°The Poison Claw Sect further espoused a lukewarm belief that Chao Su was capable of carrying out such a threat.
¡°I, of course, likewise conveyed that information to Teng Jian. He did not take it well.¡±
If anything, the sect leader¡¯s face grew stormier. She was not convinced by his explanation. His task would have been easier had she not known Teng Jian so well.
¡°Of course he didn¡¯t take it well, you idiot!¡± she yelled. ¡°You telling him that would have been like waving a flag in front of a bull.¡±
¡°I was required to tell him, Sect Leader. He was my older brother. It was his right to be told any information regarding the family that wasn¡¯t protected by sect confidentiality. Failing to do so would have made me subject to censure and likely to being kicked out of the family. I could not take that risk.¡±
Duan Dandan still frowned, but her expression lightened some. ¡°What happened next?¡±
Whew. That was the hard part of the conversation. If she bought that, he might actually escape her chambers with his position as a sect elder intact. A demotion would have made his life a bit more troublesome.
¡°Against my advice, he summoned two of his allies and departed for the village Chao Su was thought to have chosen as his base. As soon as the three left, I came straight here, Sect Leader. For what happened after that point, I have heard rumors, but you are surely more well informed than I am.¡±
¡°Your dear brother apparently got both himself and his two idiot sycophantic friends killed, and because the unmitigated disaster of losing three of the sect¡¯s Golden Core cultivators at once wasn¡¯t enough for them, they also incited this Chao Su¡¯s wrath by killing one of his sect members.¡±
¡°Sect members, Sect Leader?¡±
¡°Yes. He¡¯s apparently given top heaven grade cultivation methods to a bunch of talentless peasants, ostensibly to fight against a beast tide, and called them a sect. It¡¯s ridiculous that I¡¯m even aware of the existence of an organization consisting of a couple hundred farmers, but that¡¯s what the fate of the Jade Chameleon Sect has come to due to the Teng family.¡±
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Teng Wuying held back a grimace. That wasn¡¯t good. While becoming the inheritor of his family was good and still having his life was even better, it was suboptimal to have that very same family name be tarnished.
¡°Any cultivator would have acted the same, Sect Leader,¡± he said. ¡°Just like you surely cannot leave this Chao Su alone now due to the loss of face our sect has suffered, Teng Jian could not let the murder of his son go unpunished.¡±
There. A subtle message that he was more than prepared to use his connections to question her every decision if she chose to besmirch his name should quell her ardor on that subject.
¡°Whatever the cause, the end results are devastating,¡± she said, her voice much calmer. ¡°We have lost nearly half our Golden Core cultivators, including your ¡ brother who was the farthest along of any of the current crop. Nearly as bad, we have lost countless spirit coins worth of materials with the complete destruction of the branch sect.¡±
¡°It can¡¯t possibly be as bad as the rumors say, Sect Leader.¡±
He¡¯d heard ridiculous stories saying that literally nothing was left. Preposterous. A hundred spatial rings combined wouldn¡¯t have fit a fraction of the loot available at the sect branch. Chao Su could not have taken everything.
¡°I sent eyes I could trust to verify. It is as bad or worse. There is simply nothing left of the buildings or any other part of the grounds. Even the first foot of dirt was removed.¡±
¡°Then we must get it back, Sect Leader!¡±
¡°There is no getting it back. It was destroyed, not stolen. Chao Su apparently uses Lightning, Earth, Water, and Void in his attacks, among other elements.¡±
For the first time in a long time, Teng Wuying was struck dumb. He¡¯d stashed pills and spirit coins in hiding places throughout the sect. If what the sect leader said was true, all those resources were gone. As was his residence in Sixth Flawless Flowing City with all the wealth he¡¯d accumulated there.
All he had left were his family¡¯s resources and a few emergency reserves.
She was right when she¡¯d referred to the attack as an unmitigated disaster.
¡°Wait, Sect Leader. You said Lightning, Earth, Water, and Void?¡±
That assortment of elements was extremely unlikely for any cultivator. Combining two separate primary elements with two rare and powerful secondary elements was almost unheard of.
¡°And you said ¡®among other elements.¡¯ That implies he used more?¡± He doubted the sect leader would either lie or receive inaccurate reports, but a cultivator having access to five elements was extremely improbable.
¡°If not for the evidence of him using so many elements in battle, I would have discounted the next piece of intelligence. Apparently, this peasant sect that he has created has a Trials Pagoda.¡±
Teng Wuying smiled, relieved beyond measure. ¡°We must acquire this pagoda, Sect Leader. It is ours by right, given the destruction he has caused. And I shall petition the elders to be given leadership over it. After all, my family has been harmed the most.¡±
The look on her face told him that his suggestion had not been received well, but that was okay. The elders had plenty of power to overrule her when it came to such matters as distributing dominion over sect resources. As long as she okayed the initial attack, he would gain control over it.
And she absolutely had no choice but to authorize the attack. The pressure to resolve the huge loss of face was too severe for her to ignore.
¡°You will order the attack, won¡¯t you, Sect Leader? After all, it is reported that he didn¡¯t employ an aura. Perhaps, he hasn¡¯t developed one yet.¡±
¡°Seven elements,¡± she said. ¡°Seven. And he might have used more. It was difficult for the observers to detect all the elements used by his shield.¡±
He didn¡¯t see her point. She was acting like the number of elements made him an unbeatable foe, or at least one that was unfathomable. But he was neither. Sure, such versatility would give Chao Su an advantage, but it was nothing that could not be overcome. And the existence of the Trials Pagoda explained how he¡¯d managed such a feat.
¡°The observers are absolutely positive that he employed a Concept with five of those elements,¡± she said. ¡°Some believed that all seven were powered by a Concept, but that assertion could not be confirmed.¡±
Teng Wuying had to do the math. Golden Core cultivators took an average of twenty-five years to form a Concept. Prodigies accomplished the feat in ten to fifteen years. The absolute record from a woman who achieved enlightenment during her meditation was five years.
But that time period was just to form a Concept with one qi element.
A person not knowledgeable with high realmed cultivation might think that forming a Concept for a second element was easier and thus took less time. That person would be wrong.
In fact, forming a Concept for a second element didn¡¯t take twice as long as the first; it took four times as long. Even assuming Chao Su was the most talented cultivator in existence, five years for the first plus twenty years for the second was the absolute minimum time period to form two Concepts.
The third took even longer, nine times as long as the first. The fourth took sixteen times as long and the fifth twenty-five.
At a minimum, it had to have taken Chao Su at least two hundred seventy-five years to create five Concepts. But that time period was based on a crazy assumption of it only taking him five years for the first. Ten years was still ridiculously short but was a much safer bet for a minimum, equating to five hundred fifty years required for him to form all those Concepts.
A Golden Core cultivator¡¯s lifetime was only five hundred years.
The facts confirmed that not only was Chao Su definitely at least in the Nascent Soul realm¡ªnot that there had been any real doubt¡ªbut that he assuredly had developed his aura.
¡°I can see from the look on your face that you understand,¡± Duan Dandan said. ¡°There are too many oddities about this Chao Su for him to be a simple Nascent Soul. He is something outside our experience. Whether that means he¡¯s reached Nihility or he simply has access to resources greater than all found on this entire continent combined, I do not know. I am, however, almost sure that all four of our Nascent Souls combined could not defeat him.¡±
¡°If he is indeed that powerful, all factions save for the Poison Claws will back us, Sect Leader. He¡¯s surely not a match for twelve Nascent Souls.¡± Teng Wuying grinned suddenly. ¡°Or ten.¡±
She frowned. ¡°Ten?¡±
¡°Ren Ning and Guo Mingzhu both already have one foot in the grave, Sect Leader. Let them die heroes, sacrificing themselves for the good of the sect.¡±
¡°You want me to throw away half our Nascent Souls on an attack they cannot win? For what purpose?¡±
He could almost see her thoughts churning as she paused.
¡°If this Chao Su defeats both of them in straight up combat, the other factions will see his true strength,¡± she said. ¡°Between that and their greed for his treasures, they will band together with us. We just have to be ready to seize the spoils.¡±
¡°Yes, Sect Leader.¡±
She frowned again. ¡°There is a problem. The elders will never approve this plan.¡±
Teng Wuying met her eyes for the first time during that meeting. ¡°They will if I tell them to.¡±
Chapter 202 – Formality and Nervousness
Sun Hua¡¯s heart rose to her throat as she stood outside the door leading to what the sect leader called his ¡°office.¡± The mayor¡¯s house was large enough to hold a similar room, but he called it a ¡°study.¡± She was fairly sure that the sect would use the former term going forward based on the sect leader¡¯s preference, so she made a point to call it that in her mind.
Though she¡¯d been assigned to be his assistant nearly a month ago, she¡¯d never actually spent any time alone with him. Besides being introduced to him and being handed a few minor assignments, she¡¯d barely even seen him.
But now she¡¯d been summoned via a blue dragon made of paper. She¡¯d have been terrified if the sect¡¯s rumor mill hadn¡¯t abounded with tales of the origin of the wondrous devices.
As she stood there gathering her wits, though, she was aware that the sect leader was inside expecting her. Hesitating was stupid. Her mother would have called her a fool for making such an important man, her direct employer, wait.
Besides, her fear was silly. The sect leader had a great reputation for being kind, so there was no justification for feeling afraid.
She sighed. No rationalization, no matter how factual, could calm her nerves.
Summoning all her courage, she halted her wandering thoughts and knocked on the door.
¡°Come,¡± the sect leader said.
Sun Hua entered the room as she had been taught to do when approaching one of a much higher station. She took small steps so that her feet neither dragged the floor nor made a loud sound when contacting the floor. Moving quickly but quietly was the key. Don¡¯t delay. Don¡¯t disturb.
There was no furniture in the room, only a small cultivation mat on which he sat in the lotus position. As her mother had trained her to do in such a situation, Sun Hua knelt before him and cupped her hands.
¡°Assistant greets Sect Leader.¡±
To the best of her knowledge, few people if any in the village used that particular formality of referring to oneself by one¡¯s position. It was much more common here to use ¡°this one¡± or ¡°this lowly one.¡± Esteemed Mother, however, had been raised outside the village and taught Sun Hua that the other form of address was more proper.
She wanted badly to please the sect leader while honoring her mother.
A scroll appeared from thin air, but Sun Hua did not gasp. Though she¡¯d not previously been so close to the sect leader when he used his spatial treasure, it was known to all the villagers, and she¡¯d at least seen items being removed from it from a distance, including an entire building.
Rumors in the village speculated that all who reached Foundation Establishment would be gifted one of the rings. Since all sect members who were diligent were promised all resources within the sect leader¡¯s ability to help them reach Foundation Establishment, all sect members, including her, should eventually own a ring of their own if that gossip were true.
Sun Hua thought the reasoning logical but couldn¡¯t bring herself to believe such a thing could possibly actually happen.
The sect leader smiled. ¡°This is the priority list that I promised you.¡±
¡°Assistant expresses gratitude to Sect Leader,¡± she said, accepting the scroll.
Why was he giving it to her, though? Just her, she meant. Why had she been summoned without her fellow assistant, Xu Gang?
She didn¡¯t dare voice her questions, though.
¡°What¡¯s bothering you?¡± he said. ¡°Tell me.¡±
Her expression must have betrayed her. Mother would be so disappointed if she ever found out that Sun Hua hadn¡¯t kept her face impassive before the sect leader. An assistant¡¯s personal thoughts should never intrude upon their employer.
Having been called out, however, Sun Hua had no option but to respond truthfully. ¡°Assistant answers Sect Leader. Assistant does not understand why the sect leader¡¯s other assistant was not summoned as well.¡±
To her surprise and consternation, the sect leader chuckled. ¡°You are, without a doubt, the most formal person I¡¯ve met in the village. I wonder if that¡¯s why the mayor chose you?¡±
Sun Hua was positive she was chosen for the position due to her qualifications. In addition to being taught proper manners, her mother had instructed Sun Hua in writing, mathematics, bookkeeping, and a myriad of organizational practices from the time she was weaned. There was no one in the village more highly trained to be an assistant for the sect leader.
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For so many years, she had doubted her mother¡¯s instruction. Why learn these things when they have no value in the village? The mayor certainly didn¡¯t require her services, and no others could spare the funds to pay for any employees beyond the ones absolutely necessary for their business¡¯ survival.
And it wasn¡¯t like she could leave the village to seek her fortune elsewhere. The beasts prevented that. She had been trapped.
The village had not been a good place for her overall. Little food. No resources. No suitable employment opportunities.
Worse, there were even limited opportunities for marriage. As the danger from the beasts had grown, more and more men had died to them, leaving many more women seeking husbands than there were men to fill the need.
Since she was neither particularly pretty nor outgoing and funny, she was passed over for the girls who were either or both of those things.
She tried not to have regrets, but she¡¯d always hoped to have children. Every time her mother, who she loved deeply, criticized her or pushed her to perfection, Sun Hua thought about how her home would be filled with love and hugs and no expectations that her children must excel at everything they tried.
But that was not to be.
With the formation of the sect and the massacre of the beasts, the village was starting to see new blood arrive. Opportunities grew. She was a cultivator and had been appointed to be one of the sect leader¡¯s assistants.
After the mayor had informed her of her new position, she had gone straight to her mother, kowtowed before her, and thanked her for her instruction.
Things were looking up for Sun Hua, but she still wished things had turned out differently. If the sect leader had found the village just a few short years earlier, she might have had a chance at finding a husband and having children. As it was, twenty-two was well past the age for marriage.
¡°Sun Hua?¡± the sect leader said. ¡°Did I lose you?¡±
Her eyes went wide. Somehow, she¡¯d allowed her concentration to drift. In front of the sect leader.
Oh, no. No. She couldn¡¯t believe she¡¯d been so stupid.
Sun Hua kowtowed, touching her forehead to the wood floor. ¡°Assistant apologizes to Sect Leader. Assistant begs for forgiveness.¡±
¡°Whoa,¡± he said. ¡°Relax. Get up. It¡¯s not a big deal.¡±
She had never been more mortified in her life. If Mother found out, Sun Hua would never hear the end of it. Mother could never find out.
Her face burned as she rose back to a kneeling position, and she kept her face pointing to the ground, unable to bear the thought of the sect leader seeing her blush.
¡°Assistant answers Sect Leader. Assistant is more highly qualified for the position than anyone in the village. Assistant¡¯s recent performance notwithstanding, Assistant will not let Sect Leader down.¡±
She said that as fervently as she could. If the sect leader dismissed her from the position, she¡¯d never, ever get over the shame.
He cleared his throat. ¡°Well, this is a bit awkward. I didn¡¯t mean to stress you out. And the reason that I called only you into the office is that you seemed to be a bit more on top of things than the other girl did. Do you think she is as qualified as you are?¡±
Oh, no. She had not meant to imply anything negative about the other girl. If Xu Gang were dismissed, it would be a bad thing indeed.
Sun Hua had to answer the sect leader¡¯s question, though, and she couldn¡¯t lie. She also had no idea what she could say to prevent him from dismissing Xu Gang. ¡°Assistant answers Sect Leader. Sect Leader¡¯s other assistant is pleasant and tries hard. This assistant will make sure that Sect Leader is pleased with the performance of the entire staff.¡±
¡°So they saddled you with a dud, huh? Why?¡±
Sun Hua¡¯s eyes went wide. Her answer had the opposite effect of what she had intended. And again, she was forced to answer the question without lying. ¡°Assistant answers Sect Leader. Other assistant is the mayor¡¯s niece.¡±
¡°Ah. Okay. That makes sense.¡±
Mayor Mo Jian was extremely popular in the village. The sect leader was gaining influence, but the villagers had known the mayor literally their entire lives. If she got his niece dismissed, Sun Hua would be ostracized. And that fate paled in comparison to what her mother would do.
¡°Assistant requests to question Sect Leader.¡±
¡°Go ahead. Shoot.¡±
Her heart was pounding. ¡°Assistant expresses gratitude to Sect Leader. Will Sect Leader dismiss other assistant?¡±
¡°I don¡¯t think there¡¯s a need for that unless she is a complete liability. Honestly, I wasn¡¯t sure that I really required two assistants in the first place. I¡¯ll relay my instructions to you, and you can delegate as you feel appropriate. Works?¡±
As covertly as possible, she let out a relieved breath. ¡°Assistant answers Sect Leader. Assistant will of course proceed as Sect Leader directed.¡±
¡°Great! You have the list. Any questions?¡±
¡°Assistant answers Sect Leader. Assistant has no further questions.¡±
¡°Perfect. One more thing, I get that you¡¯re nervous and that you¡¯ve been trained to be formal, but I really need you to work on being a bit more casual. I don¡¯t want you to be uncomfortable, and I won¡¯t dismiss you or anything like that. But I¡¯d much prefer you to relax a bit, okay?¡±
Sun Hua started her response before she even thought about what he had said. ¡°Assistant answers¡ Uh. Assistant¡ Uh¡¡±
¡°Oops. I think I broke you. Think on what I said for next time, okay? It¡¯s not a big deal. I¡¯m not displeased with you at all. I¡¯ll go now so you don¡¯t have to figure out how to tell me you¡¯re leaving.¡±
And with that, he disappeared.
Benton chuckled as he appeared in the Formations Pavilion. Had he really just let his assistant drive him out of his own office?
The situation was too absurd.
It was okay, though. He¡¯d dealt with people like her a lot in his past life¡ªsmart, capable, but timid. She¡¯d been trembling like a leaf in a thunderstorm for most of the meeting.
It made him feel bad even though he¡¯d been as gentle as he possibly could be.
Once she got used to dealing with him, he was positive that she would be a true gem. She just needed more time and more interactions with him. He made a mental note to have her accompany him when he was teaching the pavilion heads about the arrays in their buildings. The experience would give her necessary knowledge about the sect and get her more familiar with him and the other important people.
Perfect.
Of course, she would soon be dealing with all those important council members on her own as she approved their housing choices. Hopefully, those encounters would turn out fine.
Benton grimaced as he envisioned Yang Xiu meeting with the timid Sun Hua.
Surely, it would turn out fine.
Chapter 203 – Selection Day
Zou Tian had no desire to look at houses. He really had no desire to go with Wan Ai to look at houses. All such an activity would do was bring up very uncomfortable subjects.
If she wanted a place with a single bedroom, did that mean she wanted to live by herself or that they should escalate their relationship? Did she want marriage? Were they ready for marriage? Was he?
He felt like he was too young for such a decision, and that opinion was supported by people in Sixth Flawless Flowing City generally waiting to be wed until they were older. In contrast, marriage at his age was common in the village.
On the other hand, what did it say if she didn¡¯t want to continue to live in the same house as him? Was their relationship not as secure as he assumed?
If she wanted a house with two bedrooms, it would perhaps signal that they should continue building on the relationship they had until maybe one day progressing it to another form. The problem was that an unrelated man and woman living together and not being married would invite rumors.
At the moment, men and women were thrown together wherever a spare house could be found in the village, so it wasn¡¯t much remarked upon. With the plethora of choices available at the sect grounds, however, every choice would be scrutinized.
Older villagers especially would look at the two of them in a very unfavorable manner. It would represent a loss of face both for themselves and, because of their high rank, for the Rising Tide Sect.
There seemed to be no choice that could be made regarding housing that didn¡¯t lead to difficult outcomes. He wished he could delay the decision. Actually, he wished he and Wan Ai could simply remain in the village until they might be ready to advance their relationship.
But Master had ordered that they each had to choose a house that day. So he and Wan Ai walked through what Master called a ¡°neighborhood¡± and looked at the possibilities.
There were three basic types of dwelling available¡ªsmall structures clearly designed for a single person, houses with one to five bedrooms, and what Master referred to as ¡°apartments¡± in tall buildings.
He and Wan Ai pretty much had their pick. After all, there were so many places available that it was unlikely they¡¯d just happen to choose one selected by another council member.
Feeling like an absolute coward, he let her take the lead as they looked over the options.
She led him inside one of the houses. It had a central hall, kitchen with attached dining area, an office, a cultivation room, and three bedrooms. As was typical in all the dwellings, there was no furniture.
¡°This one looks nice,¡± she said.
¡°It does,¡± he said in his most noncommittal tone.
She turned away from him. ¡°I could move into one of the bedrooms, and I¡¯m sure Bai Xinyi would like to take another.¡±
The choice surprised Zou Tian. Wan Ai wasn¡¯t one to enjoy the company of others, not even her primary assistant in the Alchemy Pavilion. He really thought she¡¯d either want to live completely alone or for it to just be the two of them.
¡°Bai Xinyi is a fine choice,¡± he said. ¡°She¡¯d definitely welcome the opportunity to continue living in the same house as you.¡±
His statement was absolutely the truth. Bai Xinyi had been personally assigned to be Wan Ai¡¯s assistant by the sect leader himself. The girl dedicated herself to that task as fervently as any of Master¡¯s disciples did to their own.
The statement also contained not a hint about what he thought about the subject. Until he understood more about Wan Ai¡¯s desires in choosing the house, he strove for absolute neutrality in both tone and subject.
¡°I think,¡± Wan Ai said, ¡°that, if three single people were to choose to continue living together in a house just as they had while in the village, it would occasion little comment, even if one of those people were a man and the other two women.¡±
Oh. Oh!
That solution wasn¡¯t perfect. Some older villagers would still look at them askance. But overall, their decision to move in together was much more defensible. It wouldn¡¯t result in a severe loss of face at any rate.
There would be no hurry to rush any decision on marriage. Their relationship would have the time and space necessary to grow and prosper.
Zou Tian took her hand. ¡°This house is amazing. You did well in picking it out.¡±
Master had created a method of giving ¡°streets¡± unique designations and having each building be denoted by a separate designation not shared by any other on that street. When asked about the method he used, he went on a mini rant about how it would have been better to use numbers for the houses, but due to some numbers being considered more auspicious than others, he¡¯d had to come up with a different idea, using words no one had ever heard.
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Either way, the practice of giving each building a distinctive identifier was sure to be useful in a number of ways, starting with the claiming process. Zou Tian took note of the street name and the other word that referred to his preferred house¡¯s location, and they left for the Administrative Hall to submit their choice.
All the sect¡¯s most important people were tasked with choosing a dwelling that day, and once they did, they had to come to Sun Hua for assignment. If she could just make it to nightfall, the next day would be much easier as her status as the sect leader¡¯s assistant put her above, or at least level with, all the other sect members.
Until then, though, she had to talk face to face with each of the most important members of the sect. Senior Sister. Senior Brother. Expert Blacksmith Xun Wu. The new guard captain.
All were intimidating in their own right, but the real thing that worried her was a conflict arising. What if she had to tell one of them that their choice of house was already taken by someone higher on the priority list? What if they grew angry at her, seeing the refusal as her fault?
She was tempted to assign Xu Gang the task, but as awful as the prospect of facing the ire of the sect¡¯s most powerful members was, the thought of having their housing selection mishandled was even worse. And Sun Hua absolutely could not trust Xu Gang with such an important undertaking.
The other assistant was instead sent off to do important paperwork, paperwork that Sun Hua was sure would have to be redone.
So it was with much trepidation that Sun Hua waited. Her shared office was on the second floor of the four-story building, but she decided to set up in the first floor¡¯s Central Hall in order for it to be more convenient for her sect brothers and sisters. It wasn¡¯t like there was any furniture in the building yet anyway, so one space was as good as any other.
The first ones to arrive were Wan Ai and Zou Tian, and Sun Hua quickly rose from her cultivation mat as soon as they entered.
She cupped her hands. ¡°Senior Sister. Senior Brother. How may Assistant help you?¡±
Wan Ai was third on the priority list, behind only the twins, and Zou Tian was sixth. Considering their rank, the two would likely get their first choice of dwelling, but that outcome wasn¡¯t assured. Sun Hua hoped that uncertainty would not cause an issue.
Zou Tian stepped forward confidently, holding Wan Ai¡¯s hand. ¡°We would like house gamma on Crooked Mountain Stream Lane. Bai Xinyi will be residing with us.¡±
Sun Hua froze. Two unmarried women were requesting to live with an unmarried man. Mother would be scandalized when she found out, and she would find out. She would also be very displeased that Sun Hua did nothing to prevent the situation from occurring.
For her part, she didn¡¯t care about the issue one way or the other. If anything, she was happy that Wan Ai had found someone who cared about her. Their eventual children should be talented, which was good for the sect.
Even if Sun Hua had been vehemently opposed to the two living together, there was no way she could speak against them. Both were senior to her in the sect.
In an attempt to cover her awkward pause, she looked over the scroll the sect leader had provided as she mentally reviewed her instructions from him. He¡¯d just said to assign houses based on the priority list. No restrictions had been given to prevent people from living together, and considering that the two were already housing together in the village, the sect leader likely approved of the situation.
With no prohibition from him and dealing with two sect members who outranked her, she felt justified in telling her mother that there was nothing she could have done.
¡°Of course, Senior Sister and Senior Brother. With the two of you making a request for the same dwelling, the rank of the higher of you on the priority list prevails. Wan Ai is ranked third. Since the two ranked higher than her have not yet submitted a choice, I cannot assign that house to you yet.¡±
Zou Tian mulled her words for a moment before turning to Wan Ai. ¡°Do we have to have that particular house or would any with the same general arrangement work?¡±
Wan Ai whispered something to him, but it was said so lightly that Sun Hua¡¯s ears couldn¡¯t pick out the words.
¡°Any similar house would be fine,¡± Zou Tian said.
Luckily, the scroll the sect leader provided also had drawings showing the location of each dwelling along with listing its relevant characteristics. He was nothing if not organized.
¡°Very well, Senior Sister and Senior Brother,¡± Sun Hua said. ¡°Assistant will display the map, and you can choose two more houses. You will be guaranteed to get one of the three.¡±
When they left, she let out a relieved sigh. Despite her initial reservations, they had been no trouble at all.
The next people to walk in were Senior Sister Yang Xiu and Senior Brother Yang Ru, followed by Kang Lin.
If there was anyone in the sect that Sun Hua looked up to as a hero, it was Senior Sister. She was so strong and assertive. No one other than the sect leader told her what to do! And she was also powerful and brave. If not for Ye Zan, she would have died attempting to prevent the Golden Core cultivator who attacked the village from hurting anyone else.
Sun Hua cupped her hands. ¡°Senior Sister. Senior Brother. How may Assistant help you?¡±
¡°I want house epsilon on Peaceful Sea Boulevard,¡± Yang Xiu said.
¡°Of course, Senior Sister. And you, Senior Brother?¡±
He grunted.
Yang Xiu rolled her eyes. ¡°He means that he also wants house epsilon on Peaceful Sea Boulevard.¡±
Sun Hua froze again. The siblings were both listed as number one on the list, and as they were at the same cultivation realm, age was the determining factor in deciding who got priority. But they were twins, the same age!
For a situation such as that one, the sect leader had simply said to ¡°figure it out.¡±
That advice was absolutely no help for her when dealing with two of the literal strongest people in the sect. It was a disaster. A complete disaster.
¡°Senior Sister, Senior Brother, Assistant apologizes profusely. I cannot decide which of you gets the house.¡±
The two looked at each other and started laughing. Kang Lin joined in. Sun Hua didn¡¯t understand what was so funny.
¡°Junior Sister,¡± Yang Xiu said, ¡°the look of panic on your face! We¡¯re not fighting over who gets the house. We¡¯ve decided to live together.¡±
Oh. Even as Sun Hua let out a relieved breath, she felt her face burn. To have embarrassed herself so in front of her hero!
She recovered the best she could. Since they were at the top of the list, she immediately assigned the house to them, and crossing them off allowed her to assign Wan Ai and Zou Tian their first choice as well.
By the time the trio left, two dwellings were allotted, and five sect members¡¯ living situation was resolved. And it had only almost caused Sun Hua¡¯s heart to explode twice in getting there.
She could only hope that the process got easier from there.
Chapter 204 – Move-in Day
Huang Yimun was pretty far down the priority list. He had E- spirit roots even after the upgrade and was only at the fifth minor realm of Qi Gathering. Up until very recently, he would never have even believed that him becoming a member of the council was remotely possible.
He still couldn¡¯t fathom the fact that he¡¯d been appointed guard captain. When Senior Sister chose him, he¡¯d thought he¡¯d be replaced as soon as the sect leader returned. Instead, he¡¯d confirmed her decision.
Huang Yimun was grateful to have the trust of people he respected so much, but if he had his choice, he wouldn¡¯t have ever had to accept the position because that would have meant that Ye Zan would still be alive.
His friend would have liked picking out a house just from the sheer weirdness of going from being an orphan on the city streets to being given such a nice place to live as a sect member.
The whole experience was surreal.
Maybe Ye Zan would have ended up picking a two-bedroom house so that the two of them could room together. Or if he would have chosen an even bigger house to cram even more of the guards in. Or maybe he would have taken over one of the smaller apartment buildings for the whole squad.
Huang Yimun had no energy or desire to arrange something like that. With the death of his friend so recent, he desired only solitude.
Most people so far had picked places near the front of the neighborhood closest to the main sect buildings. In contrast, he walked all the way to the back and found a small place meant for a lone cultivator.
There wasn¡¯t much to the place¡ªa single room included space for preparing food, dining, cultivating, and sleeping. The only other room in the building was a small restroom that had a bathtub. There was also an attached courtyard with room for a small garden.
It met his needs.
Actually, it exceeded them. Running water. Some sort of qi-using device that took away waste so one didn¡¯t have to bother with a chamber pot. A device for storing food. All in all, the house was much nicer than anything he would have ever dreamed of back in Sixth Flawless Flowing City.
He registered his choice with the sect leader¡¯s assistant and returned to the Administration Hall later in the day. The assignments were posted on a board outside. It did not surprise him that he¡¯d gotten his first choice.
When Huang Yimun had left the city, he hadn¡¯t known when, if ever, he¡¯d return, so he¡¯d carried everything he owned, which wasn¡¯t a lot, with him. He¡¯d picked up a few more items since, but all he really had were a few changes of clothes, a handmade cultivation mat of woven straw, a bedroll, his spears, and a few personal effects such as toiletries and various small items he¡¯d picked up. Having so few possessions made moving easy, and by nightfall, he was living in his new house, wondering if the new start was somehow a betrayal to his absent friend.
It had quickly become apparent to Sun Hua that the method she used in letting the council choose their houses would not work for the rest of the sect members. There was no reason, after all, that a process put in place for sixteen people should be efficient for close to two hundred and fifty.
Instead, she had gone to the mayor and, with his help, arranged for the remaining sect members to come choose their housing in shifts in the order they were listed on the priority list. That method simplified things greatly.
Starting early in the morning, a batch of fifty people were allowed to tour the neighborhood. Then, as a group, they went to the Administration Pavilion and lined up in the order they were listed. The first person chose from the available housing, and the assignment was made immediately, allowing them to begin moving their personal effects to their new home at their leisure. Meanwhile, the next person in line chose their home. And so forth.
By the end of the day, all the people on the list had picked out places to live and most had already moved in.
Sun Hua let out a relieved sigh when the last one left the pavilion. Her first true test as the sect leader¡¯s assistant was complete. She felt she¡¯d performed ¡ adequately. Hopefully, he agreed.
If he didn¡¯t, she just hoped he wouldn¡¯t remove her from her position because there would be no way to keep that shame from her mother.
Wan Ai was quite proud of herself. She¡¯d noticed that Zou Tian had tensed up every time anyone brought up the subject of moving to the new sect grounds, and she quickly deduced the reason. Not only had she figured out the problem, but she¡¯d come up with a solution that they both liked.
Of course, that meant she had to continue sharing a house with Bai Xinyi. Not that the other girl was a problem or anything. She was overall very quiet and respectful and was a hard worker.
It was just that Wan Ai preferred being alone. Or she had preferred being alone. If she were honest with herself, she now preferred being with Zou Tian, and if continuing to live with him meant extending an invite to Bai Xinyi, having the extra person around was completely worth it.
Honestly, Wan Ai couldn¡¯t believe how much she¡¯d changed in such a short time. A matter of months prior, she would have jumped at the chance to move into a house all by herself. Such a thing would have been a dream come true.
Instead, she now considered having Zou Tian constantly nearby a much better outcome.
It wasn¡¯t even that they ever did anything inappropriate¡ªwell, nothing really, really inappropriate, anyway. She simply felt more at ease when he was with her than when he wasn¡¯t.
Considering how every other person she¡¯d met in her life made her feel the exact opposite, she thought herself truly fortunate to have found him.
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After their first night in their new home¡ªin separate bedrooms, of course¡ªthe three housemates went to the visit the Alchemy Pavilion for the first time, arriving at the time instructed by the sect leader.
The place was amazing. The buildings near it were a bit taller with it only being three stories, but it was still impressive with its stained wood with blue accents and blue roof tiles. And its location was perfect, right in the middle of the row of pavilions, between the Martial Pavilion and the Formations Pavilion, across from the Amphitheater. And the bathhouse was conveniently located right behind.
Wan Ai couldn¡¯t believe that she was basically in charge of the entire building. It was weird enough to be given such a nice house. But a whole building?
She thought she might have fallen just a little bit in love with the place at first glance.
As he was wont to do, the sect leader appeared out of nowhere. ¡°Ready for the fifty-cent tour?¡±
She had no idea what cents were or why a tour required fifty of them, but she was well used to ignoring the sect leader¡¯s odd phrases by that point. ¡°Yes, Sect Leader.¡±
He led the three of them inside into a large foyer. ¡°When the sect is large enough, you¡¯ll probably want to set up some kind of desk down here manned by a junior pavilion member who can instruct people where to go and keep out those who walked into the wrong building. For now, we¡¯ll just have to be really careful about setting the arrays correctly whenever you¡¯re dealing with anything dangerous.¡±
The front hall ran the width of the building, but it wasn¡¯t very deep. On each side was a door and a stairway. The sect leader led them through one of the doors first. It opened into a large space.
¡°The function of this area is as a classroom. We¡¯ll put a lectern at the front and fill it with benches, and you, Wan Ai, can give lessons to all your pavilion members.¡±
She shuddered at the thought. There was no way she would ever get up in front of that many people to speak unless she was directly ordered to do so by the sect leader. On second thought, probably not even then. Running far away would be a better option.
When they returned to the foyer, the sect leader told them that both the doors opened into the large space, so there was no need to go to the other side. Instead, he led them up the stairs.
¡°The third floor contains twenty rooms with individual alchemy workstations while this second floor consists of group labs,¡± the sect leader said, leading them into one.
The room held ten stone slabs, each three feet off the ground on solid stone legs, spaced about the room.
¡°There are three rooms just like this one on this floor. A junior alchemist can easily work at each station while a more senior sect member supervises an entire group.¡± The sect leader led them to one of the workstations. ¡°These are standard throughout the building. You¡¯ll note that there is plenty of room to cut and prepare herbs and that the stone should be tough enough to hold up as a cutting surface.¡±
He pointed at depression in the middle of the station that had a strange tube arching from the tabletop to open above it. ¡°The array on the tube provides water. Interestingly enough, it is not tied to the sect¡¯s central water supply like most other sources. Instead, it literally creates water. Obviously, that consumes a lot more qi than simply pumping it in, but the water coming out should be absolutely pure.¡±
Having access to water without impurities would surely be a huge help in progressing their alchemy. It didn¡¯t matter a lot for the Body Cultivation baths, but the manuals that Wan Ai read all noted the importance of avoiding introducing any foreign materials into mixtures when they started creating advanced pills.
Of course, in order to create advanced pills, she¡¯d first have to do two things. First, advance to Foundation Establishment. Which she was working on quite diligently. No problems on that front.
The second thing was frustrating her to no end, however. She had to successfully make a simple mortal grade pill. Which, according to the manual, should have been easy. But she hadn¡¯t managed it yet.
¡°The array at the bottom of the sink originally used Fire qi to incinerate any wastes disposed down it, but I modified them to use Void instead. That way, you can dump anything you want down there and not have to worry about smoke or fumes or any materials like ash remaining afterward.¡±
Wan Ai cupped her hands. ¡°Gratitude, Sect Leader.¡±
Like with the pure water, having an absolutely sure way to rid themselves of leftovers from processes was tremendously important for alchemists.
On the left side of the large stone slab was a smaller square one.
The sect leader pointed at the square. ¡°This is a type of heating plate. The ones on this floor only have five settings for the amount of fire qi to be generated. In contrast the ones on the floor above range from ten settings all the way to twenty-five. Five of the rooms have square slabs with no fire qi array at all. Those are for Foundation Establishment realm and above alchemists who have a technique to provide their own heat.¡±
Interesting. Wai Ai¡¯s understanding, which was perhaps flawed given her failures so far, was that mortal pills didn¡¯t typically require fine control of the heat, meaning that the entire second floor was for Qi Gathering cultivators to practice. As the alchemist reached Foundation Establishment and started creating pills that required finer control, they¡¯d move to rooms on the third floor, using the Fire arrays until they mastered their techniques for providing heat without it.
The entire building was meant for alchemists who were learning the profession.
Her conclusion must have shone on her face because he said, ¡°It¡¯s going to take a while before you outgrow this building. Once you do, we¡¯ll either acquire or build another one.¡±
She cupped her hands again. ¡°Gratitude, Master.¡±
¡°Okay,¡± he said, leading them to a panel beside the door. ¡°There are several more very important arrays controlled from here. The first is one intended for fume removal. When you activate it, all air will be pulled from the room and subjected to Void qi. That¡¯s really handy if you have a fire producing a lot of smoke, or a student has screwed up a mixture and fumes are pouring out. It¡¯s not so handy if you want to breathe.¡±
She understood that not breathing meant dangerous, even for cultivators.
¡°This array provides fresh air quickly back into the room. Understand the significance?¡±
¡°Yes, Sect Leader.¡±
¡°Most of these arrays were already present in the building. I just tweaked them a little. This last one I added.¡± He activated it.
A loud wailing sound erupted from the formation. Another touch deactivated it, and the sound ceased.
¡°If there¡¯s an emergency and you need help.¡±
¡°Yes, Sect Leader.¡±
¡°The final array for the room is this one. When the door is closed and this array is activated, the door cannot be opened from the outside absent a force as powerful as Yang Ru¡¯s main attack. If anyone is doing anything even remotely dangerous inside the room, please activate this array to keep untrained people out.¡±
¡°Yes, Sect Leader.¡±
He continued the tour by taking her to the third floor, so she could get a sense of the layout and then by taking her to a room that was only accessible from the outside. That was where spirit coins were fed to keep the arrays for the entire building operational.
¡°At first, you can just draw coins from the Contribution Points Shop,¡± the sect leader said. ¡°Eventually, we¡¯ll establish a budget once we see what your normal usage is, and anything over that budget will need to be paid for. You¡¯ll probably want to charge your pavilion members for workstation time over a certain amount, but we can figure all that stuff out later.¡±
She cupped her hands. ¡°Gratitude, Sect Leader.¡±
There was a lot she needed to learn about how all the arrays worked, but her new building was so cool. It was definitely going to work a lot better for them than the random house they were currently using.
She couldn¡¯t wait to get started! Maybe with the new fancy equipment, she¡¯d even manage to make one of the simple mortal grade pills.
Chapter 205 – The Martial Pavilion
Yang Xiu was practically bouncing up and down as Master escorted her, Kang Lin, and Yang Ru into the Martial Pavilion. Kang Lin had been telling stories about the one at the Poison Claw Sect, and if the one Master procured could do half those things, Yang Xiu was going to be so happy.
From the outside, it was perfect. At five stories, it was taller than all the other buildings in the main area, and its blue paint and tiles matched the others perfectly. Best of all was its location¡ªright next to the Administration Hall. It was the first pavilion any visitor to the sect would see.
As it should be as the most important one. And she was its leader!
Well, co-leader. But Yang Ru didn¡¯t count. He didn¡¯t really care about telling people what to do. For all practical purposes, she was in charge.
According to Kang Lin, no one in most sects got to lead a pavilion until they were at least fifty years old. That was practically ancient, more than three times the amount of time Yang Xiu had been alive. And she was already in charge!
¡°Of all the buildings, I spent the most time modifying the formations in this one,¡± Master said. ¡°I think the three of you will like what I¡¯ve done with the place.¡±
That really went without saying. Master really was the best.
¡°First of all, though,¡± he continued, ¡°remember that the arena is the proper venue for events with a large audience. There are places for sparring inside the Martial Pavilion, but there is only space for a fairly limited number of spectators.¡±
¡°Yes, Master.¡±
Before leading them inside, he showed them a room accessed from the outside that was located in the back of the building.
¡°Remember the coin slot that Jin LiJuan used to feed the shield during the beast tide?¡± he said.
They all nodded.
¡°This slot provides the same function for all the formations in the building. For the first several weeks, I want you to have someone keep careful track of how much qi you have to supply to the slot versus what arrays are in use for how many people, etc.¡±
¡°Yes, Master.¡±
With the boring stuff out of the way, he finally showed them the inside the building. The entire first floor was completely open except for stairways leading up on each end, and there were four separate colored areas consisting of a square within a square that divided the space into quadrants.
He led them onto the blue area. ¡°Kang Lin, I¡¯m assuming you are familiar with the setup?¡±
¡°Yes, Master. This floor is for teaching, demonstrations, and public spars. Spectators stand in the outer painted area. The fighters compete inside the inner square, and the array prevents any qi or other attacks from reaching the people watching. The outer array can also be tuned to block noise and light from entering or leaving, creating privacy for the fighters inside, allowing only those in the spectator area to see or hear. It¡¯s also standard that the array prevents any injuries greater than a bruise and reduces the pain felt to a low number, usually around twenty-five percent.¡±
¡°Excellent description,¡± Master said, before turning to Yang Xiu and her brother. ¡°It¡¯s important to remember that this shield is not all powerful. It¡¯s currently rated for any attacks to the peak of Foundation Establishment. If a Golden Core cultivator possessing a Concept wants to spar, do not depend on the array to protect spectators.¡±
¡°Yes, Master,¡± the twins chorused.
¡°Good,¡± Master said. ¡°This pavilion isn¡¯t exactly like the one Kang Lin is used to. One of the modifications that I made is for the injury and pain arrays to be adjustable instead of just on/off. The pain can be set in five percent increments from zero to one hundred, and there are five injury damage settings from zero to one hundred in twenty five percent increments.¡±
Kang Lin looked impressed.
¡°What?¡± Yang Xiu said, not understanding what difference the change made.
¡°Our sect has arrays like that, too, but only for the elite martial artists. Grandfather said that it was too expensive to let the normal sect members use it.¡± Kang Lin turned to Yang Xiu. ¡°Experts prefer not to get used to not feeling pain when they get hit.¡±
Yang Xiu and Yang Ru cupped their hands. ¡°Gratitude, Master.¡±
He smiled briefly before showing them the controls, pointing out which glyph activated which area and how to adjust the ones that were variable. Yang Xiu paid rapt attention, knowing that she¡¯d want to be able to use the building to its fullest capacity.
¡°If we turn the pain to zero and injuries to zero, we can¡¯t hurt each other no matter what we do?¡± she said.
¡°Correct, assuming that the power of your strikes does not overwhelm the capacity of the array,¡± Master said. ¡°Anything the three of you can throw at it should be fine.¡±
Yang Xiu naturally had to test that, so after setting the arrays and having Master assure her that she did it right, she had Yang Ru attack her with his full strength. His bull rush, though de-powered by the relatively short distance the sparring square allowed, knocked her clear to the opposite side of the array. She¡¯d taken many, many such hits in fights with her brother and, even after Master¡¯s assurance, had been expecting it to hurt.
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¡°That was so weird.¡± She rubbed her shoulder where Yang Ru had made contact before loosening the fabric of her robe to peek at the skin there. ¡°That should have left a bruise, but there¡¯s not a mark. And I didn¡¯t feel a thing.¡±
¡°Play around with the settings,¡± Master said. ¡°Each has a purpose. There is value in being able to go all out without fear of injuring each other. The other side of that, though, is what Kang Lin pointed out a little while ago. Getting used to the idea that attacks don¡¯t hurt can cause the pain to mess you up in a real fight.¡±
¡°Yes, Master.¡±
The second floor held twenty one-on-one sparring rooms, basically private rooms meant for working on martial arts and techniques with either an instructor or an opponent. The arrays were the same ones used for the inner squares on the first floor, so they didn¡¯t spend much time going over those.
The third floor was similar to the first, a large open area. Instead of squares dividing it into quadrants, though, the flooring was all one color. What set it apart were the fifty dummies in assorted colors scattered about the area. Master once again let Kang Lin handle the explanation.
¡°Combat dummies. You can set them to the cultivation level you want down to the minor realm.¡± She turned to the sect leader. ¡°The maximum level is Golden Core minor realm one, Master?¡±
¡°Minor realm five,¡± he said. ¡°No Concepts, though.¡±
¡°Impressive, Master,¡± Kang Lin said. ¡°You certainly believe in giving your sect members good training tools.¡±
¡°Absolutely. Though these aren¡¯t quite as extraordinary as what I normally provide. These were the dummies used by the Righteous Rain Sect. I just enhanced them a little.¡±
Kang Lin went on to explain that the dummies were tough, both in attack and defense, and could be programmed to use a variety of techniques and weapons. ¡°I¡¯m not sure what the relevance of the colors are, though.¡±
¡°Qi element type,¡± Master said. ¡°I¡¯ll get you a list of what color corresponds to what element, but gray is neutral, meaning no element. I thought it would be good to be able to gain experience in what it feels like to go against elements that are strong against you and ones that are weak against you.¡±
Kang Lin¡¯s jaw dropped.
¡°Now that was what I was expecting,¡± Yang Xiu said. ¡°I bet the Poison Claw Sect doesn¡¯t have that feature.¡±
¡°Not that I¡¯ve ever heard of!¡± Kang Lin said. ¡°It is a good idea, though.¡±
¡°Don¡¯t be too impressed, though,¡± Master said. ¡°I¡¯m not completely finished. Just like I still need to buy furniture, I want this place to have weapon racks with all the standard melee weapons available for the combat dummies. I¡¯ll also have to tweak their programming as we go so that they have access to appropriate attack and defense techniques to truly challenge you.¡±
¡°Gratitude, Master.¡±
The fourth floor was the analog to the second, consisting of private rooms, each with a single combat dummy. Master pointed out a big difference from the previous floor. While the dummies in the massive room were stationary, the ones in the solo rooms were mobile.
There were only twelve of the solo rooms instead of twenty, though. Three of the rooms had been set up for a special purpose by Master. The extra space was dedicated to two larger rooms holding multiple dummies.
¡°Group combat training, right Master?¡± Yang Ru said.
¡°Got it in one. You can configure up to twenty enemies and go in as an individual or with a team. Should be great for working on tactics as well as techniques.¡±
¡°What about the three special rooms, Master?¡± Yang Xiu said.
¡°Ranged weapon training, featuring spatial formation to make the rooms big enough for even you to use for long range targets and configurable with either stationary targets or moving combat dummies.¡±
She cupped her hands. ¡°Gratitude, Master.¡±
Yang Xiu was very happy. The building met or exceeded all her expectations. She was sure that, with all the resources the Martial Pavilion provided, she could take her training to new heights. ¡°What about the fifth floor, Master?¡±
¡°Kang Lin?¡± he said.
¡°Academic areas. A place to sit down and discuss strategies and tactics. Probably a large central hall to gather everyone for lectures or speeches. That kind of thing.¡±
¡°Yep. That was what was there all right,¡± Master said.
Was?
¡°Well,¡± he said, ¡°I did leave some of those areas. It¡¯s good to have a place to relax after a workout, discuss your spar with a friend, and have some tea or whatever. Mainly, though, I added some new functionality. Follow me and check it out.¡±
Master was smiling widely as he welcomed them to the top floor. Whatever he did must have been something truly special. It didn¡¯t look like much from the outside, though. Just a hallway with doors leading off of it.
¡°There are five special combat rooms up here,¡± he said. ¡°One is for one-on-one sparring. Two are for solo fighting against combat dummies. One is for group sparring. And the final one is for single or group fighting against multiple dummies.¡±
On the face of it, his explanation didn¡¯t make it sound any different than the rooms on the floors below. Yang Xiu was sure that there was some surprise, though, or he wouldn¡¯t have been nearly that happy about showing the rooms to them.
He led them to the small sparring room first and had the two girls exchange a few punches with injuries and pain set at zero.
¡°The arrays work just like the ones downstairs, right?¡± Master said. ¡°There¡¯s really no difference. We should probably just skip this floor.¡±
Yang Xiu liked it when Master was being playful.
¡°Master,¡± she said, ¡°what is that big panel and what do the glyphs next to it do?¡±
¡°Oh,¡± he said. ¡°I totally forgot about that. Let¡¯s see.¡±
Master hit a glyph, and suddenly the big panel came to life. A moving image of her and Kang Lin fighting appeared. He touched another glyph, and the images ran in reverse, reverting back to the start of the fight. Another made the images move really slow.
¡°I know that cultivators are good at visualizing a fight and remembering everything that happened,¡± Master said with a grin, ¡°but I thought this might be of some small use.¡±
¡°It¡¯s amazing, Master,¡± Yang Xiu said.
And it was. Contrary to what he had said, her memory wasn¡¯t so good that she could remember the smallest of details, and she didn¡¯t think any of the others had that ability, either. The option of replaying the entire fight over and over again and examine each move in detail would be a huge benefit when it came time to consolidate gains.
Yang Ru and Kang Lin likewise expressed their amazement.
Eventually, they moved onto the next room, one of the ones set up for solo battle against a single combat dummy.
¡°Besides the playback screen, the combat dummies on this floor are much more advanced than the ones on the lower floors. For one thing, they¡¯re more adaptable, able to use any qi element the pavilion has available. They¡¯re also stronger, faster, and tougher. Their big advantage, though, is that they are programmed to remember previous fights against a particular opponent, and use information gained to progress their abilities. So each time you fight one of the dummies on this floor, it¡¯s training you, but you¡¯re also training it, making it harder to defeat next time.¡±
Yang Xiu smiled widely. A tough, progressive enemy that would learn her fighting style and improve based on it, so it always gave her a challenge? Perfect. She just knew her skill with her techniques would improve very fast with the advantages her new Martial Pavilion provided.
Chapter 206 – A Lighter Heart
The wolf pup followed Jin LiJuan into the Martial Pavilion. At rank two, it was the size of a medium dog and continued to grow in size and strength each day after she fed it a rank one core.
In a way, it disgusted her. Beasts like it had killed her family. She wanted to see it dead, not getting bigger and stronger.
But as it grew so did she. At the current rate, she¡¯d reach minor realm seven in less than a week. Eventually, she¡¯d pass up Senior Brother and Senior Sister.
If she could find a way to keep tolerating the beast. A big if.
And even if she did gain that strength, it wouldn¡¯t truly be hers, gained by her own efforts. It would be borrowed. From a beast. From a filthy beast.
Her hands trembled, and she tightened them into fists.
When she realized what she¡¯d done, though, she forced herself to unclench them. She had made a commitment to herself to try to tolerate the beast, and she was trying. Truly. But the last three days had brought her no answers. Neither trying nor succeeding was easy. Every time she looked at the wolf, she saw her family being torn to pieces. Hate overwhelmed her heart.
She sighed, at a loss at what to do. At least for the whole of the afternoon, she¡¯d have something else to concentrate on, something that would hopefully take her mind, temporarily, off her problems¡ªKang Lin had arranged a tutoring session with Pan Jiang.
Jin LiJuan had studied the sword technique that Master gave her, and she was making progress. But no one else in the sect used a sword, so none of them could give her one-on-one instruction.
She was very grateful to Kang Lin for setting up the meeting with her sect brother.
Upon climbing the stairs to the fourth floor with the pup bounding behind her, Jin LiJuan found the Poison Claw Sect member waiting for her. ¡°Pardon, Esteemed Cultivator Pan Jiang. I hope this lowly one was not late.¡±
¡°Not at all, Junior Cultivator. I came early, so I could explore your sect¡¯s new Martial Pavilion. Your sect leader installed some innovations that are quite interesting.¡±
Outside cultivators always seemed impressed by Master, and she supposed that he did amazing things. Since he was the only high realm cultivator she had ever met, though, it all just seemed normal to her.
She cupped her hands. ¡°This lowly one is grateful to Esteemed Cultivator Pan Jiang for taking time for instruction.¡±
¡°Do you know why I¡¯m doing it?¡±
¡°No, Esteemed Cultivator Pan Jiang.¡±
To the best of Jin LiJuan¡¯s knowledge, the boy was an important member of his sect, even higher somehow than Kang Lin despite his lower cultivation realm. Why he would take the time to teach a lowly member of another sect was unfathomable.
¡°First of all, because I owe your master a debt. I acted like a complete idiot when I met your Senior Brother, Yang Ru. Your master could have taken my sword, which would have made my father so incredibly upset with me. So upset! Instead, your master gave me the greatest sword technique I¡¯ve ever seen. I don¡¯t know if I can ever truly repay him, but my understanding is that he holds you in great regard.¡±
Jin LiJuan frowned. She seriously doubted that Master had any more regard for her than for any other member of the sect and certainly not as much as Senior Sister and Senior Brother.
¡°It¡¯s true,¡± Pan Jiang said. ¡°Despite how he obviously considers Yang Xiu and Yang Ru his inheritors, you¡¯re the only one he refers to by a nickname.¡±
Jin LiJuan tilted her head to the side, considering the statement. Master did call her Li¡¯er, and she¡¯d never heard him refer to Senior Sister or Senior Brother as Xiu¡¯er or Ru¡¯er.
Hmm.
¡°If such a great man considers you worth his time, how could this lowly one not do the same?¡± Pan Jiang said. ¡°In fact, I would prefer it if you dispensed with the honorifics or, if you can¡¯t bring yourself to do so, simply call me Senior Brother.¡±
She cupped her hands again. ¡°Yes, Senior Brother.¡±
He grinned. ¡°The second reason is because we are siblings in a sense.¡±
Okay, now she was really confused.
¡°Martial siblings,¡± he said. ¡°You¡¯re using the sword technique that your master gave me.¡±
¡°Apologies, Senior Brother.¡±
¡°No. I think it¡¯s great. It¡¯s his technique to give, and there are no other students of the sword at the correct stage of development in my sect who use the Wood element. Teaching you will be good for advancing my own understanding.¡± He paused. ¡°I am curious about your qi aspect, however. Do you use Wood as well?¡±
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¡°No, Senior Brother.¡±
¡°Nature, then. I¡¯ve heard a lot of the villagers here have attuned that aspect. That should be close enough.¡±
¡°No, Senior Brother. Sorry, Senior Brother.¡±
¡°But it¡¯s something related to Wood, right?¡±
She felt kind of stuck. Master hadn¡¯t said that her not having a qi aspect was a secret, but that seemed like the kind of thing that should be a secret, right? On the other hand, Pan Jiang was going out of his way to train her, and it would be disrespectful to lie to him.
¡°No, Senior Brother.¡±
He sighed. ¡°My family and generally my sect believe it to be an advantage to use a technique attuned to one¡¯s qi aspect even in the Qi Gathering realm. A lot of cultivators, including your master, would disagree with that belief, thinking that using neutral techniques is a better way to go. I would think that almost everyone would counsel you that using a technique attuned to a qi element that clashes with one¡¯s qi aspect is a really bad idea.¡±
¡°I understand, Senior Brother, but I asked only for a sword technique. Master chose this particular one for me. I trust his judgment.¡±
Pan Jiang opened his mouth like he was going to object but instead sighed. ¡°True enough, Junior Sister. The next time I find out your master made a mistake will be the first, so this lowly one will not gainsay him. Let¡¯s begin.¡±
He led her and the wolf pup to a small room. The only thing in the space was a wooden manikin, holding a sword.
¡°Attack the combat dummy,¡± Pan Jiang said. ¡°I¡¯ve set it to match your speed and to defend only. Start slow and focus on performing your forms perfectly.¡±
Jin LiJuan didn¡¯t understand how a wood manikin was going to defend or match her speed, but she supposed it was no different than hitting a tree, which was how she¡¯d been practicing. Feeling a little silly, she stepped up to the figure, carefully arranged her feet and body in the correct stance, and swung.
The wood manikin moved!
In fact, it brought its sword up to block hers. Metal contacted with metal.
Clang!
Wow. That was amazing.
She advanced to her next form, and the manikin matched her. On the next, she sped up, but she wasn¡¯t fast enough to overcome her wood opponent.
After the end of the ten basic attacks¡ªeach of which had been blocked¡ªshe stopped.
Pan Jiang shook his head. ¡°Junior Sister, what did I ask you to do?¡±
She thought back. ¡°Focus on performing my forms perfectly, Senior Brother.¡±
¡°Do you consider those forms perfect?¡±
Not even a little bit. She¡¯d gotten too caught up in trying to get past her opponent¡¯s defenses.
¡°No, Senior Brother.¡±
¡°Do it again.¡±
Senior Brother Pan Jiang was a hard taskmaster. After she went through all ten forms again, this time making sure to perform each as well as she knew how, he made minute corrections on all ten of them.
Then, she went through the forms slowly again.
And he corrected her again.
By the time an hour was finished, she was sweating profusely and could barely lift her sword. She¡¯d learned a lot, though. Much more than she would have been able to achieve on her own even if she¡¯d practiced against a tree for a month.
¡°Let¡¯s take a break,¡± he said.
¡°No, Senior Brother. I can continue. I swear.¡±
He laughed. ¡°No, you can¡¯t. The next time you lift your sword above your head, it¡¯ll pull you down to the floor. And while that would be amusing to watch, it would not be helpful to your progress. What is helpful is taking a little while to cool down and have some tea.¡±
She thought about objecting, but if she really wanted to learn, she needed to start listening to people with more experience than her. Which wasn¡¯t easy. Listening to anyone wasn¡¯t easy. She¡¯d even ignored Master when she ate that spirit beast meat, and that act had almost cost her everything.
Her stubbornness and self-reliance were both good traits to an extent, but she was beginning to realize that both could also become obstacles as well. When she chose to rely on herself when someone who knew more gave her advice, she was hindered instead of helped.
Pan Jiang led her to the fifth floor where some cultivation mats had been laid out in an open area, and there was a table with a tea set. ¡°I¡¯m given to understand that the sect leader will be acquiring more furniture for all the pavilions soon. Some cushions would make this a nice area.¡±
Jin LiJuan nodded. She didn¡¯t really care about furniture one way or the other. Instead, she knelt on the mat and meditated on the forms she¡¯d used against the manikin, locking in what she¡¯d learned.
Unfortunately, she didn¡¯t feel any solidification of knowledge like the others described when they reached a milestone with the technique. That was okay, though. She¡¯d keep trying until she reached it.
When she attempted to get up, though, her legs shook.
¡°Let¡¯s wait a while longer. Have some tea.¡± Pan Jiang handed her a cup.
In a valiant attempt to follow her decision to listen to those who were trying to teach her, she calmly accepted the cup and sipped it instead of rushing back to the room with the manikin.
¡°Tell me about the wolf pup, Junior Sister.¡±
She frowned. It was running around the space, playing.
¡°There¡¯s not much to tell, Senior Brother.¡±
¡°Really? According to Senior Sister Kang Lin, your bond with it is quite extraordinary.¡±
Jin LiJuan blew out a frustrated breath. ¡°For now.¡±
¡°I¡¯ve heard about your unique circumstances,¡± he said. ¡°You¡¯re not having any luck improving your feelings toward it?¡±
¡°No, Senior Brother.¡±
¡°Have you tried asking for help?¡±
¡°Master is too busy. I don¡¯t want to bother him.¡±
Pan Jiang grinned. ¡°Of course he is. He¡¯s the sect leader. You do realize, though, that you have other resources to draw upon besides him, right? You¡¯re probably the youngest person in your sect. There are a lot of people with a lot of experience who might be able to help.¡±
¡°I guess, Senior Brother.¡±
¡°You never know when you might be talking to someone who actually listened to a lecture from an actual beast tamer.¡±
She looked at him with wide eyes. ¡°You, Senior Brother?¡±
¡°Me.¡±
In the years since her family had died, Jin LiJuan had closed herself off. Why count on someone else when that someone was just going to let you down by dying? Even asking Master to heal her had been difficult.
But that attitude was stupid. If Senior Sister had a problem with something, she¡¯d go to her brother or Kang Lin for help in an instant. Trying to do everything solo when you had options was idiotic.
¡°Senior Brother, will you help me with my spirit beast bond?¡±
The question was not an easy one for her to ask, but the effort made her heart feel lighter.
Chapter 207 – Empathy and Commonality
Jin LiJuan swallowed her pride, relying instead on the kindness of a relative stranger. ¡°Senior Brother, will you help me with my spirit beast bond?¡±
¡°Of course, Junior Sister,¡± Pan Jiang said. ¡°Though I certainly do not claim to be an expert on the subject, it¡¯s likely that I know more about a typical sect¡¯s beast pavilion than anyone here except for your master. I would be happy to instruct you on the subject.¡±
She cupped her hands. ¡°Gratitude, Senior Brother.¡±
¡°To begin, it is important to understand that your particular type of beast bond is rare,¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯s an unusual subset of the rarest type of member of a beast pavilion, beast tamers. Far more common are beast masters.¡±
She had heard of neither of those terms, and despite herself, became a little curious. ¡°Beast masters, Senior Brother?¡±
¡°You understand that eating beast meat has advantages for cultivators?¡±
She barely held back a grimace as the comment reminded her of her darkest hour and instead nodded.
¡°Most cultivators prefer a diet consisting solely of spirit herbs and beast meat, in a sense cultivating as they dine,¡± he said. ¡°Consuming mortal food is essentially a waste of time.¡±
That made sense.
¡°For a small sect like yours,¡± he said, ¡°it¡¯s possible to fill those dietary needs simply by hunting.¡±
Jin LiJuan had heard some of the ladies talking while she¡¯d been assigned to process the beasts into their various parts. With all the killing during the tide, they had enough meat to feed everyone in the village one serving a day for years, and through the marvel of spatial storage devices, all that food would stay fresh long enough to be used.
Considering how many nights she and the other orphans and, really, a lot of villagers had gone hungry, having so much meat available was a blessing. She felt proud to have contributed in even a small way.
¡°What if your sect had thousands of members?¡± he said. ¡°Tens of thousands? There aren¡¯t enough beasts in the wild to feed all those people.¡±
Huh. She¡¯d never thought about that.
¡°Thus, sects must either devote resources to raising and slaughtering beasts or purchase meat from a sect who does. The cultivators dedicated to such pursuits are called beast masters. They do not bond with beasts. Instead, they use techniques to exert control over entire herds.¡±
Her parents had been farmers, having only a few animals to provide additional labor and resources, but the job he described sounded very similar to what various neighbors did with cattle and chickens.
¡°Beast tamers are a completely different animal.¡± Pan Jiang chuckled.
She stared at him blankly, not understanding what was funny.
He shook his head and continued. ¡°They are combat cultivators, like those in the Martial Pavilion. Though they are able to defend themselves with weapons, primarily they use beasts to fight for them.¡±
¡°They bond with these beasts, Senior Brother?¡±
¡°In a sense,¡± he said. ¡°Your bond with the wolf pup is extremely rare, possessing both extreme benefits and equal dangers. You can grow in power rapidly, advancing with your bonded beast as it consumes resources, but you are tied to it. If it dies, you die.¡±
She swallowed hard. No one had put the situation quite so bluntly before.
¡°Beast tamers form much lesser bonds. They work in partnership with the creatures, but experience neither the extreme benefits nor the corresponding danger that you do.¡±
¡°What am I, then, Senior Brother?¡±
Was she some kind of freak? An oddity to be looked down upon?
¡°Our sect would simply call you a bonded,¡± he said. ¡°Your path corresponds to that of your single beast.¡±
¡°Do you know other bonded, Senior Brother?¡±
If there was a name for what she was, the situation must be somewhat common.
¡°I know of people like you,¡± he said. ¡°I know of even more people who have sought to become what you are and failed.¡±
She tilted her head to the side.
¡°Imagine you are a powerful cultivator, one who intends on establishing what you hope will be a great family,¡± he said. ¡°Your first child is born. You love that child and have great hopes for him or her. But there¡¯s a problem. When the child reaches fourteen and is tested, the child¡¯s spiritual roots are trash. E tier. Or even worse, F tier. What do you do?¡±
¡°Teach them to cultivate, anyway, Senior Brother, as Master has with me and most of the other sect members. If I love the child, that is the only decision that makes sense.¡±
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He chuckled. ¡°You have not grown up in a sect, and the Rising Tide Sect and its leader are not normal. A cultivator with such low roots, even one who is the child of a powerful elder, would be ostracized. Wasting resources on a such a person would cause a loss of face.¡±
Her face fell. Was having low-tier roots that bad?
¡°In that case, there aren¡¯t many choices, and none of the ones facing the parent are good. One, send the child off with plenty of money to live a normal mortal life. Two, seek alchemical remedies, which are often quite expensive and most of which don¡¯t actually work. Or three, have the child become a bonded.¡±
Ah.
¡°How often does this situation of a powerful parent having a low-tiered child arise, Senior Brother?¡±
¡°Often. Very often.¡±
¡°Then, there must be many cultivators like me, Senior Brother!¡±
¡°Not at all.¡±
She was very confused.
¡°You have to understand that the conditions required to become a bonded are difficult to replicate,¡± he said. ¡°Or mainly one of the conditions is difficult to replicate. First, it has to be done when the child has barely begun the cultivation journey, which is easy enough. Second, the beast, likewise, must be a low rank one, which can be easily found. Simply search out those newly born.
¡°The last condition ranges from difficult to impossible¡ªthe beasts qi aspect and the child¡¯s qi aspect must be extremely similar. It¡¯s not nearly enough for the two to simply have the same element. I have met dozens of cultivators who use the Wind element, but none of them have come close to matching my exact aspect.
¡°For a bonded, that closeness determines if the bond will succeed or fail, and if it succeeds, how much benefit the cultivator will get from it. Imagine an extremely weak bond. The cultivator only receives, say, one percent of the power of the beast. Even if the cultivator spends many resources getting the beast to rank seven, the small percentage would mean the cultivator probably wouldn¡¯t even reach the peak of Qi Gathering.¡±
Jin LiJuan hadn¡¯t understood how lucky she had been. The fact that she didn¡¯t have a qi aspect meant that she matched perfectly with the wolf pup¡¯s, allowing her to gain the full benefit of the bond. It also meant she¡¯d experience the full danger as well.
¡°Your options and potential are limitless,¡± Pan Jiang said. ¡°If you suddenly develop a liking for beasts, you could still become a tamer, using the pup and others to fight for you. You¡¯d just have to understand that the rest of your menagerie would not give you benefits like the pup does.¡±
She fixed him with a look. Adopting more beasts was not going to happen.
¡°Yeah. I didn¡¯t think so.¡± He laughed. ¡°Since you and the beast are always going to be at relatively the same power level¡ª¡±
¡°Relatively the same, Senior Brother?¡±
¡°My understanding from Kang Lin is that the pup is a third of the way through rank two but that you¡¯re still at the beginning of Qi Gathering minor realm four. It seems as if you catapult three minor realms when it ranks up instead of advancing in lockstep.¡±
She hadn¡¯t thought about it that way, but she supposed that was exactly what had happened last time.
Jin LiJuan cupped her hands. ¡°Gratitude for the explanation, Senior Brother.¡±
¡°I get the impression that you want to be a fighter, though, instead of settling into a profession?¡±
¡°Yes, Senior Brother.¡±
¡°With your bond, sending the beast to fight for you is just as dangerous as you entering combat, so it makes sense for you to train hard and fight alongside it.¡±
Part of her wanted to leave the beast behind when she fought, use it only for increasing her power. But that path would be stupid. The beast would always be as or more powerful than her. Not using it was dumb.
¡°Yes, Senior Brother.¡±
¡°Good. I thought I¡¯d have a harder time convincing you of that.¡± He smiled. ¡°In the coming days, we can arrange for you to spar, for the pup to spar, and for the two of you to spar together against an opponent.¡±
¡°Gratitude, Senior Brother.¡±
¡°Now we come to the crux of the problem¡ªtamers and bonded treat their beasts as partners. There is mutual respect and understanding. Most of those relationships involve actual affection.¡±
Jun LiJuan tensed. She didn¡¯t know if she could ever feel anything other than hate for it. At best, she aimed for acting neutral toward it.
¡°How do we get from the distrust, distaste, and outright hostility you feel to where you need to be?¡± he said.
That was what she wanted to know because, after days of racking her brain, she¡¯d come up with nothing.
¡°According to the beast tamer that I spoke to, the keys are empathy and commonality,¡± he said. ¡°We¡¯ll start with the latter. What do you and the beast have in common?¡±
She looked at the creature. Beams of sunlight penetrated an opening, highlighting dust in the air. It pounced around attacking the motes. Playing. Being silly.
¡°Nothing, Senior Brother. Nothing at all.¡±
¡°Really? I can think of two things off the top of my head.¡±
She frowned. ¡°Please instruct this lowly one, Senior Brother.¡±
He looked like he wanted to reach out and tousle her hair. She was quite glad that he didn¡¯t.
¡°For one thing, you are both orphans,¡± he said. ¡°Not only that, but you were both present when your respective parents were killed.¡±
Hmm. She hadn¡¯t considered that the pup was an orphan. It was true, though.
¡°For another,¡± he continued, ¡°you both desire power. That desire is his driving instinct. I think it may be yours as well.¡±
Okay, so maybe she and the beast did have a few things in common.
¡°Realizing that the beast¡¯s advancements are a win-win situation is a good start. You get what you want by helping it get what it wants. It¡¯s a symbiotic relationship,¡± he said. ¡°If on the other hand you only see the beast as a path to power for yourself, the bond will not stand the test of time, and you will be left powerless or dead before your time.¡±
¡°Master has told me all that, Senior Brother! It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t want to like the beast; it¡¯s that I can¡¯t.¡±
Tears wanted to form, but she suppressed them with a force of extreme will.
¡°That¡¯s where empathy comes in,¡± he said. ¡°Put yourself in the beast¡¯s paws.¡±
She frowned at him again.
¡°I¡¯m serious. I want to you to meditate. Imagine that you¡¯re safe and warm with a cocoon that provides for all your needs.¡±
As instructed, she assumed a lotus position and visualized the situation.
¡°Suddenly, the cocoon is jostled. You¡¯re shaken. The cocoon cools. It no longer provides you sustenance. You¡¯re trapped, hungry and cold.¡±
Jin LiJuan shuddered. Inside her deep meditation, she could feel what he described. The tight confines of the cocoon. The cold. The hunger.
¡°This goes on for days,¡± he said. ¡°You struggle to escape, but you can¡¯t. You don¡¯t know where you are or what happened. All you know is that you¡¯re going to die slowly, wasting away due to starvation.¡±
She felt her heartbeat increase. Her breathing grew labored.
¡°Finally, though, as you¡¯re on the cusp of succumbing, light appears. The cocoon is cut open. Hands pull you from it. You¡¯re face to face with your savior, a cultivator. Jin LiJuan of the Rising Tide Sect.¡±
Her eyes popped open, and when they found the wolf pup, she saw it in a whole new light.
Chapter 208 – A Points Sink
As an extrovert, Benton had always liked people, and he¡¯d had a variety of relationships of all types throughout his life on Earth. He¡¯d been married, raised children, spoiled grandchildren, been taught and taught others in turn, mentored proteges, and so on. All in all, he felt he had a pretty good handle on human nature.
Sometimes, though, someone managed to truly surprise him.
When he¡¯d first met Pan Jiang, Benton had pegged him pretty quickly as a standard arrogant young master, and every memory he¡¯d gained from Su agreed with that assessment. By not taking the kid¡¯s sword and gifting him a technique, Benton had hoped, at best, to keep the boy from becoming a potential enemy.
It wasn¡¯t like Benton had held any real animosity toward the kid. Take a young man, raise him in an environment where everyone literally bowed down to him, give him everything he could ever possibly want, and oh yeah, grant him superpowers. Benton himself would have probably turned out pretty darn arrogant under those circumstances.
Benton¡¯s kind gestures had done a lot more than he¡¯d expected. The scion had actually turned into someone who was actually a rather decent kid. His actions during the beast tide had proved him to be both capable and dependable. He¡¯d not shirked a single duty, been brave in the face of danger, and listened to those placed in authority over him.
Benton couldn¡¯t have asked for a better ally.
Thus, he had no qualms about putting Li¡¯er¡¯s sword training in the boy¡¯s capable hands. Benton had, however, grown a bit curious about how that would go. After all, questions abounded. Would Li¡¯er, not the most patient of kids, remember her manners? She¡¯d been instructed over and over again prior to the session about how important being polite to her trainer was, but well, it was Li¡¯er.
The other side of the trainer/trainee relationship was in doubt as well. Pan Jiang had picked up the sword technique quite well, but aptitude in doing something didn¡¯t always equate to the ability to teach others that thing. And the boy did have a reputation for being prickly. While Benton didn¡¯t think for a second that Pan Jiang would hurt the child, the whole session devolving into a shouting match remained a real possibility.
Benton couldn¡¯t help but do a bit of eavesdropping when the two of them met.
Things had gone well. Really well. Pan Jiang was a demanding but fair instructor, exactly what the little girl needed. Benton couldn¡¯t have been more pleased.
At least, that was what he thought until he heard Pan Jiang, of all people, the former arrogant young master, espousing the virtues of empathy to the cool, no-nonsense Jin LiJuan.
The whole situation blew Benton¡¯s mind, and his first thought was that it was a good effort on the boy¡¯s part even though it wasn¡¯t likely to produce any results at all. Except that it did.
Like the Grinch, Li¡¯er¡¯s heart grew three sizes that day.
By the time she left the Martial Pavilion, she was showing actual kindness toward the wolf pup. She¡¯d actually petted it a few times. Those occasions had been at Pan Jiang¡¯s explicit instruction but still!
Obviously, she still had a long way to go, but she¡¯d taken a step. And while that single step might not seem like much, progress was progress.
Unfortunately, Benton didn¡¯t have time to devote all his attention to one single disciple. Others needed his guidance, starting with Xun Wu.
The previous day, Benton had a Qi Condensing Pill sent to the expert blacksmith, and he¡¯d advanced to Qi Gathering minor realm eight. It was now time for him to enter the Trials Pagoda, but instead of heading to the Contribution Points Shop, Benton sensed the man entering the Administration Hall.
Soon, there was a knock on Benton¡¯s door.
¡°Come,¡± he said.
Xun Wu entered. ¡°Master.¡±
¡°Xun Wu,¡± Benton said, giving the blacksmith time to gather himself for whatever he had to say.
¡°Master, I don¡¯t think that advancing either of my techniques would make good use of the Trials Pagoda. I¡¯m at least three months away from advancing to Foundation Establishment, and I will easily master both by that time.¡±
¡°I see.¡±
¡°Speeding my cultivation doesn¡¯t seem like a valid use, either, Master.¡±
¡°Makes sense. What did you have in mind?¡±
¡°My aspect, Master. You said it was fiery coal in the middle of a forge. Which will be great for controlling temperature, but that¡¯s only one aspect of blacksmithing. If I could add a fundamental understanding of metal to my aspect, that change would have the potential to truly transform my abilities, a worthy use of the Trials Pagoda.¡±
¡°What specific change do you want to make?¡±
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¡°Master, the addition that resonates with me is fiery coal in the middle of a forge heating metal.¡±
¡°Good. I like your reasoning, The language is simple and very straightforward. You fully understand how important that resonance is, correct?¡±
¡°Yes, Master.¡±
¡°Then I approve.¡±
Xun Wu looked confused.
¡°Is there something wrong?¡± Benton said.
¡°From the way Yang Xiu talked, I thought convincing you would be more difficult.¡±
Benton chuckled. ¡°Xun Wu, you¡¯re forty-one years old, married, and a father. Moreover, you¡¯re an expert in your profession. Yang Xiu, though I love her to death, is a teenager. You came to me with a clear understanding of exactly what you wanted to change your aspect to and a good reason for doing it. She came to me with a vague thought that it might be nice to change her aspect. Do you see where I¡¯m coming from?¡±
The blacksmith grinned. ¡°I do, Master. It¡¯s good to understand your reasoning.¡±
They talked for a while longer as the two of them hadn¡¯t had many opportunities to interact one-on-one. Xun Wu gave a very informal report on how the Blacksmithing Pavilion was coming along.
All the blacksmiths really liked the new digs, but the array powered forges were taking some getting used to. When they learned all the ins and outs, Xun Wu was positive that everything they made would be of even better quality, and he personally couldn¡¯t wait until he reached Foundation Establishment in order to take his forging to a whole new level.
Between him, Shi Long, two other competent blacksmiths from the village, and a handful of apprentices at various stages of development, Xun Wu felt that they would eventually be able to be a good source of weapons and shields for the sect. Of course, that competency was a long-term goal. First, they all had to reach high enough levels of cultivation and learn techniques to externally manipulate qi.
That caveat applied to all the pavilions, though, and overall, the blacksmith pavilion was probably in the best shape of all the professions.
Just like with eavesdropping on Jin LiJuan and Pan Jiang, Benton couldn¡¯t afford to spend his entire afternoon talking with Xun Wu. A popup made it clear that other duties beckoned.
|
Host¡¯s Disciple, Fatty Ren, has reached Flight of the Cultivator ¨C Small Success.
Host is awarded two Sect Points.
Host has 657 Sect Points available.
|
Outfitting the Town Lord with a cultivation method and two techniques had required a relatively large outlay of fifty-six points, but the big guy had already returned six of those, reaching minor realm one in Golden Core and Small Success with the flying sword technique. Still, considering how long the major realms took to cultivate, it would be a long time before Benton saw a profit.
That was okay, though. Fatty Ren brought a lot more value to the sect than just Sect Points. Just having another Golden Core cultivator in the sect made Benton feel a huge sense of relief.
He dismissed Xun Wu and sent of message to Fatty Ren to come to the Administration Hall. The big guy arrived after a very short time.
¡°Greetings, Friend Su.¡±
¡°Congratulations on advancing your technique! I thought it would take you another few days.¡±
Fatty Ren smiled. ¡°This lowly one is diligent, Friend Su.¡±
¡°That you are, and I bet you¡¯re eager to get back to Vermilion Incomparable Rain Town.¡±
¡°That I am, Friend Su. Ever since the old Town Manager was replaced, I¡¯ve been taking a more active role in running things. It feels awkward leaving them on their own like this.¡±
Shoot. That statement made Benton feel bad about the favor he was about to ask, but he didn¡¯t really have a choice.
¡°Could I maybe impose upon your kindness once more?¡± Benton said.
¡°Of course, Friend Su. What is it?¡±
¡°Could you stick around for another couple of days?¡±
The big guy¡¯s eyebrows went up, clearly asking why such a request was necessary.
¡°You see,¡± Benton said, ¡°I kind of forgot to get furniture the last time I was in Sixth Flawless Flowing City, and now my sect members are moving into basically empty houses and pavilions. I figure I could quickly run over there and, between tonight and tomorrow morning, get everything I need. If you stay here, I¡¯ll feel a lot better about the safety of my sect members while I¡¯m gone.¡±
Fatty Ren¡¯s eyes went wide. ¡°No, Friend Su. That is a horrible idea.¡±
¡°What? Why?¡±
¡°Don¡¯t poke the bear, Friend Su. You personally going to the city so soon after destroying the Jade Chameleon¡¯s sect branch will seem like a deliberate affront to them. Whatever response they have in mind will be hastened. Please consider giving them some face and send someone else. Like me. I can go!¡± Fatty Ren hesitated, considering. ¡°In fact, I¡¯m the perfect person. With the flying sword, I can get there and back quickly, and I¡¯m not yet publicly associated with your sect. If I get in and out relatively quietly, there will be no further loss of face to anyone.¡±
The Town Lord had apparently picked up some knowledge of sect politics over the years, and Benton found the suggestion to be a good one.
¡°You don¡¯t mind?¡± Benton said.
¡°Of course not, Friend Su. I, a Golden Core cultivator, will fly there on my sword. Neither of those two things would be possible without you. Running an errand for you is literally the least I could do to begin repayment of my debt.¡±
¡°There are no debts between friends, Fatty Ren, but I¡¯ll definitely accept your favor. Truthfully, that works well for me, too, as I¡¯d prefer not to be away from the sect right now.¡±
With that detail taken care of, Benton had Sun Hua prepare a list of furniture, weapons, and other items that the sect needed from the city. For payment, he created a stack of one-thousand-qi spirit coins using various elements, which Fatty Ren assured him was more than enough to pay to furnish an entire sect much larger than the Rising Tide.
Benton felt good about giving Fatty Ren the mission. It allowed the Town Lord to perform a necessary function for the sect, letting the members see his contribution. It gave face to the various factions, keeping the sect a little safer for longer. And it allowed Benton to remain at the sect grounds, overseeing the little things that kept creeping up and making sure that everyone was safe from a surprise attack.
What Benton didn¡¯t feel nearly as good about was another popup notification that he received.
|
Host¡¯s disciple, Xun Wu, requests to use the Trials Pagoda.
Requested Trial: Add or Modify Qi Aspect
Requested Modification: Add ¡°heating metal¡± to fiery coal in the middle of a forge.
Trial for adding or modifying a Qi Aspect requires payment of 50 Sect Points.
Allow Trial: Y/N
|
Fifty Sect Points. Fifty! Benton knew that stupid Trials Pagoda was going to be a points sink. With a frown, he chose yes.
Chapter 209 – Dominant
Fatty Ren balanced awkwardly on the flying sword¡ªhis flying sword¡ªas he made his way straight toward Sixth Flawless Flowing City, thanking his lucky stars that Sect Leader Chao Su had sought a consultation for a favor before simply departing to the city on his own.
That would have been a disaster.
When he had mentioned going there to, of all things, buy furniture, Fatty Ren had nearly choked. For a sect leader to do such a menial task on his own would be a huge loss of face. The new sect, like any sect trying to get started, began on shaky ground, and while it was okay for a leader to be a bit eccentric, it was not alright for him to act like a servant.
Sure, fly to the city to destroy something, to deliver vengeance, and while you¡¯re there, casually do some shopping. That was fine. It showed strength, like laying waste to an entire sect branch was just another thing to tick off a list.
But to go to the city for the sole purpose of shopping? Such a mission was beneath the dignity of a sect leader.
Upon hearing the plan, Fatty Ren had had to think fast, which was not one of his strengths. Luckily, the sect leader bought the story about not further upsetting the Jade Chameleon Sect by showing his face near the spot of their defeat.
The best untruths were the ones that had the benefit of being partially true. That lesson was one of the first ones Fatty Ren had learned in his old sect.
Of course, telling the truth was even better as it left no lie to be found out, but there was no way to give the sect leader the actual reason without sounding insulting. Maybe even without actually being insulting.
Things had turned out fine, though. Even better than Fatty Ren could have hoped. For one, sending a Golden Core cultivator, even a newly minted one, to run such an errand showed strength. For another, it allowed him to begin showing his usefulness as a sect member. The resources expended on him, from the cultivation method to the techniques to the flying sword to the opportunity to take the trial, were priceless, so the sooner he could demonstrate his value, the better.
He may not be as talented as Chao Su¡¯s top disciples, but none of them were Golden Core. None of them could make the trip so quickly.
Honestly, hearing the sect leader¡¯s plan to perform such menial task himself had shaken Fatty Ren¡¯s confidence in his new sect for a moment. But only for a brief moment. Between a Trials Pagoda that could push a cultivator past a bottleneck and top heaven grade cultivation methods and techniques, he definitely wanted to be a part of whatever Chao Su was building.
Still, the complete disregard the sect leader showed to decorum was cause for some concern, and Fatty Ren had to spend quite some time thinking about the reasons behind the move.
From the perspective of an old monster like Chao Su, what did it matter if some weak Nascent Souls thought you were strange for doing the shopping yourself? True strength was doing what you wanted when you wanted and not caring what anyone else thought.
An act that for anyone else would demonstrate weakness only showed Chao Su¡¯s strength!
The problem was that the other sects didn¡¯t truly understand yet just how powerful the sect leader was, and until they did, it would be much better to observe the rules. To play politics.
Fatty Ren was just going to have to do his best to watch out for any problems that may arise. After all, twenty years of being Town Lord had taught him some things about dealing with the Big Three.
The other thing that had at first shaken his belief in his new sect was when he¡¯d been asked to recruit tras¡ª been asked to recruit less talented people. After consideration, though, he realized that the sect wasn¡¯t as different from other sects as he¡¯d believed.
Did the sect leader truly value a peasant with an F talent as highly as one from a noble background with a C or even higher?
No. No, he didn¡¯t. Not at all.
There were some sect members with low talent in leadership positions, but Fatty Ren was pretty sure that was just because the sect didn¡¯t have enough members with better spiritual roots yet. After all, every sect member who did have good roots was also considered a leader, exactly as he would have expected.
In fact, the whole letting E and F roots join the sect made a lot of sense. An established sect already had scores of Foundation Establishment cultivators doing the majority of the grunt work in each of the pavilions. The Rising Tide Sect needed those cultivators as well.
For most sects, especially those just starting out, pouring any resources at all into E and F cultivators would be the height of stupidity. The vast majority of those people would only reach mid Qi Gathering at best. A tiny percentage would advance to Foundation Establishment, but the amount of food and pills and training time it would take to have enough people make the attempt would be ruinous compared to the small gains made.
None of those conditions applied to Chao Su, though. He had the Trials Pagoda and top heaven grade cultivation methods and techniques. It would not surprise Fatty Ren if literally every low talent sect member made it to the middle of Foundation Establishment and mastered several useful techniques over their lifetimes.
The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.
The sect leader was making logical use of his resources.
Fatty Ren was almost positive that the kindly old grandfather persona was all an act to hide that he was a cultivator who was as shrewd as they came. Almost positive wasn¡¯t positive, though. Until he had proof, he¡¯d treat all the sect members, especially Chao Su¡¯s favorites, like they were the most important elder in a Big Three sect.
Thinking about Chao Su¡¯s methods being taken to their logical conclusion didn¡¯t just reassure Fatty Ren that the Rising Tide Sect would be just fine. No. It convinced him that the sect would eventually dominate all sects on the continent, maybe even the world.
With no limit on the number of Foundation Establishment cultivators that could be produced, the sect would outproduce everyone, and that wealth would bring talented individuals by the drove. Providing top tier recruits with top tier cultivation methods and techniques and giving them access to the Trial Pagoda to propel them past bottlenecks meant that every D rank and above was more likely than not to advance to Golden Core. And the more Golden Cores a sect produced, the more Nascent Souls they ended up with, especially when bottlenecks were no issue.
Whether through luck or skill, Fatty Ren had found a really good thing. He just had to work to keep it.
Out of sight of the city and well before he reached the city gates, he descended to the ground, stored his flying sword in his spatial ring, and walked the rest of the way while trying to figure a way around a particularly difficult problem¡ªhe had no idea where any shops were, much less ones where he could get the quality merchandise he needed.
He sighed. Though he¡¯d been to the city many times, that had been more than two decades ago, and even then, he¡¯d only visited other sects. Not for the first time, he wished that the Righteous Rain Sect had kept a sect branch in the city.
Their main grounds in Vermilion Incomparable Rain Town were so near that the elders had decided the expense of a branch wasn¡¯t worth the gain. Instead, they¡¯d went all out in furnishing their main grounds and invited the representatives from the other Big Four Sects to visit there.
If not for their frugality, many more than five sect members would have survived that night.
Such thoughts didn¡¯t help with his immediate problem, though, which was how to find stores from which to purchase the long list of items requested by the sect leader. And not only that, but to find a way to convert spirit coins to silver taels where necessary.
Fatty Ren had only the vaguest notion where to begin, and that was a problem because he had promised to return to the village the next day. Which left him with only one solution¡ªask Kang Ya-Ting of the Poison Claw Sect for help.
That answer came with its own problem, though. Fatty Ren was once again a representative of a sect. And sect members couldn¡¯t ask other sects for help without both losing face and obligating their sect to a debt.
The good thing was that acting as the Town Lord wasn¡¯t all that different than representing a sect. Though the Big Three had pledged support for him after the destruction of the Righteous Rain Sect, he still had some experience not accepting debt he didn¡¯t want to pay, so he knew the best way to avoid it was to make it seem like you were the one doing the other guy a favor.
He bypassed the line at the gate and, seeking to attract as little notice as possible, registered himself as a Town Lord. From there, he went directly to the Poison Claw Sect branch and asked for the elder. Given his status as a member of the City Lord¡¯s faction, he was quickly granted access.
¡°Greetings, Lord Fatty Ren. Welcome. And congratulations on your advancement to Golden Core.¡±
¡°Gratitude, Elder Kang Ya-Ting.¡±
The pleasantries lasted for a while as they each drank a cup of tea. Fatty Ren talked up the elder¡¯s granddaughter, not even having to feign praise as the girl had made a positive impression upon her visit to Vermilion Incomparable Rain Town. Kang Ya-Ting in turn discussed recent gossip, a lot of which involved the Rising Tide Sect.
Fatty Ren kept silent about his membership, and eventually the niceties wound down, with the elder got politely asking the purpose of the visit.
¡°This one is in the city to complete a mission for my new sect leader, Chao Su, and have come to you as a courtesy so that my movements do not generate further problems for you.¡±
Kang Ya-Ting didn¡¯t appear surprised by the news. ¡°Of course. This one appreciates the information. Best not to be taken by surprise by a move by our ally, the Rising Tide Sect.¡±
Fatty Ren cupped his hands.
¡°May this one enquire as to the nature of the mission?¡± Kang Ya-Ting said. ¡°The destruction of any additional part of the city is not imminent, is it?¡±
Fatty Ren chuckled. ¡°This lowly one is newly ascended to Golden Core and does not possess nearly the power of the unfathomable Chao Su. So no, nothing as exciting as that. In fact, my mission is quite ordinary. The sect leader sent me to buy furniture and practice weapons suitable for those in the Foundation Establishment realm.¡±
So far, so good. He¡¯d framed the visit as a courtesy and only mentioned his task after being asked about it specifically.
The elder got a speculative look on his face. ¡°When you checked in at the gate, did you do so as the Town Lord?¡±
¡°I did.¡±
¡°No mention of your new sect affiliation?¡± Kang Ya-Ting said.
¡°None at all.¡±
¡°And you came straight here?¡±
There were two ways for the Poison Claw Sect to play the situation. One, openly declare Fatty Ren¡¯s new allegiance and task, letting his status as a Golden Core cultivator convey the strength of the Rising Tide Sect. Or two, try to minimize Fatty Ren¡¯s presence in the town.
From the questions, Kang Ya-Ting had apparently decided upon the latter. Which was just fine with Fatty Ren even if he didn¡¯t completely understand the reason for the decision.
¡°I did not talk to a single person as I walked through the town,¡± Fatty Ren said, ¡°and I made sure to get off my flying sword well prior to reaching the city wall.¡±
Kang Ya-Ting smiled slightly. ¡°I was thinking. You¡¯re probably tired from your trip, and it would do my juniors well to experience purchasing items necessary for establishing a sect. A mutually beneficial arrangement might be for me to have my people do your shopping for you.¡±
Another common feature of sect life was avoiding saying what one actually meant.
¡°If that is what the elder wishes,¡± Fatty Ren said, ¡°I take no issue with that plan.¡±
Both sides ended up happy, and neither owed a debt to the other. Politics could be complicated, but they served an important purpose.
The end result was fantastic for him. While he ate, napped, and cultivated, juniors from the Poison Claw Sect took his spirit coins and filled the extra spatial rings he¡¯d borrowed from Sect Leader Chao Su with purchased items from the list he¡¯d been provided. It was the easiest sect mission he¡¯d ever completed.
Not that he¡¯d tell the sect leader that particular detail.
Chapter 210 – Psionic Force
Benton¡¯s impression of Fatty Ren kept getting revised upward. The first meeting with the big guy wasn¡¯t all that great as he appeared to be lazy, sitting in his palace eating while someone else ran the town he was responsible for into the ground. That opinion worsened as it became apparent how corrupt the Town Manager was and how downtrodden the residents were.
Since that point, though, Fatty Ren had really come through. By all accounts, he¡¯d performed well protecting the town from the beast tide and had taken a much more active role in administration since then. The care he showed for his Righteous Rain sect mates was a plus as well.
Where he really started to shine, though, was in how he handled the tasks set by Benton.
Given a month to recruit two hundred sect members, Fatty Ren had done it in a day. Then, he¡¯d shown up on time for his Trials Pagoda access and easily passed, advancing his cultivation to Golden Core. He¡¯d also taken only a few days to get his flying sword technique to Small Success when it usually takes cultivators at least a week of training to reach that milestone.
Finally, he¡¯d volunteered to take on an annoying and time-consuming mission to travel to the city and buy furniture and other necessary goods, returning the next day having made great use of the resources at his disposal. Benton couldn¡¯t have been more pleased with either the items bought or with his newest sect member.
Diligent. Hard-working. Capable. That was how he now thought of the Town Lord.
Fatty Ren had practically blushed when told and, completely embarrassed, had beaten a hasty retreat back to his palace in Vermilion Incomparable Rain Town.
The next three days passed very quickly for Benton. There was much truth to the adage that many tasks make time fly as, with his sect members starting to use all the pavilions, the arrays were getting constantly tested.
Luckily, nothing major went wrong. Which actually wasn¡¯t luck. Benton had meticulously tested any portions likely to suffer catastrophic failure. He hadn¡¯t done quite as good a job picking up all the minor issues, though.
One of the alchemy vents only pulled about half of the smoke out of the air, and one of the disposals got gummed up because the Void qi only reached half the drain. Pain inhibitors in several of the sparring rooms fluctuated randomly in certain locations. The fields in the Healing Pavilion had to be adjusted as the rapid stitching together of cuts made patients really uncomfortable. One of the forges would not maintain temperature, and Benton had a difficult time tracking down the problem.
And the list went on.
All in all, though, he had a lot of fun troubleshooting and even more fun teaching the sect members the ins and outs of the formations. By the end of that third day, everyone was pretty much settled in, and things were running smoothly.
Benton also took time to check the progress of the harvesters and the production of the wall. Since the end of the beast tide, the workers had prepared an additional six hundred thirty linear feet, bringing the total to one thousand three hundred seventy linear feet.
Nice. He was closer than he thought.
Depending on the exact configuration, the approximately five acres encompassing the main sect grounds required between eighteen hundred and two thousand linear feet of wall to fully enclose. At forty-five linear feet per day, he should hit the median of nineteen hundred in another twelve days.
Sweet!
Once the wall was finished, he could lay in all the formations, ones designed to stop cultivators for entering and shields that could stop even a Nascent Soul temporarily. His sect members would finally be safe¡ªor at least as safe as they could be in a cultivation world.
That safety was still a couple of weeks out, though, so all he could do at the moment was to prepare himself for battle as best he could.
Of course, another option was to make the wall smaller. He could always expand it later. But he was building a sect. Appearances mattered. People knew that he¡¯d drawn the ire of the Jade Chameleon sect. Not using the entirety of the cleared field would make him look scared and the sect look weak.
Who knew what kind of hit such a thing would cause to morale. More tangibly, what would it do to his Loyalty rating?
Besides, redoing the formations would be a pain and a half.
If he had any inkling that an attack was imminent, none of those reasons would matter. He¡¯d throw the wall up in a heartbeat, morale, Loyalty, and formations be damned. But Kang Ya-Ting hadn¡¯t informed him of any rumblings. Benton¡¯s best guess was that he had time.
He decided that, for the moment, he¡¯d continue planning for the long term instead of unduly worrying about immediate concerns.
With that decision made, he took a moment to review his gains.
Xun Wu, in addition to successfully modifying his qi aspect through a trial, also somehow found time to advance to Qi Gathering minor realm seven. Twenty-nine cultivators, including Peng Hanying, Pan Xioalian, and the harvesters, reached Qi Gathering minor realm six. Forty-nine more, the second group of villagers, advanced to Qi Gathering minor realm five. The fourth group of villagers made it to Qi Gathering minor realm two.
All combined, sect members advancing in Spiritual Cultivation gained him a whopping one hundred twenty-nine Sect Points.
Nice.
The set of twenty sect members using the Body Cultivation baths advanced through two minor realms, gaining him an additional forty points.
There had been a rush on Soul and Mind Cultivation methods after Benton had extolled their virtues. One hundred fifty-nine sect members had reached the first minor realm of the former and one hundred three of the latter, gaining Benton two hundred sixty-two points.
People only had so much time in a day to devote to an additional cultivation type, though, so they only spent two to five hours on it. Which meant it would take them another twenty to thirty days to hit the second minor realm. Still, with the nearly universal adoption, that was a lot of points to look forward to in a reasonable amount of time.
Techniques were coming along slower. Shi Long, the blacksmith apprentice with the B+ spiritual roots, used a trial to advance his forging to Large Success. Zhong Wen, the mistress of the village orphanage, became the first person to fail a trial when trying to improve her archery technique. Benton gave her another shot the next day, though, and she successfully raised it to Large Success.
For those advancing their techniques without use of the pagoda, Wan Ai reached Large Success with her dagger, and Zou Tian advanced to Small Success with his new Shadow Perception. Additionally, eleven other sect members experienced increases, resulting in a total of thirteen more Sect Points.
All told, the haul over the several days was a whopping four hundred forty-six points!
¡°Now that¡¯s a windfall,¡± he said to no one in particular.
He had three hundred seventy-seven points to spend on himself before reaching the floor he¡¯d set. For the first time since gaining the System, he had more points to spend than he had things to spend them on.
Eight points brought him to the height he was currently allowed by the System in Soul Cultivation, Fulfillment minor realm nine. After that, he struggled to figure out what he needed.
Concepts were always good, but he already had twenty-three. He was better off just buying them on an as-needed basis.
As for the latest version of his Ultimate Juggernaut Combat Build
TM, he was pretty much set unless he could think of something else that would help him against Nascent Soul Cultivators. Between Aura Defense, a movement technique that maxed his speed, being able to basically teleport with Quickstep, and many powerful attacks, there wasn¡¯t much he could think of that would help.
Still, he dropped into Meditation to consider the problem to make sure he¡¯d given the issue the attention it was due. And he was glad he did when a singular thought hit him¡ªMind Stun.
¡°System, I should be able to use mind attacks now that I¡¯m at the peak of the Myriad realm. How do I do that?¡±
| Host may purchase a mind technique for each attack type that Host wishes to perform. Mind Techniques in the Myriad Realm cost 16 Sect Points for Mastery. |
Now he was cooking with gas. Sweet!
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
¡°System, I would like to purchase Mastery of Mind Techniques that allow me to do the following¡ªDual Focus, Mind Stun, Mind Crush, Telekinetic Push, and Inflict Fear.¡±
|
Creation of techniques confirmed.
Host has learned the technique, Dual Focus ¨C Mastery.
Host has learned the technique, Mind Stun ¨C Mastery.
Host has learned the technique, Mind Crush ¨C Mastery.
Host has learned the technique, Telekinetic Push ¨C Mastery.
Host has learned the technique, Inflict Fear ¨C Mastery.
Host has 965 Sect Points available.
|
Benton almost burst out laughing at the notification. He¡¯d purchased the five mind techniques most likely to be of use to him in the Myriad realm, and he still had nearly one thousand points available. The System was going to have to step up its points sink game.
Unfortunately, none of the techniques were as strong as an equivalent Golden Core level attack, but they¡¯d still be of use, especially since Mind Cultivation was so rare. Most opponents would have little or no defense against him. Even Nascent Souls would have some vulnerability.
Due to that unique applicability and the added versatility, the techniques were a worthy addition to his combat build.
Dual Focus allowed him to split his mind and concentrate on two things simultaneously. When he reached higher realms, he¡¯d be able to split his focus even more.
Mind Stun was the signature attack for a Mind Cultivator. It sent a spike of psionic energy, which completely bypassed qi shields, directly to the brain of an opponent, causing a brief disruption to their thoughts. Which didn¡¯t sound like much, but when used tactically, it could change the tide of a fight.
Mind Crush was similar, but the psionic energy sought to damage the opponent¡¯s brain physically. The problem was that cultivator¡¯s brains tended to be quite resilient, so many, many strikes would be needed to actually injure one of them.
True telekinesis wasn¡¯t available until higher realms, but Telekinetic Push channeled psionic force to create a push or pull on an object. The effect wasn¡¯t nearly as strong as doing the same thing with qi, but it had the very large advantage of not being stopped by qi shields.
Finally, Inflict Fear did just what the name suggested. The technique could literally cause an opponent to become afraid. Against a Golden Core or Nascent Soul cultivator, it wouldn¡¯t exactly terrify them into submission or anything, but the sudden onset of a foreign emotion could be a great distraction in the middle of a fight.
Yeah. He was definitely happy he¡¯d thought about adding those techniques to his repertoire.
Feeling very pleased with himself, he pulled up his status.
| Sect Name: |
Rising Tide |
| Sect Members: |
462 |
| Disciples: |
56 |
| Sect Points: |
965 |
| Shop Points: |
285 |
| Host Cultivation: |
Golden Core - Minor Realm Nine |
| Qi Available: |
5,647,745 |
| Host Body Cultivation: |
Gold - Minor Realm Nine |
| Host Mind Cultivation: |
Myriad - Minor Realm Nine |
| Host Soul Cultivation: |
Fulfillment - Minor Realm Nine |
| Host Techniques (Qi Gathering): |
| |
Basic Archery ¨C Mastery |
| |
Basic Spear Combat ¨C Mastery |
| |
Expert Golden Core Cultivation ¨C Mastery |
| |
General Knowledge of Mind Cultivation ¨C Mastery |
| |
General Knowledge of Soul Cultivation ¨C Mastery |
| |
Knowledge of Beast Binding - Mastery |
| |
Knowledge of Rank 1 Formations ¨C Mastery |
| |
Knowledge of Rank 2 Formations ¨C Mastery |
| |
Knowledge of Rank 3 Formations ¨C Mastery |
| |
Nascent Soul Cultivation Knowledge ¨C Mastery |
| |
Pill Basics ¨C Mastery |
| Host Techniques (Foundation Establishment): |
| |
Absolute Speed Enhancement - Mastery |
| |
Analysis ¨C Mastery |
| |
Aura Defense - Mastery |
| |
Automatic Reaction Variable Shield ¨C Mastery |
| |
Chain Lightning ¨C Mastery |
| |
Folded Space Quickstep ¨C Mastery |
| |
Extreme Area Temperature Manipulation ¨C Mastery |
| |
Foundation Excavation - Mastery |
| |
Healing ¨C Mastery |
| |
Hydro Blast - Mastery |
| |
Illusion Detection and Mitigation - Mastery |
| |
Illusion Illumination - Mastery |
| |
Layered Variable Shield Breaker with Void Finisher Weapon Augmentation ¨C Mastery |
| |
Meditation ¨C Mastery |
| |
Pause Time ¨C Mastery |
| |
Perception ¨C Mastery |
| |
Power of the Heavens - Mastery |
| |
Rank 1 Formation Construction ¨C Mastery |
| |
Rank 2 Formation Construction ¨C Mastery |
| |
Rank 3 Formation Construction ¨C Mastery |
| |
Rank 1 Formation Construction Acceleration ¨C Mastery |
| |
Rank 2 Formation Construction Acceleration ¨C Mastery |
| |
Rank 3 Formation Construction Acceleration ¨C Mastery |
| |
Rank 1 Inscription ¨C Mastery |
| |
Rank 2 Inscription ¨C Mastery |
| |
Rank 3 Inscription ¨C Mastery |
| |
Seeking Speeding Arrow ¨C Mastery |
| |
Space Dragon Origami Messenger - Mastery |
| |
Stealth ¨C Mastery |
| |
Stone Shaping and Construction - Mastery |
| |
Variable AoE Gravity Burst ¨C Mastery |
| |
Variable AoE Shield ¨C Mastery |
| |
Variable Spirit Coin Manifestation ¨C Mastery |
| |
Voice Amplification - Mastery |
| Host Techniques (Golden Core Concepts): |
| Anti-Tribulation - Mastery |
Earth - Mastery |
| Fire - Mastery |
Gluttony - Mastery |
| Gravity - Mastery |
Healing - Mastery |
| Ice - Mastery |
Illusion - Mastery |
| Light - Mastery |
Lightning - Mastery |
| Metal - Mastery |
Momentum - Mastery |
| Poison - Mastery |
Smell - Mastery |
| Sound - Mastery |
Soul - Mastery |
| Space - Mastery |
Temperature - Mastery |
| Time - Mastery |
Tribulation Lightning - Mastery |
| Void - Mastery |
Water - Mastery |
| Wood - Mastery |
|
| Host Mind Techniques (Myriad): |
| |
Dual Focus ¨C Mastery |
| |
Inflict Fear ¨C Mastery |
| |
Mind Crush ¨C Mastery |
| |
Mind Stun ¨C Mastery |
| |
Telekinetic Push ¨C Mastery |
| Menus: |
| [Cultivation Method] |
[Technique] |
| [Quest] |
[Perk] |
| [Advancement] |
[Shop] |
| [Sect] |
|
Chapter 211 – A Hypothesis
Wan Ai woke with a start.
Of course. The answer was so obvious. How could she have missed it?
She rose from her bed, quickly donned a sect robe over her sleepwear, rushed to Zou Tian¡¯s door, and knocked softly.
In her excitement, she¡¯d almost banged on the door, but her boyfriend¡ªand how weird was it still for her to think of someone using that term¡ªwas the lightest sleeper she¡¯d ever even heard of. Her simply opening her bedroom had likely woken him.
¡°Wan Ai?¡± he called. ¡°What is it?¡±
Even though her excitement made her want to scream, she kept her voice low. After all, her assistant, Bai Xinyi, was still asleep in the third bedroom.
¡°I think I finally figured it out,¡± Wan Ai said. ¡°I¡¯m going to the pavilion. Do you want to come?¡±
¡°Absolutely,¡± he said. ¡°Give me just a moment.¡±
She grinned, still amazed at the simple truth that he wanted to be with her just as much as she wanted to be with him. If she did end up succeeding, she naturally wanted him there to experience the moment with her, and he wouldn¡¯t think of passing up that opportunity.
There were things that came with being husband and wife that seemed so awkward and scary to her, and those activities were part of the reason she was more than content to wait to take the next logical step in their relationship and get engaged. But maybe, those things wouldn''t be quite as awkward and scary as she imagined. Maybe it was time to start thinking about a wedding.
First, though, there was something much more urgent to attend to.
As soon as Zou Tian exited his room, she grabbed his hand and practically dragged him from the house. By the time they reached the Alchemy Pavilion, they were practically running.
As the leader of the pavilion, she¡¯d commandeered one of the solo labs on the top floor as her personal space. No one but she, Zou Tian, and sometimes Bai Xinyi ever entered it. To Wan Ai, having such a private place to work was pretty much the only advantage of being in charge.
¡°What did you figure out?¡± Zou Tian said.
Since she was now at the peak of Qi Gathering and in the fourth minor realm of Bronze Body Cultivation, her physical conditioning was orders of magnitude better than it had been even a couple of months prior. Even with the run and rapid ascension of several flights of stairs, she wasn¡¯t so much as breathing hard.
¡°I keep reading the alchemy manuals and following the instructions to the letter, right?¡± she said.
¡°Of course. You are quite meticulous in your preparations.¡±
¡°Exactly, I am, but I kept doubting myself, thinking that I must be doing something wrong. The process is simple. Cut up some mundane herbs that have no qi in them, put them in a cauldron, add a little fire qi, and poof, you¡¯ve got a mortal grade vitamin pill. It¡¯s simple, literally the easiest pill a novice alchemist can possibly make. As long as one has a source of fire qi and a decent cauldron, a mortal could do it. There¡¯s no way I¡¯m messing up that badly.¡±
Zou Tian nodded, clearly having to bite his tongue to keep from screaming that he¡¯d been saying that all along.
She cupped her hands. ¡°I am sorry that I did not listen to you.¡±
He returned the gesture. ¡°Gratitude.¡±
They grinned at each other.
¡°I was thinking before I went to bed, ¡®That Zou Tian is a smart guy. Probably the smartest guy I know. What if he¡¯s right, and me doubting myself is just because I lack confidence?¡¯¡± She fixed him with a glare. ¡°No. Don¡¯t say anything. I know my faults.¡±
¡°I wasn¡¯t going to say a word.¡±
She cleared her throat. ¡°Anyway, that¡¯s what was on my mind as I drifted off to sleep, and as soon as I woke up, a thought struck me. If my inability to create a pill from the herbs isn¡¯t due to anything I¡¯m doing wrong, there must be another problem.¡±
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¡°That¡¯s a completely logical conclusion.¡±
¡°Master gave us those manuals that he purchased from the Poison Claw Sect. What are the chances that they gave him those to deliberately mislead him?¡±
Zou Tian didn¡¯t even take an instant to think about it, instead answering immediately. ¡°Almost none. They had every reason to not do anything to make him angry, and beginning alchemy methods aren¡¯t exactly a secret. I bet we could find books from a dozen different sources on the subject. It would be easy for him to determine that the sect gave him bad information. Such an act wouldn¡¯t be sabotage; it would be pure aggression. Which would make no sense.¡±
¡°I didn¡¯t think so, either, meaning that a third option is the most likely¡ªthere¡¯s something wrong with the herbs.¡±
He looked at her quizzically.
¡°Think about it,¡± she said. ¡°These are mortal herbs grown locally, not something Master picked up at a store somewhere. Has anyone with any real expertise ever examined them?¡±
¡°Your reasoning is sound, but I don¡¯t understand what could possibly be so wrong with them. These are common herbs grown and used throughout the world. Why would the ones here in the village be any different?¡±
¡°Weren¡¯t you telling me about a strange phenomenon where more people than would be statistically probable born here in the village have a Nature aspect?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± he said. ¡°No one knows why. The suspicion is that it has something to do with either the mountain or the Orange Vigor Spirit Wood, but we don¡¯t know for sure. Master could surely figure it out, but he hasn¡¯t deemed it important enough to investigate.¡±
¡°What if these herbs have a Nature aspect?¡±
¡°They¡¯re mortal grade. They don¡¯t have qi, meaning no aspect.¡±
She shrugged.
¡°Senior Brother, Senior Sister, and Kang Lin have all seen these herbs, both cut and growing. If they contained qi, they would have noticed.¡±
She shrugged again.
He sighed. ¡°Master keeps saying that anything can and will happen, so we should expect the unexpected.¡±
¡°Right. So if they do have a Nature aspect, adding Fire qi, which is antithetical to Nature, it would turn the materials in the cauldron into a gooey mess. Which, as it turns out, is exactly what is happening.¡±
¡°Okay, so why are we here? What¡¯s your plan?¡±
¡°Uh¡¡±
She honestly hadn¡¯t thought that far in advance. Upon waking up and a probable cause to the issue hitting her, she¡¯d simply wanted to go to her lab. Where she would¡ Do what exactly?
¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± she said.
¡°Well, it sounds like we need two things¡ªsomeone with the expertise to examine the herbs to prove your theory, and assuming it checks out, a way to ¡ add a different type of qi to the materials? Or something like that.¡±
¡°Yeah. I think so.¡± She paused. ¡°That means we need Master.¡±
¡°Yeah, he¡¯s definitely the only one who can do a proper analysis of the herbs and definitely the easiest choice for an alternate qi source as well.¡±
Ugh. Master was so important. His time was too valuable to spend helping her figure out her problems.
¡°Maybe we don¡¯t need to bother him,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m still months away from Foundation Establishment. We can go to Vermilion Incomparable Rain Town, right?¡±
¡°Wan Ai¡¡±
¡°No, I¡¯m serious. They surely sell these herbs there, and those shouldn¡¯t be tainted with qi. I bet Peng Zhen can tell us exactly where to buy them! If I can make a pill with those herbs, we¡¯ll know for certain that the ones grown here are the problem.¡±
He looked at her with an expression that was fond and exasperated at the same time. ¡°Or we can simply ask for Master¡¯s help. Think of it this way¡ªwe have to either ask him to assist us or we have to ask for permission to make the journey. Which would you prefer?¡±
She used her best pouty face. It almost never failed.
¡°Pick,¡± he said. ¡°One or the other.¡±
Almost never and never were two different things.
¡°Fine,¡± she said. ¡°We¡¯ll go to him in the morning and ask for his assistance.¡±
¡°Why wait? I¡¯m sure he¡¯s up. We can just call for him, and I bet he¡¯ll appear.¡±
Her jaw dropped. ¡°Call? Like yelling out his name?¡±
¡°Yeah.¡±
¡°You think he¡¯s listening to us?¡±
It was Zou Tian¡¯s turn to shrug. ¡°To our conversation right now? Doubtful. He¡¯d probably not want to invade our privacy like that. But I¡¯m sure he heard us running from the house to here and then up the stairs. We weren¡¯t quiet, and I¡¯m sure it piqued his interest. I bet he¡¯s listening closely enough that he can respond if something happens that requires him.¡±
That answer was much better than what ran through her mind when Zou Tian mentioned his plan. For a moment, she thought that Master literally listened to every word they said. Which would have been so, so embarrassing.
¡°We cannot do that,¡± she said.
¡°What do you mean?¡±
¡°We can¡¯t summon him like he¡¯s our servant or something,¡± she said. ¡°He¡¯s the sect leader. We must go to him in his office and make a formal request for his assistance.¡±
¡°Why do you think that?¡±
¡°He¡¯s the sect leader!¡±
¡°Yes,¡± Zou Tian said. ¡°And if he were any other sect leader, I would agree with you wholeheartedly, but he¡¯s not. If we go to him, he¡¯ll just ask why we didn¡¯t just call for him. I guarantee it.¡±
Wan Ai was a simple village girl, an orphan. Her only knowledge of sects before Master arrived in the village was from stories she read and tales people like Guang Yin told. Sect leaders were powerful, influential people, more important than the richest merchants or even royalty.
She had to admit, though, that their particular sect leader didn¡¯t seem to be one to stand on ceremony. ¡°Fine, but you can call for him. Not me.¡±
Zou Tian grinned. ¡°Master!¡±
And just like that, the sect leader appeared in the room.
Chapter 212 – A True Alchemist
Benton¡¯s attention had been drawn to two people running from the residential neighborhood to the Central Business District by the noise their churning legs and hard footfalls made. He flared his spiritual sense and determined that the two were Zou Tian and Wan Ai.
Obviously, their actions made Benton curious, but the fact that he could use his enhanced hearing to literally spy on anyone in the sect grounds made him very worried about too much surveillance. It had been a long time since he read 1984, but the book had made a big impression on him. He did not want to become Big Brother.
Heh. He grinned. He¡¯d already been Senior Brother.
Besides, eavesdropping was just plain rude.
Therefore, besides noting that they ended up in Wan Ai¡¯s lab, he left them to their own devices. Until he heard Zou Tian raise his voice and call, ¡°Master!¡±
Sweet. That was an invitation if Benton had ever heard one.
He Quickstepped into the lab. ¡°Hello, my disciples. What¡¯s up?¡±
Zou Tian made Wan Ai explain the situation. The girl had a suspicion about why she had been unable to form a pill that should have been really easy for her to do, but she needed his help to confirm her hypothesis.
¡°Sure,¡± Benton said. ¡°I¡¯ll Analyze one of the herbs now.¡±
With a thought, he pulled up a notification.
|
Object: Turmeric
Qi Rank: None
Grade: Mortal
Use: Herb that adds color, spice, and vitamins to meals
Value: <1 Silver Tael
Other: Herb has grown in an environment that exposed it to Nature qi. Though the herb does not contain qi, it has taken on some of the properties of the element.
|
Well, that description confirmed what Wan Ai suspected. He told her exactly that.
¡°Great,¡± Zou Tian said. ¡°What do we do now?¡±
Benton remained silent to let the kids work it out for themselves.
¡°The heating device infuses the cauldron with fire qi, which works against the Nature properties in the herb,¡± Wan Ai said. ¡°As we previously discussed, we need to infuse a different type of qi into the cauldron, one that works with the element.¡±
¡°Yeah,¡± Zou Tian said. ¡°I understand that. But how?¡±
They both turned to Benton.
He shook his head. ¡°You tell me what you want done, and I¡¯ll tell you if it¡¯s possible.¡±
Wan Ai looked to Zou Tian, clearly imploring him to take the lead, but he, too, shook his head.
She sighed. ¡°Master, can you modify the array to use a different type of qi?¡±
¡°I can. What type would you like?¡±
She bit her lip, thinking. ¡°Not Nature. That might overwhelm the herb and cause the pill either to fail or to be too potent for mortal use. We need something complimentary. Wood, maybe. It¡¯s similar to Nature, but it might be too similar. Wind is complimentary to Wood, and therefore probably to Nature as well. But something completely neutral, like Water, might be best.¡±
¡°You¡¯d like to try Wood, Wind, and Water, then?¡± Benton said.
¡°Yes, Master. If it¡¯s not too much trouble.¡±
Modifying the current heating array to use multiple qi types would be problematic, but that problem didn¡¯t mean he couldn¡¯t come up with an easy solution to do what she wanted. Easier would be to simply start from scratch. After all, the formation was really quite simple. It drew qi from a source and converted that qi to heat.
All he had to do was take a correctly sized piece of Orange Vigor Spirit Wood, engrave an array into it, and place a correctly aspected spirit coin onto a corner to serve as the source. Of course, the placement of the coin on top instead of in a slot would look terrible, something not at all fitting for something created by a Formations Expert.
Which meant he really needed the coin slot.
Benton wasn¡¯t skilled enough with detailed woodworking to create the slot on such a small device and make it look integral to the piece, and he had neither the desire nor the inclination to learn a Woodworking technique. After all, he did not plan on creating many devices like the one for Wan Ai.
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Besides, he was the sect leader, and it wasn¡¯t his job. Such detail work should be done by the Woodworking Pavilion. Giving them the opportunity to work with his array plate in such a manner would give them contribution points and valuable experience.
¡°I can have the device for you no later than this afternoon,¡± Benton said.
Wan Ai didn¡¯t say anything. She didn¡¯t even pout. But her expression was crestfallen. He hadn¡¯t seen a face like that one since the time he¡¯d had to tell one of his granddaughters that her hamster had died.
Ugh. That was a horrible memory. Why he and Evelyn had agreed to babysit the critter in the first place was a mystery. The thing was over two and half years old and constantly at the vet¡¯s office, clearly on its last legs. Whether it was the stress of being transported to a new house or simply the change of scenery, he didn¡¯t know, but it had died while the family was on a cruise, having left the grandparents to watch it.
He shook his head.
¡°Do you have to have it now?¡± Benton said.
¡°Of course not, Master.¡± Her words said one thing, but her face said the opposite.
¡°Look, I can make you something that you can use this morning, but it will be only a temporary solution, okay? I¡¯ll get you the real thing later.¡±
Her eyes lit up, and she cupped her hands. ¡°Gratitude, Master.¡±
He would have thought that, after being alive for so many years, disappointing youngsters would get easier. Instead, the opposite was true.
Benton removed a portion of an Orange Vigor Spirit Wood tree from his ring and used various techniques to slice off a rectangular portion about the size and thickness of the one currently being used as a heating device. After a few minutes of engraving, the array was in place, and he channeled a minute amount of his own qi into it as a test. The heating plate worked just fine.
¡°Here. Don¡¯t forget. I¡¯m going to want this back.¡± Destroying the janky looking contraption before anyone else saw it was a priority. Anyone seeing it would think a rank amateur built it, ruining his carefully crafted reputation. Besides, his disciples deserved to use only the best.
¡°Of course, Master.¡±
He quickly conjured up two one-thousand qi coins for each of the three elements she requested. ¡°I¡¯ll give you a supply of coins with the permanent device to get you started, but you¡¯ll have to resupply from the Contribution Points Shop. That will get expensive after a while, so you might want to use the regular Fire heating plate whenever you can.¡±
¡°Yes, Master.¡± Wan Ai exchanged a glance with Zou Tian after she said that, though.
¡°What is it?¡± Benton said.
¡°It¡¯s just that all the members of the Alchemy Pavilion will need to make these pills as practice, Master,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m worried about the added expense of needing individual spirit coins.¡±
Okay. Valid point. He had to assume that all the plants grown near the village would have the same issue, and she was right that practicing making those pills while in the Qi Gathering stage was quite important. She was also right that the coins would make the process more expensive.
Benton could already predict that making spirit coins would become one of his daily tasks. The main power supply needed ten-thousand-qi coins to operate, and there were already a lot of uses for the smaller coins. He really didn¡¯t want to create a demand for more of them.
¡°I¡¯ll be traveling between here and Vermilion Incomparable Rain Town quite extensively,¡± Benton said, ¡°and even if I don¡¯t go there, I¡¯m sure that Fatty Ren or others will come here. We¡¯ll purchase common herbs from there. Anything else?¡±
She grimaced. ¡°No, Master.¡±
He sighed. ¡°Just tell me.¡±
¡°I¡¯ve been having my assistant, Bai Xinyi, learn from the manuals just like I have instead of teaching her so that we can compare notes,¡± she said.
That approach was a reasonable one. That way, if Wan Ai made an error in understanding something she read, it was possible for her assistant to catch the mistake.
¡°It¡¯s just that experimenting with different qi types should be a great learning experience, Master,¡± she said. ¡°If Bai Xinyi had the same opportunity that I had regarding using the device with the spirit coins¡¡±
It wasn¡¯t like it was much more difficult to make two devices than it was to make one.
¡°Fine,¡± Benton said. ¡°Two devices coming up. Anything else?¡±
¡°No, Master. Gratitude, Master.¡±
Wan Ai let out a huge breath in relief when Master left. That conversation had been so stressful. She couldn¡¯t believe she¡¯d been so shameless as to ask him for so many boons!
But each had been necessary, and none of it had been for herself. It would not have been fair for her pavilion members to have to pay for spirit coins at the Contribution Points Shop just to practice making mortal grade pills that had almost no value. And she would have felt horrible if she made a mistake in learning how to do something and taught it wrong to everyone who came after her. Bai Xinyi¡¯s work was incredibly important to make sure that didn¡¯t happen.
¡°You did fantastic,¡± Zou Tian said. ¡°I¡¯m proud of you. Master is proud of you as well.¡±
¡°He was annoyed with me if anything. I don¡¯t know if I can ever face him again.¡±
¡°Nonsense!¡± he said. ¡°Trust me. I know people, and I¡¯ve spent much time with Master. I guarantee you that he¡¯s proud of you.¡±
¡°You really think so?¡±
¡°I do. I swear.¡±
Wan Ai relaxed some at her boyfriend¡¯s firm assertion. He really was better at reading people than anyone she had ever met, and he wouldn¡¯t lie to her about something like that.
¡°Okay,¡± she said. ¡°I believe you. Now, let me get to work.¡±
She first chopped up enough herbs for three pills, keeping only the portions known to have the highest quantity of vitamins and getting rid of other portions and any that appeared wilted or had other defects. As soon as she finished, one of the batches went right into her cauldron, which she quickly transferred to the top of her new heating plate.
For the first experiment, she wanted to try the most neutral aspect, so she placed a Water qi spirit coin on top of the plate.
From that point, there wasn¡¯t much that she could do other than observe with her eyes. Real alchemists would use their spiritual sense to monitor the flow of qi and adjust the heat as needed. Since she was still in the Qi Gathering realm, she couldn¡¯t do that.
Theoretically, she didn¡¯t need to, though. As long as she followed the instructions in the manual closely enough, a pill should form, which was why she was so incredibly frustrated that weeks of work hadn¡¯t produced a single one.
She tensed as she watched the mixture slowly heat, and when the point neared where it normally turned into a gooey mess, she clasped her hands together. But that point passed, and the mess didn¡¯t appear. In fact, the mixture began to combine like it was supposed to, with the cauldron funneling the qi from the heating plate in such a way that a shell began to form.
Soon, that shell completed into a perfect oval that contained the contents of the mixture.
She¡¯d done it. She¡¯d created a pill.
In a way, Wan Ai could now consider herself to be a true alchemist, albeit a novice one. Cutting herbs and throwing them in water for a bath was one thing. Creating a pill was the real test of her profession.
And she¡¯d done it. She¡¯d finally done it.
Before she even realized what she was doing, her arms were around Zou Tian, and their lips found each other.
Wan Ai really, really hoped that Master wasn¡¯t listening.
Chapter 213 – A Big Change
After Benton left the Alchemy Pavilion, he spent most of the rest of the day working on designs for his grand formation that would protect the sect from all enemies. Obviously, those plans couldn¡¯t be implemented for another almost two weeks, when the wall was completed and installed, but he wanted to be ready for when he could start creating the sect¡¯s main defense.
Inscribing an array that created a shield to protect against one threat, be it a beast or qi or a cultivator or whatever, was relatively simple for an expert with the knowledge the System had granted him. Protecting against two threats, however, didn¡¯t mean simply creating two separate arrays. It was almost impossible to get two shields to overlap without interfering with each other.
Well, it was possible to separate the shields by enough physical distance to avoid such interference, but any visitors with any degree of expertise would think him a complete amateur if he solved the conflict between the shields in that manner. Real Formations Masters combined all the functions of a shield into a single array.
But it wasn¡¯t a point of pride and a desire to maintain his reputation of being an unfathomable expert that made him want to do it the proper way.
Well, it wasn¡¯t just a point of pride and desire to maintain his image.
The correct method provided distinct advantages in both efficiency and strength. A well-made formation that incorporated multiple shield types used qi more efficiently for a couple of reasons. One, each shield consumed a small amount of qi in order to check for a potential attack. Multiple shields meant multiple detection pulses.
Of course, eliminating that duplication resulted in only a minor increase in efficiency. The second reason was much more important¡ªa single large conduit served all the shields at once. If he were creating formations the easy way, say he wanted one shield to protect against beasts and another to protect against qi, he¡¯d need two conduits. To feed ten thousand qi per second into each shield, he¡¯d need to be able to supply that rate to each conduit, meaning he¡¯d need to supply a total of twenty thousand qi per second.
Obviously, in that case, only one of the shields would be attacked at a time as the other shield would let through the force it wasn¡¯t protecting against, but both conduits still had to continuously circulate ten thousand qi per second. And no conduit was one hundred percent efficient. Each of them would lose a tiny amount every second, so having two conduits lost twice as much qi as having one. When you started layering four or five or ten or twenty different shields, that loss grew to be significant.
Consuming less qi was important, of course, but honestly, Benton could supply an awful lot of spirit coins that cost him no more than a bit of his time and the use of his qi pool. Much more important to him was the increase in strength using a single formation provided.
All materials, even a high-quality one like Orange Vigor Spirit Wood, had a maximum amount of qi that could flow through channels inscribed in them at once. If he were to create multiple shield arrays, the maximum qi flow for each, assuming he kept them all equal, was the maximum flow rate for the material divided by the number of arrays.
In contrast, a multi-shield formation¡¯s maximum flow rate equaled the maximum flow rate the material could accommodate.
There was a minor downside to that, of course, in that, if an attack of one type overwhelmed the array, attacks of all types would then be able to penetrate. That downside was balanced against it being much easier to overpower one array out of many.
In Benton¡¯s mind, the correct way was clearly superior.
There were other considerations as well. A cultivator seeing an amateur formation protecting a sect would have a lower opinion of the sect, which would potentially impact relations negatively with that cultivator in multiple ways. Conversely, a cultivator seeing a well-designed and executed array created by a Formations Master might just decide not to attack due to the sheer intimidation factor.
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Another huge factor in Benton¡¯s decision was that he planned on creating automated qi turrets. The goal would be to create towers that could provide a burst of weaponized qi strong enough and fast enough to give a Nascent Soul pause. It would be idiotic, obviously, to place those structures outside the protection of the wall. Which meant that the shield had to be designed to let those qi bursts through from the inside. Which would be easy if he wanted his shields to only protect against non-aspected qi in general or if he wanted his bursts to only use a single type of qi.
Neither of those conditions was true. Ideally, he¡¯d have one qi shield for each of the primary qi elements and all the most widely used secondary elements along with one that protected from just qi. And he wanted his turrets to fire whichever qi type would be most effective against the enemy.
Meaning if he were building multiple arrays, he¡¯d have to individually program the gap for the tower bursts into each of them instead of doing it only once for the multi-shield formation.
That aspect of his plan clearly indicated another clear win for the correct way of designing the shield.
Even if none of those positives were present, Benton probably would have gone with the correct method anyway for one simple reason¡ªthe thought of inscribing twenty or more arrays into more than a third of a mile of wall was a much more daunting prospect than doing the same for a single array, no matter how complicated.
Which brought him to the huge downside of the correct method¡ªit was complex. Intricate. Difficult. Tricky. Sophisticated. The design process wasn¡¯t, ¡°Okay, let''s figure out all the shields and combine them into one formation and I¡¯m done.¡±
No. The process was iterative, involving much trial and error. Many iterations. Much, much trial and error.
By the end of the day, he was about ready to tear his hair out, and he didn¡¯t feel like he¡¯d made much progress at all.
He did, mainly as a way of taking a break, arrange for a woodworker to create two heating plates, and boy, did they come out looking much better than Benton ever would have been able to produce. The coin slot integrated perfectly with the plate, and the worker had even included a small pullout drawer to store spirit coins. It was a device Benton was proud to bestow upon his disciples.
Both Wan Ai and Bai Xinyi loved them.
Benton also assigned Peng Hanying to the Trials Pagoda, and the little guy had no trouble advancing his weapon technique. Good for him!
The next day saw Benton still working hard on designing his master shielding formation. By noon, he¡¯d actually started making a little progress, mainly due to his Myriad realm Mind Cultivation technique that allowed him to split his focus. Being able to think about two things at once was a huge boon.
Still, though, it was difficult to keep his concentration centered on such a complex subject, so he took frequent breaks. During one of those, he happened to start fooling around with the [Sect] portion of his System menu.
Benton was initially curious about how the System assigned sect members to pavilions, so he did an experiment. He considered one of the newest sect members from the last batch inducted from the village, Shen Rong. The kid was definitely suited for the Martial Pavilion as he liked to fight more than anyone Benton had ever met.
He already knew that, if he told the System to assign Shen Rong to the Martial Pavilion, he would show up on the list under that pavilion. Instead, Benton wanted to see what happened if he messaged one of the pavilion co-leaders, Yang Xiu, to evaluate Shen Rong and extend an invitation to join if she found him acceptable.
So Benton sent off a message to Yang Xiu asking her to consider Shen Rong for the position.
As soon as the origami dragon departed, Benton pulled up the Martial Pavilion list to make sure Shen Rong hadn¡¯t automatically been added just from Benton considering adding him as a member.
The kid¡¯s name wasn¡¯t on the list. Something else stood out to Benton when he looked at it, though.
| Name |
Age |
Cultivation (Sp/B/M/So) |
Main Weapon |
Secondary Weapon |
| Yang Xiu (L) |
16 |
FEMR1/BrMR9/-/MaMR1 |
Bow - M |
Spear - SS |
| Yang Ru (L) |
16 |
FEMR1/BrMR9/-/MaMR1 |
Spear - M |
Bow - SS |
There was a change to the status of his pavilion co-leaders. A big change. The last time he¡¯d examined either of them, they¡¯d been only fifteen years old, not sixteen.
The twins had a birthday!
Chapter 214 – Party Prep
Yang Xiu waited until her brother stepped heavily forward on his right foot. That was his biggest flaw in using his technique. He always, always triggered it after one certain movement with that foot.
She dodged right.
He transferred all his gathered Momentum into his strike, but it was too late. She¡¯s already moved too far away. And with his Momentum depleted, he was too slow to avoid her reprisal.
In one smooth movement, she nocked an arrow, charged it with as much qi as she could in the fraction of a second she could afford to spend, and loosed. It flew true, straight to the center of his chest, where it explosively impacted with the heavy force of sharpened ice.
Yang Ru staggered and let out a loud oof.
She prepared another arrow but knew she wouldn¡¯t have to use it. He was done.
¡°Stop,¡± he yelled, holding out his hand. ¡°You win.¡±
It was nice to be able to fight using all their strength. If they¡¯d hadn¡¯t been sparring inside one of the rooms in the new pavilion, that arrow might have killed him. With the arrays on, it only felt like it should have.
She grinned at the thought. ¡°Good job, Brother. You almost had me.¡±
He really hadn¡¯t, but the longer he thought he was on the verge of beating her, the longer it would take him to figure out he was tipping her off to the exact timing of his use of the technique.
Yang Ru winced, rubbing at his chest. ¡°We should set the pain lower.¡±
Yeah, right. He hadn¡¯t thought that way when he was the one pummeling her.
¡°We agreed to use the one hundred percent setting, remember?¡± She said. ¡°We want to get used to being hit hard, so we can overcome pain in a real fight.¡±
¡°I changed my mind.¡±
She stuck her tongue out at him. ¡°Too bad. So sad.¡±
¡°Brat.¡±
Yang Xiu just laughed at him. ¡°Again.¡±
He sighed. ¡°Fine.¡±
They each moved to an opposite corner of the training room, but just as she was about to trigger a rune to start their match, Master appeared.
¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell me?¡± he said.
¡°Tell you what, Master?¡± Yang Xiu said.
¡°That you had a birthday!¡±
¡°What is a birthday, Master?¡±
She had never seen him look so surprised as he did upon hearing her response.
¡°A birthday? The day you were born? The day you turn a year older?¡±
Oh. She and her brother were birthed in the early winter months, so around the time of year it currently was. Knowing when one turned fourteen was important to sects, so all the villagers kept rough track of their age. Not to the extent of knowing the exact day, though. She told him as much.
¡°You ¡ You don¡¯t celebrate birthdays? No cake? No presents?¡± Master looked disappointed.
¡°Sorry, Master.¡±
He stared very intently at her for a moment before shifting his gaze to Yang Ru. ¡°Well, that lack ends today. We¡¯re going to have a party. I¡¯ll take care of everything. Just have everyone meet at the amphitheater right after dinner.¡±
She cupped her hands. ¡°Of course, Master.¡±
He used his Quickstep to disappear, and she shook her head.
¡°I wonder what that was all about?¡± she said.
¡°Don¡¯t know,¡± Yang Ru said. ¡°Let¡¯s fight.¡±
Yang Xiu grinned. ¡°Ready? Three. Two. One¡¡±
Benton was flabbergasted. He hadn¡¯t even thought to check Su¡¯s memories. Celebrating birthdays was a universal thing, wasn¡¯t it?
Apparently not. Su definitely hadn¡¯t been acquainted with the concept, and the twins were completely oblivious. They had no idea what he was talking about.
Well, no matter. Of all the kids in the sect, the twins, Li¡¯er, and Zou Tian really felt like his own grandkids. Which meant they were Evelyn¡¯s grandkids, too. And she would have been horribly, horribly disappointed in him if he let a birthday slip by for any of them without some kind of party.
He smiled, remembering all the events she¡¯d put together. There was a memorable one where a bunch of pre-school girls were running around the house wearing tulle fairy dresses with store-bought wings, carrying small nets attached to sticks and swinging them at paper that was cut in the shape of butterflies sent flying through the air by a means of a fan.
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So cute!
Benton was no Evelyn, though, and there were no party stores nearby for supplies. He was, however, a superhuman cultivator with magic powers. There had to be something that he could do.
First, a cake.
That was easy enough. Flour. Eggs. Sugar. Butter. Something for flavoring. A pinch of salt. He could gather all those things. In fact, he had most of those things in his spatial ring.
Of course, getting the quantities of the ingredients right and figuring out temperature and cook time was going to be time consuming. And he was an important man doing important work. Honestly, there were other things that should take priority.
But then he heard Evelyn¡¯s voice in his head.
¡°What is more important than family?¡± she said.
Nothing. Nothing was more important than family. And he¡¯d do well to remember that.
After gathering sufficient quantities of the ingredients he needed from the village, he thought about where to go next. The cafeteria was obviously an option as it had everything he needed for cooking, including ovens. But those facilities were also in use. The workers there cooked and served three meals a day for the close to three hundred people living on the sect grounds.
Benton really didn¡¯t want to get in their way. He¡¯d feel awful if meals got delayed because his sect members were too polite to tell him that he was interfering with their routine.
Better would probably be the Alchemy Pavilion. There were those big labs that each had ten heating plates. And no one was really using them. The pavilion had so few members that all of them tended to use the smaller rooms.
With a little work, he could craft rudimentary ovens out of Orange Vigor Spirit Wood, using the plates to provide heat. And ten of them should give him plenty of space to experiment.
He Quickstepped to one of the big labs and began work.
Benton wasn¡¯t actually much of a cook as he simply was never patient enough. He tended to blast everything on high heat, preferring to spend less time waiting over making the food taste better by cooking it slower.
Baking was something that he somewhat enjoyed, though. For one thing, he had a bit of a sweet tooth. For another, he and Evelyn had taken a cake decorating class when they¡¯d first married, and it had been fun. She had kept up with it longer than him and eventually become a much better decorator, but up until the day she died, he could still do a better shell border than her.
The Orange Vigor Spirit Wood, which he had plenty of stored in his ring, was a great crafting material. It was tougher and more resilient than normal wood, and it supported arrays just about as well as any Earth grade material.
By projecting a thin edge of Void qi from the blade of a knife and using Gravity to manipulate a tree trunk and the pieces he was cutting from it, Benton quickly made a variety of tools and dishes, including cake pans, spatulas, spoons, and mixing bowls. Having access to qi techniques was almost better than living near a Walmart.
Though he had enjoyed baking back on Earth, he¡¯d always had recipes to follow. And cake mixes. Cake mixes were super freaking convenient. Trying to come up with his own recipes was an exercise in frustration and futility.
He was just about to pull the trigger on buying a technique to tell him what he needed to know when he realized that there were probably women in the village who knew a lot more about it than he did. Neither he nor Su remembered tasting any cakes that were exactly like the American version that he wanted, but various bakers produced a variety of breads and pastries. He was sure that, if he gathered some of the ladies together and told them what he wanted, they¡¯d be able to give him advice.
Yeah. Worth a shot. Even though he had a ton of points, it was better not to spend them unless he had to.
It turned out that he was right. There were two ladies in the village that had forgotten more about baking than he had ever learned. With their guidance, he was able to put together a recipe that sounded right to him, and after a bit of testing and tweaking, it worked.
The icing was a bit easier to create as he remembered how to make it¡ªcombine a pound of butter, thirty-two ounces of powdered sugar, and one can of sweetened condensed milk, which he had to make from scratch also with the advice of the ladies.
He loved that icing, though. It was sweet and rich. The only issue was that its consistency tended to vary greatly with temperature. Heat from his hand when piping it would make it runny. Stick it in the refrigerator overnight, and it was like cutting through concrete.
If only he had a way to precisely control the temperature¡ Oh wait, he did. His area temperature control technique was apparently useful for more stuff than just killing people. Who knew?
He ended up making a ginormous cake, enough to feed the entire village. The thing ended up being twelve feet in diameter, way too big for an oven. Once he thought about using his temperature technique to help in decorating, it wasn¡¯t much of a leap to figure out that he didn¡¯t actually need an oven.
Of course, creating a cake that big so quickly and moving it around and decorating it would have been impossible if he were back on Earth. But on the cultivation planet, he possessed superhuman abilities, and that strength and agility and speed all came in really handy.
With the main piece taken care of, Benton had to figure out what else was needed. He really wasn¡¯t Evelyn, and he was pressed for time. Coming up with a theme simply wouldn¡¯t work. Besides, there were going to be a thousand people there. It wasn¡¯t like he could come up with party favors for everyone.
He¡¯d need to stick with the basics¡ªballoons and gifts.
So balloons first. The cultivation world hadn¡¯t come up with a substitute for latex, but paper lanterns were relatively common. But that was the problem. Everyone used paper lanterns for celebrations. His sect members expected more from their sect leader.
What was a balloon? A roughly spherical¡ªmore teardrop shaped really¡ªpiece of colored latex that floated. The key things were a teardrop/spherical shape, colored, and floating.
He had a Concept for Light qi at Mastery, so he could do just about anything he wanted with it, including creating any color on the spectrum that he could imagine. Something would need to hold the light, though, and with it being colored, that holder being clear would be best.
Glass?
Yeah, that would work. The village was too small to have a glass maker. Even Vermilion Incomparable Rain Town didn¡¯t have one, so he¡¯d have to go all the way to Sixth Flawless Flowing City. Which he didn¡¯t want to do. There was no guarantee even an expert artisan could make what he wanted in the quantity he desired in the timeframe he needed.
On the other hand, four Sect Points for a technique giving him all the knowledge he needed to understand what materials and conditions he needed to make glass and another eight to use his qi in the manner required would let him make as many as he wanted quickly.
Benton really liked the idea of decorating the amphitheater with hundreds of glowing orbs of colored Light. Even Evelyn would have been impressed by that. Seeing no other way to get the glass made, he purchased the two techniques from the System.
Using his enhanced speed and System-bought abilities, he had two hundred balls floating over the party area. The use of Gravity on so many targets strained him a bit, but overall, he was well pleased with his efforts.
There was only one problem, though it was quite a big one. People were already on their way to the venue, and he hadn¡¯t figured out what to give the twins for gifts yet.
Crap!
Chapter 215 – The Green Goblin, the Nature of Teenagers, and a ’67 Stang
Benton threw all the orbs and the cake into his spatial ring and Quickstepped into the amphitheater, ready to start decorating. Just after he distributed all the colored lights in the air and readied the cake on a giant slab of wood that he fashioned into a table, he realized he hadn¡¯t got the kids¡¯ gifts yet. And he was running out of time!
He panicked, trying to think of what to do.
As his eyes darted about seeking something to give him inspiration, he noticed the windows of the Martial Pavilion not far away.
Hmm. If he knew Yang Xiu¡ªand by that point he thought that he did¡ªshe would definitely use her vantage point to peek at what he was doing, the little scamp. He couldn¡¯t have that, could he?
Benton Quickstepped to the top of the stadium wall and began inscribing. The formation was only a rank one, so even considering the large size of the circumference of the building, it didn¡¯t take him long to complete it, mere minutes. And as soon as he did, he activated it.
There. If her perception could somehow penetrate a wall of light absorption, she deserved the early glimpse.
He felt satisfied that he¡¯d solved one problem, but that solution had, unfortunately, only taken up more of his very limited time.
Focus. Gifts. What should he get the twins?
The easy route for grandparents was the envelope of cash or, in this case, spirit coins. That was such a cop out, though. Unavoidable when the grandkids lived far away, and they got older, of course. It was almost impossible to know their ever-shifting likes and dislikes at that point. And cash was always welcome for a teenager.
On the other hand, there were generic gifts that were always appreciated as well. The latest iPhone or iPad. Whatever gaming system they were into. Headphones were really big for a while.
The cultivation world was sadly lacking in consumer electronics, however, and he didn¡¯t have time to invent anything.
Well, not anything as complicated as a phone or gaming device, anyway. There had to be something he could make.
Weapons were an obvious choice. Too obvious. Anyone could get them a new weapon. He wanted to stand out. And it wasn¡¯t like they needed new ones. They had better gear than he did at Foundation Establishment.
Besides, he didn¡¯t want to get them something they needed. They worked hard. Really, really hard. They never did anything just for fun.
Though he appreciated the work ethic, he was a little concerned that they took it too far. His gift should encourage them to play a bit.
But what?
His decision was further complicated by the fact that he definitely didn¡¯t have time to invent two things, so ideally, he¡¯d make one thing and replicate it.
Okay, so what could he make that both kids would really enjoy? To satisfy both of them, the object would have to have almost universal appeal. So what did everyone want to do?
The answer popped into his head¡ªfly.
They were years away from Golden Core and being able to take to the sky on their own power. What if he could invent something that would let them do that?
An airplane was a hard no. Too complicated. Magic carpet? He had no idea where to even begin.
An image came to him¡ªWillem Dafoe in a green costume flying on a glider.
Well, it was a bit physics defying for Earth, but here, Benton basically had magic. Qi would do just about anything he wanted it to do. A little bit of Gravity qi to give the thing lift and some Wind qi to give it forward thrust¡
Yeah. The arrays would be easy peasy. And the materials only needed to be mortal grade. Xun Wu could whip up what he needed in a short time probably.
Of course, maneuvering such a thing would be tricky, requiring supernatural reflexes. Luckily, both the intended recipients did, in fact, possess such abilities.
But that thought brought Evelyn¡¯s voice to Benton¡¯s head again.
¡°Dear, you can do it, but should you?¡± she said.
Benton had gotten his driver¡¯s license at fifteen, and his dad had given him a ¡¯67 Mustang, one with a small block 302. A light car. A big engine. A fifteen-year-old boy.
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He¡¯d been a good kid. Never got into trouble. Made good grades. Relatively responsible for his age. But that car had nearly been the death of him several times. The temptation to go fast was too great.
That decision was not one he replicated for any of his kids and not just because Evelyn would have put her foot down. The only way any of their cars were getting from zero to sixty in under ten seconds was if they pushed it off a cliff.
As a parent, one had to ask oneself, ¡°If I give my kid this gift, am I spoiling him or her?¡±
As a grandparent, that question went out the window. In fact, if anything, a yes answer to that question was a positive.
Another question any parent had to ask about a potential gift was, ¡°Is this gift dangerous?¡±
That question still applied even as a grandparent.
Giving a fast car to a teenager was obviously a problem. One wrong move could end in disaster. And at first glance, giving a teenager a glider was just as dangerous. Actually, it seemed more dangerous.
Of course, there were things he could do to make it safer, like controlling the maximum altitude and velocity by throttling back both qi outputs. Which would have the bonus effect of making the device more efficient.
The real difference, though, was in the kids. And no, he wasn¡¯t thinking that they were more responsible than teenagers on Earth. He was positive they¡¯d do stuff on the glider just as stupid as he would have at that age.
Those kids, in contrast to their Earthly counterparts, could get in a crash going over a hundred miles per hour while not wearing seatbelts and walk away with only scratches. Yang Xiu and Yang Ru were in the Foundation Establishment realm and at the peak of Bronze Body Cultivation. They were, in a word, tough.
As long as they didn¡¯t fly much faster than they could run and were limited to a few hundred feet above the ground, they would be fine.
Probably.
Hopefully.
Well, that analysis might not have been enough for Evelyn to vote yes, but it was more than adequate for Benton. He Quickstepped to the Alchemy Pavilion and found Xun Wu.
¡°You want what?¡± Xun Wu said.
The sect leader had appeared out of nowhere, nearly causing him to drop a piece of red hot steel, and started spouting nonsense.
¡°A piece of metal strong enough to hold a cultivator¡¯s weight,¡± Benton said.
¡°Any the purpose of the piece of metal is what, again?¡±
¡°Flying.¡±
Xun Wu didn¡¯t even know what to do with that. Back in the village, people had mainly come to him for tools, horseshoes, and nails. Since joining the sect, he¡¯d made a lot of weapons. And arrowheads. So many arrowheads. He wouldn¡¯t doubt that, after the last little while, he¡¯d made more arrowheads in his lifetime than nails and horseshoes combined.
A flying piece of metal was a new one for him, though.
The sect leader pulled out a piece of parchment and sketched a rough triangle.
¡°See,¡± he said, pointing, ¡°you put your feet here, so you¡¯ll need something akin to the bottom of a stirrup. Other than that, it¡¯s pretty basic. Speed is more important than looks, though if you can jazz it up a bit, I¡¯d appreciate it. Maybe add some little design elements or a cool color or something?¡±
Xun Wu grimaced. ¡°Why not just use a sword like everyone else? If you can get this contraption to fly for the kids, you can get a sword to do it just as easily.¡±
¡°Because this will be much cooler!¡±
If anyone else had come to Xun Wu asking for something so hairbrained, he¡¯d have refused on general principle, but it was the sect leader asking, the man who had provided an amazing forge and magical skills. Xun Wu was also very fortunate to have a happy wife, the one who had previously been miserable in their declining village and who absolutely loved their new circumstances. If he owed anyone anything, it was the sect leader.
¡°Come back in an hour,¡± Xun Wu said.
Yang Xiu ate from her lukewarm bowl of stewed spirit beast meat over rice. Her master could put a meal fresh off the fire in his spatial ring and pull it out months later still steaming hot. Neither hers nor her brother¡¯s storage devices were quite that good.
Food and other items wouldn¡¯t stay fresh forever, but their rings did provide a stasis effect, just not as strong as Master¡¯s. She¡¯d placed the rice dish in there three days prior, and while not as hot as she¡¯d prefer, it was still decently warm.
The convenience of not having to leave the Martial Pavilion to get food every day made up for any shortcomings in the food freshness. Her new practice was to stock up when she visited the cafeteria every few days.
¡°Is it time to go yet?¡± she said.
Yang Ru grunted.
¡°I know,¡± she said, ¡°but I¡¯m excited. Master told us there¡¯d be cake and presents.¡±
Yang Ru grunted again.
¡°Okay. Fine,¡± she said. ¡°Master heavily implied that there would be cake and presents; he didn¡¯t actually tell us there would be. Still, I¡¯ve never been to a birthday party, much less a birthday party for me.¡±
He grunted yet again.
¡°Fine!¡± she said. ¡°A birthday party for us. Heavens!¡±
Yang Xiu walked to the window. The amphitheater was across the road to the left, clearly visible to her. There was something strange about it, though.
It was dusk, leaving plenty of light for her cultivation enhanced eyes to pick out details, and the road and outside of the stadium and all the other buildings were clearly visible to her. Above the amphitheater, though, was pure darkness. Impenetrable darkness. She couldn¡¯t make out a thing inside the building¡¯s open walls.
¡°Yang Ru! Master has hidden the party from view! I bet it¡¯s going to be incredible. Let¡¯s go!¡±
Her brother sighed. ¡°Fine. After we get Kang Lin.¡±
Luckily, Yang Xiu¡¯s hopefully soon to be sister was downstairs sparring with Pan Jiang and another of her Poison Claw Sect members. Easy enough to gather on the way out of the pavilion.
Yang Xiu couldn¡¯t wait to see what Master had in store for them.
An hour to smith the glider bases was too long. That was all there was to it. In an hour, the party would be in full swing.
On the other hand, presents could be given well after the cake, so maybe Benton could make that work. He Quickstepped back to the amphitheater to wait for his first guests.
And obviously, who should arrive first but the birthday boy and girl, Yang Xiu and Yang Ru, followed by Kang Lin and a couple of her sect mates.
The first guests were at the party, which wasn¡¯t surprising as people in his new society tended to be punctual. All he had to do was delay things long enough to give Xun Wu time to complete the presents.
And then, of course, figure out how to disappear long enough to inscribe the arrays and test the devices for safety¡
Ugh.