Chapter 145 - 37-44

Chapter 37 - To the Future and Beyond

Benton smiled as all the kids enjoyed the dinner. He had plenty of boar meat to leave for them to eat while he was gone, but he'd need to figure out some variety for long term. Ah well, the upcoming shopping trip would take care of that. Best of all, he should be able to buy them some candies. They'd love that.

Some of them looked like a stiff wind would blow them over, and it was a joy to see them eat until they were full.

The other thing that made him happy was how well Yang Xiu was getting along with Wan Ai. Given his star pupil's initial reaction to the presence of a new valued sect member, he'd been slightly worried that the two would be hostile toward each other. Instead, his lecture to Yang Xiu had worked like a charm. All it took was a few words from him to set her on the right path.

He didn't remember parenting being so easy back on Earth. There were definitely a few advantages to the culture of a cultivation world, and the high level of respect given to elders sure was one of them.

After everyone had finished eating, he had all who were not yet disciples leave the room.

Once a technique or method was created, the System didn't charge him anything extra to create a duplicate jade slip, simply making one appear in his spatial ring upon request. As he had done with Zhong Wen, Wan Ai, and Xiao Rong the previous night, he handed a copy of the Supreme Growth of Heaven Method and a rank one spirit beast core to each of the eight children.

Excited chatter filled the air, but Benton didn't mind. The kids surely knew the value of such a core and had probably read about jade slips in stories.

"Both of those are yours to keep," he said.

The children were nothing if not resilient. Much must have gone wrong in their little lives to end up in such a situation, but a good meal and a couple of trinkets had them all smiling and laughing. Benton had to surreptitiously wipe away a bit of moisture forming in his eyes.

"Okay, okay," he said. "Quiet down. That is … if you want to become real cultivators."

That proclamation did the trick. One young guy physically clamped his hand over his mouth.

Benton led them through the necessary steps to sense qi, but it obviously didn't go that easy. He circled through the room spending a few minutes with each child, guiding them. It was actually that little guy who'd silenced himself so comically who was the first to trigger a notification.

Host's Disciple, Xiang Qigang, has reached Qi Gathering – Minor Realm One

Host is awarded one Sect Point.

Host has thirty-seven Sect Points available.

Over the next hour and a half, that message repeated seven more times, and with all of the children having become actual cultivators, he sent them out of the room, leaving him with only Chang Xioadan.

Since she wasn't nature aspected, she couldn't use the cultivation method he'd given the kids, which meant Benton had a choice to make. One of his options was to simply abstain from inducting her into the sect until a future date. Sure, that might hurt her feelings, but it was by far the most economical decision. The next least expensive was to spend ten points to create a method just for her, but her F rank just didn't justify it. He could also create a metal aspected method to fit her for twenty points, but she was literally the first person with that element that he'd seen. Finally, he could simply create a universal method for twenty-five points that anyone could use. It was the most expensive option, but the ability to use it for any new disciple would surely save him points in the long run.

No matter the explanation he gave her for doing so, not inducting her immediately would cripple her confidence and even make her lesser in the eyes of the children. He couldn't do that to her. Likewise, there was no way he was creating a unique method for an F rank.

Eliminating those options made his final decision pretty simple. The only reason he'd created a nature specific method was because he had so many disciples with that aspect. Doing the same for metal made no sense. Even if having her use a universal system cost him a bit more immediately and resulted in her being a little weaker and slower to advance, it was the right call.

Lamenting the loss of another twenty-five points, he quickly created the Supreme Foundations of Heaven Method, and after the tea ceremony and a little time for her to sense a mote, he received the pop-up telling him she'd reached Qi Condensing Minor Realm One.

Awesome! That was his thirtieth point earned. He mentally pumped his fist at the chance to spend another point on himself. Following the same reasoning as his most recent level up, he quickly navigated through the menus and upped his cultivation one more minor realm.

Sect Name:Not ChosenSect Members:0Disciples:14Sect Points:19Shop Points:18Host Cultivation:Qi Gathering - Minor Realm SevenQi Available:80Host Body Cultivation:Bronze - Minor Realm TwoHost Techniques:Basic Spear Combat - Large SuccessBasic Archery - Large SuccessMenus:[Cultivation Method][Technique][Quest][Perk][Advancement][Shop - LOCKED]Yikes. Only nineteen Sect Points remaining.

He took a deep breath. That low number wasn't as worrisome as it seemed. He already possessed cultivation methods and techniques he could distribute to new disciples without requiring any additional resources. The only major issue in the near term was that he was a bit lacking if he needed to make a specific technique for someone, but he could deal with that eventuality.

He turned his focus back to the status screen. Going from minor realm six to minor realm seven took him from mid Qi Gathering to high Qi Gathering, doubling his available qi to eighty. He almost laughed at the fact he finally had a bigger pool than the talented siblings.

Not for long, though. Not for long. And that was a good thing. When he sent them out to face the world and other cultivators, he wanted them to have every advantage. Very few opponents would have access to more qi at a similar minor realm.

Overall, Benton felt really good. It wasn't so much the straight up increase in qi or the augmented strength and agility and toughness that came along with it that truly made him feel better about things. It was the sense of movement.

On the trip to the village with the siblings, he'd felt like he was stagnating. Sure, the kids were slowly gaining in power, and all the experience they gained both in fighting spirit beasts and in internally manipulating qi were invaluable in building them into the cultivators they were starting to become. But he had personally changed very little over a comparatively long period of time. Worse, he knew he needed more disciples, and he didn't have an opportunity to recruit any.

The village changed everything. In just a couple of days, his fledgling sect went from two disciples to fourteen, and each of the twelve new ones had already gained him a point.

He hated counting chickens before they hatched, but it was hard not to do so. If a member of an average sect took ten days to reach minor realm two cultivating ten hours a day… Hmm. The kids surely would cultivate at least five hours daily, right? That would put them advancing in about twenty days. But they weren't nearly as talented as the members most sects would admit so figure twice as long.

In forty days, he'd get another twelve points. That quantity in that time period wasn't great, but it was very likely to happen. And after they hit the second minor realm, they could learn the spear or bow technique, too. That was another dozen points soon after the first dozen.

He could count on Sect Points slowly accumulating. Even if an emergency hit and he had to use a bunch of them up, he would no longer be trapped. At some point, he might even shift to a higher percentage of points going to himself, though he'd much prefer to first see his income versus outlay once the twins reached Foundation Establishment.

Twenty points per cultivation method and six per technique was going to add up fast, thirty-eight per sibling assuming he gave them three techniques each. That amount was a huge chunk compared to the total Sect Points he'd earned thus far. Ugh!

If he doubled or tripled or quadrupled the number of disciples…

Benton took a deep, calming breath. Before his sect mentally expanded to thousands of members and hundreds of buildings, he probably should go back to the beginning. The whole thing was just like one of his projects when working for the company. The first step was always to do a risk assessment.

With the Sect Leader System, his ultimate success came from the ability to acquire Sect Points, and the village certainly had an excess capacity of potential generators, making the business model of setting up the sect nearby seem sound. He needed to think deeply about failure points, though. What issues could arise that could cause the sect to collapse?

Off the top of his head, he could think of three—one, being discovered by a more powerful sect; two, a beast tide; and three, the village turning against him.

Well, four, actually. A demonic sect could attack just like the one that attacked the Su's Flowing Tiger Sect. There wasn't much Benton could do about that, though.

Honestly, if either of the first two hit before he was ready, the results would also be catastrophic. A random cultivator from a sect could wander to the village at any time, either looking for the spirit wood or for some esoteric reason. Once that happened, the next steps would mostly be out of his control. His only way to mitigate the possible damage would be to have his and the siblings' cultivation as high as possible and be prepared to flee at a moment's notice.

That risk, however, would be present no matter where they settled. He'd just have to trust that the System had made the village his Advantageous Starting Location for a reason.

The second risk, the beast tide, was more specific to the village. Benton wasn't positive they'd experience one, but the conditions were ripe. Such events were like a natural disaster comparable to an earthquake, tornado, or hurricane. He'd be stupid not to take precautions, but it would be equally stupid to move or put off founding the sect because he feared it happening.

The third risk, training people using the very good cultivation methods provided to him by the System and having those people turn on him, was much more immediately concerning to his plans. He had no idea how deep the loyalties of the villagers were to their mayor or to the harvesters or whoever else might have hooks in them. If he ran around town tossing jade slips at anyone who would listen to him, it would greatly increase the risk of the mayor or some other entity rising against him.

Just as a cultivator needed to build a proper foundation so did a sect, and just like how one created the proper foundation for the economics of the sect, diversification was the key.

Benton did feel that the orphans had a chance of becoming loyal to him. Everything he saw indicated that they were struggling before he came along. They didn't get nearly enough to eat. Zhong Wen had trouble finding apprenticeships for them when they aged out. Their housing situation wasn't exactly the best condition ever, either.

If he treated them right, treated them like they were his own children or grandchildren, there was no reason for them to betray him. Considering how the System professed to be giving him top notch cultivation methods, it wouldn't be all that long before the eight he trained tonight would be stronger than the harvesters with whatever weak method those guys used.

Just hoping that the children would stand by him wasn't enough, though. He needed sect members who owed loyalty only to him. During the shopping trip, he would need to scout possibilities, ideally returning with five to ten people. More would be better if he could find them but at least that many.

Proceeding in batches was also wise. Take things slow. Give Yang Xiu and Yang Ru time to seriously outclass the new disciples.

Yeah. The siblings. The orphans. The newcomers he'd recruit on the trip. All those would have strong ties to him, and once he'd founded the new sect, that would help strengthen those ties as well, especially if he could give it many of the trappings of more established sects.

The System gave him a lot of advantages, but it wasn't holding his hand. If he grew shortsighted or made a lot of really bad investments, his whole portfolio could easily collapse in the next market downturn. Planning. Hedging his bets. Risk management. All those strategies were key to him successfully building his sect.

Benton had taken the first step. Fourteen disciples were a good start. The shopping trip was the next big opportunity. He'd need weapons both for training and for fighting, cloth to make robes, a good supply of food, building materials, crafting supplies like herbs for body cultivation and flags to learn formations, and pills. The more he could purchase with regular funds in lieu of Shop Points, the better off he'd be.

Most of all, though, he needed recruits, but he also had to keep things low key. He didn't want other sects to discover he was establishing his near the source of the spirit wood. Really, he didn't want sects to find out he was establishing one at all.

Benton and the siblings had to play the role of wandering cultivators, just passing through and taking advantage of the wood to make a quick buck. But that image conflicted with trying to recruit new members.

It would be a difficult balancing act, one that was crucial to starting his sect out on the right foot.

Chapter 38 - Leave-Takings

Benton smiled as he looked at Yang Xiu, cultivating blissfully as the harvesters worked. She'd hit Small Success with her perception technique the previous night and was drawing close to minor realm six.

Her brother was not doing as well. He still practiced with one of the mortal spears, and he'd hit a wall at improving his weapon technique. His cultivation seemed to be lagging as well.

Benton sighed. He'd hoped the boy would work through his issues on his own, but it was time to step in.

"Yang Ru, let's go for a walk."

Benton scanned the area and located a spirit beast he'd been tracking. It was near. Perfect.

"You've been struggling lately," he said once they'd passed out of the harvesters' hearing range. "Obviously, we both know the reason for that."

Benton sighed. "I was probably too harsh on you. Do you know why I was so upset?"

"Because the lowly one disobeyed you, Senior Brother Chao. This lowly one brought dishonor upon this lowly one's family name. This lowly one's father would have been furious."

"Wrong. I don't care one lick that you disobeyed me… Well, maybe a little. It's definitely not ideal. But the main issue is that, in disobeying me, you endangered yourself." Benton paused. "Yang Ru, you are important to me. I don't want to see you hurt. I definitely don't want to see you killed."

"Senior Brother Chao has invested many valuable resources and much time into this lowly one."

"Wrong again. That's not what makes you important. Even if you could never contribute anything to our future sect again, I'd still value you. You, Yang Ru, are important. I want you to grow and to flourish and to have a happy, fulfilling life. You can't do any of that if you get yourself killed."

Yang Ru didn't respond.

"You're a good kid. You really are. You love and protect your sister. You're conscientious and a hard worker. You take your responsibility as a sect protector seriously. I couldn't possibly have found a better person to be in your role. Do you understand that?"

"Yes, Senior Brother Chao."

Benton sighed again. That response had been pure rote. He didn't know how to get through to the kid.

"If you die or get hurt, who will protect your sister?"

"Senior Brother Chao will."

"Sure. As long as I am with her, but I won't continue doing missions forever. My place is behind a desk in an office, not out here killing spirit beasts. Right now, all I have to protect her is you, Wan Ai, Mistress Zhong, two babysitters, and eight children. If we take you out of that picture, are you okay with what is left?"

"No, Senior Brother Chao."

"To be a cultivator is to take risks. It's unavoidable. What I'm asking is for you to take a step back and determine if the risk is worth it. If a beast is about to attack your sister and you don't think she can defend herself under those hypothetical circumstances, interject yourself and take the blow if that's what you want. Just don't do it for no reason when it makes no sense. Can we agree on that? Truly agree?"

Yang Ru paused before answering. "Yes, Senior Brother."

"Good. I'm glad we had this little talk." Benton pulled the System-wrought spear from his spatial ring and held it towards his disciple. "Here. I think this is yours."

Yang Ru hesitated. "Are you sure, Senior Brother?"

"I am."

He took the spear.

"Feels good, doesn't it?" Benton said.

"It does, Senior Brother."

"Great. Now kill the spirit beast that's about to jump out and attack us."

The next couple of days passed slowly for Benton. Yang Ru redoubled his efforts both in learning his spear technique and in cultivating, but it was again Yang Xiu who had the big breakthrough, hitting minor realm six.

Name:Yang XiuAffiliation:Host's DiscipleAge:15Cultivation:Qi Gathering - Minor Realm SixQi Available:87Techniques:Foundational Archery Essentials - MasteryFoundational Spear Essentials - Small SuccessPeerless Peering and Perception - Small SuccessSpiritual Roots:AQi Aspect:Perfectly smooth ice balanced on the razor edge of freezing and thawingNot to be outdone, Yang Ru achieved the same feat on the last day before they left for their shopping trip.

Name:Yang RuAffiliation:Host's DiscipleAge:15Cultivation:Qi Gathering - Minor Realm SixQi Available:87Techniques:Foundational Spear Essentials - Large SuccessFoundational Archery Essentials - Small SuccessSpiritual Roots:A-Qi Aspect:Low viscosity lava flowing down Mount Burning ThunderIt was good for Benton to see his Sect Points, now at twenty-two, going in the right direction. Unfortunately, less than a week was just too little time for any of his new disciples to advance to minor realm two, so he was faced with a decision—should he leave jade slips with the techniques for the children with Mistress Zhong and have her begin their instruction, or should he wait until he returned?

As much as he wanted points sooner rather than later, he felt it was much better for him and the siblings to introduce the kids to weapon training. Sure, the slips imbedded the technique in the minds of the qi user, but learning still required practice. A live instructor pointing out flaws could stop bad habits from forming. Not to mention that the kids wouldn't even have any weapons to practice with until he returned.

Benton shuddered. Suddenly a vision of eight superpowered children practicing their techniques by stabbing each other with sticks popped into his head. Yeah. Better to wait. Much better.

The morning of that last day, the harvesters had pushed three large wagons, meant to be pulled by some sort of draft animal, to the site and filled each of them with Orange Vigor Spirit Wood. To their amazement, Benton promptly transferred all three wagons and their loads to his spatial ring.

Back at the village, he sent the siblings to the orphanage with instructions to wait for him there while he and Guang Yin went to visit the mayor's house.

"Honorable Mayor," Benton said once inside, "I have fulfilled my part of the deal, protecting your harvesters, and they have supplied three wagons' worth of lumber. It's your turn."

"Of course, Esteemed Master Cultivator. Please follow me. I have the map laid out in my study."

The mayor led Benton and the harvester deeper into his house. Once they were all standing around a table with a map being pinned down by various makeshift paperweights, he pointed at an area showing a small village. "That's Prosperous Gray Forest Village."

The mountain was at the bottom of the map, plan south, with the village lying to its northwest. The mayor traced his finger along a circular path following a road that skirted the mountain's valley and tapped a location called Vermillion Incomparable Rain Town.

"This is where the Righteous Rain Sect used to be. They were our main trade partners for the Orange Vigor Spirit Wood until they were, as far as we know, all killed. Before the beasts got so burdensome, we tried sending wagonloads there for sale, but the town was in bad shape. The loss of the sect created a power vacuum, which quickly led to complete lawlessness. Many people wanted our product, but none wanted to pay for it. I wouldn't advise trying there."

His finger followed the road to another location almost due north of the village. "Sixth Flawless Flowing City is a seaport, and they trade with many sects. They should have a market for what you're selling and will definitely have just about anything common that you'd need."

He pulled out a scroll. "This has the names of three companies that I have records of us trading with in that city, but I have not had any direct dealings with them in more than a decade. I cannot speak to whether they are still in business or if they will want more of the spirit wood, but it has never been difficult to sell. I'm sure some old-timer there remembers the value.

"When trading with the Righteous Rain Sect, we charged one thousand silver taels per cartload, a steep discount due to the protection they provided us plus other reciprocal arrangements. Each one of the wagons the Esteemed Master Cultivator was provided holds close to twenty-four times as much spirit wood as a cart."

Benton let out a low whistle. "Seventy-two thousand taels total?"

"At a discount. A steep discount," the mayor said. "Taking into account, once again, that I'm not sure if the wood's absence from the market has make it more precious or eliminated its usefulness. If it were me, I wouldn't take less than fifty thousand for the load and would open negotiations at two-fifty."

He clasped his hands behind his back like their business was done.

"Aren't you forgetting something, Honorable Mayor?"

He shook his head almost imperceptibly. "Ah, forgive me, Esteemed Master Cultivator. The list of supplies for the town. This old man almost forgot."

Yeah. Forgot. He had absolutely no belief that Benton would actually follow through on delivering the supplies.

The mayor rummaged through a desk and came up with another scroll. "This is everything the village needs, Esteemed Master Cultivator, and we would be eternally grateful for any of it that we receive."

Benton reviewed the list. Various fruits. Sugar. Rice. Salted Fish or preserved meat of any kind. Cloth. Iron ingots. Etc. Exactly the kinds of things he'd expected to see.

"I'm surprised not to see requests for more luxury goods like alcohol or paint," Benton said.

"If everyone in the village is fully fed, Esteemed Master Cultivator, then perhaps such things would be appreciated."

"Alright. I'll see what I can do," Benton said as he stowed the map and the two scrolls in his spatial ring.

The faces of both the mayor and the harvester basically said, "I doubt it."

That was fine, though. Better to under promise and overdeliver than the other way around. If he showed back up with a bag of rice and a pound of beef jerky, that would be way more than they were expecting.

Benton quickly took his leave of the two men and walked to the orphanage.

"Mistress Zhong," he said once he'd been invited inside, "I now have a better idea of the length of the journey. It's looking like a minimum of three months. Maybe more."

"We have survived on our own before you came, Esteemed Master. We will be fine." Her face did not betray a hint of emotion.

To Benton, her detached façade was highly accusatory, but he honestly didn't know if that was his own guilt at leaving the orphans alone before he had really gotten them established or if she really was thinking the same thing.

"Hey," he said, "it's not like I'm leaving you high and dry. I have a whole boar we haven't even touched yet. I'm just a little worried about it spoiling before you can use it all?"

"An entire boar, Esteemed Master?"

That had gotten a bit of a reaction, at least. The meat of an entire wild pig in a food deprived village would be more valuable than the same weight in gold back on Earth.

Benton led her into the kitchen and pulled the boar Yang Xiu had killed so long ago from his spatial ring. "Still needs to be dressed and butchered, but you're welcome to it if you think it will help."

"Yes, Esteemed Master. Whatever we can't use immediately can be traded for rice and vegetables."

"Perfect."

Benton hadn't been great about removing the cores from all the beasts he'd placed in his ring, only having done it for about a quarter of them. He was dreading the time he was going to have to spend at some point doing just that. It was sure to be tedious.

He pulled a dozen rank one beasts from his ring, ones that had been de-cored. "And you know what to do with these?"

"Yes, Esteemed Master. Just as with the others you've graciously given us this past week, we are to use these to supplement the meals for me and the disciples. None of the regular kids can have any at all because, without the ability to do anything with the qi, ingesting it can harm them significantly."

Benton grinned. She had it almost word for word.

There was one thing, though, that he had been reluctant to hand over to her. He'd started with six Minor Healing Pills and two Major Healing Pills. Each of the siblings still carried one of the minors, and Yang Ru had consumed one as well, leaving Benton with three and two in his ring.

It was difficult to part with them because they were such a valuable and rare resource. Though he was hopeful he might find some for sale in Sixth Flawless Flowing City, they were irreplaceable at the moment. A single bad fight could leave him needing all of them and more. But he couldn't leave the children without such a lifesaving treasure.

"Speaking of significant harm, I also want to leave one of these with you." He held up a minor healing pill. "Use it if one of the disciples gets ill or injured in such a way that you fear they will not recover without help. If one of the other kids is so ill or injured that death is imminent, you can also use it, but remember that I don't know if a mortal can handle the qi contained in the pill. It might kill them just as easily as whatever else is affecting them." He paused. "These are expensive and, at the moment, hard to come by, but I'd rather you use one of them than to have a kid, or you or one of your assistants, die, okay?"

Her eyes went wide. "Of course, Esteemed Master."

Zhong Wen obviously had no idea what to think about dealing with a cultivator so frequently and becoming one herself. Half the time, she still acted like he would literally strike her down for the smallest error. In giving her those pills, it seemed like, for the first time, she began to believe he might actually have the best interests of the kids in mind.

"Now, one last thing." He turned and called out toward the dining room. "Jin LiJuan, you can stop eavesdropping now. Come on out."

The little girl had a very sullen look on her face as she stepped into the kitchen. "You told me a month, but you're going away for three. Not fair!"

"I know, and I apologize, little one. It's going to be just a little bit longer than I thought, but as soon as I get back, we'll get you cultivating."

She put her little fists on her little hips and took a deep breath.

"Jin LiJuan!" Mistress Zhong shouted. "If the next words out of your mouth are not 'Yes, Esteemed Master,' I will make sure you will not be able to sit on that bottom until he returns."

Jin LiJuan huffed.

"Yes. Esteemed. Master," she said through clenched teeth.

Benton chuckled at the little girls' antics but was saddened at the same time given the reason for her acting the way she did, He and the siblings said their goodbyes and returned to the inn in preparation for departing the next morning.

Chapter 39 - Easy Come, Easy Go

Benton led the siblings on a five-hour sprint to start the day, after which he fed them and let them cultivate for five hours. That was followed by another three hours of sprinting until it grew dark, and they set up camp.

He aimed to set a blistering pace.

Judging from the map the mayor had supplied him, traveling along the road to Vermillion Incomparable Rain Town and then continuing along it to Sixth Flawless Flowing City would take about two months. As the crow flew, however, he reckoned he could cut at least half that time off.

Granted, the road did make traveling easier. It was overgrown with weeds and even trees starting to break through the hard packed dirt and rocks, but the vegetation wasn't nearly as dense there as in the forest.

The woods weren't all that bad, though. He and the siblings were able to cut through even the thickest brush with ease. Besides, it was good training for the kids. The more practice they had dodging things coming at them at speed, the better.

The map, however, showed a large lake directly between the village and the city, so skirting the large body of water before taking to the trees only made sense. He estimated another three days on the road before they turned due north.

Near the end of the next day, something unexpected happened. He got a notification.

Host's Disciple, Wan Ai, has reached Qi Gathering – Minor Realm Two

Host is awarded one Sect Point.

Host has twenty-three Sect Points available.

It wasn't that it was Wan Ai who'd reached minor realm two first that was unexpected. She was, after all, far more talented than any of his other disciples save the two with him. No, the surprising thing was the timing.

Nine days. She'd only taken nine days to reach that milestone.

If he'd been thinking, he would have realized that, having no other duties than to cultivate, she'd be putting in a full ten hours a day. Still, even given that amount of work, she was early.

The rule of thumb was that an average sect member in the D+ to C- range should take about ten days to reach the second minor realm. That varied by the person, obviously, and all kinds of weird stuff like enlightenment could and did occur. Mostly, though, the yardstick held true.

Given that Wan Ai was just a D, he would have expected her to be over ten days, maybe even into the eleven range. Not nine.

He'd have to see how things bore out in the future, but it was possible that this was indicative that the cultivation techniques dispensed by the System were just far superior to what the average sect member had to work with. In Wan Ai's case, a ten percent improvement in time could seriously add up over the course of her life.

Maybe he should have left techniques for her. Even if he didn't want to give her a weapon technique yet, he could have at least created one for herbology for her to begin studying.

But how would she have leveled it? Without being an apprentice to an alchemist or even an apothecary, she had no access to herbs to identify.

No. It made sense to wait until they returned. She'd need to start going on missions with the siblings as soon as possible. To do that, she'd at the minimum need to learn how to move by manipulating qi internally and get a weapon technique to small success.

Which weapon, though?

The spear almost always needed to be equipped in one hand. The bow could be strapped to the body, but in that case, it wasn't ready if something happened fast. Wan Ai would need to have her hands free for harvesting spirit herbs.

Benton would have to create a dagger technique for her. He just needed to find one that could be used for cutting herbs as well as for defense. That, along with a bow, would allow her to assist from range as well as protect herself if anything got too close.

Yeesh. He'd already determined that she had to learn three techniques as fast as possible. He hoped she was okay with being pushed because he really needed her to advance. It was probably a good thing that she had these next few months to cultivate in peace.

Five days later, the next notification arrived, informing him that Xiao Rong had advanced, followed the next day by Zhong Wen and two days after that by Chang Xiaodun. The subsequent morning, Benton's new little star, Wan Ai, struck again, advancing to the third minor realm.

Things, unfortunately, were not going so well for Yang Ru.

"Senior Brother, what is this lowly one doing wrong? This lowly one has been practicing with the spear diligently and meditating on every battle with every single spirit beast I slay, but I can't reach Mastery."

That was one of the times that Benton wished he had been transmigrated into a litrpg world. To get to Level X, one simply had to acquire Y experience points. Cultivation wasn't nearly as straightforward.

"You are well ahead of my expectations, Yang Ru."

He grunted, and Benton knew exactly what that particular sound meant. "Yang Xiu has already reached Mastery with her weapon, so don't tell me that I shouldn't expect to be there myself."

"Mastery is obtained one of two ways," Benton said, "either through a cycle of repetitive practice followed by meditation seeking perfection in every aspect of the technique or, in much rarer cases, gaining a specific insight be it from a battle or some other source of inspiration. You can't control when inspiration is going to strike, so all you can do is put your head down and grind. You aren't doing anything wrong, and there's really no hurry. I'll be super happy as long as you reach it prior to Foundation Establishment, and that's a ways off."

Yang Ru wasn't exactly happy with that bit of instruction, but there wasn't much he could do about it. He went back to work, focusing on his thrusts.

By the time the trio eventually left the forest and discovered another roadway, one much less overgrown than the one between Prosperous Gray Forest Village and Vermillion Incomparable Rain Town, encounters with spirit beasts had all but ceased. That wasn't to say that the road was well maintained or that they'd re-found civilization by any stretch of the imagination, but only weeds and grasses grew through the rocks, no tree trunks. Tree branches did stretch across it in many places, but the smoother path still sped their pace.

Another eight days into the journey, they started encountering scattered farms and hamlets, which increased in number as they continued on.

It was another two days before Benton received his next notification, Xiao Rong reaching the third minor realm. Since that brought him to his next set of ten points, he quickly increased his cultivation to the eighth minor realm.

Notifications followed over the next two days regarding each of the eight children reaching the second. And then, finally, on their thirtieth day after leaving the village, Benton got another notification shortly before the walls of the Sixth Flawless Flowing City came into view.

Host's Disciple, Zhong Wen, has reached Qi Gathering – Minor Realm Three

Host is awarded one Sect Point.

Host has thirty-six Sect Points available.

Benton couldn't be happier. He was about to begin his all-important shopping and recruitment trip and, back at the village, all his little point generators were plugging away diligently. Of course, he couldn't get overconfident, considering that he'd already mentally allocated a lot of those sect points to body cultivation methods—twenty-five for a generic method plus ten for each of the twins left him in the hole.

Ugh. Easy come, easy go.

He set in his mind three words—recruitment, recruitment, recruitment.

Chapter 40 - Making an Omelet

To simply call Sixth Flawless Flowing City a city did not do it justice. The area it encompassed was enormous. It stretched as far as Benton's eye could see. He had no way of determining how many people lived within its walls but wouldn't have been surprised if it were in the millions. Scanning it with his spiritual senses revealed that there wasn't a huge concentration of qi like he would have expected with a sect, but there were thousands of cultivators present.

Benton hadn't expected the city to be quite so huge when he'd set out from the village, nor to have so many cultivators present. Gaining the interest of a sect could be deadly for him, and going inside risked just that. He couldn't help but reconsider whether continuing was worth it.

On one hand, yes. The three reasons he'd outlined to Yang Xiu before leaving still held. Though not starving, the people of the village were hungry, and he feared what winter would do to them. They needed the food he was going to return with, and doing so would create a lot of goodwill and start to build trust. The city was also the best place to sell the wood, and getting to know the players was crucial for developing a future industry. And lastly, his sect needed supplies.

If not Sixth Flawless Flowing City, where? His lone map didn't show any other locations big enough to buy and sell what he needed, and any city that sold supplies for cultivators was likely to have … gasp … cultivators present.

Really, though, it depended on the degree of risk.

A risk matrix consisted of four quadrants, with probability from low to high being measured on the x-axis and impact, also from low to high, on the y-axis. Low impact but high probability was fine. As was high impact but low probability and, of course, low impact, low probability. The danger zone was high impact, high probability.

Buying and selling cultivator materials meant that Benton was almost guaranteed to run into other practitioners at some point. The result of a run in was much harder to predict. It might just be a nothing burger, but it might result in a fight for their lives. The only thing that gave Benton a modicum of confidence was the thirty-five Sect Points in his pocket. Quick mental calculations told him that he could get to the third minor realm of Golden Core with that many, though doing so would leave him almost nothing in reserve.

Knowing he had the ability to massively power up in an emergency gave him a lot of confidence. What still concerned him, however, was not knowing the strength of who he might be up against.

His spiritual sense could pick up the rank of beasts at a large distance because their cores, unless blocked by an innate ability, emitted that information. Cultivators were different. Intelligent. Controlled. Benton could sense their presence from far away but, for most cases, not their realm.

Still, Nascent Souls were rare, and the city before him was nothing special. Considering the sheer quantity of practitioners inside, there were likely Golden Cores, but he doubted there were any higher than that.

He could easily end up in a situation where he was both outnumbered and outgunned, but only in the case where he attracted undo attention. There was no reason for high rank sect members to pay attention to three low level wandering cultivators.

In the end, his decision came down to the old saying that, if one wanted to make an omelet, one had to break a few eggs. The best he could figure, the benefits of continuing their shopping trip outweighed the risks, but they'd need to be careful.

The siblings and he stood about a hundred yards from a gate, and a line had formed as people waited for guards to check them and their wagons over before being let inside. Considering the trio's distance, no one was near them.

"Alright, listen closely. I know it may not look like it, but going inside that wall is the most dangerous thing you've ever done, eclipsing the rank three. Understand?"

"Yes, Senior Brother."

"Okay, since you understand, why is it so dangerous?"

The siblings exchanged one of their glances.

"Other cultivators, Senior Brother," Yang Xiu said.

Benton smiled. These kids exceeded his expectations at every turn. They truly were a delight. "Exactly. There are forces in there that would take me a lot of resources to overcome, an expenditure that would set our sect back. We need to be careful. Your rule for the entirety of our stay in that city is…" He paused as the perfect line from a movie gurgled up from his memory. "I want you to be nice until it's time not to be nice."

Road House. Good flick, the original with Patrick Swayze, anyway. He missed movies. Once he got his sect established, he'd have to investigate a way of recreating some of his favorites. Hmm.

"How will we know when it's time not to be nice, Senior Brother?" Yang Xiu said.

"Follow my lead."

"Yes, Senior Brother."

"Let's think about our goals because those dictate our actions. Goal one, leave this city alive and together. Your survival is more important than any other objective. Period. Goal two, navigate the cultivators inside so as to leave as little notice of our passage as we can. I doubt it will be possible to totally fly under the radar, but we need to be thoughtful about how we handle things. Goal three, recruit. We need more disciples. Too many might overwhelm our capacity at the moment, but something in the five to ten range would be great, especially if we find any high talent possibilities who we can entice without attracting attention. Goal four, convert a good quantity of the materials in my ring to cash. Goal five, convert that cash to the supplies we need."

Benton nodded, pleased with the list he'd constructed. "Given those objectives, our first course of action is to establish a home base inside. I'm thinking a warehouse of some kind. That will give us the space we need to process and sort the materials as well as house any recruits we encounter. Thoughts or concerns?"

"No, Senior Brother."

"Let's get to it, then."

The three of them had cleaned up the best they could in a stream as they'd broken camp that morning, but they still looked really road worn. And that was putting it kindly. An uncharitable person might have said they looked like homeless beggars.

That was nothing that silver couldn't solve, though, and he had a bit of that from that idiot Fang Wei and his men. Not to mention the fortune in supplies he carried in his ring. Though he wanted to keep most of his spirit beast cores for Body Cultivation, they were the resource that was most easily converted into silver and easy to replenish. Selling a dozen rank twos wouldn't hurt him and would give him on the order of ten thousand taels to work with.

The wood, of course, was the most valuable resource he was willing to sell, but he wanted to be smart about it. He also needed weapons for his sect, and it didn't escape his attention that a lot of the branches looked like they could be crafted into spears. That was part of the sorting he needed to do before finding a buyer.

Finally, he had literally thousands of pounds of spirit beast carcasses in his ring. Almost every part of a beast was useful. Each of them needed to be dressed, skinned, butchered, and have the teeth and claws cut off. Once his sect was up and running, he'd have crafters that could use all that stuff, but that was a long way off. And there were plenty more spirit beasts running around to replenish his supply.

That processing would take a lot of work, and he was sorely tempted to find someone to do it for him in exchange for a portion of the profits. The siblings wouldn't gain anything from doing that, though. Every portion of that procedure was something they needed to learn, and the mound of carcasses in his ring presented the perfect training opportunity. The only reason Benton hadn't already taught them was that he had prioritized cultivation and defending themselves. Not to mention that he first wanted to buy them good knives to use for that purpose.

The line was not too long, and it moved fairly fast. Soon, the trio found themselves at the front.

"What is the nature of your business in Sixth Flawless City?" one of the guards said.

He was a young mortal, no older than twenty, and he looked bored more than anything else.

"Buying and selling," Benton said.

The guard frowned. "I don't see any goods."

Benton held up his hand and used his thumb to twist his spatial ring.

The guard's eyes went wide. He cupped his hands and bowed slightly. "Apologies, Esteemed Cultivator. You did not have to wait in the line. In the future, please skip to the front."

Benton shrugged.

"Cultivators are required to note their names and sect affiliation when entering, the guard said. "This lowly one apologizes for any inconvenience."

Given the guard's general manner, containing only the slightest hint of fear, Benton guessed the city had methods to deal with cultivators who didn't comply with policies. Not that he had any desire to do such a thing. Simply obeying was the best way to stay low key.

He had a choice to make, though—use his body's real name, Chao Su, or make something up. The city having such a huge number of cultivators present, he feared they might have a way to detect lies, as such methods were fairly common. Being caught in a lie like that would definitely make him stand out and might actually instigate the events he was trying to avoid.

One way around lying would be to go by Benton, but that wasn't a normal name. It, too, might draw too much attention.

Though the demonic sect did pursue him when he ran, they hadn't, to the best of his knowledge, kept up that pursuit. As far as he knew, they had no idea who Chao Su was. As long as he didn't link that name, which was probably shared by thousands of people considering the sheer size of the world and number of people in it, to his former sect, he should be fine.

Benton bowed slightly. "I am Chao Su. These are my junior siblings, Yang Ru and Yang Xiu. We are wandering cultivators with no current sect affiliation."

That was pretty much it for the entry process. Since he was a cultivator, he didn't even have to pay a fee.

"One question, if you don't mind," Benton said to the guard. "Can you recommend a place to convert a few cores into more useful currency and then a place to get cleaned up and acquire new clothes. We've been long in the wilderness, honing our hunting skills."

"Of course, Esteemed Cultivator. The Mahogany Dreaming Palace is located just a few streets over that way." The guard pointed to the right. "They are used to consulting with newly arrived travelers and won't bat an eye at your appearance and will both be able to purchase as many cores as you wish to sell and also guide you on next steps. Please tell them that Pan Mingyu sent you."

The guard would surely receive a kickback on any deals Benton completed there, but he was fine with that. As long as they didn't try to rob him blind, a little gratuity here and there to help grease the wheels was to be expected.

Chapter 41 - Beyond Expectations

As Benton led the siblings in following the guard's directions, he passed literally hundreds of people. It wasn't possible to scan everyone that quickly, but a sampling indicated about what he expected, mostly Es and Fs. There was one D, but the man was middle aged and dressed nicely enough that he probably wouldn't be interested in uprooting his life at the chance of becoming a cultivator.

If the man were younger or more talented, Benton probably would have pursued it anyway. Really, though, he needed to get a read on the overall situation in the city before he started actually recruiting.

Soon, they reached a sign that read, "Mahogany Dreaming Palace." Perfect. Finding it hadn't been as hard as he'd feared.

The shop was nice but not too nice. As expected, mahogany featured prominently in the decor, but there was enough of a jumbled together look to not make Benton feel uncomfortable at his attire upon entering.

A nicely dressed salesgirl stood behind a counter. To her credit, she didn't so much as blink at the way he and the siblings looked. Instead, she cupped her hands and bowed. "Greetings Esteemed Customer, how may this lowly one be of assistance today?"

Benton smiled. So far, the guard had steered him right. "I need some walking around money, so I would like to sell a dozen rank two spirit beast cores."

The salesgirl matched Benton's expression. "Absolutely, Esteemed Customer. This lowly one can easily accommodate such a request."

The five primary elements for cultivation were Earth, Metal, Water, Wood, and Fire, and most of Benton's cores corresponded to one of those. There were some outliers, of course, such as Ice, which was a subset of Water, Lightning, Nature, and a few others.

With the siblings trailing him, he walked to the counter and withdrew a dozen cores assorted between the primary elements. He laid them carefully before the salesgirl.

Again to her credit, she didn't react much to his use of a spatial ring. Clearly, she was used to dealing with cultivators. She simply pulled a weird box from below the counter and set it on top. "Permission for this lowly one to examine the cores, Esteemed Cultivator?"

Even Su hadn't seen anything like that device, so Benton was very interested to see what would happen next. "Proceed."

The girl opened the box, placed one of the cores inside it, closed the lid, and looked at a sort of viewfinder that stuck up above the device. Once finished, she removed the core and repeated the process with each of the other eleven.

"These are excellent specimens, wild caught and unused," she said when finished. "This lowly one appreciates the opportunity to make Esteemed Cultivator an offer."

She pulled an honest to God abacus from beneath the counter and started rapidly moving the beads around. "This lowly one can offer ten thousand, six hundred fifty-three silver taels for the cores."

"That is an awfully specific amount," Benton said.

"The device measures all relevant properties of the core, Esteemed Cultivator. The City Lord has standardized the price for a core based on those properties throughout the city. This lowly one would be punished severely if offering above or below that price."

Benton had no idea if the girl was selling him a load of beans or not, but he thought it more likely that she wasn't. The presence of such standardized pricing should be easy enough to check, and lying to a cultivator wasn't generally a good way for a mortal to keep breathing. Besides, around ten thousand had been about what he'd been expecting based on Su's experience.

"Okay. I'll take it. Do you have that much silver on hand?"

"Sorry, Esteemed Cultivator, but this establishment, like almost all other reputable ones in the city, offers city bonds, usable just like taels anywhere within the walls and a great many places without." She laid out ten one thousand note bonds, one five hundred note bond, and one hundred fifty-three taels. "Is the Esteemed Cultivator still interested?"

A big city issuing their own notes was well within the expectations set from Su's memories. It was simply an easy way to deal with large sums of money as carrying thousands of taels would rapidly become inconvenient without a spatial ring.

"I am. Thanks." He whisked the paper and taels into his ring.

The salesgirl shot him a big smile. "Is there anything else this lowly one can do to assist the Esteemed Cultivator today?"

"Actually, yes. My junior brother and sister and I are in desperate need of cleaning up and new clothes."

"Of course, Esteemed Cultivator. This lowly one does not offer such a service in this establishment, but a runner can be summoned to escort you to a place where you will be taken care of."

"Excellent. Please do that."

She disappeared into the back for a few minutes. When she returned, she said, "The runner will be here shortly. Is there anything else this lowly one can do to assist the Esteemed Cultivator today?"

Benton figured that she'd been very helpful so far, so why not? "Actually, I do need knife sets for myself and my junior brother and sister. I was looking for a skinning knife, a boning knife, and a caping knife for each of us. The blades need to be tough enough to handle up to rank three beasts, though."

"This establishment's knives run from one hundred taels to a thousand taels each, Esteemed Cultivator. What price range most fits your needs?"

"I'm willing to pay for quality but not for frills. Does that make sense?"

"It does, Esteemed Cultivator. This lowly one has something that might be of interest." The salesgirl came out from behind the counter and led them to the right side of the store. She pointed to a set of three knives on display surrounded by a bunch of other knives. "These are produced by a local master crafter. They're not fancy, but this lowly one had never had a customer complaint about them. They are rated to the very peak of rank three."

Benton wasn't able to determine the materials, but the knives were clearly part of a set with identical colored wooden handles and metal blades. According to Su's memories, they looked to be sturdy and well made. "Perfect. How much?"

"They are mid-range, about five hundred each, a little more for the boning knife but a little less for the caping knife. For three sets of three, this lowly one can make a package deal of forty-one hundred taels."

The cost wasn't much of an issue, but Benton didn't want to eat that much into his supply of cash. He proposed trading her five rank two cores for the knives with her providing more cash for what was left over. She was more than amenable for that transaction, and after she checked the new cores, Benton added the knives and two hundred ninety-three taels to his spatial ring.

"Since you've been such a font of knowledge, can you tell me how recruitment for sects works here?" Benton said.

"Of course, Esteemed Cultivator. Sixth Flawless Flowing City had an exclusive contract to provide recruits to the Righteous Rain Sect. After that sect's downfall two decades ago, the other three major sects in the area, the Swift Blizzard Sect, the Poison Claw Sect, and the Jade Chameleon Sect, agreed that having any one of them gain access to the city's recruits would upset the balance of power. If a citizen wants to be considered for a sect, he must pay the equivalent of five spirit coins to have a test conducted, and his talent score will be distributed to each of the three sects, who will determine amongst themselves which sect, if any, gets him.

"Only the City Lord is allowed to conduct those tests, and no sect may pay the price for the tests. The only way for a citizen to be tested without payment is when the City Lord is allowed to do so for appropriately aged citizens once every five years in order to fill the ranks of Town Watch. The quantity of such testing is highly regulated, however."

Yikes. Citizens had to pay a crazy amount just on the off chance that they may be one of the few with enough talent to join a sect. Obviously, only the nobles or rich merchants could afford such a thing.

"What if, say, a wandering cultivator who was just passing through happened to sense he had fate with someone and wanted to recruit that person?"

"It is much more difficult for the non-affiliated, Esteemed Cultivator. First, all potential recruits would have to be interviewed by someone with a truth finding ability to ensure that no testing of the recruit took place. Then, a representative of one of the major sects would have to sign off on the process."

From that answer, Benton couldn't go around officially recruiting anyone to his sect. He was pretty sure, though, that no one would notice him hiring a few street kids and taking them with him when he left. The trick was to stay under the radar.

"One last thing," he said after she'd thanked him for his business, "I need to do a short-term rental on a warehouse. Say three months. Can you point me in the right direction?"

The salesgirl happily made arrangements to have a runner meet them once they finished cleaning up.

"Thank you, young lady," he said finally. "You are a credit to your profession. I'll let Pan Mingyu know that you treated me right."

The runner to take them to buy new clothes had already arrived and been waiting at that point, so Benton and the siblings followed the lad to an establishment a few streets over. After they were measured and asked about preferences for clothes, the runner led them to a bathhouse. By the time each had finished individually getting cleaned up and groomed by attendants, each had a nice change of clothes waiting with the promise of having more delivered to wherever they ended up staying.

The trio that exited the bathhouse looked a lot more opulent than the trio that went in. All had dirt scrubbed from their bodies, their hair cut and combed, and wore clean, upscale cultivator robes—Benton in blue, Yang Xiu in jade green, and Yang Ru in gray.

Looking and feeling nicer helped with the negotiations on leasing a warehouse. Benton didn't care much about the location. He basically just needed a relatively small warehouse that would hide his activities from prying eyes. The broker showed him a place that was perfect on the first try.

After a bit of back and forth, he said, "I think that does it. I'll give you a thousand taels per month for three months, prepaid, as long as you can get this placed cleaned up no later than tomorrow afternoon and provide three long wooden tables."

His first day in Sixth Flawless Flowing City had gone better than he had any right to expect.

Chapter 42 - Like a Thief in the ... Day?

Per the messenger that arrived at the inn the next afternoon, the warehouse was ready on schedule, and Benton led the siblings there. As they neared the structure, his attention was caught by a young boy lounging in the shade of an alley.

Even though Su's memories advised about exactly what to be on the lookout for, the kid looked so much like he belonged exactly where he was that Benton almost overlooked him. He scanned the kid with his senses.

Age:13Affiliation:Unnamed Mortal GangCultivation:NoneTechniques:NoneSpiritual Roots:D-Qi Aspect:Moonlit dew shadowed by the cover of clouds and overhanging tree branchesNice. Not only was the kid talented enough to be accepted into a traditional sect, but he had a rare shadow qi aspect, perfect for assassins. Not that Benton felt he had the need to include anyone pursuing that particular career path in his sect, but stealth was really good for espionage and scouting as well. No organization could ever have enough skilled people in the information gathering field.

Benton almost called out to the boy immediately but hesitated. The gangs paying him to keep a lookout would want more than just a report of three people entering the warehouse, meaning the boy would need to get a much closer look. Better to wait to catch him in the act in order to gain more leverage.

The inside of the warehouse had indeed been cleaned. All the dust and cobwebs that had been present were conspicuously absent. It wasn't exactly a place that Evelyn would have found homey and welcoming, but compared to rough camping in the woods, it would do just fine.

The three tables he'd requested had been set up as well.

"This is acceptable," he told the messenger, who quickly departed.

"Senior Brother, I have a question," Yang Xiu said. "Why did you sign a three-month contract? You told Mistress Zhong you'd be back in about in about that long."

"Why do you think?"

"I honestly don't know. I don't think Senior Brother would be untruthful to Mistress Zhong and the children, but I also don't know what might have changed since that conversation. I thought we made decent time getting here based on what you told us."

"What if I didn't lie to Mistress Zhong, but nothing changed, either?"

"Then I'm confused, Senior Brother. That would mean…" The light of understanding dawned in her eyes.

"Keep going," he said.

"That means that Senior Brother has no intention of staying three months."

"Exactly. Cities like this have many, many factions. Sects, city government, merchants, guilds, gangs, you name it. Before we're done, I bet we have more than half a dozen people watching our every move rather than the one we have now. It's easier to disappear at the end of a month if everyone thinks you'll still be around for another two.

"Now, enough of that. Time to get to work."

Benton dumped a pile of a dozen or so rank one spirit beasts on each of the three tables and handed each of the siblings a set of knives. "This is a skinning knife," he began, holding up the appropriate knife. He took a good half hour meticulously and slowly demonstrating how to dress, skin, de-core, and debone a squirrel, before watching each of the siblings do the same.

"Good. We're going to be doing this until our entire stash of rank one and two spirit beasts have been processed. We'll keep almost all the cores and a lot of the meat, but we have no immediate use for the skin and claws and such. Those won't be hugely valuable for rank ones." He held up one of the squirrel skins. "This goes for only about a single tael. The rank twos, however, are much more lucrative, from ten to up to a hundred times that much. Some claws go for more than a hundred just by themselves."

That was what they spent the next several hours doing. After each table had been completely processed, he separated all the different parts into easy piles and stored them in his spatial ring before adding a new stack of a dozen to be processed.

In the middle of skinning a beaver, he stopped, his ears alert as he manipulated his internal qi to enhance his hearing. Something, or rather someone, was quietly climbing the outside of the warehouse.

"Senior Brother…" Yang Xiu started.

"Don't worry about it. I expected this." Benton quickly stowed away all the spirit beast parts and tidied up their workstations. "You two cultivate or at least pretend to."

Benton was actually kind of impressed as he tracked the boy's progress. The outside of the warehouse hadn't seemed all that climbable, but the boy didn't seem to be having any trouble. It did not surprise Benton at all, though, when the boy gained entry to the inside via a window, one that didn't squeak at all when he opened it.

He was good at his job. Too bad for him that Benton was even better at his.

Benton slowly and quietly moved one of the tables under the spot he expected the boy to appear. Once in place, he hopped up on top, standing and waiting. At just the right moment, he bent his knees, manipulated his qi to give him a huge boost, and jumped.

The next second he was soaring high into the air.

The warehouse had a good ten thousand feet of free space inside and rose more than three stories. Benton easily cleared that height in a jump, reaching his apex just as the boy's startled face appeared.

Benton grabbed him by the shoulders and tugged.

He didn't let the boy fall, obviously. There was no reason to kill a little kid, even if his actions were a bit annoying. No, he held on tight and cushioned the impact with is internal qi as both of them fell back to the ground.

The kid looked around, seeing two figures in battle robes cultivating, and figuring out that another one had just grabbed him from more than forty feet in the air. His wide eyes said that he knew he was in trouble.

"What's your name, kid?" Benton said.

He cupped his hands and bowed low. "Zou Tian, Esteemed Master Cultivator."

"Yes. Cultivator. You are correct. Which begs the question of how come you're stupid enough to try breaking into my warehouse."

"This lowly one didn't know you could do…" He gestured up and down with his arm, indicating the huge height of the warehouse. "That!"

Benton almost chuckled, but that would have ruined the air of menace he was working hard to develop. "Well, Zou Tian, it looks like you've got yourself a choice—work for me or work for no one ever again."

Chapter 43 - One Scary Cultivator

Zou Tian had maintained oversight—he much preferred that term rather than spying—on wandering cultivators before. In his experience, such people weren't much more powerful than regular gang members. Basically, they were trumped up peasants who somehow gained access to the most basic and incomplete of trash tier cultivation methods and techniques and suddenly felt themselves better than anyone else.

Not that Zou Tian thought himself better even than those unfortunates. As an orphan street rat growing up in Sixth Flawless Flowing City, no one was of lower status than him.

No. He definitely didn't look down on anyone, but his prior experience explained his reasoning when the Meticulous Contradictory Twelfth Gang asked him to maintain oversight on the warehouse and three suspected wandering cultivators who had rented it for three months.

There were, of course, a few red flags. The three were dressed nicer than most wandering cultivators. They had been able to pay the leasing fee of one thousand tael a month for three months up front. And the eldest of the three wore a spatial ring, something nearly no one of his supposed ilk could afford.

It was those points, however, that drew the intense interest of the gang, and it wasn't like Zou Tian could really refuse. It was stay in the gang's good graces and eat or not stay in their good graces and perish.

Still, he hadn't thought much of the assignment, certainly not that it would be exceedingly dangerous. Not even when he caught sight of the three.

All wore very nice clothes, obviously recently purchased. Though he carried no visible weapon, the eldest one looked the fiercest of the three with his stubble-covered dark head and striking blue combat robes. There was just a quality about how he carried himself. The other two were no slouches, though. The young man was big and muscular, obviously much more well fed than a street rat, and the spear he carried was definitely a prime cultivator weapon, not just some stick he'd picked up in the woods.

Zou Tian found it difficult to pay too much attention to either of the men, though, due to the appearance of the girl. Wearing a jade green robe with perfect features and flowering cheeks, she was amazing. As was the bow she carried. He wasn't an expert on such things, but he bet such a weapon would cost thousands of taels.

Those wandering cultivators weren't so simple.

Besides their appearance, the next big danger sign was that the eldest one actually noticed Zou Tian.

After he'd been pushed out onto the streets at eight years old following his aunt no longer being able to take care of him, he noticed that he had an uncanny ability to simply blend in. Nothing supernatural or anything, but people seemed to feel that he fit in with crowds even when the people around him were older and better dressed. Ironically, that trait had been what had attracted the gang to him, an occurrence that had made his life both much easier in that he no longer had to beg and steal for food and much more complicated in that failure to do what the gang wanted could easily result in his death.

It wasn't all bad, though. Most of the very much older gang members tended to treat him like a younger brother, teaching him how to fight with knives, pickpocket, and other useful skills.

The wandering cultivator in blue, however, had looked right at him. Studied him. Zou Tian had shivered like someone was looking at his very soul. His thought had been, "That man is one very scary cultivator."

The man had then just walked right past, though, and entered the warehouse without any indication that anything was wrong. If Zou Tian had tried to call off the oversight based on that look, he'd have at the very least lost much face. At worst, he might have been physically punished.

Instead, he did the only thing that he could do—made a mental note about it and resolved to be ten times as careful with the mission—and carried about his business.

Hours passed with nothing happening. Whatever was going on inside the warehouse was done in quiet, not that anything other than heavy noises such as hammers and yelling and the like would have made it past the closed doors, but Zou Tian was very observant. He heard nothing.

Finally, he'd waited as long as he could. The gang would insist on knowing what was going on inside. Sacrificing speed for quiet, he ascended the outside until making it to the window he'd prepared with oil the previous evening. Not a single squeak.

Positive that no one inside could possibly have heard a thing, he made his way inside, creeping past several catwalks until he finally had a view of the open interior. The boy and the girl were each seated on top of one of the wooden tables that had been provided, and they were … cultivating quietly.

Why rent a warehouse to cultivate?

And where was the eldest?

Zou Tian saw a flash of motion, and the next thing he knew he was being yanked forward. Which was bad. Because forward led to down, and the warehouse's floor was far below.

He wasn't freefalling, though. The eldest cultivator held him in arms that felt like iron straps.

Zou Tian tensed as the ground neared, expecting the worst. The cultivator's knees absorbed the impact, though, leaving Zou Tian barely jostled. He was quickly and gently placed upright with his feet on the dirt floor before being asked his name.

"Well, Zou Tian," the man said after a brief conversation, "it looks like you've got yourself a choice—work for me or work for no one ever again."

Zou Tian of course did the only thing that he could do. "This lowly one is the Esteemed Master Cultivator's servant. This lowly one will do anything."

The man smiled. "First of all, you're now my informant and lookout. Tell me about the organization who hired you."

Zou Tian wasn't stupid. The man was obviously a real cultivator, not some trumped up field hand with delusions of grandeur, and lying to a real cultivator was the height of stupidity. Such people had hundreds of ways to detect a falsehood. So, he spilled. Everything. The number of men in the gang. Thirty-one not counting him or other kids. Affiliations. Unsure. There was some link to a bigger organization, but nothing had ever been said in his presence as to exactly what organization or the nature of the ties. Likely plans for the warehouse. A raid at some point, either by their gang or a cultivator gang.

"Cultivator gang?" the man said.

"There a several in the city, Esteemed Master Cultivator. Groups of wandering cultivators who have banded together for strength. Basically loose coalitions of thieves."

"The sects let those exist?"

"This lowly one understands that the sects don't like them, but the City Lord controls the city. The balance between the sects is such that none wants to make waves."

"Okay. Here's how we're going to play this. First of all, you watched us from a catwalk for a long time. At the start, we were just cultivating. Then I asked Yang Ru for a spar." He gestured to the young man. "Come, let's give the boy a show."

The man used only his fists, fearing the younger man's spear not at all. The way the two moved was like nothing Zou Tian had ever seen. Such speed. And grace. The man bent backward at the knees as the spear passed over him and somehow righted himself like nothing had happened.

And power. The young man thrust at the older. The older dodged, and the spear struck a twelve-inch-thick wooden beam. The beam cracked.

"Oops," the man said before turning the Zou Tian. "I think that's enough of that. Can you honestly report to the gang on our abilities, that we definitely have weapon techniques and can internally manipulate qi?"

Zou Tian nodded vigorously. Who were those people?

"Next, you heard me giving a lecture to my two disciples, Yang Xiu and Yang Ru. I told them that, though we're currently unaffiliated with a sect, we are not to be treated like trash. Demand face. Bow only to those of a higher cultivation, which I will indicate to them as there is no one in the city whose level I cannot sense. And bow only the exact extent necessary to give face. If they run into any cultivator gangs, feel free to kill those trash without compunction."

The man shook his head almost like he hadn't meant to say that. He didn't countermand the order, though.

"Lastly…" The man drew something from his spatial ring and tossed it to Zou Tian. "When I said work for me, I meant work, and I didn't mean for free."

He caught it out of reflex and couldn't believe what he held when he looked in his hand. A silver tael. A full silver tael. He'd never held so much money at once before.

"One of those every day that you're in my employ, understand?"

"Yes, Esteemed Master Cultivator."

"I do not expect you to die for me. If you have to betray me to keep your life, betray me. Tell the gang exactly what happened and that I threatened your life if that's what you have to do. If you don't want me to kill you, all you have to do is tell me that you betrayed me. Be open and honest, understand?"

No. Not really, no.

"Yes, Esteemed Master Cultivator."

"Good. Now get out of here. We have work to do."

Chapter 44 - Cash Grab

Benton had a good feeling about the boy, Zou Tian. He seemed like the sort who would commit to a group as long as he was given a reason. If Benton were right, all he had to do to reap loyalty was to sow it.

He escorted the boy to the exit, and the two parted on good terms.

No sooner had he returned to the work area than Yang Xiu said, "Why did you reveal so much to that kid, Senior Brother? I thought we wanted to avoid notice."

Kid? Listen to this brat. The boy was barely a couple of years younger than her.

"There is a fine line between seeming too powerful," Benton said, "which might lead to one of the three sects taking interest in us, and seeming too weak, which invites attack from every two-bit street gang around."

"You think your display with Ru'er will dissuade them, Senior Brother?"

"Not indefinitely. If we're lucky, we'll be able to slip out before they make their attempt." Benton shrugged. "If not, maybe we at least headed off some of the many probes I was expecting. I'd rather they gather their forces for a big showdown than us have to put up with fending them off every other night."

Yang Xiu's face showed concern. "Can the three of us fight off an entire gang of cultivators, Senior Brother?"

Wandering cultivators came in two types—those rare few who traveled the land seeking the Dao and those who were forced into the lifestyle because they had too little talent to do anything else. The first was considered an honorable path, even if not quite as respectable as traditional sect membership. The latter … wasn't.

Of course, part of that judgment was probably a bit of Chao Su's bias, but Benton expected it accurately reflected the view of most people.

"Acting as a gang relegates one to the status of an ordinary thug, an act that is beneath contempt, an extreme loss of face and honor," Benton said. "Only those who are so weak as to have little other choice would do such a thing. I can't imagine the three of us having trouble facing a score of such cultivators."

He allowed the siblings to return to cultivating while he spent another couple of hours processing spirit beast parts. In the midafternoon, he counted their progress, finding that they'd barely finished a hundred beasts.

Out of nearly seven hundred.

Of course, he finished a beast thrice as fast as either of the siblings, but their rate improved with each batch. The three of them working together wouldn't finish tomorrow, but they'd make a good dent and be able to sell them by the day after. Their progress wasn't too bad.

Shortly before dark, he let the siblings know he was leaving and went for a walk, mainly to just get acquainted with the area but also to see if he ran across any potential recruits. He had no luck, though. Mostly Fs with some Es.

The next day was spent processing while the siblings split their time between that and cultivating. Since they had been able to complete as many of the spirit beasts as he'd wanted for the day, his walk that night had another purpose—to procure the rental of a draft animal.

He ended up with something akin to an old ox, one that was pretty much beyond caring about anything other than going where he was told and getting fed. That was perfect because neither Benton nor Su had much experience with animals.

Luckily, it turned out that there was some farming in the siblings' family, an uncle or something, so they had at least enough experience to be able to take care of the ox, feed it, hook it up, etc.

By noon of the next day, Benton had removed all the wood from one of the wagons and used the cleared space for the processed parts—over four hundred rank two spirit beast skins and claws and half that many butchered meats along with close to three hundred of the same for rank one beasts.

He had planned on leaving the twins to cultivate while he sold the parts, but he had trouble directing the ox even within the confines of the empty warehouse. Visions of a string of angry and perhaps injured citizens raising a cry to the authorities if he attempted to drive the wagon himself filled his mind, so he was forced to have the siblings do it.

Zou Tian directed Benton to a shop that both had a reputation for being fair and was big enough to handle the volume he had to sell. Like the Mahogany Dreaming Palace, the Seven Elements Beasts Emporium was staffed by an attractive mortal female clerk who seemed accustomed to dealing with cultivators. She had the twins maneuver the wagon to a receiving area in the back where two more employees met them.

The process from there was surprisingly efficient and quick, considering the sheer quantity of stuff Benton had to sell. In less than a half hour, one of the two, a graying man with a paunch, made an offer of just over fifty-six thousand silver taels.

With assurance from the man that city notes could be converted to actual silver or even spirit coins at a bank, Benton accepted the proposal.

Not bad considering he hadn't even touched his actual main trade good yet and he still had the vast majority of the cores he'd harvested in his ring.

Next, they found an out of the way alley that no one save Zou Tian, who was basically covertly traveling with the rest of the group by that point, was surveilling and filled the wagon with a full load of wood. Their destination was a warehouse near the docks that Mayor Mo Jian had indicated was their best option—if it was still open and operated by the same people.

With Zou Tian watching from afar and Yang Ru staying with the wagon, Benton and Yang Xiu went inside. To his surprise, the first person they encountered was a cultivator.

Benton scanned the man.

Affiliation:Heavenly Transit Mercantile AssociationAge:49Cultivation:Foundation Establishment – Minor Realm SixQi Available:???Techniques:???Spiritual Roots:E+Qi Aspect:The sweep of a wooden oar propelling a ship through the bayInteresting. At Foundation Establishment, the merchant was officially the highest ranked person Benton had met. And to reach the sixth minor realm with only E+ spirit roots took dedication or major resources or both. Probably both.

The man cupped his hands and nodded his head. "Greetings Guest, this one is Ma An. How can this one help you?"

Benton's robe clearly designated him as a cultivator, and he was in the company of someone in the Qi Gathering realm who clearly deferred to him. On the other hand, his realm or the fact that he was a cultivator at all was completely opaque due to his Hide Cultivation perk.

Ma An was obviously having trouble figuring out the correct form of address.

Benton responded by cupping his hands and barely inclining his head briefly, basically saying that not only was he a cultivator but his cultivation was much higher than the other man. "I have some wood to sell and was told this was the place."

Ma An was slightly taken aback. "My apologies, Esteemed Cultivator, but this lowly one does not deal in … wood."

"Really? The mayor of Prosperous Gray Forest Village said that this warehouse was my best bet. I guess I'll move to the next merchant."

The man looked stunned. "Wait! Prosperous Gray Forest Village? Let me see this wood!"

He rushed out the door before Benton could say a word. He and Yang Xiu quickly followed.

"Orange Vigor Spirit Wood! It really is Orange Vigor Spirit Wood. It's been years since we've seen any." He turned back to Benton. "This lowly one will buy it. The entire load. This lowly one promises that no one will offer more."

"How much?"

"Twenty-four thousand taels."

Benton tilted his hands. "This stuff is really scarce, right? According to the mayor, it's been at least three years since anyone possible could have made a delivery, and there's no guarantee when, if ever, you'll see more. I was thinking seventy-five thousand taels."

He didn't really want to soak the guy, but he needed to gain an understanding of exactly how much the wood was worth.

Ma An grimaced. "This lowly one doesn't think that anyone can pay seventy-five. The best the Heavenly Transit Mercantile Association can do is … fifty? That amount, quite honestly, is cutting deeply into profit margins."

"What if I had two more wagon loads?"

"This lowly one would take them both for the same price, of course."

Yeah. So, fifty thousand wasn't eating too deeply into his profit margins, then, since he was that willing to buy the entire shipment. Eking every cent out of the situation wasn't nearly as important as establishing a good relationship, though.

"And future loads, if any?" Benton said.

Ma An frowned. "If it's regular, yearly or more often, this lowly one would have to cut back to … thirty? But every three years or longer? This lowly one could continue to pay fifty."

"Next set of questions. I need spears suitable for Foundation Establishment cultivators, and I was thinking some of the branches in these loads would made a decent base material. Is that correct? And if so, how much would taking out that material deduct from the price you're paying? And do you know someone who can do whatever crafting is necessary?"

"How many spears does the Esteemed Cultivator need?"

That was a tough question to answer. Ideally, Benton would get a spear for all his disciples for now and into the immediate future, but he didn't want the guy to know it was for a sect or suspect that he was raising an army or something.

"A hundred?" Benton said. "I travel a lot, and my experience has been that finished weapons of a decent quantity are a trade good that can purchase items where mere silver and spirit coins can't."

Ma An nodded knowingly. "Absolutely understandable. If the Esteemed Cultivator is willing to spend the necessary amount to have a correspondingly strong metal for the tip, spears made from Orange Vigor Spirit Wood are highly sought after. They're almost impossible to break even up to the peak of Golden Core, and they channel qi phenomenally well once they are treated correctly."

"So how much total?"

The guy hesitated for a moment, clearly calculating in his head. "This lowly one would deduct a pittance, say a thousand taels total, for the base material. The woodworking required and the alchemical treatment would run maybe a hundred total. And for the metal… Another five hundred per. The final product, though, would easily sell for thousands unless the Esteemed Cultivator floods the market."

Sixty-one thousand taels total for one hundred spears rated for Foundation Establishment cultivators? Honestly, that was much better than Benton had expected.

"Done."

There were still some logistics to get through, but the results of the day's dealing would end with him nearly one hundred fifty thousand taels richer, and the only thing he owed out of that vast amount was two wagons full of mortal level supplies and rations. He doubted that total for that would be more than fifty thousand.

Nice! What a cash grab.