Chapter 77 - Ambush!
Yang Xiu was not happy. The bandits had prepared an ambush that she and Zou Tian had scouted. When she'd told the others about it, she had advocated for leaving the non-combatants behind with the wagons while the rest took the fight to the bad guys.
Yang Ru hadn't liked that idea, and he had the right to make the decision since it was combat related. Surprisingly, both Xun Wu and Ye Zan sided with her brother, feeling uncomfortable either leaving the children essentially unprotected or splitting their forces.
Which was a stupid opinion. She, Yang Ru, and Zou Tian could beat a bunch of mortals all by themselves. Sure, there might be seventy-three of the gang, but what were mere numbers compared to the might of cultivators?
At least, she and Zou Tian had been allowed to split their forces in order to get in position before the fight. The two of them had taken to the woods on the side of the road opposite the bandits' camp and looped way around to come back from the other side of the spot of the ambush. With their ability to move silently, none of the mortals had noticed a thing.
She climbed a tall tree that gave her a perfect position to snipe most of the bad guys, and Zou Tian, armed with two daggers, hid behind the mortals' main position. He didn't have either a technique or much experience with the weapons, but they weren't exactly hard to use. The plan was for him to use his stealth to stab people in the back, a tactic that seemed dishonorable but that Master had insisted he employ.
Of course, it took forever for the caravan to actually come into view, as it moved so slowly. They had all decided that it was far better for the two of them to have to wait than for the caravan to arrive first.
In a slight departure from the caravan's normal operation, Yang Ru and Ye Zan walked in front of the first wagon, and the children and Xun Wu's wife had been moved to the mobile cultivation platform, which now assumed the trailing position. Yang Xiu found it difficult to believe that the mortals would pick up on or care about such minor differences.
Besides, they hadn't gotten anywhere close to seeing the wagon train. She and Zou Tian had made sure of that by just happening to traipse loudly nearby when they tried.
She studied the enemies below her. They consisted mainly of spearmen and swordsmen. If the bandits would have had a lot of archers, the group would have gone with Yang Xiu's plan, but training to accurately shoot a bow took a long time. A peasant could learn to at least swing a sword at an enemy, even if very unskillfully, quite quickly and be effective in ambush tactics like the ones they apparently used. To actually be able to hit someone in a fight with an arrow absent massed volleys was quite a different story.
At least, that was what Ye Zan said. It could just be that the bandits ran out of arrows. Learning to shoot a bow hadn't seemed difficult at all to Yang Xiu.
She huffed. Well, she did have the advantage of having an apparently heaven-grade technique crammed into her mind from a jade slip, but she was sure it was mostly her natural talent.
The long and short of it was that she and Zou Tian had only identified four bandits who used bows, and those were her primary targets. She'd already noted their locations.
Creak. Creak. Creak.
The lead wagon's squeaky wheels drew closer and closer. The tension in the air was palpable.
Everyone in the caravan was clearly trying to look as normal as possible, though Yang Xiu's enhanced vision could easily tell that hands gripped spears much more tightly than if everyone were actually relaxed.
The same nervous energy existing on the other side of the fight that was soon to come as evidenced by bandits fidgeting as they got ready to burst from the trees.
Everyone was so clearly primed that a good stiff breeze could get things started.
It wasn't the wind, though. It was a signal from one of the bandits. Yang Xiu mentally marked him as her fifth target.
She pulled back the bowstring, and her nocked arrow flew true. One of the bandit archers wouldn't be loosing a shot at her sect mates.
The rest of the bandits, save for the three—twang!—two remaining archers and a few leaders began rushing from the woods. Twang. One.
Like shooting fish in a barrel as Master would say even if she had no real idea why one would ever want to do such a thing.
Yang Ru was not one to let the fight come to him. According to Master, he was hot molten rock pouring inevitably down a mountain. He was momentum.
As soon as the bandits began to emerge from the woods, he charged.
They were slow. So, so slow.
He reached the first of them before they had fully cleared the tree line, plowing into them in an explosion of blood and gore.
Theirs. Not his. Of course.
He hadn't even bothered with using his remaining, very expensive talisman as he went through the first mortal. And the next. And the next.
All the bandits around him were focused solely on him. Which was to the good. He was much tougher than his sect mates. The more blows sought him, the fewer blows sought the others.
When Zou Tian heard the caravan approaching, he ghosted to within a few feet of one of the leaders standing behind the gang. As soon as the bandits began moving, Zou Tian acted.
He plunged both daggers into the man's back.
As a cultivator in the fourth minor realm of Qi Gathering, Zou Tian was much stronger and faster than he had been just several weeks prior, and his knives were sharp enough and high enough quality to penetrate a cultivator's hardened skin. They went through the mortal like cutting paper.
Zou Tian didn't bother to determine if the man had died. The wounds were bad. He wouldn't be rejoining the fight, and there were plenty of targets around who were still combat able.
Yang Xiu seemed to consider striking people unaware from behind to be somehow dishonorable, but Zou Tian liked it. It made him feel powerful to hold the power of life and death over someone who would have happily crushed his skull had they met when he was a lowly street rat.
Besides, how was stabbing someone in the back different that sniping them from afar like she was so proud of doing?
Master approved of each method. That was the important thing.
Ye Zan motioned for his guards to form up with him. Three moved to either side of him, spread out less than an arms' width apart. The gaps behind were filled with the remaining four of his guards and two of the drivers who handled their spears the best. The last four drivers stayed in the very back, ready to either move up to fill a gap or to catch leakers around the edges.
He had always thought his ability with a spear was pretty good for a mercenary who'd been former street trash, but he'd recently discovered that his skill was laughable at best. Yang Ru, in contrast, was someone who knew how to wield a spear.
Ye Zan couldn't wait until he reached minor realm three. He felt so, so close. Another few days. A week at most. Soon, Master would teach him that amazing technique.
In the meantime, Ye Zan and his guards were learning as much as they could. They soaked up every word Senior Brother was willing to teach them. Everything from how they held their weapons to their footwork had changed for the better. They were already leaps and bounds ahead of where they had been when they left the city.
And those improvements didn't even take into account the very real improvements to their actual bodies. Cultivation, even two minor realms, had made them stronger and faster and tougher.
The rabble approaching didn't stand a chance.
To make things worse for the attackers, Senior Brother had effectively broken the advance when he'd hit the middle of their line. Bandits still streamed past, but they had to arc around the clump of people being utterly destroyed by him. Literally. One guy was cut in half with his legs lying on the ground yards away from his torso.
The bandits who made it to the guards' line were staggered and easily cut down.
With a disorganized approach and being both weaker and less skilled, the bandits didn't stand much of a chance. Maybe they could have inflicted a wound or two but any who demonstrated any skill suddenly found an arrow sticking out of their head.
Ye Zan purely loved being a sect member. Between the increase in his personal power and that of his guards and the support of the twins, who he would have found terrifying if they weren't on his side, he couldn't even compare his current situation with his previous experiences of getting involved in basically street brawls.
For once in his life, he was serving a client, a Master, who he was actually proud to represent.
Shi Long moved deliberately. Smithing required both power and finesse, hitting the metal at the right time in the right place. Rushing was not a part of the job.
He and Esteemed Expert Blacksmith Xun Wu had been together in the next to last wagon, and they'd taken the time to make sure no one approached the noncombatants at the rear before committing to joining the guards in the fight. By the time they'd loped to the battle, things were winding down, and them attacking the rear of the bandits engaged with the phalanx of guards sped the ambushers' demise.
Crushing skulls with his hammer was about as disgusting and unpleasant as he'd expected, and he hoped he didn't have to do it often. Esteemed Expert Blacksmith Xun Wu had been firm on one point, though. Cleaning the forge was not easy or pleasant, but sometimes it had to be done. The task before them was the same, one that was neither pleasant nor easy but that needed to be done.
For his mentor and his master, Shi Long would crush as many heads as necessary.
Yang Xiu looked down at the bloody dirt road from her perch in the tree. None of the bandits were moving, and none of the caravan appeared injured.
Time for the real work.
She began climbing down. Over seventy bodies were a lot to loot and bury. She hoped the task didn't delay them too much. Master would worry if they were late in reaching the town the next day.
Chapter 78 – Can't Wait to Get on the Road Again
Benton woke feeling good. His efforts of the last few days had paid off with him being able to achieve all his tasks and then some. Best of all, his disciples should arrive no later than early evening, and they all could finally begin the last leg of the voyage to Prosperous Gray Forest Village.
In four weeks at the most, they would arrive, and he could finally found his sect.
He walked down the stairs intending to have a leisurely breakfast in the inn's common room and was surprised to find the normally quiet area buzzing with voices. Not only was the place more packed than usual, but everyone was talking. And there was only one thing on their minds.
"You didn't hear?" one man said to another who had just walked in. "The Town Manager is dead. Killed by assassins. They say that the Town Lord was taken out, too. Everyone is waiting for our new leaders to announce themselves."
"You're an idiot," someone who had obviously overheard the first man yelled. "The murderer was a man whose wife was confiscated to pay tax debts, and the Town Lord in turn had that husband executed."
"No!" another patron yelled. "It was a coup. They got the Town Manager but failed to kill the Town Lord. All the leaders were rounded up, and there's to be a public execution."
There seemed to be a hundred versions of what happened, but they all agreed on the point that the Town Manager had been killed. Go Fatty Ren!
The fact that the Town Lord had demonstratively followed through on at least one of the tasks Benton had set made him feel a lot better even if he still wasn't one hundred percent sure that Fatty Ren held no blame for the conditions in the town other than those arising from simple incompetence.
Benton tended to try to not draw any more notice than necessary when he was in the common room. As it was his second morning eating there, the usual diners had already noted that, though he was a cultivator, he seemed to just want to be left alone.
Today, he decided to attract attention.
He strode purposefully up to a counter and spoke to the innkeeper in a loud voice. "Thank you, innkeeper, for your hospitality and directions your provided."
"Of course, Esteemed Cultivator. This one was happy to be of service."
Benton held up his spatial ring and flashily caused a stack of silver taels to appear, which he snatched out of the air. "This should cover my stay. My work here is done. Fatty Ren, the Town Lord, has executed the corrupt Town Manager, Yu Xieren, and has arranged for a new Town Manager who is both competent and not corrupt to be sent from Sixth Flawless Flowing City. I expect that things will soon be looking up here in Vermillion Incomparable Rain Town, especially since experienced lawmen who are beyond reproach will also be arriving."
The man cupped his hands and bowed low. "This lowly one expresses gratitude, Esteemed Master Cultivator."
There. Even if the delivery was a bit melodramatic, the announcement should at least get the truth out into the grapevine. Hopefully, the source being a cultivator who was at least powerful enough to use a spatial ring would lend it credibility.
After making such a spectacle, Benton couldn't just sit down and eat breakfast as it would have ruined any mystique he'd managed to build. Oh well, he did have all those street vendor meals.
Once again, he complimented himself on his forethought to buy them as he ate a nice kabob. The vendor, of course, had called it something else, but to Benton, meat on a stick was a kabob, plain and simple.
His first stop was the mercantile, where Peng Zhen had loaded the contents of his shop onto a small horsedrawn cart and was outside vigilantly guarding it lest its contents be purloined.
Oops. Benton knew he'd forgotten something.
"Greetings, Peng Zhen. Do you think you could get a larger wagon? We have ten kids a bit older than your son and another group of six … guards that are coming along as well."
Peng Zhen looked nervous. "Uh…"
"What's the issue? It's okay. I won't be mad. This is my screwup."
The man looked momentarily perplexed at that last turn of phrase but mainly appeared stressed about whatever it was that he had to say. "Many apologies, Esteemed Master Cultivator, this lowly one cannot afford a bigger wagon."
Oh. Well, that problem had an easy fix. Benton withdrew a hundred taels from his ring and tossed them to the merchant. "This should cover it, right?"
Peng Zhen's eyes went wide. "Yes, Esteemed Master Cultivator. This is more than enough. This lowly one will take care of it immediately."
"Great. Can you meet me at the orphanage an hour or so after lunch?"
After getting confirmation from the merchant that the meeting time and place would work, Benton went to the gang's warehouse. He likewise told them the meeting time and place, describing in great detail the location of the building in question.
There was no need to be at the orphanage before lunch, where he intended on feeding all the kids one more time, so he wandered around town for a while. There wasn't all that much he hadn't seen, and there simply wasn't much for sale that he had any interest in buying.
Regarding recruits, he was quite satisfied with his efforts thus far and was wary of adding too many disciples at once. Organizations needed leaders and an established methodology to handle an influx of new people. Benton had no one ready to onboard the people he'd already recruited, and getting everyone settled and fed and clothed was going to be a logistical challenge.
More people were definitely better from a points standpoint, but he didn't want his recruits first impression of the sect to be disorganization. Besides, with his growth in personal power, the twins advancing so well, and so many recruits from both the town and the city, he was less worried about being inundated with villagers who had more loyalty to the mayor than to him. Once he founded his sect officially, he was planning to secure his largest volume of recruits yet.
That wasn't to say that, if he had discovered interesting talents walking around town, he wouldn't have collected them. He didn't find anyone who seemed worth the effort, though.
Around lunch, he made it to the orphanage, and just like the first time, the children loved the variety of piping hot meals that came from his ring. What he loved were the changes that had already occurred.
Five women got a lot more done than one who was overwhelmed had. The kids already looked happy and healthier. A lot were wearing new outfits, and two of the ladies were busy sewing more when he arrived.
He was sure that ten weeks would see even more huge improvements.
Since none of the kids stood out all that much in talent or qi aspect, Benton had Mistress Gong select the ten kids to go with them. He figured she'd be able to find the ones who could handle the change the easiest.
If everything worked out like he hoped, he'd eventually transfer all the kids to the village.
Thinking about those orphans, notifications had trickled in all morning informing him that the original set of eight he'd accepted as his disciples had finally reached minor realm three. Mistress Zhong, a similar talent to the children, was already two minor realms ahead of them, but Benton didn't feel bad about limiting their cultivating to half the time as everyone else. They were kids and needed to play and do other things.
Of course, some of the disciples on the trip now were of a similar age.
Benton hmmed. Maybe he should limit the other young people as well since they, too, deserved play time. That restriction could probably wait, though, until they reached the village. After all, there wasn't much else for everyone to do while sitting in a wagon.
The notifications brought his total Sect Points to an even fifty, and besides perhaps an individual cultivation method for the time aspected young man, he had nothing that needed spending. Awesome. That last point also represented his two hundred and thirteenth earned, which meant Benton was finally out of hock to himself. As soon as he got seventeen more points, he'd have two to spend on a technique for himself.
He'd have to consider the case of Peng Hanying some more. On one hand, Benton wanted to see how the kid developed that neat aspect of his. On the other, he knew from what the System had told him that it would be Golden Core before the child would be able to do anything really heaven shattering with it, and he likely was never going to make it that far unless a lot of longshots came together.
Finally, both the boy in question along with his family driving a large wagon and the six wannabe gangsters arrived. Benton had all of them pile into the back and led them to the gate leading to Sixth Flawless Flowing City in order to wait for the caravan.
Benton figured that the earliest his disciples would arrive was early afternoon and the latest early evening. They split the difference, coming into sight in the late afternoon.
Yang Xiu, Yang Ru, and, to Benton's slight surprise, Zou Tian rushed ahead to greet their master.
"How was the trip?" Benton said. "Run into any trouble?"
The three looked at each other. Translation—they had run into trouble.
"Tell me," Benton said.
"It was nothing, Master," Yang Xiu said.
He fixed her with a somewhat amused but insistent glare.
"Bandits, Master. But we handled it easily. Ye Zan did a great job defending the wagons while Yang Ru, Zou Tian, and I disrupted the attack, and no one got even scratched. There was no danger."
Benton frowned. "How many?"
"Seventy-three, Master."
Yikes. His twenty-four disciples, several of whom were completely non-combatants, were able to take over three times their number of armed desperadoes while protecting a toddler and a little kid. Not bad.
He hated that they'd had to do such a thing, but as he kept reminding himself, he was no longer on Earth. If they were too weak to do what was necessary, they wouldn't last long as cultivators.
"Well, sounds like congratulations are in order. Unfortunately, there will be no celebratory dinner in a restaurant tonight. You're not even going to get to stay in an inn. Things are way too unsettled in this town. We're going to pass through and camp as far outside the walls as we can get on the other side."
Chapter 79 – Leaps and Bounds
Benton wanted to get as far from the town as they could in the remaining daylight. With friendly relations established between him and Fatty Ren, there was no real fear of cultivators interfering with the caravan, but they were transporting lots of vulnerable kids and valuable goods.
It was best to get the wagons away from where they might prove to be a temptation to the town's many mortal gangs. If nothing else, he didn't want the orphans first experience with his sect to be the violent slaughter of would-be bandits.
Benton waited until nearly sunset to call for a stop, and while his experienced disciples made camp and put water on to boil, he followed the tradition he'd established and asked the nineteen new people to follow him into the woods.
While Peng Zhen had a suspicion about what was about to happen, the orphans and the gang had been told little except that they were moving with Benton to a new home.
Once everyone was seated in a circle lit by qi orbs, Benton said, "I am Chao Su, and I assume all of you understand that I am a cultivator of some power."
There were nods all around.
He fingered the pin on his left breast. "This token names me as a friend of the Poison Claw Sect, one of the three most prestigious sects in this part of the continent. Town Lord Ren also counts me as a friend and has asked my advice on how to handle certain issues."
The last large group he had inducted had been told by Kang Ya-Ting how important Benton was. The group before him mostly didn't know him from Adam. Even though talking himself up felt a bit awkward for him, he thought it best to explain to the newcomers that he wasn't a jumped-up wandering cultivator.
"I am forming a sect near the Prosperous Gray Forest Village, and all of you are to be members of this new sect. Give me your honest effort at work and cultivation, and I will give you a place to belong and a longer, healthier, richer life."
The orphans and gangs were all visibly shocked by the announcement, so Benton gave them a moment to calm down. Eventually, he pulled out the orb and told each of them their talents and qi aspects. He explained that they were not talented enough to join any other sect, but that was okay. His sect was different. However, it was unlikely any of them would get past the Foundation Establishment realm, but if they were diligent, he promised to do everything in his power to get them at least that far.
"What I require from you differs depending on your group." He turned to Peng Zhen. "You and your family are to run the contribution point shop. As the sect grows, this task may become unmanageable without more people. If that time comes, I'll get you help. Any questions?"
"No, Esteemed Master Cultivator."
Benton scanned the boy who led the gang to refresh his memories.
Affiliation:NoneAge:16Cultivation:NoneTechniques:NoneSpiritual Roots:F+Qi Aspect:Unrefined iron ore lying beneath the dirtMetal aspects tended to like blades and earth aspects were good in defense. The combination suited the role Benton had planned.
He met the boy's eyes. "What's your name?"
"Zi Delan, Esteemed Master Cultivator."
"In terms of martial inclined members, the sect has the twins, who are the two most powerful cultivators besides me in the sect, and Ye Zan and his sixteen guards, who are being trained to patrol and defend the sect grounds and other places that I tell them to. The sect needs a strike force that I can send out to capture or kill enemies. You will be that force. Do you agree?"
Zi Delan swallowed hard. He turned and got a nod from each of his crew before answering. "Yes, Esteemed Master Cultivator."
"Good." Benton softened his tone greatly before turning to the orphans. "Is there one of you who speaks for the others?"
A little guy cupped his hands and bowed. "This lowly one does, Esteemed Master Cultivator. This lowly one is Hao Cheng."
So cute!
Benton scanned him again, too.
Name:Hao ChengAffiliation:NoneAge:13Cultivation:NoneTechniques:NoneSpiritual Roots:FQi Aspect:A willow bending in defiance of the forces assailing itThe wood aspect would make him a perfect fit to harvest or work with the Orange Vigor Spirit Wood, if that was what he wanted.
"Nice to meet you, Hao Cheng. It was brave of you to speak up. What I require of you ten is a lot different than of others seated around you. You will be outer sect members along with some other younger members who were in a similar situation to yours but in the village. Mistress Zhong will look after you."
Some of them looked relieved to hear that.
"Gratitude for taking care of us, Esteemed Master Cultivator, but what can these lowly ones do to repay the sect?" Hao Cheng said.
"I'm glad you asked and that you're thinking of it in those terms," Benton said. "To begin with, I simply want you to cultivate and be attentive to what anyone is teaching you. The sect has many, many positions that will need to be filled. We need blacksmiths and fletchers and alchemists and growers of spirit herbs and woodworkers and wood harvesters and, yes, fighters. And many, many other things besides. I want each of you to take a year or two and try out different things until you find something that both helps the sect and makes you happy. Then, I want you to do that thing to the best of your ability. Can you do that?"
The little fellow nodded vigorously. "Yes, Esteemed Master Cultivator!"
So, so cute!
"Okay," Benton said, returning to addressing the group at large, "the first step in the process is for each of you to become my disciples. From the time the ceremony is complete until the sect is officially formed, you shall call me Master."
"What should these lowly ones call the Esteemed Master Cultivator after that?" Hao Cheng said.
"Either Sect Leader or Master, depending on the circumstances."
The little boy nodded.
Benton pulled a table, a couple of teapots, tea, and nineteen cups from his ring and directed Zi Delan to get everything set up for the ceremony, including getting the boiling water from the camp. Meanwhile, Benton called Peng Zhen, his wife, and Peng Hanying off to the side.
Benton was having a hard time deciding what to do with Peng Hanying. On one hand, he had a powerful and, to this point, unique, qi aspect. Using resources from the Shop, if any were available, to nurture such a disciple made a lot of sense. On the other, he literally was on the lowest rung of talent, just a small step above those who couldn't cultivate at all. The boy as he was would never reach even Golden Core, meaning that qi aspect would go to waste and that pouring more resources into him was stupid.
The only thing stopping Benton from just giving the boy the standard cultivation method and treating him like all the other orphans was that Benton didn't know what the Shop had available and for what price.
"Is there a problem, Esteemed Master Cultivator?" Peng Zhen said somewhat nervously.
"Not so much a problem as a potential opportunity. After the disciple ceremony, I'm going to give almost everyone a cultivation method and teach them how to get started." Benton turned to Peng Hanying. "Your qi aspect is quite rare, and I find it very interesting. Instead of having you start cultivating immediately, I'd prefer to do some research first. I just wanted to explain that I'm not punishing you or your family or anything like that by not giving you the method yet. In fact, I'm doing the same thing with another one of my disciples, literally the third most talented one after the twins. Do you understand?"
"This lowly one is disappointed not to start with everyone else, but this lowly one would rather start correctly than start fast, Esteemed Master Cultivator."
"Excellent response. Let's get started then."
Benton was becoming quite the expert both at performing the bai-si tea ceremony and leading beginners through sensing qi for the first time. Accomplishing both still took quite some time, but by the time everyone turned in for the night, Benton had gained another nineteen disciples, eighteen Sect Points, and nineteen Shop Points.
Sect Name:Not ChosenSect Members:0Disciples:55Sect Points:68Shop Points:59Host Cultivation:Foundation Establishment - Minor Realm OneQi Available:1,110Host Body Cultivation:Bronze - Minor Realm TwoHost Techniques:Analysis - Large SuccessBasic Archery - Large SuccessBasic Spear Combat - Large SuccessPill Basics - Large SuccessMenus:[Cultivation Method][Technique][Quest][Perk][Advancement][Shop - LOCKED]Nice. Benton's future sect was growing by leaps and bounds. In fact, he finally felt satisfied that, for the moment, recruitment was where it needed to be.
He was also happy with his Sect Points. Even if he had to use ten points for a new individual cultivation method or for a technique, he'd still have all the points he needed to start body cultivation. In fact, he made a vow to himself not to let his point total fall below fifty-five before he got that particular ball rolling.
Even better, he'd just gained two more points for his personal growth, and since he was out of hock, he could actually use them. He had a lot of choices, though, so he decided to spend the travel time tomorrow really mulling over his options before choosing one.
Chapter 80 – The True Role of a Sect Leader
The next morning as the wagon creaked along, Benton focused on what he wanted to do with his two free Sect Points.
When he'd first been isekaied to the cultivator world and selected the Sect Leader System, he had been more than a little naïve, thinking he'd simply recruit sect members who would do all the fighting for him.
In reality, that idea hadn't worked out too well. For one thing, sending the twins and his other disciples into danger while not being willing to brave the same himself simply didn't sit right with him. For another, being stuck behind a desk while dealing with the sect's administrative duties wasn't the primary role of the sect leader. His actual role was to be such a powerful threat that no one dared pick a fight with his sect members.
Now that he'd reached Foundation Establishment, it was time for him to start growing into that role in truth, not just bluffing it.
His future was secure in that, as long as he survived, he could recruit more and more sect members, who would continue generating more and more Sect Points for him. He didn't have to worry about bottlenecks. His route to Nascent Soul and then Nihility and beyond was assured.
If.
If he survived long enough.
That was the rub.
In Qi Gathering, techniques were useful but not crucial. His main use of points had been to reach Foundation Establishment, and he felt that was absolutely the right call.
There was a part of him that wanted to continue on that path. No one below Golden Core would mess with a cultivator at that realm. No Golden Core would mess with a Nascent Soul and so on. But such a path would leave him as a paper tiger, essentially doing exactly what he'd done at the Poison Claw Sect—bluffing.
He needed real power, which, as a Foundation Establishment cultivator, came from techniques. Advancing minor realms would make him slightly stronger and give him more qi to work with. Techniques would allow him to make use of that qi.
Obviously, his plan going forward had to be to buy the techniques he needed to gain that power. Once he had a powerful build developed, he could balance advancing in minor realm against increasing the stage of each of his techniques.
His powerful build would also form the foundation of all his combat skill for all his future major realms. Though neither he nor Su's memories was entirely sure what happened at Golden Core, it was well known that cultivators continued using the techniques they learned at Foundation Establishment all the way through the next realm and, presumably, into Nascent Soul.
Of course, that practice might simply be because learning a technique required such a large expenditure of time and resources. It might be that Benton's cheat System would mean he would end up tossing all he was planning to learn away.
He didn't think so, though. His instincts, based on everything Su had learned in the Flowing Tiger Sect, were saying to create a strong foundation of powerful techniques before moving forward.
Thus, Benton's immediate goal was to determine a build that would make him a dominate cultivating powerhouse.
Starting off, he had four techniques from the Qi Gathering realm, all at the Large Success stage—Analysis, Basic Archery, Basic Spear Combat, and Pill Basics. Of the four, the last could easily be eliminated from the need to advance for the immediate future. Until his disciples started reaching Golden Core and above, there was simply no need to gain more knowledge in using pills.
Analysis was trickier to eliminate, but after some deliberation, he decided that gaining incrementally more information about objects, even important ones such as pill, herbs, and weapons, wasn't helpful to his immediate focus, which was martial might.
Advancing Basic Archery and Basic Spear Combat were definitely on the table, though, depending on how handy they'd be in conjunction with whatever external qi manipulation techniques he decided to take. Increasing the rank of either wasn't immediately useful as Large Success made him capable enough to hold his own against most opponents. Only true martial experts would present any problems in that regard.
Which led him to his main question—what techniques could he create for himself that would make him unbeatable at Foundation Establishment and even allow him, if necessary, to punch up a major realm?
Obviously, being able to use four rare, cheat-like aspects such as void, space, gravity, and time was a good start. Being able to literally create any technique using those aspects that he could imagine was also a broken ability.
The trick was converting those two amazing characteristics into a form that allowed him to dominate on a real battlefield.
First up, void.
Benton had two ideas in his mind as to what void qi actually was. First, it was the stuff that filled his storage ring where the actual items he put in there wasn't. Essentially, it was just nothing. A lack of something. And if that was what void qi represented, it would be somewhat useless. On the other hand, he also had a notion of void as being a substance that hated matter, kind of like how nature abhorred a vacuum. Void abhorred stuff.
If the latter were true, then void was more like antimatter than it was like nothing, meaning it might just be the most destructive form of qi available.
"System," he said internally, "is void qi nothingness or does it abhor matter?"
Void qi can be either, depending on Host's conception of it.Okay. Well, that was a lot to unpack, but he decided it was best not to get sidetracked.
"System, I'm going to have some follow up questions about how the qi can change based on my conception, but we'll leave that for some other time. For now, whenever I mention void qi, please give me the abhorring matter version unless I specifically state differently."
Decision accepted.Alright.
For some reason—maybe because he could see the size of his qi pool—Benton tended to think of a technique kind of like a spell. User inputs qi of specific amount X into spell Y to create defined amount of damage Z. Techniques weren't exactly like that, though. The user controlled X instead of it being constant, meaning Z was also variable. To put it another way, Z always varied according to X.
"System, how much qi would be consumed if I wanted to fire a lethal bolt of pure void qi at an enemy fast enough that most Golden Core cultivators could not dodge it?"
Such a void bolt would require approximately 5,000 qi for an average cultivator of that realm.Yikes. That was almost five times the size of his pool of one thousand one hundred ten, and the bolt wasn't even guaranteed to hit a cultivator at the peak of that realm or one who was specced for evasion.
"System, how much qi for the same conditions except against a foe in the Foundation Establishment realm?"
1,500 qi.Getting closer.
"System, how much to simply create the qi bolt but not to propel it?"
To create an amount of void qi sufficient to kill an average Foundation Establishment cultivator assuming the bolt hits body or armor instead of a qi shield would require approximately 800 qi.Now he was getting somewhere. That was at least an amount he could afford. The point about the qi shield was interesting, though. By the Foundation Establishment realm, almost all cultivators would throw up a qi shield, be it through a defensive talisman or from their own stores of qi, for any attack they couldn't dodge.
From Su's memories, elements that formed qi aspects acted similar to types in Pokemon. Greg had been into playing the game when he was younger, so Benton had gained a passing familiarity. Essentially, types were either weak against, strong against, or neutral against other types.
If a cultivator formed a shield of one element, the best way to penetrate the barrier was to use an attack of an element that was strong against the defending one. For example, two of the best elements for shields were accounted to be earth and ice. Fire was strong against ice and, thus, would penetrate it easier than attacking with an aspect that was neutral against that element. In contrast, fire was weak against earth, meaning the poor fire-aspected cultivator was going to have a long day trying to get through the earth-aspected cultivator's barrier.
"System, what elements are void qi strong and weak against?"
Void, as held in concept by the Host, is neutral to all qi elements. It destroys matter exceptionally well but is an inefficient use of qi to attack shields.Hmm. Void qi was great at killing people but suboptimal at taking out shields. Thus, Benton needed to hit first with a shield breaker and follow that attack immediately with void.
Made sense.
Cultivators could construct qi shields out of just about any aspect, though, and there wasn't a single element that was strong against all of them. Quite the contrary, actually. What he really needed was to vary the element of the shield breaker based on the shield's element.
"System, can I attach a small bit of qi to an arrowhead in a way that doesn't damage the tip?"
Yes. Host may charge the tip of an arrowhead with a qi aspect for the cost of the qi attack plus 10%.Great. Delivering a qi bolt directly would cost fifteen hundred qi. To deliver the same attack via arrow would cost only eight hundred eighty. Perfect.
"System, how much would it cost to deliver an attack aspected to a primary or common secondary element strong enough to overwhelm most shields of Foundation Establishment cultivators?"
400 qi.Half as much as he'd spend on a lethal void attack. Awesome.
"System, am I correct in understanding that delivering that attack via arrowhead would cost the same ten percent, so forty qi?"
Yes.Those responses were all great, but the plan Benton had just come up with hinged on the answer to the next one.
"System, can I layer a primary aspect on top of a void aspect on top of an arrowhead so that, when an attack lands, the primary aspect hits the shield and the void hits the cultivator?"
Yes, but the cost will add twenty-five percent to the total of the two qi attacks.That response was good and bad, but he could work with it. An arrow layered with fire qi and void qi would cost fifteen hundred total, exceeding his current pool size. Of course, that pool size would grow as he ascended minor realms, but he still thought he could get that cost down some.
"System, how much would it cost to deliver an attack aspected to a primary or common secondary element strong enough to overwhelm most shields of Foundation Establishment cultivators, assuming the attack element was strong against the defense element?"
200 qi.That answer was exactly what Benton had hoped. Using fire against ice or water against earth would take down a shield for half the cost of using a neutral element. Thus, if Benton could always guarantee to use an opposing element, the cost to one shot the average Foundation Establishment cultivator was reduced to one thousand two hundred and fifty qi. That amount was still more than he currently had, but he was going in the right direction.
Besides, he could always reduce the amount of void qi used. Even if it wouldn't immediately kill his opponent, injuring them enough to put them out of the fight for a while was almost as good, depending on the circumstances.
"System, can I create a Foundation Establishment ranked technique that layers the metal tip of a weapon, be it arrowhead or spear tip, with void qi and a type of primary or secondary aspected qi that opposes the type of qi my opponent is known to use in defense?"
Host may create a Foundation Establishment technique that layers void qi and a specific type of qi declared at the time of technique creation to the metal tip of a weapon.
Creating a technique with a variable qi aspect was not considered by the Sect Leader System.
Calculating…
Calculating…
Calculating…
Sect Leader System authorizes the creation of a variable aspected techniques, but since such techniques have never been seen on this planet, creation will require fifty percent more Sect Points per stage.
For a moment there, Benton feared he had broken the System, but he was okay with the final answer. He was breaking the rules that everyone else used, so it made sense to be charged more for that. It was much better than not being allowed to do it in the first place.
He'd have to pay three points for Small Success, three for Large, and six for Mastery, so twelve total instead of eight. The higher cost was worth it, considering it boosted his offense and reduced his qi cost.
Next, he needed a delivery system.
"System, how much qi would it take to increase an arrow's speed so that it's so fast that a peak Foundation Establishment cultivator specced for speed and/or evasion can't dodge it?"
25 qi.Yes. That was why he liked bows. The mechanical aid of the weapon combined with his own strength already made an arrow pretty darn fast, so it took only a little bit of qi to make it even faster.
"System, how much to add a homing function to the arrow above?"
Qi required would double to 50.Awesome. Fifty qi to shoot an arrow that couldn't be dodged was exactly what he needed.
"System, is there any additional qi needed to attach the technique I asked about above to the powered, homing arrow?"
No. The total qi required would be the sum of the qi input into each of the two techniques."System, is there any problem creating a technique like I described to power the arrow and make it homing, giving me the choice to use either ability or both?"
Host may create such a technique.
Create technique?
"No thank you, System. I'm still thinking through my options."
Chapter 81 – Juggernaut
So far, Benton had come up with two techniques he definitely wanted—the one that layered void and variable aspected qi on a weapon tip and the one that made an arrow faster and/or homing.
What else?
The first thing that came to mind was some kind of area attack. All things were possible in a cultivation world, so he should expect the unexpected. Even though his arrows would be hard to counter and would deliver a devastating blow, they weren't impossible to evade or block.
If he had some kind of area affect, that addition would really round out his offensive powerset. Su's memories indicated that, though a fireball could be blocked by just about any type of qi, only ones effecting temperature would prevent the heat from penetrating.
That fact gave Benton an interesting idea.
"System," he said internally, "can using gravity to make objects heavier be blocked by a qi shield?"
The answer depends on how the Host applies the gravity. A small pulse aimed to at an opponent's weapon to increase its weight can be blocked by a shield just like any other qi attack. Increasing the local gravity of an entire area can be countered but not blocked by a shield.That response contained an interesting tidbit that needed unpacking.
"System, how can a localized gravity increase be countered?"
If Host's opponent has access to talismans or personal qi that decrease gravity, that decrease can directly counter Host's increase in the local gravity. The incidence of cultivators with a qi aspect is low, making the chance of encountering this scenario improbable.
Additionally, some cultivators possess techniques that directly counter local physical effects caused by qi in a similar way that shields block qi attacks. Though much rarer and more qi intensive than qi shields, any cultivator who participates in many battles is likely to have access to such.
If Benton encountered an opponent who also used gravity aspected qi, he'd deal with that eventuality when the time came.
The second scenario didn't mean Benton shouldn't use an area of effect technique. It just meant he should be prepared for the technique to be countered. It wasn't like he wouldn't use direct attacks just because of the existence of shields.
Actually, what it really meant was that he needed such a measure for himself. He saved that thought for later to avoid getting sidetracked.
"System, how much qi would be expended for an attack that would bring a peak Foundation Establishment cultivator literally to their knees, and how much for a directed attack that would cause them to lose their weapon?"
A hundredfold increase in local gravity in a two-foot diameter circle underneath a cultivator would be sufficient to collapse a peak Foundation Establishment cultivator who was not heavily invested in increased strength. Such an increase would require three hundred and fifty qi.
The same hundredfold increase applied in a microbeam directed at a specific point on an opponent's weapon would require fifteen qi.
Gravity seemed like a nice, efficient way to disrupt opponent, both to throw off an attack with a weapon and to take them down to the ground.
"System, can I create a technique that allows me to use gravity in both manners we just discussed?"
Host may create such a technique.
Create technique?
"Not quite yet. Thanks."
That combat ability would address his lack of an attack that couldn't be evaded. Next, he needed a shield, and naturally, he thought about replicating the variable attack method he'd come up with earlier.
"System, can I get create a shield that will use a variable qi aspect that is strong against the element an opponent attacks with?"
As was the case with using variable aspected qi for attack, the Sect Leader System authorizes the creation of such a variable aspected techniques but will require fifty percent more Sect Points per stage.Okay. That response was expected, but he wanted to make sure. Now for the true cheat idea.
"System, can I create a technique that triggers a shield only when I am about to be struck by a qi attack, and can I further have the technique trigger a shield of the exact size and amount of qi required to block that attack?"
Creating a technique with the sophistication needed to automatically counter attacks in a precise manner was not considered by the Sect Leader System.
Calculating…
Calculating…
Calculating…
Sect Leader System authorizes the creation of a techniques with sophisticated programmed responses, but since such techniques have never been seen on this planet, creation will require fifty percent more Sect Points per stage.
Benton laughed. Perfect.
"System, can I create a shield technique that combines the qualities of both the techniques I just asked about?"
Creating a technique that combines two separate abilities not previously known on this planet was not considered by the Sect Leader System.
Calculating…
Calculating…
Calculating…
Sect Leader System authorizes the creation of a techniques that combine previously approved unique qualities, but since such techniques have never been seen on this planet, creation will require double the percent increase with each quality added. The technique the Host requested will require one hundred percent more Sect Points per stage than a standard technique.
The amount of Sect Points used was starting to get expensive, but at the moment, Benton preferred to spend points in order to ensure his qi efficiency during battle. After all, he didn't expect to see another order of magnitude jump in his pool's size until he reached Golden Core, at which point he would probably need to use even more expensive techniques. He could live with paying double for a technique that was almost guaranteed to save his life at some point and be so efficient in its qi usage at the same time.
Next, he needed a movement technique. According to Su's memories, the techniques that most cultivators in the Foundation Establishment realm used made qi directly propel then forward like wind pushing them from behind or earth pushing up against their steps. There were thousands of variations, and each was quite cheap.
He wanted to be able to instantly move from one point to another.
"System, what type of qi aspect would allow me to teleport?"
The type of qi required to teleport depends on Host's conception of that qi aspect."Thanks for the completely non-helpful answer, System," Benton said internally. "Let me rephrase. Let's say that I have a conception of the qi aspect of dimensions that allows me to step from where I am though another dimension to where I want to come out back in this dimension. Does that work? And if so, how much qi would it cost?"
Opening and closing portals to other dimensions large and stable enough to use them to traverse portions of this planet would require enormous amounts of qi, in the hundreds of thousands.Okay. That didn't work. What else could he try?
"System, my concept of the qi aspect of space is that it can be physically folded to make two points closer together or farther apart. How much qi would it take for me to fold space in such a way that I can move from where I am standing to a point one hundred miles away in a single step?"
Moving the Host one hundred miles in a single step would require fifteen thousand qi.That amount was obviously still too expensive, but it at least was low enough cost that he might be able to lower it to useable levels.
"System, using the spatial qi aspect, how much qi to move one mile?"
Moving the Host one mile in a single step would require one thousand five hundred qi.Going in the right direction.
"System, using the spatial qi aspect, how much qi to move ten feet?"
Moving the Host ten feet in a single step would require one hundred twenty-five qi.That amount was affordable, but much less would work for combat.
"System, using the spatial qi aspect, how much qi to move three feet?"
Moving the Host three feet in a single step would require thirty qi.That worked. He had his movement technique.
That left only one more idea, the ability to take all the time he wanted to plan his next move.
"System, how much qi would that trick to pause time that you suggested previously cost?"
Pausing time so that the entire universe is frozen while Host is still allowed to think but not move requires one hundred qi per subjective second.Yikes. That was expensive, and he couldn't think of a way to reduce the amount needed. He wanted it, though. It could be a lifesaver.
What he really needed was a larger qi pool.
"System, is there any way besides advancing in realm to increase the size of my qi pool?"
Host can earn a Perk Point and select Enhanced Cultivation Power.Okay. He hadn't really even expected for there to be any path forward, so he'd take that.
"System, how can I earn another Perk Point?"
Host can earn Perk Points through completing certain quests. Host must complete the Found a Sect Quest to unlock more quests.Perfect. That situation might just take care of itself.
Benton went through and calculated all the Sect Points he'd like to spend through the peak of Foundation Establishment, and the number was quite high. He decided that he could forego the area attack shield until some point in the future. He had the System display the results in a table.
Peak of Foundation Establishment:16Silver Body Cultivation Minor Realm One:9Spear Mastery:2Archery Mastery:2Void and Variable Qi Layering Mastery:12Homing Powershot Mastery:8Gravity Area Attack Mastery:8Variable Micro Shield Mastery:16Quickstep Mastery:8Pause Time Mastery:8Yikes. Even with eliminating one nice to have, his ultimate combat build required eighty-nine total Sect Points, eighty-seven more than he had available to use at the moment for his personal improvement. To acquire those eighty-seven points, he'd need to earn eight hundred and seventy additional points. He'd only earned two hundred thirty-one so far.
If he could buy all those improvements as well as increasing his qi pool greatly, he had no doubt he'd become the stronger Foundation Establishment cultivator to ever exist on this planet, a true juggernaut.
The question was—would such a juggernaut be curb stomped by an average Golden Core cultivator?
Benton honestly didn't know cultivators in the next major realm to make that determination. He would need to balance his spirit cultivation advancement with his techniques.
The more important question was—what was the most effective use of points at the moment?
His biggest need was some way to convert his qi pool into something useful in combat, and for that he needed a technique, eliminating the first four items on his list. The arrow technique was meant to be a delivery method for his other attacks and didn't do much on its own, so it was not an immediate consideration, either.
"System," Benton said internally, "for all the scenarios earlier that answered how much qi various techniques would use, were you quoting values for Small Success or for Mastery?"
Small Success.That was a little bit of a relief.
"System, how much would the qi usage be reduced for Large Success and then for Mastery?"
Depending on the particular technique, Host's qi usage for the same effect would be reduced by 10% to 25% upon reaching Large Success and an additional 25% to 50% upon reaching Mastery.Sweet. That reduction meant he could actually use his most powerful attack when he mastered the technique.
Unfortunately, the two most important techniques that he wanted to buy both cost more to learn than the two points he had available. Pause Time wouldn't help him use his qi to defeat his enemies. Quickstep could save his life by allowing him to evade attacks, but evading wasn't the same as winning.
Reluctantly, Benton decided to wait to buy a new technique until he had at least one more Sect Point.
Chapter 82 – Distant Thunder Portends a Storm
Starting in the early afternoon, Benton's musings were interrupted by notifications. Not that he minded. Not for those kinds of notifications.
Host's Disciple, Ye Zan, has reached Qi Gathering – Minor Realm Three
Host is awarded one Sect Point.
Host has sixty-nine Sect Points available.
By the time the caravan stopped for the night, he'd received eight more of those notifications as the guards started reaching the next minor realm. The first of those was Huang Yimun, who was the winner of the extra Qi Condensing Pill.
Happily, the points earned by the guards were just enough to bring Benton to his two hundred and fortieth point earned, meaning he had the three Sect Points he needed to create his new technique.
"System," he said internally, "please spend three points to create a technique to stack void qi and variable other qi depending on opponent's shield type on top of a weapon's metal tip."
Technique creation confirmed.
Host has learned the technique, Layered Variable Shield Breaker with Void Finisher Weapon Augmentation – Small Success.
Host has seventy-four Sect Points available.
As the rest of the caravan made camp, Benton once again pulled his council into the woods, including Peng Zhen and Zi Delan. After he officially founded his sect, Benton figured he'd eventually two different councils, one for more bureaucratic decisions and a core one for more strategic discussions. For now, though, he wanted all those in leadership positions to get used to the concept of being asked their opinion.
He did feel somewhat bad for leaving out Hao Cheng, but the little guy didn't seem ready for that kind of responsibility yet.
"In the next week or two," Benton said, "we will start encountering spirit beasts, and this meeting is to discuss our plans. Obviously, I'm not too concerned about a beast being able to defeat the twins and me. My main worry is that one of them will somehow slip through and attack one of our weaker members while the fighters are otherwise occupied. Thoughts?"
The group was mostly silent, but just when Benton was about to continue, Ye Zan spoke up. "I'm not sure what options are available to us, Master. Can you share some of your abilities with us to help us plan?"
Another disciple dropped the useless third person nonsense. Good.
"Sure," Benton said. "My first thought was that, since we're past the point where any spies can easily spot us, I could store all our goods in my ring. I could even store some of the wagons in my ring as well but not the animals unless we're going to kill them first."
It wasn't like there was any traffic at all besides them on the overgrown dirt path from Vermillion Incomparable Rain Town to the Prosperous Gray Forest Village, so anyone they encountered could safely be considered to be a spy and captured or eliminated.
Their caravan was also getting quite long with seven big wagons and one cart. It spread out far enough that the tail lost sight of the front when going around a bend or over a hill. Reducing the length and concentrating the group should make defending it easier.
There were a lot of people that Benton had collected. Him, the twins, Zou Tian, and Shi Long; Ye Zan's seventeen guards, including the drivers; Xun Wu's family of five and Peng Zhen's family of three; Zi Delan's gang of six; and the ten orphans made a total of forty-six. That was a lot of defenseless small kids to keep track of and defend.
"Additionally," Benton said, "my senses are quite adept at picking out spirit beasts from miles away. Even ones that are heavily dependent on stealth for ambush attacks are still easily detectable within hundreds of yards."
"Well," Ye Zan said, "Those two advantages will be very beneficial, Master. We should be able to put everyone in three wagons, which will greatly reduce the amount of space to patrol. I worry, though, that none of my guards have any experience fighting spirit beasts."
"Good point. Once we enter their territory, we should rotate two of your guards hunting with Yang Xiu and another two with Yang Ru in order to get that experience. With three of your people driving wagons and the four hunting, that leaves five off duty and five actively guarding? As long as I stay with the caravan, that should be fine. If the density of beasts increases, we'll shift to keeping everyone around the caravan."
"Yes, Master. Though that means we won't be getting a full ten hours of cultivation in."
"That will be a necessary sacrifice and only a temporary one. I'd rather plan to be as safe as possible."
With the decision made, Benton saw no need to keep the goods in the wagons exposed for another night, so he immediately swiped everything into his ring once he'd finished escorting the rest of the council back to the campsite. That act drew some excited murmurs from the rest of the group, but not many of them knew enough about spatial rings to understand how phenomenal his was.
Benton immediately traipsed back into the woods until he found an area with a few dead trees. Time to test out his new technique.
When he was a teenage, he remembered watching a television show that featured two protagonists who were prohibited by law from owning guns, so when they needed a lethal weapon, they taped a stick of dynamite to an arrow to blow stuff up.
Adult Benton had more than a few questions about that tactic. Wouldn't taping a heavy explosive to an arrow shaft effect the trajectory? Did dynamite really explode on contact like that? Would a single stick of dynamite blow a small shack into little splinters?
Kid Benton sure had enjoyed the spectacle, though, and the image of that one explosion endured in his mind.
Thus, when he used his new technique to charge ten fire-aspected qi onto the tip of an arrow and loosed at one of the dead trunks, he was expecting something spectacular.
He didn't get it. The fireball was underwhelming. It didn't even ignite the dry wood because it flared so fast.
The next time he pulled the arrow back to his cheek, he concentrated on adding one hundred fire aspected qi to the technique and let loose.
The trunk exploded into fiery chunks.
For a moment, he basked in the feeling of being a good ol' boy before deciding that he really didn't want to burn down the forest. He rushed forward and used his ring to douse the flames with pond water.
Time to see what void would do.
Again, he started with ten qi, and the result was … interesting. There was no sound after the thunkof the arrow hitting the tree. A chuck of wood just disappeared as if it had never existed, leaving a perfectly smooth semi-spherical divot about four inches in diameter. The arrow's shaft fell to the ground, the tip and front half having disappeared.
Benton shivered thinking about what that would do to a human. Yikes.
In order to fully test his new technique, he dialed the void qi up to one hundred. Purely for science. Not just because he really wanted to see what would happen.
He took careful aim at the center of a trunk that had fallen to lean against another tree and loosed.
Thunk.
Most of the middle of the tree and the entire arrow just soundlessly disappeared. The bottom, which no longer had anything supporting it, crashed to the ground soon to be followed by the top that had been braced against an upper fork in a neighboring tree.
That was so cool.
One more test. Charging both fire qi and void qi with ten each, he aimed at a third trunk. He barely even saw a flash of fire before it, along with a chunk of the dead wood, was eaten by the void.
That was the attack of a juggernaut cultivator. Combined with his variable shield that formed the instant he was hit, he was going to be a force to be reckoned with.
Rather pleased with himself, Benton returned to the camp where Ye Zan and Huang Yimun used their Qi Condensing Pills, propelling them to minor realm four. After getting the notification about gaining another Sect Point, Benton offered the guard captain and the other guard their choice of the sect's bow technique or spear technique. Both chose the spear.
"I'll be giving the same choice to each of the guards upon reaching the third minor realm," Benton said. "Once they reach Large Success with their chosen technique, I want them to learn the opposite one to Small Success. When that is accomplished, you and I will sit down and discuss what other techniques would be useful for them to learn."
"Yes, Master."
Benton went to each of the ones who had reached the third minor realm, congratulated them, and offered them the weapon choice.
The next day, Hou Yazhu took his pill, advancing to the fourth minor realm as well. A few more of the guards reached minor realm three. Before they all settled in for the night, Benton went to each of them offering them a choice of weapon technique and explaining his expectations.
As a bonus result from consolidating the wagons, adding additional oxen to pulling each one actually sped the pace. A little. It was still glacial, of course, but better was better.
The following day, the rest of guards reached the third minor realm, and Benton followed his new protocol with them as well.
Astoundingly, he also received a notification that Wai Ai reached Qi Gathering minor realm five.
Benton called up his status.
Sect Name:Not ChosenSect Members:0Disciples:55Sect Points:92Shop Points:59Host Cultivation:Foundation Establishment - Minor Realm OneQi Available:1,110Host Body Cultivation:Bronze - Minor Realm TwoHost Techniques (Qi Gathering):Analysis - Large SuccessBasic Archery - Large SuccessBasic Spear Combat - Large SuccessPill Basics - Large SuccessHost Techniques (Qi Gathering):Layered Variable Shield Breaker with Void Finisher Weapon Augmentation – Small Success
Menus:[Cultivation Method][Technique][Quest][Perk][Advancement][Shop - LOCKED]Nice. Ninety-two Sect Points. Considering how many he hoped to earn through body cultivation, he might actually reach those eighty-four free points he needed to advance himself. After all, he had … one … unused at the moment.
Hey, it was a start.
Actually, he was considering changing his ten percent allotment. There weren't many disciples who were going to be reaching Foundation Establishment anytime in the near future. Assuming he could get the right pills from the Shop without breaking the bank, he thought the twins might advance soon after the sect was founded. Other than them, only Wan Ai was getting within striking distance.
If body cultivation panned out how he hoped, he'd have more than enough points to secure techniques for his disciples for a while to come, and that assumption didn't even take into account recruiting more sect members from the village. He felt it likely that he could at least double his personal point allotment to twenty percent and maybe even go to twenty-five without impacting his ability to create new cultivation methods and techniques.
During the next five days, all the guards advanced their respective weapon techniques to Small Success, earning Benton seventeen more Sect Points. That quantity took him to two unused points for his personal advancement, and he was torn. He planned for the Shield Breaker technique to become his go to damage dealer, so taking it to Large Success would greatly enhance his combat effectiveness by reducing the qi expended by ten to twenty-five percent. On the other hand, the technique was meant to be used with a weapon, and picking up the arrow technique would make it less likely for a target to evade him. And he could buy that one immediately.
More damage or a higher chance to hit? Tough call. With some regret, he decided to wait for one more point in order to advance his most powerful technique.
Sometime in the mid-morning, he sensed rank one spirit beasts in the distance. That was close to a week sooner than he had expected, meaning that the beasts had expanded their territory greatly in the little over two months he'd been gone. He couldn't help but wonder—what storm did that metaphorical distant thunder portend?
Chapter 83 – Learning to Hunt
Ye Zan crept through the woods behind Yang Xiu, trying to move as quietly as possible. Whatever he was doing wasn't good enough for Senior Sister, who kept glaring and him and Huang Yimun, his fellow guard who was even worse about finding every dead leaf than Ye Zan was.
Less than a month and a half ago, he'd never left the city. He'd never walked through woods. He'd certainly never crept through the woods in an attempt to kill a spirit beast. It still amazed him every day that he'd somehow arrived at such a place in his life.
Not that he was complaining. He never thought he'd amount to anything. Prior to accepting Elder Kang Ya-Ting's offer to guard a caravan belonging to a friend of the Poison Claw Sect, Ye Zan's best-case scenario for his future was dying on some nameless battlefield contested by two nobles, neither of whom even knew his name. If he were really lucky, he'd actually have someone for them to send his death benefits to.
With Master, Ye Zan was not only likely to die in a battle that actually mattered while protecting people who he cared about, but he was treated with respect. He was valued.
Whatever Master required of him, he'd do.
"You two are hopeless," she said. "If we were depending on an ambush, we'd be dead."
"Pardon, Senior Sister," Ye Zan said, "but we're supposed to be guards. We're not supposed to be stealthy."
She grumbled under her breath. "That's good because you're not!"
They sped up their pace, foregoing any attempt to be quiet until finally she stopped in a clearing.
"We should be getting close," she said. "You remember the plan?"
"Huang Yimun and I separate, trying to each get on one side of the beast. I am the primary attacker. Huang Yimun should only defend himself if the beast darts at him. If I miss my attack, you will kill the beast with an arrow."
Ye Zan had never even seen a spirit beast. In the stories he'd heard, mainly from older mercenaries, they were fast and ferocious opponents. Even a squirrel became a deadly whirlwind of teeth and claws once it grew a core. It usually took an entire squad to take one down, and such was only usually accomplished by luring it into a trap.
He was expected to kill it with a spear.
Granted, he was a lot faster and stronger and tougher than he had been as a mortal, and he understood how to use his weapon a lot better. To say he was nervous was a major understatement, though.
The only reason he wasn't scared out of his mind was because he had Senior Sister backing him up. If anyone could shoot an arrow through a beast's eye at a hundred paces while the thing scampered about like its tail was afire, it was Yang Xiu. He'd never seen shots like the ones she'd made against those bandits.
Ye Zan was very glad they were on the same side.
"Good," she said. "This is the same way that Master taught Brother and me. If you fail, there is no shame and no danger. You'll get the next one or the one after that."
He nodded. So did Huang Yimun.
"Now, take up your position and be silent. Follow me if I move. Watch for my hand signals."
"Yes, Senior Sister," they chorused.
"Silence!"
Both of them complied, waiting patiently as she used qi to extend her senses. Minutes that felt like hours later, she spoke quietly.
"It's found us. Heading this way. Take your positions. I'll be in a tree."
She moved silently behind them, but Ye Zan paid her no attention. If there were one person in the clearing that he trusted to do the job correctly, it was her.
Usually, he would be giving his subordinate orders or encouragement, but that wasn't his job today. He needed to get himself ready.
Huang Yimun would have to figure things out for himself, and if he didn't, Yang Xiu was sure to give him an earful.
Ye Zan tightened his grip on his spear and loosened his shoulders, widened his stance. His heart still pounded, but it was the best he could do.
Soon, he heard rustling in the distance, and it was clearly moving toward him. He gripped the spear even tighter, pointing the tip at the distant noise.
The beast was moving fast, much faster than he could have sprinted. And from the racket it was making, it was big.
Big and slow was fine. Small and fast was fine. There was nothing worse than a big, fast opponent.
A bush on the opposite side of the clearing moved. The bottom limbs parted, revealing a creature's gray and white face and black masked eyes. A raccoon.
Those things were accounted to be vicious even as mundane animals. He wouldn't want to face the spirit beast version. But that was exactly what he was about to do.
He darted forward to grab its attention.
The move worked. It headed straight for him.
Ye Zan tried to circle to the left to get to the beast's side as per the plan, but it didn't work. The thing was too fast, too agile. Its course remained true.
It tensed its legs. He started his thrust before it left the ground. It leapt. He moved with all the speed his enhanced body could muster.
The spear connected. Right through the heart.
One thrust, one kill.
Man, he hoped gaining experience fighting these things made him less tense. Otherwise, he didn't think his heart could take it.
*
For three full days, Zou Tian had watched one guard after another go out into the woods hunting spirit beasts with Senior Brother or Senior Sister. And he wasn't resentful, per se. He understood that the guards would be depended on to defend the caravan from attacks if Master and the siblings were otherwise occupied.
But Zou Tian was more than ready for his turn, and it had finally come.
Yang Ru grunted.
"I'm ready, Senior Brother. Let's go."
It was just the two of them because his mission was slightly different than the guards'.
Master had pointed them toward the southwest where they'd find a rank one after "about a mile." They sprinted, him silently and Senior Brother quietly, for the first half of that distance until Zou Tian stopped along a game trail.
"This looks like a good spot, Senior Brother."
Yang Ru grunted.
"Remember the plan, Senior Brother. Do not kill the beast unless it is past me, or I'm in imminent danger. Master wants me to work on my Hide Presence against it."
Yang Ru grunted harder.
"I know that you know, Senior Brother, but Master says that repeating the mission over and over again is good standard operating procedure."
Yang Ru grunted.
"Exactly, Senior Brother. Now, let's be silent. The beast should be here soon."
Zou Tian stepped into the shadow as a tree and faded. At least, that was how he thought of it, like his entire being became lesser, like his presence reduced.
Shadows cloaked him. It was the same skill he'd used all his life to be less noticed, but since he'd become a cultivator and learned an actual technique, the ability had been supercharged. Actual shadows moved across his body, shielding him from view, lessening his scent, concealing even his spiritual presence according to Master.
Zou Tian waited silently. Still. Barely breathing. Motion attracted the eye. Motion produced sound.
Patient. Unmoving. Calm.
Rustling sounded in the distance. The beast was coming.
Zou Tian did not react in any way.
Closer and closer the sound moved, and still, he didn't react.
As it approached, it slowed as it appeared in view, a fox with fiery red fur.
He felt its confusion. Yang Ru must have been like a bright shining light to its senses, but what was the dim glow at the edge of its perception?
If anything, Zou Tian grew even more still.
Nothing, little fox. He was nothing. The glow was nothing to be concerned about.
The beast sniffed the ground, inching closer to Zou Tian's position.
His heartbeat was perfectly steady, its rhythm timed in minutes instead of seconds. He was still. Calm.
The fox drew closer.
Zou Tian willed the shadows to cover him tighter.
No. Wait. Something felt wrong.
He wasn't meant to be the subject the shadows concealed. He was the shadow.
Become the shadow.
No. That was wrong, too. Why should he have to become what he already was?
He. Was. Shadow.
The fox slowly meandered past his position and focused on Yang Ru.
Behind the creature, Zou Tian quickly pulled both his daggers and plunged them into the beast's back.
Yang Ru grunted.
"I know, Senior Brother. I was only supposed to hide. You were supposed to kill. But the attack was there for the taking. It felt right. How could I resist?"
Yang Ru grunted.
"No, Master won't be mad. He's going to be quite happy, in fact. I think I just reached Large Success."
*
Benton was ecstatic to receive the notification. The quickness of the advancement proved that he'd been right to give Zou Tian a shadow technique.
When the two boys returned from their successful hunt, Benton mildly chastised the younger one for killing the beast against instructions, but he could hardly blame Zou Tian under the circumstances. Even the best plans usually didn't survive contact with an enemy. Things happened in the field, and Benton needed to trust his people to make those kinds of decisions.
Of course, in a sect, the reward for hard work was more work, so Benton gave Zou Tian a new technique to learn—Foundational Dagger Essentials. Benton had debated for a moment about making it shadow aspected, but there was little point to do so for general weapon techniques in the Qi Gathering realm.
That was his philosophy, anyway. Some clans and sects preferred to have all their people practice aspected techniques from the beginning, and Benton begrudgingly admitted there was some benefit to that practice. The type of qi influenced certain movements and styles. An earth aspected sword technique might focus more on defense. A wind one on speed. Etc.
Influenced heavily by the teachings of Su's Flowing Tiger Sect, Benton wanted his disciples to learn the foundational essentials of their weapons first instead of concentrating immediately on just their unique style. Such specialization would come later once the basics were mastered.
The next day, Zou Tian reached Small Success in the dagger technique, a quick advancement due to his already having familiarity with the weapon. Benton also received notifications that five of his newest disciples from the town had reached minor realm two. Two days later, the rest of the eighteen had reached that milestone, and Xun Wu's wife and son reached minor realm three.
Benton used the windfall to increase his primary attack technique to Large Success and to gain the Seeking Speeding Arrow Technique at Small Success.
The caravan continued on for another seventeen days, the spirit beasts growing in quantity and quality with rank twos and even rank threes appearing. The guards were only allowed to take on the rank twos in large groups with close supervision by Benton or one of the twins. They weren't allowed to challenge the rank threes at all, those being reserved for the siblings working together or, in one case where multiples showed up at once, Benton joining in.
The disciples continued their steady growth during the travel, though only Shi Long and Zou Tian reached the next minor realm. Xun Wu's wife and son also achieved Small Success with the bow technique.
With the orange walls of the village finally in sight midmorning of that seventeenth day, Benton called up his status for the last time of the voyage.
Sect Name:Not ChosenSect Members:0Disciples:55Sect Points:114Shop Points:59Host Cultivation:Foundation Establishment - Minor Realm OneQi Available:1,110Host Body Cultivation:Bronze - Minor Realm TwoHost Techniques (Qi Gathering):Analysis - Large SuccessBasic Archery - Large SuccessBasic Spear Combat - Large SuccessPill Basics - Large SuccessHost Techniques (Qi Gathering):Layered Variable Shield Breaker with Void Finisher Weapon Augmentation – Large Success
Seeking Speeding Arrow – Small SuccessMenus:[Cultivation Method][Technique][Quest][Perk][Advancement][Shop - LOCKED]