Chapter 155 - 101-108

Chapter 101 – The Reverberations of Actions

Yang Xiu couldn't believe how unfathomable her master was.

First, he hopped over the fifteen-foot-tall gate with all the ease she would have demonstrated leaping over a fallen tree trunk. Upon landing, he calmly stood there as the jaguar, for no apparent reason, was repelled from atop Yang Ru.

Again for no apparent reason and with Master simply standing still, the cat smashed into the ground like it had been slammed with great force. It literally sunk several inches into hard-packed dirt and lie there unmoving.

Master walked at a leisurely pace to the spirit beast, crouched, and held out his arm, looking for all the world like he wanted the cat to claw him. Yang Xiu couldn't understand what he was doing or why. Suddenly, the jaguar's right front leg broke free of whatever force was holding it and swiped at him, and for an instant, she was worried.

She needn't have been. The claw never even touched skin. An invisible force repelled it a fraction of an inch above his hand.

Master hmmed before pushing back his sleeve and letting the jaguar claw him again. The swipe was not repelled, but it had as little effect as if it had been.

Yang Xiu was amazed. She and Yang Ru were far and away the strongest of the disciples. They'd both went toe to toe with the best Poison Claw Sect members in the Qi Gathering realm.

Neither of them had even been able to scratch the big cat.

In contrast, Master dominated the spirit beast, controlling it with invisible forces beyond her comprehension. The dozens of people that had gathered to watch by that point were all murmuring their awe. Even Yang Ru seemed stunned by the power on display.

So unfathomable.

Master smoothly rose, summoned his spear from his ring, and struck the beast's eye. By this point, Yang Xiu definitely wasn't expecting the beast to be able to resist his blow, and for once, something that occurred during the fight met her expectations.

A flash of qi burst from his spear as it made contact with the invisible layer that had protected the beast. It resonated with her. Ice. The burst was ice qi.

Was Master an ice user? She'd never sensed him use it before.

The ice qi flared, and the tip of the spear kept going through the jaguar's eye. A different type of qi burst, and the cat died instantly.

Master looked up, his eyes going to a small form lying on the floor of the bedroom.

It was a little boy. From the look of things, the cat had landed in his room and swiped him across the room, tearing off his arm near the shoulder in the process. In addition to the missing limb, his torso was heavily scratched, and there was a large knot on his head where he'd struck the wall. There was blood everywhere.

Yang Xiu's heart rose in the throat. The boy was barely breathing, and blood still pumped out of his wounds. He wouldn't last much longer.

Master wasn't finished, though. He ran to the boy and forced a pill down the kid's throat. Moments later, the arm started regrowing and, in seconds, had fully reformed.

Yang Xiu had learned enough about cultivation while at the Poison Claw Sect to know that only a Major Healing Pill could perform such a feat. Such alchemical miracles were treasured even by Golden Core cultivators. To use one on a mortal child was incomprehensible.

She grinned. Master was truly unfathomable. And that was the kind of cultivator he wanted each of them to be.

Yang Xiu didn't know if she'd ever be as strong or generous as him, but she sure would try.

Benton had a notification pop up.

Host has completed a Hidden Quest.

Congratulations, Host, for completing the Hidden Quest, Sect Member Reaches 100% Loyalty.

Disciple Yang Xiu has reached 100% Loyalty.

Host has received one Sect Point and one Shop Point.

Host has 78 Sect Points and 83 Shop Points.

As soon as he dismissed it, another notification popped up.

Host has completed a repeatable Hidden Quest.

Congratulations, Host, for completing the Hidden Quest, Sect Member Reaches 100% Loyalty.

Disciple Yang Ru has reached 100% Loyalty.

Host has received one Sect Point and one Shop Point.

Host has 79 Sect Points and 84 Shop Points.

That was nice. Honestly, he was a bit surprised that he didn't already have the twins' complete loyalty. Then again, he supposed it was quite difficult to earn that level of devotion from someone.

Focusing on more important immediate concerns, he feared that rank four spirit beast attacks would only become more common going forward. He needed a way for the village to send out an alarm.

"System," he said internally, "is there some kind of device that the guards can use to alert the village of an attack, ideally something that can signal where the attack is happening as well?"

A Four-Zone Gong can be purchased for two Shop Points.

Confirm Purchase?

That was a little expensive, but if he were going to establish his sect at a distance from the village, he needed a way for them to notify him when they were in danger.

Of course, with his enhanced spiritual sense, he could easily determine where the attack was occurring once he knew about it, but he would soon have Foundation Establishment disciples. Eventually, such duties might be farmed out to them, so something that indicated location would be beneficial.

Benton confirmed the purchase, giving back the two Shop Points the twins had earned him. The gong appeared in his ring, and he pulled it out and presented it to the guards.

"This is called a Four-Zone Gong," Benton said.

He had never heard of such a device, but considering that the round gong had each of its quadrants a different color, it didn't take a genius to figure out.

"If a beast attacks the gate area from the northeast, strike the red area." He did just that and clear tone rang out. Committing the timbre to memory, he continued. "If from the northwest, strike the blue."

Again, he repeated his actions. A different tone rang out.

"From the southwest, yellow." Yet another tone. "And from the southeast, black." A fourth tone rang out. "That will let my disciples and me know where the attack is coming from so that we can get there faster."

The lead guard cupped his hands and bowed low. "Of course, Esteemed Sect Leader. It will be done."

Benton dismissed the guard and told the twins to summon the entire council for a quick meeting. He figured the commotion would have woken most of them. "We'll use your house."

As the twins took off, he stored the jaguar in his ring. The rank four skin, teeth, and claws would be quite valuable. Well, the rest of the beast would be, too, but he planned on keeping that. The twins would be breaking through to Foundation Establishment before too long, and the meat would make a good celebratory meal. The fact that the core was fire aspected was also too good to pass up. He'd have to find a way to convert it into a weapon for Yang Ru.

Of course, having a new spear made for him meant that Benton would also have to find an ice aspected one for Yang Xiu, but he had a feeling that he would be encountering plenty of rank fours in the near future. So, not a problem.

"System," he said internally, "I need a way for my sect members to contact me over a long distance. It doesn't have to be anything fancy, just a whistle or something. Maybe something that uses qi to enhance the sound so that I'll definitely hear it even from miles away?"

Enhanced Whistles can be purchased from the Shop for 2/Shop Point.That wasn't too bad. He purchased six of them.

He walked slowly to the abandoned house the twins had taken over for their own use. By the time he made it there, most of the others had already gathered. Several minutes later, Peng Zhen was the last to arrive.

"Alright everyone, is everyone up to date on what happened?" Benton said.

"Master was amazing," Yang Xiu said. "A spirit beast attacked, and neither Yang Ru nor I could so much as scratch it. Master came and killed it like it was nothing. How strong was it, Master?"

"A rank four."

"Really? Only that high?" Yang Xiu said. "It seemed a lot stronger than that."

"There's a huge jump for a beast to go from rank three to rank four. It's the equivalent of you going from peak Qi Gathering to Foundation Establishment," Benton said. "None of you will be able to fight a beast of that rank until you have techniques to externally manipulate qi. Understand?"

"Yes, Master," the group said.

"That's actually what I called this meeting to discuss." Benton pulled the six whistles from his ring. "Since one rank four has made it all the way to the village, I'm positive that others will follow. From now on, any group that leaves the village not in my presence needs to have one of you carrying a whistle. If you encounter a rank four or any other situation you can't handle, simply blow it, and I'll come running."

Everyone nodded.

"Yang Xiu, I'm giving one of these to you since you and Yang Ru often range alone."

"Yes, Master," she said.

"Ye Zan, please hold on to the rest and distribute as needed."

"Yes, Master."

"You probably won't even know the beast you've encountered is a rank four until your attack fails. Be ready. If that happens, your goal becomes to hold it off, not to injure it or kill it. Blow the whistle. Understand?"

"Yes, Master," the entire council said.

"Other than that, travel in groups. Help each other stay safe. If there's another attack in the village, do your best to protect the mortals but don't get yourself killed."

"Yes, Master."

No one else had much to add, so he dismissed them to go back to bed.

The next morning after he'd returned from his sweep of the Orange Vigor Spirit Wood area, he returned to the village where he found the mayor waiting.

Mo Jain kowtowed, pressing his forehead all the way down to the dirt.

Well, that was unexpected.

"Esteemed Sect Leader, this lowly one has been an idiot. Though the Esteemed Sect Leader has only exhibited the most honorable of acts in both words and deeds, this lowly one held doubts. This lowly one is thankfully not stupid enough to have acted counter to the Esteemed Sect Leader's interests, but apologies are still in order."

Interesting.

"System," Benton said internally, "what is my current average loyalty?"

7.8Very interesting.

"Honorable Mayor, why the sudden change or heart?" Benton said.

"The Esteemed Sect Leader's actions of last night are on every tongue—killing a ferocious spirit beast that managed to penetrate our walls that even your accomplished core disciples could not touch, generously using a treasure worth more than the entire village on a mortal child, and presenting the village with such an amazing gift along with the promise for future protection. The Esteemed Sect Leader has gone far beyond the expectations of this lowly one, treating the village and its people as true valued partners despite them being mortals and commoners besides."

Benton scratched the back of his neck. "Gratitude, Honorable Mayor. I am glad that you have reached such a conclusion and look forward to our growing cooperation going forward."

Once the mayor had left, Benton pondered the situation. Acts that he performed as a matter of course, thinking nothing of them, were turning out to have significant consequences. He wondered what else he may have done that had results that reverberated much farther than intended.

Chapter 102 – The Reverberations of Words

Kang Lin met her grandfather in Elder Dai's chambers, cupping her hands and bowing low as she presented the scroll containing Chao Su's response. The letter was, of course, unopened.

Grandfather removed the wax seal and began reading. After but an instant, he lowered it and peered at Kang Lin. "What was Chao Su's attitude when he saw you?"

"Answering Esteemed Grandfather. Esteemed Cultivator Chao was very welcoming. In fact, his greeting made him seem … oddly exuberant about this lowly one's presence."

Normally, she wouldn't be quite that formal with her beloved grandfather, but they were in the presence of Elder Dai. There was no one higher ranked in the Sixth Flawless Flowing City sect branch than her.

"I see," Grandfather said. "And, out of curiosity, what are your feelings about his disciple, Yang Ru."

Uh…

"Answering Esteemed Grandfather. This lowly one has no particular feelings about Disciple Yang."

She literally had never given the boy a second thought. Maybe she had some small bit of admiration for his skills with a spear considering how little time he'd been training with the weapon.

"Has Cultivator Chao proposed closer ties?" Elder Dai said.

Kang Lin's eyes widened.

"More like a tentative overture, Elder Dai."

How embarrassing! Kang Lin wanted to lower her head in shame. To be the subject of such a humiliating topic with Grandfather was bad enough, but it had to be in front of Elder Dai, too?

For the first time in Kang Lin's life, she regretted being born with lightning aspected qi. If she instead were earth aspected, she could conjure a hole to bury herself.

Well, once she reached Foundation Establishment, anyway, but her sheer embarrassment might be enough to trigger her breakthrough.

Grandfather returned to reading and, after a moment, chuckled.

"What is it?" Elder Dai said.

"Remember the weird symbol that we puzzled over for so long, Elder Dai?"

"Of course."

"According to Friend Su, it's a smiley face drawn sideways for some reason."

Elder Dai looked confused. "Why would one put something like that in a letter?"

"To indicate he's happy?"

Grandfather returned to reading, his face growing sterner as he continued. "The good news is that Friend Su will not hold our sect at fault at all when Teng Jian goes after him, Elder Dai. Almost as good, he will not hold the Chameleon Jade Sect at fault if Teng Jian does not target Friend Chao's disciples or the village."

"I see. He's that confident he will win?"

"Granddaughter, what was Friend Chao's demeanor like as he wrote the letter? I assume you paid close attention?"

"Answering Esteemed Grandfather. This lowly one did as she was taught and studied the Esteemed Cultivator as he wrote. At first, he was rather jovial, smiling, holding back a laugh. Then he turned serious. Then grew jovial again. He signed the letter with a flourish and, as he was about to roll it up, added something more. As he was about to roll it up the second time, he put the end of the quill in his mouth and chewed on it for a moment before adding something else."

"When you say serious, do you mean concerned?" Grandfather said.

"Answering Esteemed Grandfather. This lowly one meant … irritated. Maybe a bit angry. Or maybe resigned would be a better description. At no point did Esteemed Cultivator show any signs of worry."

"Excellent, Granddaughter, you have done well." Grandfather turned to Elder Dai. "I think we should get a letter to the Chameleons as soon as possible."

"And say what? Warn them? We'd look like idiots if Teng Jian simply kills him."

"We'd look even worse if he ends up destroying their entire sect branch, and the City Lord has to get involved."

"It's too risky, Elder Kang."

In contrast to the content of their words, neither elder looked in the least annoyed with each other, and Kang Lin got the feeling that they had these kinds of discussions often. She felt honored to witness such high-level decisions being made that may affect the entire future of the sect.

"What do you suggest, Elder Dai?" Grandfather said.

"A middle ground. We cannot forgo warning them of Cultivator Chao's response, but there is no need to stake our reputation on him winning. We simply say that we've observed him to be a powerful cultivator but are unable to judge the veracity of his claim to be able to defeat the renowned Teng Jian."

"Excellent. I will write that response as soon as we finish going through this letter, Elder Dai."

She grinned. "Thank you, Elder Kang."

Kang Lin began to wonder exactly how close her grandfather was to the other elder. She knew that Esteemed Grandmother died shortly after Esteemed Mother's birth, but it was hard to think of Grandfather as pursuing someone … romantically.

Grandfather returned to reading the letter and chuckled again. "According to Friend Su, the mysteries surrounding Teng Chun's death were mainly for the benefit of my amusement."

Kang Lin couldn't help it. She barked out a laugh.

"You have something to say, Granddaughter?"

Mercy. She brought that embarrassment on herself with her thoughtless action.

Well, nothing for it but to respond. "Answering Esteemed Grandfather. This lowly one apologizes for her outburst. This lowly one, from her very limited interactions with the Esteemed Cultivator, believes him to be fun-loving. This lowly one would not think it strange for him to play a prank."

The idea of anyone playing a trick on Grandfather simply for the amusement value was both a strange and wonderful thought.

"I see. Perhaps the idea has some merit. Friend Chao is most unfathomable."

Grandfather returned to reading. "Oh. This is interesting news. Friend Chao believes there will be a beast tide somewhere between two months and a year out."

"How can he possible put that range on it? Either it's a month or two out, and it's definite. Or it's a year out, in which case there can be no surety."

"I only know what he's written, Elder Dai. Friend Su is concerned about Fatty Ren in Vermillion Incomparable Rain Town and asks that we send help."

"To Fatty Ren but not to him? And this is the second missive regarding Fatty Ren and Cultivator Chao. What exactly is the relationship between the two of them?"

"According to the message from Fatty Ren, the two of them literally just met as Friend Chao was passing through on his way back to the village." Grandfather turned toward Kang Lin. "What were your observations when passing through the town?"

"Answering Esteemed Grandfather. The town was in dire shape. This lowly one agrees that something went terribly wrong there, and corruption on the part of the Town Manager certainly could be the cause. He was cast as the villain by the tongues of everyone this lowly one heard."

"The story made sense, Elder Dai," Grandfather said. "Reading between the lines, Fatty Ren holed up in his palace the last twenty years cultivating and let a mortal run the town unsupervised. That scenario is certainly plausible. As is Fatty Ren being behind the corruption and executing the Town Manager to cover his tracks. The new Town Manager, Xuan Jiahao, is en route and will get to the bottom of things quick enough."

"Do you advise we send more help?" Elder Dai said.

"Not at this time. The threat is too nebulous to support direct intervention. I will make sure that Xuan Jiahao pays attention to signs of any beast incursion and keeps us informed."

"Very good, Elder Kang. That is an appropriate and measured response."

Grandfather cupped his hands and smiled. "Gratitude, Elder Dai."

It wasn't so much what he said as it was the way he said it. There was definitely something going on between the two even if just a flirtation. Kang Lin really didn't know how to feel about that. They were both … old.

Grandfather went back to reading, though he was clearly near the end of the scroll from how far down his eyes were. "Friend Chao asks another favor."

"What this time, pray tell?"

"Friend Chao wasn't prepared for a beast tide and should have purchased more bows and a lot more arrows, apparently. He's asked me to mention his need to a merchant."

Elder Dai shrugged. "It doesn't cost us anything and would strengthen our relations both with him and the merchant."

"My thinking exactly, Elder Dai."

"Is there anything else in the letter?"

"Only another small mystery. Any idea what 'TTYL' means, Elder Dai?"

The way the two of them smiled at each other gave Kang Lin the creeps. She was very glad to be dismissed.

Teng Wuying looked up from his desk to see a messenger enter the room. The outer sect member approached the desk, cupped his hand, bowed low, and held out a scroll case.

"What's this?" Teng Wuying said.

"Missive from Elder Kang of the Poison Claw Sect."

"Ah. More information about the cultivator who killed my nephew probably." Teng Wuying said, taking the case. "You are dismissed."

The man bowed again and left.

Teng Wuying opened the case.

Esteemed Elder Teng,

Esteemed Cultivator Chao Su, independent cultivator and friend of the Poison Claw Sect, expressed regret over the matter involving the former Esteemed Cultivator Teng Chun.

Esteemed Cultivator Chao Su is of the belief that an altercation between him and the Esteemed Master Teng Jian would result in the unfortunate loss of your brother. The Poison Claw Sect is unable to make a judgment one way or the other in regards to the validity of Esteemed Cultivator Chao Su's belief.

The Esteemed Cultivator did make it clear that, upon prevailing in such a challenge, he will hold the Jade Chameleon Sect blameless for the actions of a grieving father, assuming a condition. The Esteemed Cultivator is adamant that any grudge be settled between the Esteemed Master and himself without involving his disciples or the Prosperous Gray Forest Village.

The Poison Claw Sect urges the Jade Chameleon Sect to encourage Esteemed Master Teng Jian in the strongest possible terms to adhere to that condition. Esteemed Cultivator Chao Su intimated that his anger would extend the entire sect if a disciple or a villager is harmed.

Again, the Poison Claw Sect makes no determination regarding the Esteemed Cultivator's ability to take action on such anger, but this one's sect must warn that the prudent course of action would be not to risk the ire of such an unknown quantity.

Best to you in your future endeavors,

- Elder Kang Ya-Ting

Well now, that was the most interesting letter he'd received in simply ages. The Poison Claw Sect wouldn't risk their reputation regarding the strength of the independent cultivator, but the man surely had them spooked to send such a warning.

Teng Wuying sighed. His brother would be beyond livid when he emerged from seclusion and discovered that his worthless son had been killed. Encouraging him to avoid collateral damage when seeking vengeance was absolutely guaranteed to make him go scorched earth.

Of course, his brother dying would not be the worst outcome for Teng Wuying, clearing his status as the head of the house. That death leading to an attack on the sect's branch would be a massive loss of face, however, even if such an attack came to naught.

Hmm. The issue would require much thought. Luckily, he had time. It would be months before Teng Jian either broke through or failed in his attempt.

Chapter 103 – Looking Up

A little more than a month prior, Zi Delan and his friends were struggling to find food, often resorting to methods he did not feel comfortable with just to keep himself alive. Mugging innocent people. Robbing stores and homes. He'd hated doing it, but the choice was thieving or dying of starvation.

At least, they'd never had to resort to killing anyone and had tried to limit their victims to those who could most afford the loss. Not that anyone had much to spare, but they did their best.

Things had changed for the better. For the much, much better.

In the last month, he had never wanted for food, and not only had he been taught to cultivate, but he was a respected member of a sect led by a powerful master.

The blunt tip of his opponent's practice spear poked Zi Delan in the chest. Ouch!

"Pay attention!" Yang Ru said.

Oops.

"Sorry, Senior Brother."

They exchanged blows again, Senior Brother easily blocking Zi Delan's. At least that time he kept his concentration on the spar.

It was just so hard to keep his mind from spinning. There were so many things demanding his focus that his attention just kept wandering. Five days ago, he'd never held a real weapon beyond a small knife. He'd never had a ton of information inserted into his mind by a jade slip.

For the simple training session with Senior Brother, Zi Delan was expected to choose the correct basic movements of the spear for attack and defense, to watch what his much more experienced opponent was doing and react accordingly, and, oh yeah, not forget to move qi through his body to enhance just the right muscle at the exact right time, minimizing both the amount of muscle he powered and the amount of time he left it powered.

Simple, no?

No.

It was small wonder that his mind wanted to drift.

The blunt end of Senior Brother's spear slammed into Zi Delan's shoulder. Ouch! That was going to leave a bruise.

"I said pay attention!"

"Sorry, Senior Brother."

In a few more days, he'd hopefully achieve Small Success. After that, he'd switch to learning his secondary weapon, the bow. But after a week or so of that to reach Small Success, he'd be back to the spear until reaching Large Success.

At least, he'd be fighting real spirit beasts, supervised of course, when he picked up the spear again.

The tip of Senior Brother's spear whacked his leg. Ouch!

"Pay attention!"

Ye Zan was bored. It was his turn to keep watch while the other four guards cultivated.

That aspect of protecting the harvesters in the area the Orange Vigor Spirit Wood grew was the amazing. The qi level in that area of the forest was something like twice as concentrated as anywhere else. All the guards wanted to be assigned there.

Since one of them always had to be fully alert, they'd broken up the shift so that each spent two full hours of the ten on active patrol while the others cultivated.

Master, Senior Brother, and Senior Sister swept the area in the mornings, so there was very little action. In the six prior days they'd been out there, they'd only seen three spirit beasts, two rank twos and a rank one.

Hardly exciting.

Still, Ye Zan had to keep vigilant. His job was to put himself between any threat and the harvesters. He paced around the work area, stopping every few steps to listen for anything coming.

Step. Step. Step. Stop. Listen. Nothing.

Step. Step. Step. Stop. Listen. Nothing.

Step. Step. Step. Stop. Listen. Nothing.

Step. Step. Step. Stop. Listen. Rustle.

Wait. That was definitely a noise. Wishing he had a perception technique, he strained his ears to the height of their mortal potential.

Rustle. Rustle.

Yep. There was definitely something moving out there, and it both sounded big and was headed his way.

"Alert!" he yelled. "Alert!"

Yang Xiu arrived almost instantly. The rest of the guards took a bit longer.

"I'll go check," she said. "Hold back a second."

Yang Xiu quickly and quietly disappeared into the forest, returning about a quarter hour later. "Antelope. Horned. Over a hundred pounds. Rank three at least for sure."

"Senior Sister, may I?" Ye Zan said.

His tone was pleading. He wanted it. Badly. Large Success was so, so close. A good fight might put him over.

"You think you're ready?" she said.

Yes! She didn't shut him down immediately. He had a shot!

"My spear skill is near the peak of Small Success. I've advanced to the first minor realm of Bronze Body Cultivation." He pointed at the guard nearest him. "Huang Yimun is the same. He and I working together can do this. I swear."

"If I allow you two to attempt defending against this beast, I will let you get gored if you make a mistake," she said. "I will kill it before it kills you. Probably. But it will hurt. A lot. Are you sure?"

"Positive, Senior Sister."

Yang Xiu frowned. "Fine. Everyone has to face a rank three at some point. Don't make a mistake. Don't let me down." She gestured at a tall tree. "I'll be up there. It will be here in ten to fifteen minutes."

Ye Zan cupped his hands, a gesture made more complicated by holding his spear. "Gratitude, Senior Sister."

She nodded and glided toward the tree. It wasn't that she was in a hurry. That was just how she moved, smooth and fast.

"You ready, Guard Huang?" Ye Zan said.

"I am. Are you ready, Guard Ye?"

Ye Zan smiled. "I am. Let's do this."

Given the noise the antelope made, it wasn't hard to pinpoint its position. They had a few of the harvesters relocate to a different tree, just in case. Not that they had anything to fear with Senior Sister on overwatch, as Master called it.

As the spirit beast grew near, Ye Zan loosened his muscles and dug down through the leaves so that his feet rested on the soil. He wasn't sure if that helped anything or not, but given his qi aspect, it couldn't hurt.

Huang Yimun looked at him and stifled a laugh.

Hey, it wasn't superstitious if it worked.

The antelope emerged from a dense stand of bushes. A buck, just as Senior Sister had said. Not that he had doubted her information. There were few people in the world he trusted more than her and Senior Brother.

There was a something the stories about spirit beasts didn't say, and that was that they were usually gorgeous specimens. The buck was no exception. Its antlers, its form. The light brown fur on its back and the white underneath. It was spectacular.

Something about it also called to him. The smell of earth. Of soil. He wandered if they shared a similar qi aspect.

None of the other spirit beasts he'd encountered felt like that to him. Of course, the antelope was the first rank three he'd seen up close.

The creature looked around and spotted the two of them. The other guards were further back, between it and the harvesters, and Senior Sister was way up in a tree.

Ye Zan knew exactly what it was thinking as it stared at the two fourth minor realm Qi Gathering cultivators—yum, tasty!

Well, come and get it.

Ye Zan, positioned to its left, stepped forward, drawing its eyes.

The antelope charged, graceful and speedy. It wasn't far, so they didn't have long to act.

Ye Zan readied his spear. As the beast neared, Huang Yumin darted forward. The beast altered its course at the distraction.

Almost as if they'd practiced the move a hundred times—oh wait, they had—he dodged out of the way just as Ye Zan moved into position. He channeled qi to select muscles in his right hand and arm. With all his strength combined with the burst from the qi, he stepped forward and thrust.

His spear tip pierced the beast's skin slightly behind the front shoulder.

When he'd left Sixth Flawless Flowing City, he barely knew which end of a spear to hold. Since, he'd practiced for countless hours with Senior Brother, who had mastered a cultivator technique for the weapon. Ye Zan had hunted with his spear, sparred with his spear, lived with his spear for months.

Knowing exactly where the creature's heart was, he would not miss.

He did not miss.

After that one strike, it was simply a matter of not letting the spirit beast gore anyone until it bled out. It was severely out of position to catch Huang Yimun, and there was no way Ye Zan was stupid enough to get hit while it was on its last legs.

After a few futile seconds, it collapsed and died.

Ye Zan immediately sank into a lotus position and meditated on the fight, as did Huang Yumin. The antelope hadn't come close to hurting either of them, much less killing them, but the important thing was that it could have. The blood pumping excitement of facing a truly worthy opponent with life and death stakes spurred growth.

Each minute movement. The timing and location of the channeled qi. The feel of the spear's wood haft. The weight of the spear's metal tip.

Ye Zan was the first to feel it. Like something clicked in his mind. He felt more attuned to the spear.

He'd done it. Large Success.

Several minutes later, Huang Yumin opened his eyes and grinned.

They'd done it.

Hao Cheng barely looked up as Ye Zan slayed the spirit beast. Not that he wasn't interested. It was just that he knew Guang Yin or one of the other old harvesters would figuratively tan his hide if he got distracted.

Felling trees was dangerous work. Orange Vigor Spirit Wood was much denser than other timber, and it grew tall. Even with enhancements in speed and toughness provided by his cultivation, trees fell deceptively fast, and they were heavy enough to crush a person to paste. Not keeping one's mind on one's work was a recipe for injury or even death.

In fact, one of the logs falling on you was much more hazardous than being cut by an ax or saw. Those other accidents, after all, were incredibly unlikely to be lethal right away, and Master wouldn't let anyone die if he could save them.

Still, the risk was there. Guang Yin knew someone who had died in just such a way, and another harvester had gotten a leg crushed. And that happened back in the days of the Righteous Rain Sect, who wouldn't even spare a mortal grade healing pill for the man.

In a way, Hao Cheng's job was every bit as dangerous as the guards and just as important, too. Perhaps more so. The trees he was cutting down would one day be part of the wall for the sect. He was protecting the sect just like the guards were.

To think that an orphan like him from a failing town would end up a cultivator with such an important job.

Things certainly were looking up.

Things certainly were looking up.

Benton reviewed his gains for the day. Yang Ru had advanced to minor realm nine and Xun Wu to minor realm two. Ye Zan and one of his guards had hit Large Success with their spear techniques. Five of the guards had finished their third baths to reach Bronze minor level one for Body Cultivation.

Yep. Nine Sect Points. What once would have been an event to remember for yielding such a high quantity was now just an average day.

Sweet.

The gain also pushed him high enough to trigger another allocation of points to use for personal use—just two, though. He used it to increase Pause Time to Large Success.

At that rate, he'd be at Golden Core before the beast tide hit.

Chapter 104 – Excelsior!

The next four days passed with no exciting developments besides the incremental improvements made by Benton's sect members. Peng Hanying was able to advance from the first minor realm to the second, but it was Wan Ai who made the most major improvement in cultivation. She first hit minor realm six before using a pill to get to minor realm seven the next day. Continuing her run of exceptional advancements, she got her dagger technique to Small Success as well.

Much bigger point moves were made in regards to techniques, however. Working in the village forge daily as a blacksmith apprentice, Shi Long was able to advance Hammer Time to Large Success. Bigger news was that more than half of Ye Zan's guards reached Large Success with their primary weapon during the time period, and Benton made a mental note that they needed to discuss how to proceed from there.

The biggest point earners were all the orphans, both those from the village and those from Vermillion Incomparable Rain Town. Bai Xinyi, Wan Ai's alchemist helper, reached Small Success with her herb technique, and all six wood harvesters reached the same level with their skill. Zhong Wen and her two helpers along with eighteen more of the kids, including Zi Delan's group, had been practicing weapons skills with the twins, and all reached Small Success as well, thirteen with the bow and eight with the spear.

More successes came from sect members gaining in Body Cultivation. Wan Ai added a second assistant, and the combination of the three of them working together really helped jump up production. Over the course of the four days, a total of twenty-seven sect members completed their third baths, propelling them into the first minor realm of Bronze Body Cultivation.

All combined, Benton gained sixty-nine Sect Points, using fourteen to increase his personal power. He bought both his shield and his gravity area attack to Mastery as well as advancing his cultivation to Foundation Establishment minor realm five.

He pulled up his status.

Sect Name:Rising TideSect Members:111Disciples:55Sect Points:141Shop Points:79Host Cultivation:Foundation Establishment - Minor Realm FiveQi Available:7,335Host Body Cultivation:Silver - Minor Realm OneHost Techniques (Qi Gathering):Analysis - Large SuccessBasic Archery - MasteryBasic Spear Combat - MasteryPill Basics - Large SuccessHost Techniques (Foundation Establishment):Automatic Reaction Variable Shield – MasteryFolded Space Quickstep – MasteryLayered Variable Shield Breaker with Void Finisher Weapon Augmentation – MasteryPause Time - Small SuccessSeeking Speeding Arrow – Large SuccessVariable AoE Gravity Burst – MasteryMenus:[Cultivation Method][Technique][Quest][Perk][Advancement][Shop][Sect]Nice. Very nice.

He had nearly completed his ultimate combat build, needing only twelve more points to max out everything on his list, and he still had over one hundred forty Sect Points and almost eighty Shop Points remaining. Not to mention that he'd only just begun getting his sect members started in Body Cultivation and not a single member had yet even reached the first realm of Soul Cultivation.

There were hundreds of points out there just waiting to be earned.

In addition to the advancements leading to Sect Points, Benton was pleased to see production of Orange Vigor Spirit Wood increase. By the end of that fourth day, the harvesters were on track to cut enough for forty-five linear feet every other day. That was mainly the result of the orphans reaching Small Success, though, and it would be a long time before they upped that to Large Success.

Production was probably maxed unless he added more labor.

With that decision, thoughts about Ye Zan's future techniques, and other issues on his mind, he called a council meeting for that night. They still held it in the arena, but there was one big change. They added Mo Jian and Guang Yin to the members.

"Honorable Mayor, Guang Yin, welcome to your first meeting of the Rising Tide Sect Council," Benton said. "The only rules here are that we are to all listen to each other and every voice has worth."

Both of the men looked a little lost, but Benton didn't mind. Everyone started out that way.

"The basic agenda is check-ins with each group," Benton said. "All our projects have been progressing nicely, and I wanted to take this opportunity to make sure everything stays on track and set priorities for the future.

"First up, congratulations to everyone for all their advancements. Increases in techniques, spiritual cultivation, and body cultivation have abounded. But I wish to offer special recognition to my two core disciples, Yang Xiu and Yang Ru. They have each reached Qi Gathering minor realm nine and are on track for becoming the sect's first Foundation Establishment members in the next three to four months."

Everyone was grinning, and a few people offered each of the twins congratulations and pats on the back.

"Each of you has mastered your primary weapon and achieved at least Small Success with your secondary," Benton said, still addressing the siblings. "You are to be commended for those achievements. Each of you has also reached Large Success with a supplementary technique. That last part is a minor problem."

"Why, Master?" Yang Xiu said.

"Once you reach Foundation Establishment, you'll have access to a lot more qi, but you won't be able to do much with it without techniques. I would much, much rather the two of you have reached Mastery with your very important supplementary techniques before you start learning new ones."

"Oh."

"That leaves the two of you three to four months to break through to a new major realm and to reach Mastery of a challenging technique. Can you do it?"

"Yes, Master," the two chorused.

"I like the optimism," Benton said. "Remember, what I just said is a goal. It would be nice for you to accomplish it. The world will not end if you do not, understand? We'll come up with a new plan."

"Yes, Master."

"Next, Body Cultivation. How are we coming?"

Wan Ai looked at Zou Tian, who gestured for her to talk. She sighed. "We've got forty sect members going through the process, preparing eighteen to twenty-two baths per day."

"Would adding the women from the village help?" Benton said. "They should be hitting minor realm two any day now."

"There is almost nothing to be done without using the technique, Master."

"Okay, that's something to put to the group, then," Benton said. "Techniques can be used at minor realm two, but cultivators have so little qi available at that point that it really hampers learning. I like my philosophy of letting everyone reach minor realm three and, then, jumping them to four with a Qi Condensing Pill before giving them a technique. In this case, however, it's holding back the sect's progress in Body Cultivation. Thoughts?"

"At eighteen to twenty-two baths a day, we're progressing groups through pretty well, Master. It makes sense to progress the entire group of forty all the way through the peak of Bronze," Zou Tian said. "Starting tomorrow, the first group of three will reach minor realm two."

Benton nodded. "True."

"At the current rate, all the sect's front-line fighters except for the twins are making their way through with no holdups, Master," Ye Zan said. "The only thing more manpower will do is get the rank and file processed quicker. Is that a major priority?"

Benton thought about it a second. "I don't guess it really is. The beast tide isn't that close, or if it is, I'm not seeing the signs for it." He paused. "Okay, if no one objects, we'll let the village women progress at the more measured pace everyone else was allowed."

Mo Jian cupped his hands, obviously pleased by the decision.

No one spoke up in opposition, so Benton moved on. "Next, wood harvesting. Guang Yin, am I right to think that you're going to max out about forty-five linear feet worth of material every two days?"

"Yes, Sect Leader. This lowly one doesn't see any way to achieve more without increasing the amount of labor."

"That's around eighty days before we can finish the sect's wall and move out to the site. Thoughts?"

"Are we in a huge hurry, Master?" Yang Xiu said.

"I'm not sure. I'm extremely eager to get the sect actually running the way it's supposed to. On the other hand, our members aren't truly ready for that yet. We need to get everyone to a high enough minimum realm and get some useful techniques learned. I just thought it would be really nice to use the actual pavilions."

Honestly, eighty days seemed like such a long time, but it wasn't really. A cultivator could spend decades in seclusion cultivating. Years should be nothing, much less weeks and days.

"I guess the resolution here is that I temper my expectations and learn some patience."

Benton grinned to let everyone know it was okay to laugh. No one took him up on it, though.

"Next, status reports for techniques, cultivation, and training of each group. Ye Zan, want to go first?"

"Of course, Master. Most of the men are still working toward minor realm four since we had limited pills at the time they hit three. We're expecting that to happen in a few weeks. Meanwhile, about half have gotten their weapon techniques to Large Success. The ones who have achieved that milestone are working on getting their secondary weapon to Small Success."

"That shouldn't take long, so great job. I guess the question, then, is what next? Meaning what supplementary techniques are you thinking about?"

"For each group, I'd like two men with a perception skill, two with stealth, two with some type of movement ability, and the rest with toughened skin, Master."

Benton grimaced. He hadn't expected four different techniques, but then again, he was asking each group to be able to react to whatever came at them. They needed a variety of skills to make them flexible. Besides, looking at his Sect Point total, forty points were nothing, especially since the same techniques should work equally well for Zi Delan's group.

"Works," Benton said. "As soon as a guard reaches Large Success with the primary weapon and Small Success with the secondary, I'll provide your choice of the four supplementary techniques."

Ye Zan grinned and cupped his hands. "Gratitude, Master."

Mo Jian and Guang Yin shared a glance, having clearly picked up on the fact that Benton seemed to be able to provide any technique his sect members wanted.

"You'll hear a lot of my secrets in these meetings," Benton said to the two. "Obviously, you're expected to keep things on the down low as much as possible."

The two looked at each other again, and Guang Yin mouthed, "Down low?"

"Understand?" Benton said.

"Yes, Sect Leader."

The rest of the meeting was basically just him getting status reports on things he mostly already knew. Zi Delan detailed his group's progress, and Mistress Zhong spoke about the rest of the orphans.

"How about Jin LiJuan?" Benton said.

"She made it through the process Master," Mistress Zhong said. "It was difficult and painful, but she persevered."

"When do you think she'll be ready to cultivate?"

"Maybe give her a week and check, Master? She's still pretty weak."

"Understood. Let me know if I can do anything."

All in all, Benton felt like things were still moving in the right direction. Things just took time.

Next step, they needed to figure out what to do with the villagers who had already become sect members and to figure out a future path for recruitment.

Onward. Always onward. Excelsior!

Chapter 105 – Sect Growth

Benton turned to Mo Jian. "Honorable Mayor, how about the villagers?"

"My fellow new inductees are all diligently cultivating ten hours per day as instructed and are approaching the second minor realm, Esteemed Sect Leader."

"I was more thinking about how we should proceed for the future," Benton said. "When they reach minor realm four, the martial oriented ones will get weapon techniques and proceed along the same path as Zi Delan's group now. We haven't established a clear path for the craftspeople."

"Ah. They'd be able to produce more quickly if we started them with a crafting technique, Esteemed Sect Leader."

"Production is important," Benton said, "but they wouldn't be able to defend themselves when the beast tide comes."

The mayor shrugged as if to ask, "Which do you value more?"

That was a tough question. Benton was eager to get his pavilions up and running, and it already was going to take the villagers around a month just to reach a minimum cultivation level.

"I'll open that to the council for a recommendation as well. Do we first want to get the villagers established doing the job we recruited them for or have them obtain a minimal proficiency with weapons?"

Yang Xiu, usually the first to respond, had nothing.

"If the attack is not imminent, it would seem wise to start crafting, Master," Zou Tian said. "Even if the attack is imminent, we need arrows, and hopefully, our lives are not truly dependent on these newest sect members defending the sect."

"They obviously will not be the first line of defense, but beast tides are chaotic. Our frontline fighters may not kill every beast before it can get inside the sect grounds or the village. Everyone who can wield a weapon will be valuable, even if only to save their own lives."

"I think a compromise solution is in order, Master," Ye Zan said. "It only takes around a week or so for most people to reach Small Success. Have the villagers attain that level with their craft technique, which should be even faster for them since they already have familiarity with their job. Then, they can mainly work at the designated position but train a couple of hours a day with weapons."

Benton hmmed. "That idea won't allow them to cultivate a full ten hours a day, but after minor realm four, there's no hurry for them to advance. I like it. Good thinking. Anyone object?"

Unlike back on Earth, participants of the meeting rarely had anything contrary to say about one of their colleagues' proposals. Benton wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

"Next topic," Benton said. "Recruitment. I'll be headed back to Vermillion Incomparable Rain Town in four weeks and will bring back the rest of the orphanage and any others who want to come. I also saw a few potential recruits while walking about town. We'll need to be ready to onboard them when I get back. Honored Mayor, is this a task you'd be willing to take on?"

The trust between the village and the sect was growing, but it wasn't where Benton wanted it to be. Working together was a way to continue moving in the right direction. Besides, of all the people at the table, the mayor was probably the one most qualified for the task.

"This one would be happy to, Esteemed Sect Leader."

"Great," Benton said. "We also need to talk about adding more villagers. At this point, I'd honestly feel pretty good about inducting every person here. Thoughts?"

"That would be amazing, Esteemed Sect Leader."

Benton was relieved the mayor thought so. "We need a methodology in place for induction, which we've established the very basics of so far. First, we perform the ceremony and use their qi aspect and interests to sort them into a pavilion. Next, they basically go into closed-door seclusion to cultivate until reaching minor realm three. Then comes the Qi Gathering Pill advancing them to minor realm four. Finally, they're ready to report to their pavilion who will assign them a technique and get them started producing."

Everyone was nodding along.

"There are around a thousand un-inducted villagers," Benton said. "Is that about right, Honorable Mayor?"

"Yes, Esteemed Sect Leader."

"Right now, not counting the outer sect for purely younger inductees, we have five pavilions." Benton turned to Wan Ai. "If I sent you two hundred people in a month, could you handle that?"

She didn't answer, instead just sat there with her jaw dropped.

"Xun Wu? Can you incorporate two hundred new blacksmiths?"

He laughed. "No, Master. I don't have the resources or infrastructure to even begin to teach them, much less make them productive."

"Exactly," Benton said. "Realistically, we need to keep inducting people in batches of maybe fifty to start? We can increase that quantity as our sect grows and we're more organized and we've populated the new sect grounds. Honorable Mayor, thoughts?"

"That is more than acceptable, Esteemed Sect Leader."

"Zou Tian?" Benton said.

"It makes sense, Master. I've seen firsthand how difficult getting something like the Body Cultivation baths started is. Before, I would have thought adding more people equals faster production, but that isn't the case. The people doing the work have to stop and teach the new people and figure out where to fit them in. Besides, a sect might have a lot more than five pavilions and the few other supplementary divisions. The recruitment you proposed will give us time to find specific people to fill specific spots."

"Alright, if everyone is agreed on that topic…" Benton paused for a moment to let anyone who wanted to speak up do so, but no one did. "Great. Next is the timing of the batches. It takes about a month to go from induction to minor realm four. After that, new members should be able to get one weapon technique and one craft technique, or second weapon, to Small Success in under three weeks. So, from joining the sect until becoming a productive member takes about seven weeks. How aggressive do we want to be—inductions every three weeks, month, or seven weeks?"

"Three would be way too soon, Master," Yang Xiu said. "Classes would overlap, and there are barely enough hours in the day to accomplish everything already."

"Noted," Benton said. "Keep in mind, though, that I don't expect you and Yang Ru to teach forever. Eventually, you should find talented proteges and hand off some of those kinds of duties. Be on the lookout for people to fill that role."

"Yes, Master."

"Integrating an apprentice into a workflow takes much effort and is a distraction until the individual learns enough to be able to contribute, Master," Xun Wu said. "This process is smoothed by having a workshop with crafters of many different experience levels as those who have reached journeyman can teach the apprentices. This sect does not have that yet. We're still trying to find our footing for all our crafts. We're even using makeshift facilities."

Everyone was paying close attention. When it came to the subject of setting up a workshop and getting new additions up to speed creating crafts, no one had more experience than the expert blacksmith.

"I am in agreement with Yang Xiu, Master," Xun Wu said. "Three weeks is too fast. Four weeks is not much better, but it can probably be done as long as we do not get too many apprentices at once. Seven weeks would be better from an efficiency standpoint, but from a total production standpoint, getting new people in faster will be better in the long run."

"That's logical," Benton said.

In the end, everyone was pretty much agreed to start with a month as the time frame, triggering a new round of inductions when the previous round had all, or nearly all in case of laggers, reached the fourth minor realm. If problems arose, they could always re-adjust the schedule or have the recruits spend more time cultivating or learning weapons before moving to crafting.

"The last topic that I had for discussion is new robes for the sect members," Benton said. "I've been reluctant to push for more labor from the non-member villagers, but with our new spirit of cooperation, it would be nice to get seamstresses started creating new clothing for all the sect members from all the fabric I bought."

"It shall be done, Esteemed Sect Leader," the mayor said.

Benton cupped his hands. "Gratitude."

As there were no other topics of discussion, the meeting broke up.

The next twenty-one days flew by. Benton checked on little Jin LiJuan, but her spirit roots hadn't healed enough to register. She was doing better, though. He told her he'd check back in a couple of weeks and for her not to worry; he was confident that the pills worked. They just had to give it time.

A lot of sect members advanced their cultivation in that time. The biggest Sect Point earners by far were the villagers, who went from minor realm one all the way to minor realm four, the fifty of them increasing Benton's total by a whopping one hundred fifty points. Second at a paltry thirty points in comparison were Ye Zan's fifteen guards advancing from the third minor realm to the fifth. Peng Hanying, Xun Wu's wife and son, and Zhong Wen and her two assistants all also advanced two minor realms, gaining Benton twelve more points.

Xun Wu himself went all the way from the second minor realm to the fourth while both Ye Zan and Hou Yahzu both advanced to minor realm five. The trio together earned another five points.

Techniques were a lot less of a bright spot as they ended up costing Benton thirty-seven points. Since the villagers barely completed their cultivation by the end of the period, none of them learned techniques to Small Success, meaning no points.

Peng Hanying and his family all learned an appraisal skill, but that was a net negative of seven because it had to be created. Same with all the orphans who were slotted into the different pavilions. They did great learning a weapon or craft skill, whichever they were lacking, to Small Success, but Benton had to create techniques for spiritual food preparation, bow making, arrow making, spiritual farming, and formations.

Even the star of techniques for the period, Xun Wu, was a net negative. As an expert blacksmith, learning techniques related to his craft went quite quickly for him. He advanced Hammer Time to Large Success, a pure gain since it had already been created, but lost overall in that the forging skill he also advanced to Large Success cost ten points.

Body Cultivation was as much of a Sect Point winner as Benton had thought it would be. Over the twenty-one days, it produced one hundred and sixty points for him as all but four of the sect members going through the process reached Bronze minor realm six.

Not only were the points earning fantastic for him, but he also felt a lot, lot better about the survivability of his main fighters. Almost as good, Wan Ai and her two assistants were so good at the process that he felt comfortable creating three new techniques, one each for Yang Xiu, Yang Ru, and Zou Tian. They had yet to reach the first minor realm by the end of the period, though.

Benton's massive gains of four hundred thirty gave him seventy-eight points to spend on himself, a number so big that he was almost overwhelmed. He had to take some time to plan out how best to spend them.

Chapter 106 – Personal Growth

As Benton walked through the forest far from any of his sect members, he contemplated what to do with the points he had available to increase his personal power. Seventy-eight points was an unprecedented amount, more than enough to max out his ultimate juggernaut combat build.

His first step was obvious, to max out everything he was currently working on. Since he had so many, he went ahead and used four points to bring both Analyze and Pill Basics to Mastery, even though neither was of critical importance. Eight more advanced the Seeking Speeding Arrow and the Pause Time techniques to Mastery as well. Finally, another eight brought him to Foundation Establishment minor realm nine.

That was it. Done. His plan for a combat style that had seemed so out of reach just a short while ago was now complete, and he still had fifty-eight points remaining. Astounding.

Time to advance to Golden Core.

The only problem was that neither he nor Su knew much about the realm.

"System, please bring up the Advancement Menu."

Welcome, Host, to the Advancement Menu. You have 411 Sect Points available.

Please select one of the following options:

Increase Cultivation

Increase Body Cultivation

Add/Modify/Increase Technique

He was still astounded every time he saw the absurd amount of Sect Points he had available. With how long it took his sect members to get to Foundation Establishment and how many points he had stocked up, he honestly wouldn't feel bad about devoting even another hundred or two to his growth. His only hesitation was that he didn't want to advance so quickly that he couldn't control his power.

"System, I'd like to please add a technique."

Please specify the technique to add."I want to become an expert on cultivation in the Golden Core realm, both to guide my sect members' cultivation when they reach that level and to understand how to best form my build to take advantage of the power the realm provides me."

Host currently has 411 Sect Points.

Spend one Sect Point to attain Expert Golden Core Cultivation Technique – Small Success?

Techniques worked a bit differently than cultivation methods in regards to major realms. A technique related to knowledge or internal qi manipulation was only classified as Qi Gathering even if the cultivator learning it was in a higher realm. Thus, the technique for gaining knowledge about a higher cultivation realm was still relatively inexpensive for Benton.

Well experienced by that point with having loads of information dumped directly into his brain, he sank into a lotus position. "System, please give me the technique and advance it all the way to Mastery."

The System confirmed his choice, subtracting four Sect Points, and information flooded his brain.

In the Qi Gathering realm, cultivators gained the ability to sense qi, pull it into their body, and manipulate it internally. Foundation Establishment allowed cultivators to manipulate qi externally, using it to power attacks and defend against them in turn. At Golden Core, cultivators embarked on a long, intense process to form a Concept related to their qi aspect.

A Concept developed when a cultivator solidified understanding of their qi aspect into a concrete set of beliefs. Prior to that point, the cultivator's qi was somewhat malleable. Was void an absence of matter or a substance that abhorred matter? The answer depended on the cultivator, and it could shift so that techniques using both could be employed by the same cultivator as long as they could justify the underpinning belief.

Forming a Concept eliminated that flexibility. Some techniques would have to be discarded if they fundamentally conflicted.

In return for the added constraint, a Concept granted extraordinary power. The amount of a damage done by a fireball flung by a Foundation Establishment cultivator simply didn't compare to the same fireball flung by a Golden Core cultivator whose understanding of fire incorporated great damage.

By the same token, Golden Core cultivators were usually able to conceptualize their qi as a tangible thing and use it to support devices like flying swords. Some grew their understanding so much that they were able to convert their entire beings into qi, allowing them to imitate teleportation.

As a practical matter, a cultivator advancing from the peak of Foundation Establishment to the beginning of Golden Core gained only a large quantity of available qi. It took years of meditation and reflection to convert their understanding of their qi aspect into a Concept.

Benton, courtesy of the Sect Leader System, had a cheat.

"System, please create a personal technique solidifying my Concept of void as abhorring all matter."

Host cannot form a Concept as Host has not reached the Golden Core realm.Okay. Well, that kind of made sense.

Benton shucked off all his clothes, putting them several yards away from him. "System, please advance me to the first minor realm of Golden Core."

Calculating…

Host has met requirements to ascend to Golden Core.

Host is currently at Foundation Establishment – Minor Realm Nine.

Spend four Sect Points to attain Golden Core – Minor Realm One?

Wait a second. Hold the phone.

"System, what requirements have I met to be allowed to use my Sect Points to ascend to Golden Core?"

Host has met the following requirements to ascend to Golden Core:

Has founded sect

Has more than 100 sect members

Has a Loyalty exceeding six

"System, you're saying that, if I hadn't filled each of those criteria, I wouldn't have been able to advance?"

Correct.Overall, the System had been really good to Benton, but he was beginning to get a little bit annoyed at its present behavior.

"System, when were you going to tell me about this little stipulation?"

Host was informed when Host attempted to advance to Golden Core.Of course, that was the answer. Never mind that not informing him beforehand could have been a disaster had he attempted to advance in an emergency and not been allowed to.

"System, why the heck is the deal with this restriction? I could have been killed if it had popped up at the wrong time."

Host chose the Sect Leader System, not another system. Host's focus should be on leading a sect. Personal strength is a necessary part of being a Sect Leader, but it is a means, not an objective. Starting with the Golden Core, certain requirements involving the Host's sect must be met in order to ascend.Benton wasn't all that happy with how he'd been informed, but he got the point. He was very glad that he had, in fact, been focusing on building the sect and that his sect members thought well of him. The whole thing could have turned into a debacle otherwise.

"System, what are the requirements to reach Nascent Soul?"

Host has not met the following requirements to ascend to Nascent Soul:

Has more than fifty percent of sect members living on the sect grounds

Has more than 1,000 sect members

Has a Loyalty exceeding 6.5

Well, he definitely had some work to do, and it was a little disappointing that he couldn't just keep signing up people and use those points to become immortal without meeting the requirements. Honestly, though, recruiting more people and making their lives better were always the essential part of his plan.

Realistically, he was less than a year out from meeting the first of the criteria, and he had plenty of potential recruits to fulfill the second. A year or two would surely put him past one thousand members. And for the final one, it seemed like the villagers liked him a lot. As long as he didn't do anything to screw up his reputation, the last one should be filled simultaneously with the second.

He'd just have to avoid fighting any Nascent Soul cultivators until then.

"System, please spend the four points to advance me to Golden Core."

Choice accepted. Host has 403 Sect Points remaining.For the second time in a matter of months, Benton's body was purged of impurities, and a putrid, toxic sludge was ejected from his pores. Once again, he nearly gagged. At least, he didn't ruin his clothes that time.

After scrubbing himself thoroughly, dissolving the mess that came out of his body with void qi, and getting dressed once again, he considered how many points he should spend immediately.

"System, please create a personal technique solidifying my Concept of void as abhorring all matter."

Host currently has 403 Sect Points.

Spend four Sect Points to attain Void Concept Technique – Small Success?

"System, confirm choice."

What happened next wasn't the flood of information that he'd expected. Instead of gaining knowledge, he experienced the weird sensation of having his beliefs solidify. It was like he'd spent his life as a political independent and suddenly became a hardcore partisan. The other side's views could no longer possibly be considered reasonable in any way.

He could no longer believe that void was the absence of matter. It was solely a substance that abhorred matter.

Trippy. Very trippy.

Benton had to test what the change actually meant. "System, please create a personal technique allowing me to make storage rings using void qi."

Technique contradicts Host's Concept. Technique cannot be created.That result was exactly what Benton had expected. Creating storage rings with void qi involved thinking of void as nothingness. If you created a ring filled with void that abhorred matter, anything put inside the ring would be destroyed.

"System, please create a technique for my sect members, allowing them to make storage rings using void qi."

Cultivation Realm set to Foundation Establishment.

Sect Point Factor set to two.

Select Applicability:

Targeted to Specific Qi Aspect

Sliding Scale (Specify)

Any Qi Aspect

Okay. That was a relief. For a moment, he'd been afraid that his Concept would prevent him from creating techniques for his disciples that went against his understanding of the aspect.

Of course, he could only intellectually understand that someone could consider void as the absence of matter even though the idea seemed literally ludicrous to him. The consequence of his new powerup was that his creativity regarding void was forever restricted. For all the aspects for which he formed a Concept, he'd be much more reliant on his sect members to define how their qi aspect worked in a particular technique.

The quantity of Concepts Benton needed would consume massive amounts of Sect Points, too. An opposing Golden Core cultivator would laugh off the best attack a Foundation Establishment cultivator could throw at them as simply not being powerful enough. Using enhanced qi in such a fight was necessary.

Benton currently employed Void, Gravity, Time, and Space extensively. He needed Concepts for each of those aspects to supercharge his main techniques. At sixteen points a pop to get each to Mastery, that was a total of sixty-four points, more than he had remaining.

Worse, those weren't the only aspects he used.

Both his shield and his main attack used variable qi based on his opponents' attack or defense. The reality of the situation was that, in order to be a true juggernaut Golden Core cultivator who could protect his sect from all enemies in that realm, he needed Mastery of the Concepts for all the qi aspects he would possibly use.

Of course, such a feat was impossible. There were conceivably an infinite number of qi aspects. In practical terms, accounting for the five primary aspects and a good number of the most common secondary ones would account for almost all circumstances. Leaving sixteen points available for anytime he might encounter something esoteric should cover the rest.

That was still a massive number of Sect Points that he needed to spend.

He had forty-six points out of the original seventy-eight left, which wouldn't make a dent in the number of Concepts he needed. On the other hand, he had no real use for the nearly four hundred points devoted to his sect members. By the time even a fraction of those were needed, he'd have gained so many more that reserving them was pointless.

Overall, he felt pretty good about using a good chunk of them.

Advancing his four most used aspects to Concept Mastery was a no brainer. Adding the five primary elements was also something he would prefer to do since it would account for around three quarters of likely attacks and defenses.

Of course, those expenditures added up to a total of one hundred forty more Sect Points to spend. He had to draw the line somewhere.

Four secondary aspects. That was the line. He'd stop after adding Mastery of his Concepts of Ice, Lightning, Poison, and Illusion.

The next step was much more tedious. Benton was, obviously, a cheating cheater who cheats when it came to how much easier he advanced everything cultivation related compared to normal cultivators. Whereas a normal cultivator would spend years meditating on their qi aspect in order to develop a Concept, he just had to formulate an idea and tell it to the System. He still had to figure out what that idea was, though, for each of twelve new Concepts he was adding.

That process took a while. Once he'd finished, he used his main attack to target a dead tree with a mere ten qi. The entire trunk and a portion of the ground several feet in diameter disappeared.

Yeah. He was definitely more powerful. Much more powerful.

Benton pulled up his status.

Sect Name:Rising TideSect Members:111Disciples:55Sect Points:195Shop Points:79Host Cultivation:Golden Core - Minor Realm OneQi Available:524,270Host Body Cultivation:Silver - Minor Realm OneHost Techniques (Qi Gathering):Analysis - MasteryBasic Archery - MasteryBasic Spear Combat - MasteryExpert Golden Core Cultivation – MasteryPill Basics - MasteryHost Techniques (Foundation Establishment):Automatic Reaction Variable Shield – MasteryFolded Space Quickstep – MasteryLayered Variable Shield Breaker with Void Finisher Weapon Augmentation – MasteryPause Time - MasterySeeking Speeding Arrow – MasteryVariable AoE Gravity Burst – MasteryHost Techniques (Golden Core Concepts):Earth - MasteryFire - MasteryGravity - MasteryIce - MasteryIllusion - MasteryLightning - MasteryMetal - MasteryPoison - MasterySpace - MasteryTime - MasteryVoid - MasteryWater - MasteryWood - MasteryMenus:[Cultivation Method][Technique][Quest][Perk][Advancement][Shop][Sect] 

Chapter 107 – Ultimate Juggernaut Combat Build Mark 2

In the absence of an emergency arising, Benton was done with his spending spree of Sect Points. He'd just utilized a massive amount for improving himself and wanted to get used to the changes before adding any more. Besides, he'd overspent his personal allotment by quite a bit.

Unlike previous times when he'd dipped into the sect's funds for his own use, he didn't plan on paying the sect back. Instead, he thought of the expenditure as a bonus allocation and intended to go back to spending two of every ten points gained.

He did, however, need to determine his next steps for what direction to take his ultimate juggernaut combat build in order to spend those future points.

First up was Body Cultivation. Sixteen points would get him to the peak of Silver and another four would get him to Gold. If he wanted to max out his combat potential and he hadn't yet met the requirements to advance to Nascent Soul, increasing his strength and toughness was a good option.

The problem was that Benton didn't know if it was a good option long term. Body Cultivation was its own thing and not necessarily something used to supplement Spiritual Cultivation. Up through the peak of Golden Core, he was one hundred percent positive that each realm of Body Cultivation gained was an asset.

The question was what happened upon the transition to Nascent Soul?

Su had vaguely learned from his sect that cultivators got a new body upon reaching that realm. Benton had no idea if that remaking meant all the points he put into Body Cultivation would then become worthless or if the new body incorporated those benefits somehow.

The good thing was that he had a method to find out—create a technique on Nascent Soul cultivation just like he had for Golden Core. That idea was probably a good one, anyway.

An obvious area of immediate improvement was a shield for area of effect attacks. That weakness was his biggest vulnerability and should be high on his list to mitigate.

Adding new Concepts whenever he had the available points was definitely a good thing as well.

It also occurred to him that he now had a buttload of qi available, over half a million. He naturally regenerated five percent per hour, meaning that, if he used his entire pool, it would take him twenty hours to regain it all. That was a long time.

Of course, he had very little occasion to completely drain his qi pool to that point, so the high recharge time hadn't been an issue. One idea he had might change the paradigm by giving him an outlet for unspent qi—creating spirit coins.

Spirit coins were amazing things, essentially qi manifested into solid form in easy one thousand, five thousand, and ten thousand qi chunks. Cultivators could use them to quickly replenish their pool, very efficiently if the spirit coin was of a corresponding qi aspect to the one used by the cultivator and a lot less efficiently if it wasn't. Because the coins were so useful, they were also traded as currency.

Benton not only had a huge pool, but he could conceivably create spirit coins of any qi aspect. By making a technique that allowed him to do just that and another technique to regenerate his qi pool faster, he'd basically be giving himself a license to print money and to create a strategic resource for his sect members.

"System, can I create a technique to make spirit coins?"

Host currently has 195 Sect Points.

Spirit coins are manifested corresponding a specific qi aspect. The qi aspect must be selected when creating the technique.

Spend two Sect Points to attain (Qi Aspect) Spirit Coin Manifestation – Small Success?

The response was exactly what Benton had expected. The technique involved external qi manipulation and was thus ranked as Foundation Establishment, so relatively inexpensive.

There was no way, though, that he was going to create a separate technique for each qi aspect.

"Not quite yet, System. Can I create a technique to make a spirit coin of any aspect that I specify at the time of coin creation?"

The Sect Leader System has previously authorized the creation of variable aspected techniques. The requested technique is judged to be of a similar nature. Since such a technique has never been seen on this planet, creation will require fifty percent more Sect Points per stage.Perfect. Instead of spending eight points per qi aspect, he only needed to spend twelve points once to achieve the same end result.

He still didn't know everything he needed to about the technique, however.

"System, in order to create a one thousand qi spirit coin at Small Success, how much qi must I input? And is that input dependent on the qi aspect at all?"

At Small Success, creating a 1,000-qi spirit coin requires 2,000 qi.

The efficiency of the technique is not dependent on the qi aspect.

Wow. That was very inefficient.

"System, how do the required inputs change at Large Success and Mastery?"

At Large Success, creating a 1,000-qi spirit coin requires 1,750 qi. At Mastery, creating a 1,000-qi spirit coin requires 1,100 qi.From an efficiency standpoint, Mastery was definitely worth it.

The spirit coin technique would give him a valid use for his massive amount of available qi, but his long recharge time would eat into his profits. He couldn't, after all, drain down his pool too low because he couldn't risk not being ready for a surprise attack.

Benton needed a more efficient way to replenish his pool than his natural regeneration. Normal cultivators simply cultivated to recharge. There had to be something he could do.

"System, can I create a technique to quickly replenish my qi pool?"

Host currently has 195 Sect Points.

Spend two Sect Points to attain Meditation – Small Success?

Benton laughed. Sweet.

He was confused by one thing about the System notice, though.

"Not yet, System. Can you please explain why Meditation is rated as Foundation Establishment. It involved internal manipulation, doesn't it? So shouldn't it be Qi Gathering for one point?"

Meditation involved pulling more qi from the environment into your body and, thus, involves external qi manipulation, making it a Foundation Establishment technique.

Two points are correct.

Wow. The System didn't like to be questioned. Good to know.

"System, can you please tell me how effective Meditation is at Small Success, Large Success, and Mastery?"

At Small Success, Host's qi regeneration is increased from 5% per hour to 10% per hour. At Large Success, Host's qi regeneration is increased from 10% per hour to 20% per hour. At Mastery, Host's qi regeneration is increased from 20% per hour to 35% per hour.Nice. Instead of refilling his qi pool in twenty hours, he could do so in three at Mastery.

Another possibility for a technique he'd been thinking about was healing. It was all well and good to be able to kill rival cultivators, but being able to heal his sect members was also important. After all, Shop Points were limited, so he couldn't always rely on buying Healing Pills. It would also be a long time before he had an Alchemy Pavilion that was capable of producing any pills he'd be willing to let his sect members use.

After a few questions, he determined that Healing could be performed by a number of qi aspects, such as nature, body, water, etc., but the best one was the actual aspect of Healing. If he really wanted to be good at it, his best bet was to form a Healing Concept and then max out a Foundation Establishment technique in order to use that qi.

And lastly, he definitely needed to get to peak Golden Core at some point.

Oops. He almost forgot. Now that he had so much qi available, he'd be able to create a technique to slow or speed time, which would be a huge benefit in any fight.

Best of all, for being so potentially overpowered, there was no variability or specialness to it. It should cost just the standard eight Sect Points for a garden variety Foundation Establishment technique. Definitely add that one to the list!

That was about all the future needs he could think of at that moment. He compiled them in a list and had the System generate a table.

Gold Body Cultivation:20*Nascent Soul Cultivation Knowledge:4Area of Effect Shield:12New Concepts:16eaSpirit Coin Creation:12Meditation:4Healing (Plus Concept):24Peak Golden Core:32Speed/Slow Time:8*Depending on what Nascent Soul Cultivation Knowledge told him about the practice. Otherwise, a waste of points.He needed to set priorities.

First up was either the area of effect shield, time manipulation, or spirit coin creation. The former shored up his defense but might not ever even be needed while the latter was immediately practical even if it wouldn't help much in a fight. The middle was the wildcard that would greatly help him in fights if his opponent was faster than him. Like the area of effect shield, that was one of those things that may never happen or might happen often.

It was a tough call, and he honestly wasn't sure. Of the entire list, he was positive that those three techniques and Meditation would be his first buys in some order.

Second—uh, fifth?—was getting to peak Golden Core. It would directly increase his power and qi pool size, which was always a good thing.

Next would have to be Nascent Soul Cultivation Knowledge. It was the quite cheap, and it would help him prepare for his next major realm and tell him if continuing on the path of Body Cultivation made sense.

Final was Body Cultivation, if useful, new Concepts, and Healing in some order. The latter was just so expensive and not an immediate need, considering the existence of Healing Pills. He did resolve, however, to designate some nature aspected villagers from the next round of recruitment to form a Healing Pavilion.

Benton rubbed his hands together. Next time he traveled to Vermillion Incomparable Rain Town, he'd have to grab a clinic or hospital or something from the sect grounds.

Chapter 108 – You Gotta Fight…

Ye Zan's ears perked up. Something was moving in the foliage coming his way.

"You got it?" Huang Yimun said.

"Yeah." Ye Zan propped his spear against a nearby tree and strung his bow.

A few weeks ago, he might have been nervous about facing a spirit beast without backup from either Senior Brother or Senior Sister. Of course, a few weeks ago, he hadn't been killing an average of two to three of the creatures per day.

Master said that both the quantity and quality of the beasts would increase as the time for the tide grew closer. He'd been right. Hardly a day went by when the guards didn't see a rank three. Rank twos were as common as field mice.

Part of the large amount was their location. The Orange Vigor Spirit Wood did seem to attract the critters. The village and the sect grounds had seen elevated levels but not to nearly the extent of where the harvesters worked.

"Be prepared to blow the whistle just in case," Ye Zan said. "It sounds big."

Larger size didn't automatically mean higher rank, but it was an indicator.

Huang Yimun raised his hand, showing that he held the shiny metal ready. "Got it."

In addition to making lots of noise, the beast was also quite slow. Minutes passed as its footfalls drew closer and closer.

Finally, a golden-furred figure taller than a man and twice as heavy came into view.

"What the heck is that?" Ye Zan said.

"Giant ground sloth, I believe."

"It's big. Think it's a four?"

"Won't know until you hit it."

"True." Ye Zan nocked an arrow. Though he'd been practicing for weeks, he'd yet to advance the weapon to Small Success. He hadn't even managed to hit an actual live target yet. A big, slow creature was a perfect chance for him to turn his streak around.

Channeling his inner Yang Xiu, he pulled back the bowstring and loosed. The arrow flew. And … hit. Not a good hit. The stomach. He'd been aiming for the chest.

But the arrow stuck.

"Definitely not rank four," Ye Zan said.

"Nope."

Ye Zan dropped the bow and grabbed the spear he'd leaned against the tree. A rank three he could handle. A big, slow rank three was even better.

He charged.

The sloth anticipated his arrival and swiped, but its sedate pace simply could not connect. Ye Zan ducked under the claw and simultaneously thrust his spear at the middle of its chest.

He wasn't an expert on that particular animal, but he was well acquainted with beasts in general by that point. The spot where he aimed was the heart's location in most mammals they'd encountered.

Including, it turned out, the sloth.

The spirit beast collapsed to the ground and bled out.

While Huang Yimun dragged the corpse to throw on the pile with the rest for Master to retrieve later, Ye Zan sunk into a lotus position and meditated on the fight, particularly on the arrow sinking into the sloth's stomach.

Steady the bow. Smooth stroke to pull back the string. Calm. Not breathing. Aim. Release. Thunk.

He visualized his motions again and again and again until, after about the tenth time, something clicked.

"Yi'er! I did it! Small Success!"

"It's about time."

Yang Ru was about halfway through a cycle, circulating qi through the well-established pathways between his meridians, when he was interrupted, ruining the effort he'd put in to get to that point. He wasn't angry, though. The village guards wouldn't disturb him without need.

That was, after all, why he was cultivating in the village plaza—to be available when a spirit beast attacked.

"Senior Brother! Senior Brother!"

It was Xiang Qiao, the first person Yang Ru had ever met from Prosperous Gray Forest Village all those months ago. From wary stranger to sect brother, the transition was somewhat disconcerting, especially since the man, who was in his mid-twenties, referred to Yang Ru as senior.

"What is it?" Yang Ru said.

He refused to refer to the older man as junior. That would have just felt too weird.

"Movement outside the wall, northeast quadrant, Senior Brother. It's big."

Yang Ru hoped it was only another rank three. He'd faced two other rank fours since the jaguar those many nights ago. They all made him feel … useless.

Oh, he served his purpose, distracting the beast from squishier targets until Master could get there, but that role didn't make him feel like much of a protector.

Well, that wasn't quite right. He was definitely protecting his sect mates, even to the extent of having to consume two of Master's Healing Pills.

Standing between danger and his brothers and sisters was important. But destroying the thing causing that danger was important, too.

He sprinted to the wall, leaving Xiang Qiao behind, and leaped up to the walkway at the top that Master called an allure. From there, he could see and hear the surroundings outside.

Sure enough, something big was approaching.

Xiang Qiao and two other guards joined Yang Ru in watching until, finally, the spirit beast stepped into sight. A gorilla.

Yang Ru hoped it was a rank three because the creature looked like it would be a challenging fight. It would purely suck if his only role was to kite it until Master arrived.

Again, Yang Ru was struck by a dissonance between his expectations of what his adult life would be like and the reality. He was the second strongest cultivator in an up-and-coming sect—not that he'd make that claim with Yang Xiu in earshot; he'd never hear the end of it—using strange words that no one had ever heard until spoken by Master but that seemed so commonplace in the village, and preparing to charge a massive gorilla with only a spear.

Yang Ru hopped down from the wall, using the force of his momentum on hitting the ground to propel him forward, something he would not have been able to do before becoming a cultivator. By the time he'd taken three steps, he had already built up quite a bit of power.

The gorilla roared and beat its fists against its chest.

Yang Ru lowered his shoulder and thrust out his spear.

The gorilla set its stance. Yang Ru thundered forward.

Just before impact, Yang Ru triggered his stone skin. He internally charged qi into his arms and legs, stabbing forward with all his might.

And suddenly found himself on his butt. The gorilla hadn't moved an inch.

"It's a four!" Yang Ru yelled. "Sound the alarm!"

There was nothing more frustrating than building up that much momentum and just bouncing off. He had to reach Foundation Establishment before the beast tide. He had to. Otherwise, he'd be nearly useless.

Objectively, he knew his cultivation was flying by. Guang Yin had said that reaching the ninth minor realm in a little over seven months was ridiculous.

But with more and more rank four beasts showing up, it felt like the tide was imminent, and at best, he was only a third of the way through the final minor realm of Qi Gathering. He had at least another two months of cultivating just to reach the peak. And not everyone broke through instantly. It could be many months before it happened.

Before Xiang Qiao could ring the gong, someone yelled from inside below the wall. "Alert! There's a big gorilla at the southwest wall. Sound the alarm!"

Two of them?

Yang Xiu walked slowly through the forest, all five of her senses charged with qi and extended to their limits. No beasts were in range, but that was okay. She was much more interested in getting her perception technique to Mastery than she was hunting.

Something felt off, though. Very off.

Her instincts were telling her to run. No. Not to run. To defend herself.

Master told her to always trust her gut. She didn't think she'd truly understood what he meant until that moment.

Yang Xiu ran to the nearest tall tree and hastily climbed it, positioning herself against the trunk standing on a thick upper branch.

What had triggered her instincts like that?

She stood exceptionally still, barely breathing, trying to sense something, anything, that could endanger her.

But there was nothing.

Everything she saw was just as it should be. The only motion was leaves and limbs dancing in the wind that she could feel on her skin. The only sounds were made by those same leaves and limbs. The only smells those of plants, both live and decaying.

A thought struck her. What wasn't there?

No. That made no sense.

What wasn't in a particular place, maybe?

That was closer.

Yes. Sounds of leaves and limbs rustling were absent in one particular area, and that area, that zone of silence, was moving through the trees, growing closer to her.

Alert to where it was, she focused her eyes on the area with the entirety of her concentration.

There. She could see it. Barely.

A giant snake slithered toward her. Its skin exactly mimicked the scenery behind it. Even tracking it precisely, she couldn't see all its contours.

That snake was no rank three. She wasn't even sure it was a four. Since that moment Master saved her from Fang Wei, she had felt safe. Nothing could harm her, first due to Master and lately due to her own strength.

That surety fled. She was in danger.

The beast was going to kill her. Consume her. She had no chance to fight it. No chance to escape.

She raised her whistle to her lips.

Just before she blew, her enhanced hearing picked up something. A gong. The village was under attack. Then, another gong. Two different quadrants of the village were under attack.

She hoped that Master chose her to save first, otherwise he was going to be down one disciple.

With all her breath, she blew, channeling all her fear and urgency into the blast.

The snake sped its path to her, knowing that the whistle's warble portended bad things for it.

How long would it take Master to—

He appeared mid-step. One moment, he wasn't there. The next, he was.

Yang Xiu had seen him use his Quickstep before, obviously, but that was a matter of feet. She was sure he hadn't been anywhere near her, not within hundreds of yards, maybe miles.

"Our first rank five," he said. "Good job spotting it."

She was too surprised to say anything.

He raised his bow, nocking an arrow and pointing it in the direction of the snake. Then, he lowered the bow again.

"We don't have a lot of time, but I just had an idea I want to try," he said. "You shoot the snake. Aim for the neck. The fangs are valuable."

There seemed to be little point in doing as he ordered. Her arrows did absolutely nothing against a rank four. They'd be even less effective against a rank five.

But as her master commanded so she did, regardless of how silly it seemed.

She instantly raised her bow, and in one smooth motion, pulled the string and loosed. The arrow flew true, striking the beast's neck as she'd been instructed.

Contrary to her expectations, light exploded from the arrow's tip as it impacted the snake's qi shield, and an instant later, the head and body of the snake fell separately to the ground. Of the neck and the arrow, there wasn't a trace left behind.

"Neat," Master said. "I suspected my technique would work with any arrow, not just one I shot, and it did! Now, take my hand. We need to get to the village. Two rank fours are attacking."

Two rank fours?

Yang Ru!