Chapter 156 - 109-115

Chapter 109 – Turning Green

Benton's spiritual sense was unrivaled in detecting spirit beast intrusions, even to the extent of being able to determine rank at a great distance. It did not, however, operate independently. For it to be active, he had to concentrate on doing a sweep.

It was not possible for him to constantly monitor for beasts. For one, he had to sleep occasionally. For another, he simply could not focus on just that all the time.

As a compromise, he tried to do remember to sweep periodically, at least a couple of times an hour. Sometimes, he went for longer than that, especially when he was engaged in doing something else, like intensely planning for his future build.

Usually, that worked just fine. Even though his disciples who were most in the line of fire couldn't damage a rank four beast, they were perfectly capable of defending against one until he could reach them. The twins, especially, he didn't have to worry about.

His lack of attention was, for the first time, causing a real issue. When the gong rang, he quickly swept the area with his spiritual sense. Two rank fours were attacking the village. Yang Ru had one occupied, but the other was free to enter the village and cause havoc.

The scan revealed something even worse, though. A rank five. And Yang Xiu was close to it. Too close.

While a rank four was well within her capability to hold off, a rank five was much more dangerous. Too dangerous.

Traveling the two and a half miles to her location in a single step took over twenty thousand qi. Once he would have been apoplectic seeing that huge quantity. Now it was a tiny drop in the bucket of his ocean of qi.

An instant after forming his intent, he was standing in the forest near where he'd detected the two qi signatures. Yang Xiu was in a tree, her eyes focused on a spot in another tree. He didn't see anything where she was looking, but his senses told him that was the location of the beast.

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

With a thought, his bow was in his hand with an arrow nocked, but as he was about to shoot, he ran into a problem. Benton could sense the creature, but he couldn't see it. He didn't even know what type it was for sure. Though from the length of the qi signature, he suspected it was a snake.

He didn't have time to mess around with that beast. The village was in trouble. A miss would waste time. A hit that wasn't a kill would waste time. And not being able to see the beast, he was sure that he would miss a lot as his arrows' homing worked off his senses. If he couldn't see the thing, the arrow couldn't either.

Yang Xiu could see it, though. She certainly wouldn't miss.

Benton wondered—could he use his attack technique on her arrow? If so, that would open up some interesting possibilities for the future.

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

Like a complete champ, she calmly raised her bow, pulled back the string, and loosed. Except, for her, it was like all that was one smooth motion. She truly was phenomenal with that weapon.

Thunk.

The arrow flashed light, countering the shadow aspected creature's shield, before the void triggered. Suddenly, a head and a sinuous body, more than a foot wide and thirty long appeared in a tree. In separate pieces.

Both fell to the ground.

As he stepped toward them to sweep them into his ring, he said, "Neat. 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."

She scrambled down the tree with no hesitation and grabbed his outstretched hand.

"On three," he said, "take a step. Three. Two. One. Go."

They both stepped, and he triggered his movement technique, spending over fifty thousand qi to emerge near the northeast side of the village. Yang Ru was on the ground fighting off a gorilla.

"Help your brother with the gorilla," Benton said, letting go of Yang Xiu's hand. "I'll take care of the other one and return."

He stepped to the opposite side of the village, landing outside the wall. He turned to find another gorilla climbing it while two of Ye Zan's crew and three of the village guards were doing their best to keep it from getting in.

And succeeding so far, though with some injuries. Another of the villager guards was lying outside on the ground on his back, missing an arm. He was still breathing, at least.

Nothing another Major Healing Pill couldn't fix.

The expense was completely worth it. The important thing was that there were no deaths.

Benton did move creating a Healing Pavilion up his priority list, though.

Time to deal with the threat.

He didn't want to use a ball of qi, be it void or anything else, because the guards were in too close of proximity to the target. Gravity was tricky as well, but Benton felt it was his best option.

Creating a point in the sky above and just slightly behind the beast, he increased gravity two hundredfold.

Not used to being subjected to gravity flowing in the wrong direction, the gorilla didn't even have a chance to grab hold of anything before it flew into the air.

Seeing the creature jerk so hard gave Benton another idea. He canceled his first burst and used another one to pull the gorilla slightly away from the men on the allure.

The next step would probably be messy, and there was no point showering those poor guys in blood and guts.

He created two more microbursts, one in front of the gorilla, targeting its torso, and one behind, targeting its lower back. He applied a force two hundred times the pull of gravity to each.

The spirit beast's top half went one direction and its lower the opposite.

He'd used gravity to literally pull it apart.

Nice.

Gross, but nice.

No time to gloat, though. The twins were still dealing with the other gorilla.

Not that he was worried. There was no way a rank four could hurt the two of them working as a team. In fact, giving them a little bit more time to fight was probably a good thing for their development.

After calmly stowing both halves of the beast in his ring, he purchased a Major Healing Pill from the Shop for a point and fed it to the downed village guard, restoring a man who'd been doomed to die even if treated by the most advanced technology on Earth to full health in seconds.

A cultivation world did have certain advantages if one could get used to the sometimes casual brutality.

His cleanup and mission of mercy complete, he stepped to the other side of the village where Yang Ru's spear and Yang Xiu's bow completely stymied the other gorilla.

She fired an arrow at the spirit beast, and Benton used his attack technique to attach a layer of water, to oppose the beast's earth shield, and a layer of void qi to the projectile's tip.

The arrow hit with a splash. Immediately after, a one-foot diameter sphere of the creature's chest disappeared into nothingness, killing it instantly.

Benton frowned. That move was probably a little bit hasty as it had destroyed some edible parts of the beast. Valuable edible parts of the beast.

Oh well.

Overall, he was quite pleased. He'd zipped around that area surrounding the village and his sect faster than the Flash and easily killed one rank five and two rank four beasts in seconds each.

Best of all, even though he'd consumed over a staggering one hundred thousand qi, he'd naturally regenerate it in a little over four hours, and since that was only twenty percent of his total, he had plenty more to deal with any other emergencies that came up.

He did purely love being a Golden Core cultivator.

Every time Yang Xiu thought she had a handle on Master's power level, he proved her wrong. Whatever had happened to him since the last time she'd seen him fight had made him simply beyond. He was stronger, faster, and more versatile than any cultivator she'd ever read about.

There seemed to be nothing he couldn't do.

But Master's unfathomability wasn't important at that moment. There was something much more urgent she needed to concentrate on.

She sunk into a lotus position and meditated, sending her mind back to the encounter with the rank five snake. How her instincts had warned her before her mind had caught up. Hearing where sound wasn't coming from.

Her perception was perfect. For a long while, nothing that had a presence—visible, audible, or olfactory—could hide from her. After tonight, nothing that scrubbed an area of any of those senses would be able to conceal its presence from her, either.

Zou Tian was going down, as Master would say, the next time they played Hide and Seek.

The more she concentrated on her experience finding the snake, the more her gains solidified, the more using her ability in that manner became a part of who she was, became a permanent part of her skillset.

It clicked. She felt it, just as she had with her archery technique.

Mastery.

"Great job, Yang Xiu!" Master said. "Two months to go until you reach Foundation Establishment, and you've already mastered your technique."

She didn't know how Master knew already, but he did. He always did.

Yang Ru shot her a glance of mild congratulations. Was his skin turning a green tint?

Why, yes. It was.

Chapter 110 – Changes

The appearance of a rank five was a major change, but it was too soon to draw any conclusions about the impending beast tide from it. Benton decided to wait a few days and observe if more of the higher-level beasts appeared before calling a council meeting to discuss.

He did, however, make it a point to scan to the extent of his spiritual senses a minimum of four times per hour.

Additionally, he instituted procedural changes. The twins combat lessons were moved to the village as he deemed the trek to the sect grounds to be too dangerous. In fact, all activity outside the village walls were halted with the exception of the wood harvesting.

He also delayed the induction of the next set of villagers until after the council meeting as the status of the beast tide might have a big impact on their decisions.

Over the course of those three days, no one advanced their spiritual cultivation, but several of the guards reached Small Success with their techniques, getting him four points. The big gain came from Body Cultivation, where he got twenty-four points from martial pavilion members hitting Bronze minor realm five and six and another three from the twins and Zou Tian each reaching minor realm one.

The small windfall gave him six points for his personal use, and he reviewed his priority list just to make sure of his thinking. His first thought was to buy the technique to allow him to start producing spirit coins, but he wasn't sure. The coins would be a very limited use to Qi Gathering cultivators, so the only members likely to get any benefit from them were the twins, assuming they advanced before the tide.

The coins' use as currency was also not crucially needed. The body of one rank five from his storage ring would pay for a lot of bows and arrows, not to mention all the other meat and claws and cores in there.

Of course, the coins would be of some use to him as well, allowing him to effectively bank his qi for when he needed it. He definitely wanted the technique prior to the beast tide, but he wasn't sure if it was an immediate necessity.

Nothing else on his list truly called out to him as being urgent, however. Time manipulation was the most powerful, but it would only shine against really fast opponents. So far, the beasts he faced weren't all that impressive in that regard, and even if they were specced for speed, he had his gravity area effect to counter them.

Advancing his minor realm in Golden Core would give him access to more qi, but spirit coins would likely be the better investment for the short term. Body Cultivation was out until he learned more about what would happen at Nascent Soul, which was so far away that it made purchasing knowledge of the realm seem like a poor investment at the moment.

Healing was a strong choice, but he'd need to invest a lot of points to really make it shine. He just wasn't sure he was ready to start sinking those points in yet. Meditation made no sense without the ability to spend his qi for making spirit coins, and a shield against area effect attacks was suboptimal against beasts.

In the end, he decided that getting the spirit coin technique was the right call. He invested all six points to buy it at Large Success and immediately used it to create ten ten-thousand qi water coins, chosen pretty much at random from one of the five major elements. It cost him one hundred seventy-five thousand qi to do it, which he'd regenerate in about seven hours. Not bad.

Benton pulled up his status.

Sect Name:Rising TideSect Members:111Disciples:55Sect Points:223Shop Points:78Host 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 – MasteryVariable Spirit Coin Manifestation - Large SuccessHost 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]Over the next three days, beast activity increased as he'd expected. How it increased and to what degree told him a lot, though. By the time the third day was up, he was ready to hold his council meeting.

Three changes were made to the council. First, Guang Yin, who was already an invitee, was made the official head of the Woodworker Pavilion. The choice took a lot of deliberation on Benton's part because he would have preferred a crafter over a gatherer. In the end, though, he valued the older man's experience as it really balanced out some of the sect's many young voices.

Second, Xiang Da was added to the invite list. The older villager, in his mid-forties, had only F rank nature aspected roots, but he was apparently outstanding at math. Benton had no trouble picking him as the head of the Formations Pavilion as clearly the most qualified for the position.

Finally, they used the mayor's house for the meeting. Even though Benton was fairly sure he could keep everyone safe for a trip to the arena the risk to reward ratio just wasn't where it needed to be. The house was a bit cramped, but they made it work.

"The first order of business," Benton said, "is the beast tide. Over the last three days, more and more rank fours have appeared as well as two additional rank fives. In patrolling miles from the village in the direction of the mountain, I've also killed three rank sixes.

"Not only are the ranks of the spirit beasts increasing, but the rate is accelerating. That's a solid sign that a tide is imminent. Over the next month to month and a half, we'll start to see sixes and higher at the village, pushing the lower tiers further past. Then, if a typical pattern holds true, we'll see a false calm as whatever dominant beast that's driving the rest gathers all the ranks to it, drawing all creatures away from the village. From that point, we'll have a week, two at the most, before the tide hits."

No one said a word. They barely even breathed.

"From this point on," Benton said, "preparing for the impending tide is our sect's primary objective. Everything else is a distant second."

"Yes, Master."

"Our biggest challenge at the moment is that I am the only one who can kill beasts rank four and above. Thus, our most important priority is to increase that number." Benton turned to the twins. "Yang Xiu, Yang Ru, that means the two of you. Wan Ai is the only other sect member who has a chance of advancing, and she isn't exactly a fighter."

The twins exchanged a glance.

"We'll be ready, Master," Yang Xiu said.

"Thank you, my disciples, but I'm afraid that I'm going to have to be a little more hands-on this time. You are not to conduct any more lessons. Techniques are no longer worthy of your time. For the most part, I'll be spending most of my effort guarding the Wood to keep it safe for cultivators and only returning to the village for the minimum amount of time necessary to kill any beasts that get near. I want the two of you with me taking advantage of the high qi density to cultivate for twelve to fifteen hours per day."

"Yes, Master."

"Guang Yin, no more harvesting until after the tide. I'll provide you and your men with the reset pills we talked about and the new cultivation methods. Once you're back to minor realm four, I'll also get you the weapon techniques. Let me know if you have any problems."

The old man cupped his hands and bowed. "Yes, Sect Leader."

"Ye Zan, you no longer need to protect the harvesters, obviously, but I still need you supplementing the village guards and securing the house anytime someone needs to consume a pill. We'll talk about Body Cultivation in a moment. When your guards aren't on duty doing something else, they can accompany the twins and me to the Wood to cultivate."

Benton gestured to include everyone else. "That goes for all sect members. Anyone who wants to go with us each day to cultivate may do so as long as they have no other duties."

"Yes, Master."

"Okay, Body Cultivation," Benton said. "Of the forty-three currently undergoing the process, only the siblings, Zou Tian, Ye Zan's guards, and Zi Delan's crew are primary martial pavilion resources. I want all twenty-six of those to continue with baths until reaching the ninth minor realm. For the other seventeen, let them finish their current minor realm, and then quit for the moment. I want to start working in the twenty village guards instead."

Benton met Wan Ai eyes. "That means increasing the number going through the process to forty-six. Can you handle that?"

Wan Ai looked at Zou Tian, who took her hand and squeezed it. She smiled at him.

When had that happened?

"I can do it, Master," she said.

"Good, Next item is induction." Benton looked to the mayor. "Let's you and I discuss details on who to include after this meeting, but the goal is to get another fifty cultivating tonight. Judging from past experience, we should be able to get them to minor realm four in a little over a month and to Small Success with a weapon, hopefully, by the beast tide. As much as I want to round out my pavilions, I think fifty new archers for the wall would be much more important."

The allure circling the village was quite long. Even with another fifty covering it, there was not going to be nearly the density of defenders that Benton would like.

Benton paused as a thought hit him. "Actually, scratch that. If we're going to be fighting, people are going to get hurt, and pills are a limited resource. Let's shoot for forty-five archers and five villagers to be designated to a new Healing pavilion."

"Yes, Sect Leader."

"That leaves me to my final topic, bows and arrows," Benton said. "We need more, and I promised Mistress Gong of the Vermillion Incomparable Rain Town orphanage that I'd check up on them in ten weeks' time. That's tomorrow. I also need to get a read on the situation there, and see if my message to Elder Kang resulted in a merchant ready to sell me what I need. I think it's important that I go. You see the problem, though?"

"There is no one here who can do more than hold off a higher rank beast, Master," Yang Xiu said. "That's…"

"I know. Me leaving puts all of you in danger, but I really feel like I need to go."

"How long will it take, Master," Ye Zan said.

"Two hours there, two hours back. Maybe six to eight total? That's a maximum. No matter what happens, I will not be gone longer than eight hours."

Zou Tian let out a breath. "I'm assuming you'd do a wide sweep before leaving, Master?"

"Yes. But higher ranked beasts with an ability to hide themselves are harder to detect the farther away I am. There's no guarantee I'd get all of them."

"Go," Yang Ru said. "We'll be fine, Master."

Benton was pretty sure that was the most the young man had said in a meeting.

"Anyone else?"

"We need the bows and arrows, Master," Xun Wu said. "I don't see how we hold the wall without them."

Wan Ai tentatively held up her hand.

Wow. She was volunteering to speak? Amazing.

"Yes?" Benton said to her.

"The heavens recognized your promise as a righteous sect to seek to keep our word, Master. What happens if you break your word and don't go?"

That was an interesting question, one Benton didn't want to find out the answer to. He made a mental note to be careful in the future about what promises he made.

The eight hours really was an overestimation, though. Two hours each way was calculated assuming he could sustain a top running speed of about three hundred miles per hour, but Benton thought he might be able to cut the time down some by using Quickstep. He had, after all, built up quite a supply of spirit coins by that point. If he could use the technique a few times, consume coins to replenish his pool, and use it a few more, and so forth and so on, he might be able to make the trip one way in under an hour.

If he were fast in getting everything done while in town, he could maybe bump that down to less than an hour, too.

Surely, nothing would happen to the village in the scant three hours that he'd be gone.

Chapter 111 – Preparations

As the mayor left to round up fifty more villagers for induction and the rest of the council adjourned to do whatever it was that would most advance the sect's goals, Benton took a moment to think about where he was and where he was going. He had one hundred eleven sect members, not counting himself, and he felt like he barely even knew most of them. And he was about to add fifty more.

He needed to get a better handle on his organization before it grew out of control.

At the moment, he had two people assigned to him as administrative assistants that he hadn't utilized at all. He'd barely even met them. Seven sect members were technically working in the Alchemy Pavilion, but four of those were villagers who hadn't even gotten their herb technique to Small Success yet. Five were in the Blacksmith Pavilion, which, honestly, Benton had left for Xun Wu to organize. Presumably, they were all busy making arrowheads or something.

Peng Zhen and his family were running the Contribution Point Store, though that hadn't really gotten off the ground yet, instead coordinating the villagers who were working on crafting the wall. The Formation Pavilion had five sect members assigned to it, but they were really just getting started as Benton had not appointed a leader until the man had reached minor realm four.

Mistress Zhong ran the outer sect, which was essentially the orphanage at that point. No one save her two helpers were actually assigned to it.

Eventually, Benton envisioned her being in charge of getting everyone through the first four minor realms before moving them on to their assigned pavilions. When the sect was bigger, Benton would think about making the core, inner, and outer sects into real suborganizations, but that division just didn't make any real sense with so few people.

The second largest pavilion was actually Woodworking. It contained the six village harvesters, their six new apprentices, and five villagers experienced in making bows and arrows. Since the latter of those were already experienced crafters, they'd continued working as they'd started their cultivation journey.

Though Benton had basically merged the village and the sect by that point, he still kept the mayor and the four he'd selected as subordinates as a separate division within the sect, though Benton wouldn't call it a pavilion per se.

Finally, the remaining sixty-three sect members, even those who were eventually slated to be assigned to other places, were assigned to the Martial Pavilion. Besides the twins and Zou Tian, there were four defined groups—Ye Zan's two groups of guards, Zi Delan's burgeoning strike team, and the twenty village guards. That left a combination of seventeen villagers and various orphans who would be either added to another pavilion in the future or organized into new or existing martial squads.

Of course, with the exception of those working on prepping for Body Cultivation baths and those crafting materials useful for the fighting beasts, all sect members were to be focused on cultivating and learning weapon techniques until after the crisis was resolved.

Benton lamented the cessation of progress on his sect wall. They hadn't even reached half of what he needed yet, having produced only seven hundred forty linear feet. There was a bright spot, though. It was entirely possible that, should they survive the beast tide intact, the density of creatures would be so low and his sect members experienced enough in fighting them that the wall wouldn't be immediately needed.

That consideration was actually a valid one. He'd have to check conditions afterward, but that he might be able to place all his main buildings once the combat was over cheered him considerably.

Feeling as prepared as he could be for the induction of fifty new sect members, he headed to the plaza just inside the village's gate, the only spot big enough for a lot of people to gather. He hated not following the protocol he'd established by going to the arena, but travel outside the walls was simply too dangerous for a large group of mortals. Rank fours and fives were smart enough to use diversions and set simple traps. Losing anyone to an attack would be both a tragedy and a huge hit to morale.

A trip to the site of the sect to do the induction simply wasn't worth it.

Besides, it wasn't like he would continue using the arena for inductions anyway. The amphitheater was a much better venue.

People were still arriving when he got there, so he took a moment to scan everyone. Most were exactly what he expected. None save one were over E+ and most had nature aspected qi. The one lady who really stood out was a great find, though.

As he read her status, he made a mental note to scan everyone in the village at some point. If there were talented people like her around, finding them sooner would be better.

Age:61Affilitation:Prosperous Gray Forest VillageCultivation:NoneTechniques:NoneSpiritual Roots:D+Qi AspectThe combination of the sun's energy and the nourishment of earth to restore nature's bountyYikes, not only was she the first person with triple aspected qi—Light, Earth, and Nature—that he'd encountered, but she was a natural born healer. Benton assumed that was the role she filled for the village.

Seeing who was sure to become the head of his sect's newest pavilion, he immediately created a cultivation method for her. He would have done so because of her talent regardless, but he also didn't want to lose the advantage of her triple aspect, either.

Ten Sect Points later, he had the Tri-Aspect Healing Foundation Cultivation Method for her in a jade slip in his ring. His biggest concern was that she was so old. Most mortals in a cultivation world didn't reach sixty, so he wanted to speed her to Foundation Establishment to get that boost in lifespan as soon as possible. To that end, the set Ease to fifty. Power was the least important point, especially in the Qi Gathering realm, so he allocated only five points to that one. That left forty-five for Foundation.

He went up to her and introduced himself.

She cupped her hands and bowed slightly, having obvious problems with her back. "This lowly one is Pan Xiaolian, Sect Leader."

"Don't bow, please. I can see it hurts. In fact, can I get you something for that? A Minor Healing Pill, perhaps?"

"It's just old age, Sect Leader, but gratitude for the offer."

"I understand."

And he did. He had been fairly spry for his age back on Earth, but he often found himself hurting when he'd done nothing to merit an injury. And when he did suffer some kind of ailment, it took forever to heal.

"This may be presumptuous of me, but can I ask if you're a healer?" Benton said.

"Yes, this lowly one does provide that service for the village." She clearly looked shocked that he'd known this.

"I had asked the mayor to provide five healers for the sect, so it only made sense."

"Ahh. Why else choose a walking skeleton, eh?" She grinned.

Benton smiled back. "Well, I appreciate your willingness to volunteer. I'll be providing you with a different cultivation method than the others, one that will hopefully provide benefits quickly. Also, I want to work you into the Body Cultivation regimen as soon as we have space."

She chuckled. "Wow. The Esteemed Sect Leader really doesn't want this lowly one dying on him too quickly, huh?"

Benton liked the old woman. She had spunk.

"You caught me," he said.

"Well, if the Esteemed Sect Leader can keep this lowly one alive…" She shrugged.

"I'll that as a promise for you to keep my sect members alive."

Benton considered buying a Spiritual Root Improvement Pill for her, but two concerns stopped him. One, the pill might actually kill someone at her age. It was not a danger at all to a young, healthy person, but risk factors went way up when someone was nearing the end of their normal lifespan. Any major shock to body's system could be lethal, and the pill did provide something of a jolt. Two, even though he needed healers, taking someone from D+ to C- just wasn't enough of an improvement to justify the cost.

After a bit of thought, he added a third. Starting at the age of sixty-one, Pan Xiaolian was a lot less likely to get to Golden Core, even with her decent talent, than someone like Zou Tian, who started much younger. Thus, the return on investment for the pill was probably a lot less from that standpoint as well.

Benton hated thinking about people in such a manner, but he was the sect's leader. If he kept spending Shop Points recklessly, he would eventually get in a situation where he really needed one but was out.

His presence was obviously making the people around nervous, so he left the woman to her own devices as he retreated to the edge of the square. Soon, the mayor showed up with the rest of the fifty soon-to-be members.

He ran through the rigmarole with the quartz sphere, telling each person their roots' rank and qi aspect. The mayor, or perhaps Pan Xiaolian, had done a good job designating the healers, as each of them had a qi aspect well suited to the role, all with nature aspected qi.

Benton separated them out from the others and explained that, upon reaching minor realm four, they'd be provided with a technique to heal others. Then, he turned to the rest.

"I don't like dictating what pavilion you are to join, but the sect and the village are facing an impending disaster. We need fighters to combat the beasts. While I hope that none of you end up on the front lines, we need you to be able to shoot arrows from atop the walls and to defend yourselves if portions of the wall are overrun."

He told them about the qi density at the Wood and strongly encouraged all of them to join him each day.

"The stronger you get now, the more likely you, the village, and the sect are to survive," Benton said. "Once the emergency is over, you'll be given an opportunity to join a different pavilion if you so desire.

"Now, it's time for you to learn to cultivate."

He'd distributed the Supreme Growth of Heaven to forty-six of the inductees and Supreme Foundation of Heaven to two others when he'd told them their qi aspect and rank. After leading them through the exercise to sense qi, he gained fifty new sect members at Qi Gathering minor realm one.

And of course, fifty new members meant fifty new Sect Points. Which meant ten more for him to use to make himself stronger.

His first step was to bring his Variable Spirit Coin Manifestation to Mastery for six points. His second, after a moment's thought, was to purchase Variable AoE Shield at Small Success. Although he doubted he'd need it in the near future, the lack of a defense for that type of attack was his biggest glaring weakness.

Those buys left him with one point, and there were only two uses for a single one—meditation or knowledge of Nascent Soul cultivation. The former was, by far, the most useful immediately.

Sect Name:Rising TideSect Members:161Disciples:55Sect Points:253Shop Points:128Host 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 – MasteryMeditation – Small SuccessPause Time – MasterySeeking Speeding Arrow – MasteryVariable AoE Gravity Burst – MasteryVariable AoE Shield – Small SuccessVariable Spirit Coin Manifestation – 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 112 old friend well met

The raven flew over the gathering of humans far below. It used its aspect, death, to cloak its presence, utilizing the natural aversion the living felt toward anything not alive.

So many tasty morsels were below, and the number had grown recently. Grown by a lot. And all were so weak.

Too many of its fellows had found death in pursuing those morsels, though, including fellows only slightly weaker than itself. Away from the gathering, several as strong as itself had also fallen. And far from the gathering, even ones stronger had met their End.

Not the raven, though. It was too smart. It flew. It observed.

There was one that seemed to be a mortal but who clearly wasn't. He covered great distances in an instant and seemed able to sense any of the raven's fellows who came close to the gathering, even those more skilled at concealment than the raven.

That was why the raven chose to fly far above the gathering and simply dream of eating the morsels below instead of diving for a snack.

As it circled, it spotted a fellow. A weak fellow. The weakest of fellows. Surely, no one would miss that one little fellow who would not be able to contribute to what was to come at all.

But the raven was forbidden from snacking on its fellows, even the weakest of the weak. So, it flew, and it dreamed of morsels. Tasty, tasty morsels.

If only the Not Mortal wasn't at the gathering. Then it could feast. Truly feast.

The sun was just beginning to peek over the horizon when Benton gathered the twins and Zou Tian at the area outside the village's gate.

"I've just finished sweeping for spirit beasts," Benton said. "There are none stronger than a rank three within a five-mile radius of here."

At least, there better not have been. He'd spent the majority of the night patrolling for ranks four and higher, killing a good half dozen all told. Even ranging out for the full five miles he'd stated, he couldn't sense any more threats.

"Yang Xiu, Yang Ru, you're in charge. Zou Tian, you're their advisor. If they're about to do something stupid, call their attention to the problem, but it's their decision, understood?"

"Yes, Master," all three said.

"You are not alone. You have the mayor, Ye Zan, Guang Yin, and Xiang Qiao for support. All of them have a lot of experience. Use them."

"Yes, Master."

He'd already given out an allotment of pills, spreading two Minor Healing Pills to each of the three in front of him plus the four he'd mentioned and to Pan Xiaolian. He'd also given Major Healing Pills to Yang Xiu, Zou Tian, the mayor, and Pan Xiaolian.

"You have your pills," Benton said. "What's the goal?"

"To keep everyone alive. As long as they're not brain dead…" Yang Xiu stumbled over the unfamiliar term. "They can be brought back with a pill after you kill any spirit beast that dares attack us."

"Exactly." The Shop offered many pills that were even more powerful than the Major Healing Pill, but it couldn't return the truly dead to living. "Be wary. Do everything you can to harry the beast and keep it at bay until I return."

Benton had taken every precaution and, honestly, thought that the chances of an attack in the small amount of time he'd be gone was small. He was, however, living in a cultivation world. Anything could, and sometimes did, happen.

He was very reluctant to leave.

"Go, Master," Yang Xiu said, reminding him very much of his youngest the first time she'd been left at home alone when he and Evelyn had gone out to eat. "We've got this."

"I know. I trust you. I just don't trust this world." Benton sighed. "Alright, I'm going. Remember, eight hours. Just last that long, and I'll be back."

Actually, he hoped to return in less than half that time, but better to over deliver and under promise than the other way around.

"Bye…" He'd almost said kids, but these were, by the standard of their society, adults, so he just left it at that.

"Bye, Master," the three said.

After a quick wave, he triggered Quickstep and traveled twenty-five miles from the village in a single step, emerging on the road. It was so cool that he could move without crossing the intervening space. The wall, trees, hills. None of it mattered. He didn't even pass through them, instead just moving from one place to the next like the parts in between didn't exist.

Folding space indeed.

Of course, crossing that distance took a good chunk of his qi, close to a hundred thousand. He let his pool naturally recover while he ran through the woods trying to detect higher rank spirit beasts. There were none, though,

He pulled a handful of spirit coins from his ring and absorbed them as rapidly as he could, re-filling his qi. The consumption wasn't instantaneous, though, and he lamented each minute of delay.

Repeating that process, Quickstepping twenty-five miles and using coins to refill his reserves, sped him toward Vermillion Incomparable Rain Town much faster than even running flat out but not as fast as he'd hoped. He ended up reaching his destination in about a third of the time, a little over an hour.

The town laid about six hundred miles almost due northeast from the Prosperous Gray Forest Village, and the road between the two places was fairly straight. If the mountain that Benton believed the beast tide was originating from were equidistant from the two, it would have to lie due east of the village and due south of the town. Instead, it was much closer to the village, lying slightly southeast of it.

Basically, the brunt of the tide was likely to hit the village, not the town.

Sure enough, the incidence of spirit beasts diminished the entire trip to Vermillion Incomparable Rain Town, and the highest rank he sensed anywhere near the walls was a rank three.

As he drew within several miles of his destination, however, he discovered a different problem. There were a lot more cultivators there than he'd expected. Instead of five, there were dozens.

The likelihood was that the newcomers were the help he'd requested for Fatty Ren from the Poison Claw Sect, but in a cultivation world, it was never a bad idea to be too careful.

But there was a problem.

Caution required gathering intel. Gathering intel required time. Time was a resource he was unbearably short on.

"Screw it," he said. "I'm going straight to the palace. Fatty Ren will know what's going on."

Folding space was an interesting experience. His field of view went from the area in front of him when he began the technique to the area he was going to land in mid-step. He had a small amount of control over where he finished beyond a vague command to move ten miles, enough that he didn't conflict himself with something like the inside of a tree at any rate.

Thus, when he chose to land inside Fatty Ren throne room, he visualized an area he remembered as being devoid of furniture and where people were unlikely to gather.

Unlikely apparently didn't mean never.

A half dozen people wearing the dark green robes of the Poison Claw Sect had picked just that area to stand. Benton had no choice but to land between two of them, brushing their robes. He immediately triggered another small step to end up between the group and Fatty Ren.

Everyone in the room stared at Benton in astonishment as he appeared. He stifled a grin. From their perspective, it must have seemed like he teleported in.

That would help establish his image as an old monster even more. Sweet.

Benton first greeted Fatty Ren, cupping his hands respectfully toward the Town Lord. "Greetings, Friend. Sorry to barge in on you, but I'm in a bit of a hurry."

"Nonsense," the big man said, "my palace is open to you always."

Benton turned to the group from the Poison Claw Sect and noticed some familiar figures. "Kang Lin! Pan Jiang! How the heck are you two? Great to see both of you again!"

He scanned the two.

Name:Kang LinAffiliation:Poison Claw SectAge:16Cultivation:Qi Gathering - Minor Realm NineQi Available:115Techniques:Lightning Dash - MasteryShocking Spear - MasterySpiritual Roots:C+Qi Aspect:Forked Lightning ripping the sky asunder 

Name:Pan JiangAffiliation:Poison Claw SectAge:14Cultivation:Qi Gathering - Minor Realm SixQi Available:36Techniques:Bend Like the Willow - Large SuccessStrong Oak Sword - Large SuccessSpiritual Roots:DQi Aspect:Hard but brittle oak standing strong against all elementsBenton walked toward the pair of them and held out his right fist. They both looked at him, flummoxed.

"Oh. We have a tradition where I'm from. When you see an associate that is well met, the two bump fists." Benton shrugged. "It's just a thing."

The two looked at each other, before each lightly tapping his fist.

"You got it. Great job." Benton paused. "Speaking of jobs, how is that technique coming, Pan Jiang?"

"This lowly one is doing quite well, Esteemed Master Cultivator."

"Well, I can't just take your word for it. Show me!" Benton held out his arm. "Hit me."

The kid looked really unsure.

"Fatty Ren," Benton said. "Do you think there's any chance this young man can harm me?"

The Town Lord laughed. "I think he's more scared that he'll damage his sword."

"Ah," Benton said. "No worries, Pan Jiang. I won't use a shield. Your sword can handle it. Give it everything you've got."

Could he not use a shield? He wasn't sure if his automatic response could be turned off or not, but he willed it not to respond to the next hit.

Still looking doubtful, Pan Jiang used a few flashy moves and ended with a downward slash, hitting Benton on the arm. The metal stopped at the surface of his skin.

"See? No harm. And you looked great. Large Success?"

"Yes, Esteemed Master Cultivator."

"Awesome. You are a credit to your sect."

The martial arts demonstration complete, Kang Lin pulled a scroll from her robe. "Esteemed Elder Kang has another letter for the Esteemed Master Cultivator."

Benton took it from her. "I don't have time to reply now. I honestly don't even have time to read it. Express my apologies to your grandfather."

She cupped her hands.

He turned back to Fatty Ren. "Sorry for getting distracted. It's always fun to catch up with the juniors."

"That's okay, Friend Su," the big man said, leaving unstated the very obvious question.

"I've got good news and bad news, my friend," Benton said. "First, the bad. It looks like we're less than two months out from the beast tide starting, but the good news, for you, is that I don't expect Vermillion Incomparable Rain Town to take much more than a glancing blow. The brunt will hit Prosperous Gray Forest Village."

"That's troublesome news for you, Friend Su. Do you want me to come with you back to the village."

That was a nice and generous offer. Benton thought about it for a moment. Having another Foundation Establishment cultivator would be a boon.

"Honestly, Esteemed Town Lord, while I would personally appreciate the gesture and the help, the citizens of your town seeing you fighting to protect them would be a huge boost to morale."

"What about us, Esteemed Master Cultivator?" Pan Jiang called. "We would love to help you. We were just asking the Esteemed Town Lord for his blessing to continue on to the village. The town can spare the six of us."

"That's mighty kind of you, Pan Jiang, but all of you are still in the Qi Gathering realm. When I leave, which will be very soon, I can't afford to wait for you, and the way back is too dangerous. The village is being attacked by rank fours on a regular basis, and we're seeing fives. I've killed sixes while ranging far from the walls."

The four sect members Benton didn't know looked at each other, clearly worried.

Kang Lin sighed. "If only this one could get through the bottleneck."

That was a thought. Adding five experienced Qi Gathering cultivators and a Foundation Establishment one to the village's defense would be nice.

"System," Benton said internally, "if I created a technique to examine someone's cultivation, would that cost four points to master?"

Such a technique would cost Host eight Sect Points to master. Because Host must use qi to circulate the examinee's body, the technique requires external qi manipulation and is thus a Foundation Establishment ranked technique.Darn. He was pretty flush with Sect Points, but he was still a miser at heart. That was a lot to spend.

"System, is there any way to get that cheaper?"

Host could upgrade the Analyze technique to perform this function. Eight points would still be required to bring it to Mastery, but four have already been expended.He could live with four.

"System, please modify Analyze and bring it to Mastery."

Choice confirmed.

Host has 249 Sect Points remaining.

Perfect.

"Kang Lin," Benton said, "may I touch your hand for a moment for the purpose of scanning your cultivation?"

She looked at Pan Jiang, who nodded.

"Yes, Esteemed Master Cultivator."

Benton took her proffered hand and sent a pulse of his qi through her body. His spiritual sense soon homed in on a problem.

"Ah," he said as he dropped her hand. "I see the issue. There is a slight discord between your qi aspect and your cultivation method, and it is creating a block. I'm pretty sure you'll work through it on your own, but it will take several more months."

Kang Lin looked quite relieved. It had to be hard on the girl not knowing how long a breakthrough might take or if she'd even be able to achieve it.

"System," he said internally, "how much for a pill to fix Kang Lin's problem."

One Shop Point.That cost was very low to obtain the services of six cultivators to help with the beast tide.

"Tell me, Kang Lin," Benton said. "Do you have techniques available for when you breakthrough?"

If she didn't, her reaching Foundation Establishment would be worthless for his purposes. She'd need to be able to fight off rank four and five spirit beasts to get to the village.

She fingered a ring on her left hand. "Grandfather had thoughtfully provided everything this one will need upon reaching Foundation Establishment, including techniques for the spear, a shield, and movement."

Benton nodded. "I'm willing to provide you with a pill that will assist in your breakthrough if you want. I don't know if your grandfather told you, but I'm something of an expert on such matters. I swear on my honor that the pill will not only provide a smooth advancement, but it will actually help with the current discord in your cultivation."

"Grandfather spoke very highly of Esteemed Master Cultivator's expertise, but this lowly one cannot accept such a gracious gift."

"Kang Lin, this is not a gift," Benton said. "It's payment. You're going to use this breakthrough to bring yourself and your friends to the village, are you not?"

"Yes, Esteemed Master Cultivator."

"Right now, the only cultivator in the village above the Qi Gathering realm is me," Benton said. "The twins will almost definitely advance in time, but that still leaves me with only two Foundation Establishment cultivators to protect the village from who knows how many rank fours and fives and even sixes while I deal with the greater threats. Believe me when I say that your assistance, if it even saves a single life, is more than worth the paltry amount of this pill."

She clearly hadn't looked at the situation in that light.

"In that case," she said, "this lowly one accepts the Esteemed Master Cultivator's gracious payment."

"Awesome." Benton quickly made the purchase and handed the pill over. "Do you have people you trust to guard you while you consume this?"

She eyed Pan Jiang, who nodded.

"Grandfather's disciple would not let this lowly one come to harm, Esteemed Master Cultivator."

"Great," Benton said. "Take it today, and use the next four weeks learning your three techniques to the best of your ability. Leave town in exactly four weeks. I'll keep a watch for you and, if possible, escort you the rest of the way to the village."

"Yes, Esteemed Master Cultivator."

Benton glanced at the Town Lord, who was giving what could only be described as puppy dog eyes.

"Yes, my friend," Benton said. "I now have resources that may be able to help you with your breakthrough as well."

It would be a boon to the Rising Tide Sect to recruit Fatty Ren and essentially gain sway over the entire town, meaning Benton would control the entire region around this quadrant of the mountain. The problem was that he had exactly no time to do any of that. The kids at the village could be facing danger even as he was chatting.

"If it pleases you," Benton said, "I'll come back after this mess has been resolved, and we'll see what arrangements can be made."

Fatty Ren cupped his hands. "I look forward to it, Friend Su."

The trip to Vermillion Incomparable Rain Town was going great. He'd checked in with Fatty Ren and, unbelievably, managed to obtain some much needed assistance for the village's defense in exchange for a paltry sum.

He just needed to see Mistress Gong and find that merchant before getting back to the village in time to avert any potential disaster struck.

Chapter 113 – Be Careful What You Wish For

The raven kept getting drawn back to the gathering as it imagined snacking on the tasty tasty morsels down below.

When he passed over again, he noticed something strange. The humans seemed agitated. Two of the tastiest were gathered inside the gate like they were on watch, and many, many other tastees were at the top of the wall, all vigilantly looking out.

There were always a certain number of them walking around up there but not nearly so many.

Why? What had changed?

It flew away as it mulled over the strange behavior, eventually landing to consider it. The raven, however, knew little about humans, having only heard stories from its stronger fellows.

The raven was crafty, though. It liked puzzles almost as much as it liked shiny objects.

After a while, it flew back over the gathering to see if there were further changes. It wasn't much for counting, but a similar number of tastees were still at the top of the wall. The two tastiest were still inside the gate.

Hmm.

What could cause such behavior?

It flew far from the gathering and landed again. Hmm. What would cause it to be on alert if it were in the same situation as the humans?

That thought struck a chord. If it had a strong protector and that protector became unavailable for some reason, it would be forced to become more alert for danger.

That made sense. That might be the reason.

Which meant that the tasty morsels were available for snacking!

Before taking flight, it paused. Caution. If it were right, tasty morsels! If it were wrong, the End.

Another flight was called for. To look. To study. Perhaps to snack.

Yang Ru was not happy. His sister had reached Mastery in her technique, but he was still stuck at Large Success.

Normally, that would not be a problem. He would catch up eventually. But Master had forbade further work on it.

To make things worse, Master had also emphasized the importance of reaching Mastery prior to advancing to Foundation Establishment, and Yang Ru felt his chances of doing that slipping away.

If he just had a little more time… He wished he had just one more opportunity to master it. He was so, so close.

"Spirit beast!" Yang Xiu yelled. "A bird. Flying."

Zou Tian was cultivating in the center of the open area, and at her call, he looked up. It appeared to be eying him as it circled.

"I think I'm the target," Zou Tian said.

If it was a rank three or below, any of them could kill it without difficulty. There was no way to know that, however, until it attacked or was attacked. Yang Ru had to treat it as a true threat.

"Stay where you are, Zou Tian," Yang Ru said, backing up while keeping an eye of the bird. "When I say, dive out of the way and disappear."

He kept backing up even after he was fully out of the open area and started down a path between rows of houses. As long as he could still see Zou Tian and the bird, the farther away he was the better.

The bird, a raven, was huge, easily the size of an adult human from tail to head.

It stopped circling. Having apparently decided to attack, it dove.

Timing was important. Very important. Crucial.

Yang Ru looked at the raven. Looked at Zou Tian. Looked at the raven. Looked at Zou Tian.

Five. Four. Three. Two. One.

Yang Ru charged as fast as his qi enhanced muscles would propel him. He built momentum like he'd never built momentum before.

As the raven entered Yang Xiu's range, she shot an arrow. It deflected off the creature's innate qi shield.

At least a rank four, then.

Yang Ru firmed his resolve. Bouncing off was not an option. He would not end up on his butt again. Would. Not.

The raven approached. Yang Ru approached. Zou Tian stood stock still.

Dozens of yards became yards. Yards became feet.

"Dive!" Yang Ru yelled.

Feet became inches.

Zou Tian dove to the right.

The raven screeched down to hit the dirt exactly where he had been standing.

Leaning forward, Yang Ru thrust the spear.

He braced his feet against the packed dirt and activated Stone Skin for both his front that was about to impact the raven and his feet while simultaneously using qi to enhance his leg muscles.

Crash.

The impact was as severe as any he had ever experienced, but he was flowing lava. He lived for impact.

The force of the collision pushed against him, but he refused to yield, leaning into it and focusing on his legs.

His feet dug into the ground, but he didn't move any farther than the ground. And he most certainly did not end up on his butt.

Success!

Of course, the raven wasn't damaged at all from the strike. It didn't even look angry.

It looked hungry.

Master had only been gone for almost four hours. How were they going to hold that creature off for four more?

Benton surveyed the people in Fatty Ren's cultivation slash throne room. The Town Lord seemed happy, as did Kang Lin and Pan Jiang. Their four hangers on were still somewhat disconcerted by the entire thing.

Oh well, they'd get used to it.

"This has been fun and all," Benton said, "but I really have to get going. Before I can get back to the village which hopefully isn't under attack, I need to go by the orphanage and maybe find a merchant that Elder Kang sent for me?"

"Esteemed Grandfather did arrange a merchant, Esteemed Master Cultivator." Kang Lin proceeded to explain where to find the man.

"Gratitude to your grandfather," Benton said before turning to Fatty Ren. "If there's nothing else…?"

"Go with haste, Friend Su."

"Gratitude. As I said, I'll be back once all this mess is over, and we'll figure out something to do about your bottleneck."

Fatty Ren's face was bright. "That I most certainly look forward to!"

Benton Quickstepped toward the merchant, emerging on a street outside the palace. He found that, inside the town, he had to confine himself to short hops to avoid running over people. The exceptions were places like the orphanage and Fatty Ren's room where he had a clear picture in mind of where to emerge that was probably devoid of people and things.

Soon, though, he found a man who was sitting on the driver's bench of a large wagon who met the description provided by Kang Lin. The merchant immediately jumped down and kowtowed.

"Greetings, Esteem—"

"No time for that," Benton said. "You have bows and arrows?"

The man quickly pulled back a cover from his wagon. The entire space was packed with the weapons.

"Perfect," Benton said.

He quickly used Analyze on a random sampling. The arrows were nothing special. A lot of them were pure mortal grade, and the best he found was only Profound. There were no complaints about the quantity, though, as there were at least ten thousand of them.

The bows were better, all at least good enough for a Foundation Establishment cultivator and maybe three dozen in all.

As near as Benton could figure, the whole wagonload was worth less than a few spirit coins.

"Will this cover it?" Preferring not to let his ability to create spirit coins get out just yet, he pulled three rank five beast corpses and a rank six, intact to include the cores, from his ring. He pointed out the respective ranks.

The man's eyes went wide.

"I think I'm overpaying by quite a bit, so I need you to give me five thousand taels back. Does that work?"

The merchant, apparently speechless at the speed of the transaction, nodded.

"Great." Benton thrust a piece of paper at the man. "This is the name of the man I want you to give the taels to."

If Peng Zhen's reliable keeper of money turned out to have been stealing from the orphanage, Benton would have to find the merchant again to get the money, but Benton had high hopes that he wouldn't have to. After the whole thing with the Town Manager getting deposed, he thought his reputation was scary enough that no one would dare steal from him.

It was hard to account for pure avarice, however, so he'd see.

Benton swept the entire contents of the wagon into his ring and disappeared with a Quickstep, emerging just outside the yard of the orphanage.

Children playing immediately noticed his appearance, and one of them ran inside yelling. Benton thought about handing out street vendor meals, but he just didn't have the time. Besides, the kids looked a lot more well fed than the last time he'd been there.

Mistress Gong quickly appeared, looking a lot less harried than last time as well and wearing a newish dress and actually smiling. She cupped her hands. "Esteemed Master Cultivator, this lowly one thanks you. The children thank you."

"Think nothing of it. I just stopped by quickly to touch base and find out if everything was going well. Any issues with the money or anything?"

"No issues at all, Esteemed Master Cultivator."

"Perfect. I arranged for more funds for you. If you have any issues, go to the Town Lord and tell him I want him to take care of you. He'll get you anything you need."

The woman looked surprised at his instructions, but she cupped her hands again. "Of course, Esteemed Master Cultivator."

He filled her in on the timetable for the beast tide. "You should be perfectly safe here. The Poison Claw Sect sent cultivators to protect the town."

"Gratitude, Esteemed Master Cultivator." She hesitated. "And the other children?"

"They are all cultivators now and will be fine."

He hoped.

"Gratitude, Esteemed Master Cultivator." She cupped her hands a final time.

"I'll return in a few months. Remember, if you have any problems at all, go to the Town Lord."

It was time to return to the village. The kids just had to hold out for another hour or so. Hopefully, nothing had gone wrong.

Chapter 114 – Nevermore

Yang Ru placed his spear tip between his body and the raven's beak. He knew he couldn't harm it, but the bird was also unlikely to be strong enough to fight through the weapon.

Atop the wall, Xiang Qiao rang the gong.

Good, the village guard was of too low a realm in both Spiritual and Body Cultivation to attack the raven, but the alert would draw others who could contribute to the fight.

Yang Ru just had to survive solo long enough for others to engage.

The bird snapped forward, trying to bite him. Between his dodge, the placement of the spear, and an arrow distracting the creature by hitting it in the eye, he managed to avoid the strike.

Neither the spear tip nor the arrow so much as scratched the raven. Attacks were useless. They could only defend.

Yang Ru just had to keep on holding on. Until Master got back.

He really hoped Master didn't really take the full time he'd estimated, about four more hours. If he did, the entire village would likely be dead.

Ye Zan heard the gong and sprinted toward the gate. Huang Yimen, Hou Yazhu, and another guard, Kong Zemin, followed.

When they arrived at the plaza, a giant black bird was pecking at Yang Ru, trying to eat him. Though Yang Xiu peppered the creature with arrows and Zou Tian kept darting in stabbing it with daggers, it was unfazed.

"Each take a side," Ye Zan yelled. "We'll attack at once on my command."

The goal wasn't to win. It was to keep everyone alive until Master returned. Yang Ru started the engagement, but if he fought too long against the bird, the likelihood was that the creature would figure out his patterns and get a strike in.

Such an occurrence could lead to disaster. Even though he was near the peak of Qi Gathering and had a technique to increase his resilience against injury, he was no match for an opponent essentially in the Foundation Establishment realm.

None of them were, really.

Ye Zan and the others, however, had what Master called a trump card—their Body Cultivation.

While Yang Ru had only just started his journey having reached the first minor realm, the four guards were already at the sixth. Their skin, bone, muscles, and even organs were much stronger than Senior Brother's. Where a single strike had the potential to deliver a deadly injury to him, they were much more likely to survive.

They hoped.

Each of the guards took their positions.

"On my mark," Ye Zan called.

Yang Ru was too busy dodging that lightning quick beak to speak or even to nod, but Ye Zan trusted that Senior Brother, of all of them, knew what to do.

"Three!" Ye Zan yelled. "Two! One! Go!"

As one, five cultivators moved.

Yang Ru retreated, diving out of the way, while Ye Zan and each of the others darted in, catching the bird by surprise.

The movement was perfect. The thrusts were perfect. The result would have been perfect.

Had their opponent not so far outmatched them.

The tips of their spears simply didn't matter. Even if they'd been equipped with the sect's primary weapons, the Orange Vigor Spirit Wood spears, it still would not have mattered. Ordinary steel had no way to penetrate a qi shield, no matter the strength behind it, and a beast at rank four or above would never run out of qi to fuel that shield fast enough for it to make a difference.

Such was the gap between major realms that the guards might have well had been children with toys rather than cultivators while fighting against the beast.

The detriment of advancing so quickly in Body Cultivation soon showed itself. Whereas Senior Brother had good control over his movements and could dodge with alacrity, the guards were still unused to their rapidly increased strength. Likewise, they had not yet attained Mastery with their spears, meaning that they were fractions of a second late with their reactions.

All that to say that, when the raven struck at Hou Yazhu, he wasn't able to fully move out of the way. The bird got in a glancing blow on the guard's shoulder.

Yang Xiu immediately increased the intensity of her barrage, hitting each eye in turn one after the other and keeping the bird blinded.

As Zou Tian pulled the slightly stunned Hou Yazhu away from the creature, Ye Zan, Huang Yimen, and Kong Zemin closed ranks, each stabbing at it from a different direction.

The bird screeched in anger.

The streaming arrows stopped, probably out of fear of running out of ammunition rather than for any other reason.

It tried to peck at Ye Zan, but he dodged out of the way. Next, it targeted Kong Zemin, but he, too, was able to avoid being hit.

Huang Yimen performed best of all, anticipating the coming strike and easily sidestepping.

The fight continued with the guards barely managing to avoid the bird's mouth.

Ye Zan looked over at Hou Yazhu. The man didn't appear to be really injured. He wasn't even bleeding.

Good. They'd need him.

In battles, a minute was a lifetime, especially against a foe as fast as the bird. The guards had to keep alert at all times, and even straining their abilities to the utmost, they had a difficult time dodging all the bird's many, many attacks.

A mistake was inevitable.

Ye Zan felt his body begin to fatigue. Even with six minor realms of Body Cultivation, he was subjecting it to much stress. He needed a breather.

As he was about to call out his need to be replaced to Hou Yazhu, the bird altered its pattern. Even though Kong Zemin should have been up in the rotation, the damn creature struck at Ye Zan.

The peck caught him surprised and flat-footed. The only thing he could do was use his spear and speed to prevent being hit in the head, a likely fatal blow. The beak instead caught him fully on the shoulder, squeezing tightly.

The sharp mouth penetrated enhanced skin and muscles, but the underlying bone was too tough for even the Foundation Establishment equivalent bird.

Still, the pain was the worst, most intense agony of Ye Zan's life.

And he wasn't even out of danger. The bird still had a grip on him. All it would take was for the creature to toss him up into the air and catch him before gobbling him down.

He was moments from death.

Yang Xiu watched in horror as the bird latched onto Ye Zan. The whole situation was like something out of her worst nightmare. Every arrow was hitting exactly where she intended, but they were doing no damage. At best, they were a mild distraction.

The bird tossed Ye Zan into the air, and she acted without thought, grabbing one of her blunt practice arrows from the battlement near her.

Master had one day told her about a great hero from his home called Hawkeye. The man—birdman?—used a bow with specialty arrows to defeat his foes.

Yang Xiu had found the story fascinating. Arrows that exploded. Arrows that turned into a net. Arrows that did something with lightning to stun.

She wanted them. But all she had that was different from her normal ones were the ones she used for training her fellow sect members to counter enemy archers. So, she kept a few nearby just in case she ever felt a need for them.

Yang Xiu, and Ye Zan, would be forever grateful that she did.

The man flew through the air, and the bird prepared to catch and swallow him.

Putting as much draw strength into the bowstring as she ever had, she shot that blunt arrow.

At Ye Zan.

The shot hit him in the stomach, and he let out a pained oof.

That effect notwithstanding, the arrow did exactly what she want it to. It pushed Ye Zan away from the bird's mouth just enough so that it missed eating him.

Instead, his body hit the ground with a thud, and he groaned.

Her brother and the other three guards renewed their attacks to distract the beast while Zou Tian pulled the injured man away and fed him a Healing Pill.

They couldn't keep going like they were. Someone was going to die for real. How long would it be until Master got back?

Some instinct drove Benton to push himself as he sprinted and Quickstepped back to the village. His disciples were in trouble. He just knew it.

Of course, that same instinct had caused him and Evelyn to rush home from almost all their date nights, and the kids had never been in any danger. So…

Still, he pushed on, stepping eleven miles instead of ten and sprinting even harder during the time he consumed his spirit coins. Instead of an hour, he made the return trip in less than fifty-two minutes.

His last step landed him a few miles from the village, and he scanned the area with his spiritual sense. More than a half dozen of his sect members were battling a death aspected rank five beast in the plaza.

He Quickstepped inside the wall.

Yang Xiu was on the allure, ineffectively peppering a big black raven with arrows. Yang Ru, Hou Yazhu, Huang Yimen, and a guard that Benton for the life of him couldn't recall the name of had the bird surrounded, but they weren't doing any damage.

Off to the side, Zou Tian was feeding a pill to a bloodied Ye Zan.

Well, it looked like the kids had done pretty a good job so far. There were no bodies lying around, anyway. Time for him to step in.

A microburst of gravity propelled the bird into the air quite against its will, and as it scrambled to use its wings to regain control, another burst, equal and opposite to the first tugged on it, leaving it suspended in the air.

"Yang Xiu, do you wish to do the honors?" Benton said.

A twang followed by an arrow plunging toward the bird was her reply, aimed, of course, right at its eye. He hastily attached life qi to the arrow's tip and layered that aspect with a single qi's amount of void.

The life qi, even without Benton having it as a Concept, popped the bird's shield like a soap bubble, and the arrow penetrated its eye, burying itself in the beast's brain. If that hadn't been enough to kill it, the void then triggered, hollowing out the inside of the birdbrain's cranium.

Benton stopped the gravity pulses, and the corpse fell to the ground.

"Good job, everyone," Benton said. "I'd say that's one raven who will quote nevermore."

The kids looked like they had no idea what he was talking about. Which they didn't, of course. He was really going to have to learn some of his new world's famous literature to make funny remarks about.

Chapter 115 – Letters and Numbers

As soon as the beast was dead, Yang Ru sunk into meditation, going over the fight in his head over and over again. Specifically, he concentrated on his use of Stone Skin to toughen two opposite ends of his body, the part facing the raven and his feet that he dug into the dirt.

He repeated the actions in his mind, feeling it almost click into place. So close. So, so close.

The usage felt off. Good. But not perfect. He'd toughened too much of his foot and started an instant too soon.

In his mind, the little image of Yang Ru corrected his mistake, found others, and corrected those as well.

Finally, finally, finally, it happened.

The image achieved perfection.

He'd done it. Achieved Mastery in Stone Skin.

Yang Xiu would no longer be able to rub that in his face.

He grimaced. No, but he was sure she'd soon find something else, probably reaching Foundation Establishment ahead of him. She had a bit of a lead. Maybe he could sneak in some extra cultivating at night when she was asleep…

Soon after the crisis involving the raven was resolved and everyone either fine or quickly on the mend, Benton received a pop up.

Host's Disciple, Yang Ru, has reached Mastery in Stone Skin.

Host is awarded two Sect Points.

Host has 251 Sect Points available.

Awesome! Those were the kind of numbers he liked most, the ones that showed one of his disciples maxing out one of the things they were working on. First techniques and soon cultivation methods. He couldn't wait.

Even better, the numbers took him to an even nine hundred fifty points earned, meaning he had another two to spend on himself.

Spending one point on Meditation would have left him with one remaining, so he instead invested both in Time Manipulation at Small Success.

He took a deep breath. There was something he was forgetting. Something important…

Ah. The letter from Kang Ya-Ting.

Benton pulled the scroll from his ring and broke the wax seal.

Friend Chao,

The two of us are in absolute agreement that my granddaughter is very much a delight. Filial, smart, and diligent. Any young man would be fortunate to even be considered as a potential suitor by her.

She doesn't seem to have given the topic of your stellar disciple much thought, so I asked her to remedy that situation the next time the two of them meet. This old man has no objection to the pairing, not that my opinion is likely to hold much sway in such a matter.

I fear that you have once again managed to confound me. TTYL? What do those strange symbols represent?

The Poison Claw Sect has sent an official letter to the Chameleon Jade Sect warning them not to pursue any retaliation against the Prosperous Gray Forest Village or your disciples. Unfortunately, Teng Jian is known to be aggressive and somewhat undisciplined. Please watch yourself. When he emerges from seclusion, he will almost certainly fly into a murderous rage.

My friend, Elder Dai, and I are garnering much amusement from trying to decipher the mystery that is Chao Su. These ones would hate to be deprived of what limited entertainment is available to them due to an unfortunate incident with an enraged Golden Core cultivator.

Until next time.

- Friend Kang

Benton had suggested that Kang Lin and Yang Ru should get together in order to provide an amusing opening to an otherwise serious letter as much as for any other reason. It seemed like Kang Ya-Ting took that ball and ran with it.

Hmm. That development was something the twins probably should know…

There was no sense penning another letter as Benton had no way to get it to Sixth Flawless Flowing City until after the beast tide, so any response could wait until then.

The same reasoning applied to Teng Jian. The Chameleon Jade Sect member would either come or he wouldn't. Since Benton had advanced to Golden Core and was working on purchasing his Ultimate Juggernaut Combat Build Mark Two, he just wasn't all that worried about a single cultivator in the same major realm.

It was kind of nice that Kang Ya-Ting expressed honest concern for Benton's wellbeing, though. After Evelyn's passing, he'd kind of lost touch with his old friends as he threw himself into his work. It might be a good thing to develop a real friendship with a peer.

Maybe he could even eventually come clean about his origins.

He'd have to be very careful on that front, though. Trust was something to be developed over years of closeness, not from a brief meeting and a couple of letters.

Feeling somehow more optimistic about the future, he called out to the twins. "Could I speak to the two of you privately?"

The two glanced at each other, probably worried about what such a request portended. "Yes, Master."

Benton jumped over the wall and led them a few hundred yards into the forest, well away from prying ears.

"I might have done something … strange? Intrusive? Uncalled for? Something that was none of my business? I don't know how to put it, but I wanted your input."

The two stared back at him, attentive.

"Remember when Kang Lin came to visit?" Benton said.

They both nodded.

"Well, it kind of struck me—just an idle thought, mind you—that she was such a lovely girl. Really talented. Excellent with her spear. You know?"

They both nodded again, looking totally lost about where he was going with the conversation.

"I just happened to think that, you know, maybe, she and Yang Ru could possibly make a good match. And I just happened to mention that idea in the letter to Kang Ya-Ting, Kang Lin's grandfather."

Yang Ru looked stricken. Yang Xiu tried to hide a laugh and failed miserably.

"I want to be clear," Benton said to the boy. "You are under absolutely no obligation to court this young lady, but it would please this old man if you would make an honest attempt to get to know her the next time you have the chance."

"Of course, Master." Yang Ru practically spit out the words.

Then, his face brightened. He had to be thinking that it would be, at least, forever and a day before he even saw her again.

"Oh, one more thing," Benton said. "Kang Lin is in Vermillion Incomparable Rain Town right now probably using a pill I gave her to breakthrough to Foundation Establishment. She and several of her friends are going to be here in about a month to help out with the beast tide."

Benton had never seen a face fall that fast.

Yang Xiu laughed long and hard.

That little scamp. Hmm. Now, who could he fix her up with?

Breaking through to Foundation Establishment had been both the most exhilarating and the most disgusting experience of Kang Lin's life. She was very glad that she had been fully prepared for the purging of impurities. Ample cleaning supplies had been close at hand, but the mess still had been quite unpleasant.

Even though Esteemed Master Cultivator Chao Su had said she would have reached that point on her own in several more months, she found it hard to credit that the advancement would have been nearly so easy. Whatever was in that pill he gave her had miraculous results. She'd never even heard of a breakthrough going so smoothly for anyone aside from a literal top talent, and she was mid-tier at best.

Hopefully, whatever seeming friendship was developing between her grandfather and the mysterious cultivator was a true thing because Kang Lin owed the man. Owed him a lot.

She took out a scroll and writing implement.

Dearest Grandfather,

You will be pleased to know that this lowly one has now entered the Foundation Establishment realm.

Esteemed Master Cultivator Chao Su visited Honored Town Lord Fatty Ren yesterday and had the occasion to examine my cultivation, providing a diagnosis of a slight discord between my qi aspect and my cultivation method.

Even though Master Chao claimed that I would breakthrough on my own soon, he provided a pill, guaranteeing its quality and claiming it was payment for me and my associates' help in assisting the Prosperous Gray Forest Village in a beast tide that will be occurring in the next two months.

The pill's results were nothing short of miraculous as it eased my advancement tremendously, though it was just as stinky as you said it would be. Worse, even.

Master Chao was in quite a hurry, not even having time to read your missive. He reported that he has killed rank fours, fives, and even sixes near the village and is worried about his disciples being left there without him. I got the impression that he made the trip in a very short period of time, hours if not minutes.

This impression was strengthened by the fact that he teleported into the palace. Town Lord Fatty Ren confirmed that the palace's arrays were fully functional, meaning that Master Chao had to use a form of true teleportation in lieu of briefly transforming himself into qi.

Town Lord Fatty Ren believes that performing such a feat means that Master Chao is at least near the peak of Golden Core. He obviously could not have reached such a high realm at the age his youthful appearance suggests, so Town Lord Fatty Ren is of the belief, due to those factors, that Master Chao has reached at least Nascent Soul.

Master Chao also reported that he expects both his disciples to reach Foundation Establishment prior to the beast tide. Given how little time has reportedly passed since Yang Ru started cultivating, maybe he would indeed be a good match for this lowly one.

Love,

Your Filial Granddaughter,

- Kang Lin

She laughed as she wrote that last sentence, knowing her grandfather would understand that she was kidding. Mainly, she hoped he'd be pleased by the fact that she had reached Foundation Establishment.

With the message talismans that Grandfather had provided for the purpose of reporting on Master Chao's actions, she didn't have to wait long for a response as it came later that day.

Dearest Granddaughter,

Congratulations on your breakthrough. Well done! Regardless of what help you received, it was only due to your diligence that you were in a position to take advantage. This old man is proud of you.

Thank you for your report on Friend Chao's actions and on Town Lord Fatty Ren's thoughts. Elder Dai and I will take them into consideration.

Be careful in Prosperous Gray Forest Village. I know that you are a more than capable fighter and don't need my advice, but beast tides are characterized by utter chaos. Keep yourself safe above all! If you can, protect my wayward disciple as well, but you are, as always, my priority.

It surprised this old man that you suddenly consider Yang Ru a good match after his master supplied you with a valuable and highly effective alchemical treatment. Is this old many being replaced by a better provider?

Your Doting Grandfather,

- Kang Ya-Ting

Tears came to her eyes after reading the first two paragraphs. Making her grandfather proud of her was one of her biggest motivations for cultivating, and to hear his concern for her exceeds that for his very important disciple? She had no words.

The last part made her snicker, which she realized was the point after the rest of the letter had been unusually emotional.

Kang Lin put aside the scroll and cleared her mind. She'd be spending the next several days, if not a week, consolidating her gains, and then she had multiple techniques to learn. After that, there was a tide of beasts to fight.

As her grandfather always said, "Hard work begats more work."

Best get to it.