Chapter 150 – The Badger Strikes
By the time Benton found the eighth wave, he still hadn't gotten any notifications indicating advancements from his sect members. He was beginning to get worried. There was absolutely nothing he could do about whatever was going on with his disciples, though.
Well, that conclusion wasn't one hundred percent true. Instead of taking care of the beasts currently within range of his spiritual sense, he could Quickstep back to the village and check on things, but such an action risked him not being able to find the wave again. It also meant abandoning any pretense of leaving his sect members to do the job themselves.
Benton sighed. Being a parent or grandparent or sect leader was difficult. He wanted what was best for the kids, and the optimal outcome was for them to learn how to deal with challenging tasks on their own so that, when they were adults and didn't have anyone to clean up their messes, they'd be that much less likely to encounter a calamity they couldn't handle.
In order for them to truly succeed against a challenge, however, there had to be a chance of disaster. They needed the freedom to fail.
Getting hurt or not killing a beast or any number of ills was a fine outcome. Low moments taught great lessons.
But.
He wanted them to grow to become fine outstanding adults, and they couldn't do that if they died. What did it matter if they learned every lesson to the utmost if they weren't able to reach adulthood. They needed safety. To that end, he should invent bubble wrap and keep them ensconced in it so that no one and nothing could ever hurt them.
They needed safety. They needed freedom. The two ideals were direct opposites of each other.
It was the ultimate conundrum of parenthood. Every time one's kids stepped out of the house, they faced every risk in the world. Kidnappers. Car accidents. Bullying. Bad choices. Drugs and alcohol.
Keep them inside, and they never learn to deal with the small dangers and how to make good choices, or any choices. Let them go, and maybe they face something they're not equipped to deal with.
Ugh.
Thankfully, none of his kids or grandkids had ever had anything actually horrible happen to them, but he and Evelyn were well aware of the risks. Many a night was spent sleepless until they heard the last of the kids return.
The cultivation world was even more brutal than Earth. Sure, his disciples had better tools to deal with danger, like superhuman abilities, but the dangers were commensurate. A rank seven beast could tear through the entire village, and there was not a thing any of them, not even the supremely talented twins, would be able to do a thing about it.
Which left Benton with a huge choice—continue on as planned or return to the village?
Ye Zan's heart pounded so hard that he was surprised its thumping wasn't visible on the outside of his robe. The very first thing standing between the rank six badger and its objective, Jin LiJuan and the bag of spirit coins, was him, little old hadn't even quite reached the sixth minor realm of Qi Gathering him.
He was about to die. It was inevitable.
That was okay, though. If the delay, however brief, his death caused the beast in reaching the bag gave his sect mates time organize a proper defense, his action could possibly save the entire village from being destroyed.
It was a fitting end for Ye Zan. A good end. An heroic end.
Benton Quickstepped to the location of the rank eight beasts.
In the end, he'd made the same decision that he and Evelyn had made almost every time they'd faced a similar situation. Unless whatever activity the kids were facing put them in an inordinate amount of danger or greatly increased the likelihood of them choosing to do something incredibly idiotic, the two had felt that allowing their children to live a full live, even if there were some small risk, was more important than keeping them utterly safe.
Of course, there was always a small voice in the back of Benton's mind that, if the inconceivable did happen, his reasoning would be cold comfort. Luckily, he'd never had to face those particular consequences. The worst that had ever happened was the youngest staying out too late, falling asleep at the wheel, and getting in an accident. The car had been totaled, but the child, other than cuts and bruises and just being shaken up, had been fine.
For the current circumstances, his best judgement was that facing strong beasts without him was something that cultivators needed to be able to do, and thus the level of danger wasn't inordinate. He just really, really hoped that reasoning didn't come back to haunt him.
Regardless, he'd made his decision. It was time to focus on the task in front of him.
He was on top of a large hill about a half mile ahead of the eighth wave. Normally, he'd have thought the distance, which would have made it hard to even see the beasts with unenhanced eyes, was pretty far, but mid realm Golden Core equivalent beasts moved fast. If his reflexes hadn't been similarly enhanced, he wouldn't have been able to react in time.
His opening move was to lay down a field of high gravity around the creatures. Which worked. Some. The beasts definitely slowed.
Unlike with the previous wave in which the gravity had still pretty much incapacitated the beasts, these were able to fight through the field and remain on their feet, still moving forward.
That was okay, though. He didn't need to stop them. He didn't even really need to slow them because he had another ace in the hole—Time Manipulation.
The technique was a qi hog, but with over five and a half million qi available, all of it supercharged by a Concept, he could afford it.
To his perception, it felt like he continued to move at regular speed, but the beasts might as well have stopped. What gave away that it was him that had sped up was that everything else moved as if through molasses. The leaves blown by the wind. An arrow after it left his bow. All moved in slow motion. He could have easily walked to the arrow and redirected it or even pulled it out of the air altogether.
Bullet time. Cool.
Soon, eleven arrows were headed down range. He canceled the Time Manipulation technique, and the missiles suddenly accelerated to full speed, each slamming into a different beast.
Incredibly, three of the creatures survived the first hit—a wolf, a red fox, and a crocodile. All were injured, of course, but each had somehow survived, an unprecedented occurrence when he used his primary attach technique. The increase in toughness from ranks seven to eight was no joke.
The fox had been quick enough to move its head, so the arrow caught it with only a glancing blow, leaving it staggered and bloody but still functional. The crocodile's armored skin had protected it enough to prevent lethal damage, but Benton was positive another strike in the same location would end it.
The wolf, though, should have already died. Its head was mostly gone, replaced by a bloody mass of bone fragments and unidentifiable tissues. It appeared to still be alive due to sheer willpower alone.
Upon closer examination, Benton discovered something else about the beast, something he'd rather not have known. It was pregnant. He sensed a very tiny, barely perceptible, rank one entity alive inside it.
Killing spirit beasts was one thing. They represented a clear and present danger to his sect. Killing cubs was something else entirely.
There was no way the wolf mama could survive its wounds, though, and it was clearly suffering. Maybe he should put it out of its misery. But doing that would surely end the baby as well.
Screw it. Both would very likely die in the next few minutes, but if she and her baby had any chance, he would leave them to it.
With the other two beasts injured and the increased gravity field still active, they moved slowly enough for him not to have any problem hitting them each with another arrow, which, as he suspected, was enough to put both of them down.
With the wave over, he Quickstepped in the direction of the mountain peak, searching for the rank nines.
The badger rushed toward the consumable qi. There were now four humans in the way as a new one had jumped down between it and its goal.
No matter. The new one was just as weak as the others and would be just as easily killed. A jump and a swipe of its claw was all it would take to tear the human's throat out. It barely would need to pause.
The badger had spent years and years and years killing beasts and consuming cores to reach near the peak of rank six. The amount of qi contained at the source was enough to propel it multiple ranks. It had never seen so much concentrated in an accessible place. The amount rivaled what was held in the core of…
Best not to even complete that thought.
It dashed forward, claws ready.
Ye Zan tensed as he tried to anticipate where to move his spear.
The badger was like nothing he'd ever seen. It moved so fast. The only thing he'd ever seen that came close to its speed was Master.
The only possible way to save himself would be to time his defense perfectly. As the beast moved to what he believed to be leaping distance, Ye Zan chose to bring his spear to the right, guessing that was the direction the badger would pick.
The beast went left.
An arrow raced toward it.
Senior Sister.
He had a chance.
The badger twisted in the air, and the missile sailed right past it, not even making contact.
That was it. He was dead.
There was no one else who had a chance to—
Senior Brother flashed in front of him, falling from above faster than one of Senior Sister's arrows.
His Momentum. Yang Ru had converted it into speed.
Being in the air, the badger had limited options to dodge, but Yang Ru was a Master of the spear. His thrust was aimed at center mass. The beast didn't stand a chance and was knocked back several feet.
Ye Zan stared at it, the instrument he'd been so sure was about to deliver his death. Its tan fur with black streaks was now marred with a spot of red.
Unfortunately, Senior Brother had either not gathered enough Momentum or had converted too much of it to quicken his movements because the strike was not lethal. Far from it. The spear tip had barely drawn blood.
"Stop woolgathering!" Senior Brother yelled. "This fight has barely started."
Ye Zan let out a breath. True. And he was still alive, hopefully to remain that way to see the beast dead.
Chapter 151 – Into the Danger Zone
Benton stood atop a cliff, looking over a wide valley. In the distance, a single snow-covered peak rose, ascending into the clouds. The qi signature at the top was so strong that it almost overwhelmed his spiritual sense even from miles away.
He dearly, dearly hoped that the huge source of qi wasn't the Big Boss he had to face.
According to Su's memories, a beast tide being caused by an entity at an equivalent realm to Nihility or higher was extremely unlikely. As in, no one had ever heard of such a high ranked beast causing one.
Of course, if such a high ranked beast attacked, it was unlikely anyone would have survived to tell the tale. Still, Benton optimistically figured that the leader was probably somewhere in the Nascent Soul realm, and that determination wasn't just based on Su's memories. From what Benton's research in the Poison Claw Sect library back in Sixth Flawless Flowing City had revealed, the size of the waves launched against the village was indicative of a powerful beast but not a heaven-shattering one. Ergo, the Big Boss was probably between rank ten and rank twelve and most likely on the lower end of that range.
At worst, Benton should be fighting one full realm above his own, a feat he hoped was doable since he was much stronger than a typical peak Golden Core cultivator. If the beast were actually Nihility, though, he might as well just flee because it was unlikely he'd even be able to hit the creature, much less injure it.
Before finding the Big Boss, though, he still had to deal with the creature's waves, starting with the ninth. There were six of the rank nine beasts making their way across the valley.
The fight should be interesting. It would be the first time that Benton faced the equivalent of a peak Golden Core cultivator, an opponent at his level.
He had a choice—wait at a higher elevation or Quickstep down to meet them?
Well, as Anakin had found out, it was impossible to defeat someone who had the high ground. After all, what did having superpowers mean compared to a slight advantage in height?
Benton chuckled.
Still, he supposed there was some benefit to the old adage. He waited, watching, until the beasts chose a path up the mountain. From that point, it was easy to see where they would need to traverse a pass, so he Quickstepped to that point to set up an ambush.
He found a nice high point and cloaked himself with his Stealth technique, his mastered Concepts ensuring not even a beast with the highest possible perception could detect him and all for the very low cost of about seven qi per minute. For that amount, he could remain cloaked for … literally forever considering his regen rate was greater than a quarter of a million per hour or about forty-seven hundred per minute. The amount required to stay stealthed was basically unnoticeable.
Combined with his perk that hid him from spiritual senses, he was completely undetectable.
Except maybe he wasn't?
The beasts slowed before entering the pass. A single one, an eagle, flew above the ground at a height higher than Benton's perch, obviously searching for something. Him, presumably. The creatures hadn't, after all, exhibited that type of behavior previously when he'd observed them down in the valley. One or more of them must be able to somehow sense him. Either that or another factor had made them suspicious.
Like maybe the fact that he'd completely obliterated the last two waves?
Oh well, it wasn't like he needed to ambush them. He felt confident in defeating the six beasts in a straight up fight. After all, if he couldn't achieve such a feat, how was he going to defeat a creature up to a full major realm above him?
He drew back his bowstring.
Yang Xiu watched Yang Ru jump from the wall, using his technique to accelerate, putting himself between the badger and Ye Zan. In the ten months since she'd become Master's disciple, she'd spent almost as much time sparring and practicing with weapons and watching other do the same as she had cultivating. Her anticipation of what would happen next in a fight was pretty darn good.
As soon as her brother's spear hit the beast's chest, she loosed her arrow, predicting where the two would intersect. And she was right. The badger was too surprised by getting hit to focus on her, and her shot hit the exact spot that Yang Ru's had.
Since its qi shield was already weakened, the arrow penetrated, sticking into the badger.
Yes!
As soon as the beast landed, though, it darted for the shadows before anyone could stop it and disappeared from view.
Crap.
Ye Zan turned to Jin LiJuan as soon as the beast disappeared. "Give me the coins."
"No."
"The badger is after the coins. It's too dangerous for you. Give them to me."
"No!"
Heavens. The girl was as stubborn as she was intense.
"Why not?" he said.
"Master gave them to me. It's my job. My responsibility. If anyone is going to die protecting them, it will be me."
Ye Zan opened his mouth to object, but he didn't. For one thing, he doubted it would do any good. For another, he respected her argument. Yes, she was probably the youngest of the sect members and was definitely the weakest, but she was a sect member. The responsibility for the coins and for the barrier had been entrusted to her by Master. If Ye Zan were in her position, he would have refused as well.
Fine, then.
"Guards!" he yelled. "I want a cordon around her two people thick. Nothing and nobody gets through until that badger is dead. Understand?"
"Yes, Guard Captain!"
Zou Tian caught Yang Xiu's eyes, silently asking the question, "Can you sense the badger?"
She shook her head.
He frowned. She was able to find him even when he was cloaked in Shadow, but he wasn't yet able to manipulate qi externally. The badger did have that ability, and it was stymieing her Qi Gathering level Perception technique.
What were they going to do? There was a dangerous beast loose in the village, one that was basically invisible. Even their most perceptive sect member, Senior Sister, couldn't detect it. The badger could kill anyone it wanted.
Wan Ai was in danger.
How could he protect her if no one could find the creature?
A thought hit him. Yang Xiu hadn't been the one to find out that it was inside the village in the first place. That honor belonged to him.
He didn't even know how he did it, though, and until he figured it out, there was no way for him to repeat it. His best guess was that his very strong affinity to Shadow sensed either another Shadow user nearby or, perhaps more likely, the manipulation of Shadow nearby.
That latter explanation made sense to him. More so, it resonated with his understanding of his qi aspect. His gut told him he was correct, and Master advocated for them to trust their guts in absence of proof to the contrary.
The question was how to actually use the ability.
Just like everything else related to cultivation, Zou Tian figured that his best bet was to clear his mind with meditation, connect to his qi aspect, and let it guide him. He dropped into the lotus position.
For a moment, he was distracted by wondering if he should tell someone what he was doing, but he berated himself instead. His fellow sect members weren't stupid. They knew he had been the one to sense the creature inside the village in the first place. Seeing him meditate, they'd quickly understand why he was doing so.
Yang Ru had no idea how to find the badger, and letting it run loose to kill whoever it chose was not okay. He glanced up at the top of the wall. His sister was concentrating intently, and Zou Tian was meditating.
If neither of them could locate it, Yang Ru had no chance.
Think. What to do. What to do.
If he couldn't find it, he should … draw it out. It was attracted to Jin LiJuan's spirit coins. Which … was perfect. He had coins.
Additionally, he had another advantage. Besides being able to deliver a more powerful strike than any other sect member save Master, Yang Ru was also the toughest one. The combination of equaling the highest level of Spiritual Cultivation of the disciples at Foundation Establishment minor realm one and the highest level of Body Cultivation at peak Bronze and having access to a shield technique even if it was only at Small Success made him more able to withstand blows that would kill any of the others.
With a thought, he withdrew all the spirit coins from his spatial ring and let them pile into his cupped hands. His were the one thousand increment variety instead of the ones holding ten thousand that were being used to feed the shield, but his would soon be much more accessible than the others, which required passing through a wide expanse of sunlight to reach.
"I'm going to draw it out," he yelled. "When it appears, throw a FED behind it."
Yang Ru began walking toward the shadows that the beast disappeared into.