Chapter 157 well played
Benton slowly lessened the effect of his gravity burst, lowering him to the ground. Once he landed, he stowed the cyclops' corpse in his spatial ring. It occurred to him that the fight would have gone a lot better had he known about the beast's weakness earlier.
He should do something about that oversight, but it wasn't like he could just snap his fingers and gain as much knowledge of spirit beasts as he wanted. Oh wait…
Next time he was spending points, he'd add that technique to his buy list.
Self-recrimination complete, he turned his attention to the question posed by the popup. Did he want to choose his rewards?
A far higher priority in his opinion was to get back to the village and make sure that everyone was okay. He was low enough on qi that he'd need to consume a handful of spirit coins to afford a Quickstep traversing such a great distance, but he had plenty of the consumables available.
As he glanced down at himself, his appearance gave him pause. Far from looking like an all-knowing mysterious master, he looked more like a hobo than he had since he'd first appeared at the village. He really didn't want his disciples to see him dressed in torn, dirty, bloody robes.
But he needed to know if everyone was alright. Soon. Now.
Then it hit him. One of the rewards was contingent on the percentage of people surviving. The System should be able to tell him that quantity, and sure enough, after he posed the question, it did just that.
""100%""
He let out a very relieved breath. Everyone had survived. That was the best news he could have gotten.
For a moment, he worried that some of them might have ended up injured, needing him to come heal them, but he remembered how many pills he'd left them with. They'd be fine.
Feeling like he'd been rushing around like a chicken with its head cut off for entirely too long, he took a very deep breath and exhaled slowly. He took a moment to appreciate what he'd accomplished.
In less than a year, he'd built a sect of over two hundred members who were progressing nicely and who seemed to hold him in high regard. They'd surely had challenges at the village with the spirit beasts that attacked, and they'd come through those fights stronger.
He himself had become quite overpowered. A regular cultivator of his level would not have been able to defeat a beast with an aura, especially not one strong enough to control a beast tide. His techniques were complete cheats.
Benton had a lot of be proud of.
After a few moments of letting himself bask in his and his sect members accomplishments, he sighed. There were miles to go before his slept. First things first. Getting clean.
He Quickstepped to a nearby pond, bathed, and dressed in a fresh robe. After finishing, he felt much, much better. Refreshed.
Satisfied that his sect could survive without him for a little while longer, he said, "System, I'm ready to choose my rewards."
""Congratulations, Host, for surviving the beast tide!
Based on sect members solely defeating beasts at and even above their level, the ease of Host dispatching higher level threats, and a final Average Loyalty of 7.9, the System grades Host's performance as an At, the top rank Host can achieve without special circumstances.
For achieving an A+ grade, Host can choose one of the two following benefits:
Heightened Personal Potential
Heightened Sect Member Potential""
Benton's first impulse was to feel quite good about receiving top marks. His second impulse was to dig deeper into the first of the two prizes. Both won to one extent or the other.
""If Host chooses Heightened Personal Potential, the restrictions on cultivation for reaching Nascent Soul, Diamond Body Cultivation, etc. will be removed. Achieving those metrics will instead trigger the ability to reach the next levels of cultivation, making each set of major realms that much easier to achieve.""
If he grokked that correctly, the benefit would allow him to immediately ascend to Nascent Soul and, upon reaching one thousand sect members with the required minimum Average Loyalty, he'd be able to ascend to Nihility.
That was nice. There were only a handful of Nascent Soul cultivators on the continent and none at Nihility level that anyone knew about. He'd be quickly catapulted to, or even above, the ranks of the best.
He asked the System about the next choice.
""If Host chooses Heightened Sect Member Potential, all current and future sect members and/or disciples will be allowed the choose to increase the rank of their spiritual roots by a single minor step.""
That prize was ludicrous. Groundbreaking. The reward would allow an E to move to E+ or an F- to an F. Immediately. With apparently no chance of failure.
More importantly, a E+ could move to a D- and so on for D+ to C-, C+ to B-, B+ to A-, and something that boggled his mind, presumably from A+ to S-.
Jumping to the next major rank was a big deal, changing the destiny of the cultivator in question.
Crazy.
Even if not moving to another major rank, each of his sect members from now to forever would be a bit stronger, achieve a bit higher realm, reach each minor realm a bit faster, and learn their techniques a bit easier. For each sect member, it would be a small but important increase. For the sect as a whole multiplied over eventually thousands or tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of members, it was absolutely amazing.
Once word got out that his sect offered such a boon, he'd have to beat away applicants with a stick. He'd have to beat away other sects with a stick as well, but that was a problem for future Benton.
His inclination was that there was really no choice. He was all about making his disciples stronger, not himself. Besides, whatever criteria the System threw at him, he was confident that he would eventually reach, and with the beast tide conquered, there was no pressing need for him to advance quickly.
At fifty sect members per month and with the overall mood of the villagers favorable to him, he fully expected to fulfill the criteria for Nascent Soul in less than a year in a half and probably much faster than that. Maybe even under a year.
Cultivation was a journey of centuries and millennia. Prioritizing speeding his journey at this low stage made no sense. In comparison, helping untold numbers of his sect members was too good an opportunity to pass up.
"System, the description says that the sect members will be allowed a choice if I pick that benefit. How does that work exactly?"
""Host's disciples and sect members will not see a screen like Host does. Instead, they will be overcome with a strong intuitive sense that, if they choose to do so, they have the opportunity to, at that time, upgrade their spiritual roots by dropping into meditation. Future sect members will feel the same intuition shortly after being inducted into Host's sect or being made a disciple.""
Benton nodded. He'd been scared that they would all suddenly get pop up screens. The ability to spontaneously upgrade their rank was weird enough. Adding strange floating boxes to it would be a little excessive.
He definitely planned to take that second option but decided to wait to officially claim it until after he had a chance to prepare his people.
"System, I want to see the second reward."
""Congratulations, Host, for surviving the beast tide! Based on 100% of sect members and villagers surviving the beast tide, Host can choose one of the two following benefits:
Bloodline Pagoda
Trials Pagoda""
Benton asked the System to explain the first choice.
""The Bloodline Pagoda allows sect members and/or disciples to awaken and improve their bloodlines.""
Captain Obvious much?
"System, I need more information than that. Please give me basic background on bloodlines and information such as can the sect members choose a bloodline? How much can it be improved? Etc."
""Bloodlines arise when a human has a powerful spirit beast in their ancestry. Since such relations are sought out by cultivators as a means to increase power and prestige, it is estimated that greater than half of all humans has at least of a trace of a bloodline. The pagoda leads the sect member and/or disciple through a safe process to awaken that bloodline. Subsequent visits over time allow that sect member and /or disciple to improve the power of that bloodline. The amount of improvement possible is a property inherent to the bloodline in question and the amount present in the human. It is not possible for a sect member and/or disciple to select a bloodline as a human may only possess a single bloodline that is passed down to them through their family. If the mother and the father have different bloodlines, only the strongest will be passed to the child.""
Okay. That cleared things up quite a bit. He liked adding power for his disciples and per Su's memories, bloodlines could either greatly ease a cultivator's difficulty in advancing or enhance physical prowess or grant the use of an overpowered technique or any number of other possibilities. It sounded, though, like the exact benefit was random, a fact that he didn't appreciate at all.
"System, tell me about the Trials Pagoda."
""The Trials Pagoda allows one sect member and/or disciple to participate in a trial each day.
Admittance to the trial may cost Sect Points, and the cost is variable depending on the trial that is selected. Should the sect member and/or disciple pass the trial, a reward is given. The trials that may be chosen are:
Advance Cultivation or Technique
Add or Modify Qi Aspect
Improve Spiritual Roots""
Through a series of questions, he learned some interesting facts about the Trials Pagoda, including the variable safety of the trials, ranging from completely safe for advancing cultivation and techniques to possibly deadly when trying to improve spiritual roots. Given that death was on the table, he started to sour on the concept of the trials.
Then again, that result was only for the most important of the three trial types, which was a complete gamechanger. After all, there was nothing that said a sect member couldn't improve their roots multiple times, assuming they were willing to risk death and he was willing to spend the Sect Points.
At first, he didn't see the first type as a huge add, thinking it basically just sped up what his sect members would accomplish anyway. In an emergency like the approaching beast tide, it would have been worth it to spend Sect Points to get a few more cultivators into the Foundation Establishment realm, but with that potential disaster averted, they could afford to take things more slowly.
After a bit of thought, though, he understood the true benefit of that trial type—bottlenecks. Sometimes, cultivators hit a wall and couldn't advance their realm or their technique, regardless of resources, the quality of their methods and techniques, or their talent level. They might get stuck for a month or a year or a decade. They might never breakthrough.
If he understood the System correctly, the pagoda could help with that.
The second trial type also provided a big benefit. A cultivator was born with their qi aspect. Given his maxim about being in a cultivation world, he was positive that someone somewhere knew how to add to it or modify it, but from Benton's knowledge and Su's memory, he didn't know of a way other than the offered trial.
He'd already seen how much benefit having access to multiple qi aspects offered. The thought of his sect members having a similar, albeit more limited version, made him happy.
With the three trials and given enough Sect Points, he could raise almost anyone to immortal status.
That realization led him to another equally profound one—the trials pagoda was a freaking point sink. He shook his head. Every game had them, and he should have suspected something like it happening once Sect Points started to become so prevalent that he literally had no idea what he would spend all of them on.
Darn.
"Well played, System. Well played."
Chapter 158 - Celebrate
Good Times
Despite Benton's reservation about the Trial Pagoda being a point sink, he pulled the trigger, confirming that reward as his selection, and the System stowed the building in his spatial ring. The time taken to bathe and deal with the prompts allowed a decent amount of his qi to be restored, but he still decided to consume ten spirit coils to add another one hundred thousand units.
With the tide finished, he wasn't expected to run into any danger, but it was better to be prepared than to be caught off guard.
His impulse was to go straight to the village, but there was one errand he needed to take care of first. He Quickstepped to the sect grounds and looked for a good spot for the new pagoda.
It would be a central building for the Rising Tide Sect, something that made the sect extraordinary. He wanted to give it pride or place instead of hiding it away. Unfortunately, with only the arena having been placed, it was hard for him to visualize exactly how the grounds were going to take shape.
He had mentally designated an area away from the arena to be the sect's central administrative complex, so he picked a place there that seemed like it would work and placed the Trial Pagoda. Unlike with the structures he took from the Righteous Rain Sect, there were no visible foundations to deal with. Instead, when he placed the building, he got a pop up.
""Does Host want to confirm this location for the Trials Pagoda?""
"Yes, please."
The prompt made him think that the placement would be permanent, but he could deal with that, The other buildings could be maneuvered around it. After all, one of them had to be the first to be placed.
Foundations grew out of the bottom of the building and burrowed into the ground.
Neat.
While he didn't know the exact layout of the area, he did know that he wanted the Contribution Points Shop to be near the Trials Pagoda because Peng Zhen would be put in charge of managing access to the place. To an extent, anyway. Obviously, the merchant would have to coordinate with Benton for trials involving death stakes and for permission to use Sect Points, but the actual schedule and the amount of contribution points to charge the trial-takers wasn't something that the sect leader needed to concern himself with.
There was a small two-story building that he had planned to use for the shop. It was perfect with a relatively large open area on the first floor that could be turned into a sales floor, plenty of storage space in back rooms, and living quarters upstairs. The entire Peng family should fit easily with space to spare.
Benton quickly removed the building from his ring, took a look at the alignment of the foundations, and stowed it back inside. Before he started digging, though, he had a thought. When he'd set up the arena, he didn't have nearly the understanding of techniques or the plethora of Sect Points that he currently did. He'd had to actually dig out spaces for the foundations by hand.
He was no longer so simple.
"System, I'd like to buy an Earth aspected technique to dig out foundations. Please confirm purchase to Mastery."
""Technique creation confirmed.
Host has learned the technique, Foundation Excavation - Mastery.
Host has 806 Sect Points available.""
The new technique worked like a charm, allowing him to quickly and easily place the new Contribution Points Shop adjacent to the new pagoda.
Nice. That would come in super handy when he placed the rest of the sect buildings.
Time to go visit the kids.
He Quickstepped in the forest just outside the village gate and used his spiritual sense to find a spot clear of people in the plaza. One more Quickstep, and he was inside.
"Master!" Yang Xiu yelled.
Yang Ru, Kang Lin, Ye Zan, Jin LiJuan, and a lot of the others were there, meditating. All looked up at Yang Xiu's shout. They all had smiles on their faces as big as the one on his.
"All of you, great job," Benton said. "I cannot adequately express how proud of you I am. Now, someone tell me what happened after I left."
It wasn't that easy, of course. Each of them had parts to interject, and Benton did not spare his praise as they related their harrowing adventure, especially when they told him about the badger that had made it inside the wall.
He was quite displeased with himself when he heard that. The thought of a beast going underneath the shield hadn't even occurred to him, and considering the number of animals that burrow, it definitely should have. It was only luck and the talent of his amazing disciples that prevented the entire village from being destroyed.
Another concern was that his super-fast arrows hadn't gotten the job done at all. The higher ranked beasts had dodged them … as easily as he could have. He really should have thought of that as well. A homing function would have been better than making them faster. The formation would have been a lot harder, but the results would have been worth it.
In contrast, he was so happy with his disciples that he could barely stand it. Yang Xiu, Yang Ru, Kang Lin, and Zou Tian had all defended against beasts well above their level, and Ye Zan, Jin LiJuan, and the others had shown true bravery and commitment in the face of what must have looked like certain death. When they finished the story, he singled each of them out by name and told them how incredible he thought their actions were.
And of course, they all wanted to hear his story, so he related how the seventh, eighth, and ninth waves were actually pretty easy. More tedious than anything else as he wanted to make sure none of them escaped past him.
The cyclops, on the other hand… Since various Poison Claw Sect members like Pan Jiang were in the audience, Benton couldn't give the gathering the true blow by blow as those details would have given way too many clues about his actual cultivation level, but he did let them know that it was an intense fight and that the Big Boss of a beast tide was much stronger than an average beast of the same rank.
"With the beast tide officially over, though, we have two very urgent tasks to accomplish," Benton said.
"Of course, Master," Yang Xiu said. "We're ready to obey. What would you have us do?"
"Number one, receive your rewards. Number two, celebrate!"
There were laughs and cheers all around.
"To the victors go the spoils," Benton said, "and you all stand victorious. Gather all the sect members and any villager who want to come at the arena as quickly as possible. I think you're going to like what I have for you."
With the tide over and so many beasts killed, the area around the village and the sect was safer than it had ever been. Benton didn't detect a single spiritual signal in range of his sense save for his sect members and their allies. He made sure to tell that to those assembled and have them pass it on to the others.
It was nearing nightfall when the last person took a seat in the stands. All the sect members and the Poison Claw Sect allies attended, of course, along with several hundred of the villagers.
Benton looked around at the five to six hundred people who had gathered in the stands and smiled. They'd come so far and would only continue to advance. He was so pleased about their response to what could have been a disaster. Even the villagers had showed calmness and fortitude, not complaining at all during the entire beast tide.
Speaking of not complaining, though, he couldn't help but notice that Jin LiJuan was shivering. Even though she was only at the first minor realm of Qi Gathering and had a horribly damaged circulation system, she was a cultivator. It was rare for one to come down with an illness.
"Are you okay, Li'er?" Benton said.
"Y-yes, M-Master."
"Why are you shivering? Are you sick?"
"N-no, M-Master. I'm f-fine."
"Nonsense. You can barely talk your lips are trembling so hard."
"Master," Mistress Zhong said. "The child is cold. The mortals and those early on the path of cultivation notice temperatures more than we do."
Ah. He supposed it was getting close to winter. Trivial concerns like whether the weather was hot or cold wasn't even noticeable to him anymore. But having had his attention called to it, he noticed that the villagers were all huddled together and had on coats or wore blankets wrapped around them.
Luckily, he could do something about their comfort.
"Tell me when you start to feel warm enough, Li'er."
She looked confused but nodded.
He triggered his Area Temperature Manipulation, increasing the heat until Li'er told him to stop.
"There," he said. "Nice and cozy."
"Gratitude, Master," Li'er said, grinning at him.
He took that as a rare treat. The kid did not smile often.
After removing a wagon from his ring to use as a podium on the arena floor, he took his position atop it. The crowd grew silent in anticipation.
"Once again," Benton said, "I cannot adequately express how impressed I am at how all of you handled an extremely stressful and dangerous situation. Even though I would prefer to always be with you to provide protection, that luxury simply will not always be possible. That I can depend on you to help and defend each other is an enormous boon, one that deserves rewarding."
His words had an immediate impact, especially to all who had not been present in the plaza earlier. He had a hard time fully understanding what he meant to these people, but it must have been something profound because a few words of praise elevated the mood even higher. There were smiles on practically all faces.
Of course, part of that might have been the promised rewards…
"As you made your way to the arena, you may have noticed two new buildings. The smaller of those is the new Contribution Points Shop." Benton looked around until he found who he was looking for in the crowd. "Peng Zhen, that building is now yours. You'll find housing space for your family upstairs."
"Gratitude, Master."
"The larger structure adjacent to it is the Trials Pagoda." Benton paused for a moment to let the impact of the statement sink in. "Once per day, one person approved by Peng Zhen and me and requiring payment of contribution points to do so may enter the pagoda for the purposes of undertaking a trial. He and I will talk later to discuss the criteria for doing so."
The villagers, of course had no idea what such an announcement portended. Neither did most of his sect members who, until very recently, had been mortals and knew little about the world of cultivators. Yang Xiu looked excited, either because she'd read about trials in a story or something or because she just expected that anything coming from Master was sure to be interesting.
The best reaction was from Kang Lin, who had grown up in a prominent family in a major sect. Her jaw literally dropped. She surely knew what a Trials Pagoda was, and Benton figured she never anticipated being able to see one.
"If you partake of the first trial, you will be able to work on improving either a chosen technique or your cultivation. This trial requires only contributions points to partake, and as the trial has no real risk, Peng Zhen may schedule your participation. While this trial is helpful to move you along your cultivation journey, please remember that taking the trial means that no one else will be able to use the pagoda that day. For those of you who are not bottlenecked, slots for this trial will be the absolute lowest priority."
Benton grinned as he waited for the implications of his statement to sink in but ended up being disappointed. In Su's memory, all cultivators feared bottlenecks as a potential end to one's challenge of the heavens. His sect members, on the other hand, had no reason to fear such a thing. Even for the lowest talented ones, the journey thus far had been smooth.
Only the Poison Claw Sect members and the old harvesters truly understood what Benton said, that the trials were a potential path to breaking bottlenecks.
Oh well, he was used to failing to get the reaction he wanted. Some people were just no fun.
"If you partake in the second trial, you will be able to modify your qi aspect. Note that this action can result in a very profound change as your qi aspect is something that is integral to who you are as a person. Choosing to take this trial is something that requires careful consideration. On the other hand, the results can be profound as adding a new element to your repertoire could be a game changer. Unfortunately, though, participation requires a small amount of a limited resource that only I can contribute, so it requires my permission."
The announcement of the second trial produced more of a reaction than the first. He could see wheels spinning in the heads of Yang Xiu, Zou Tian, and others as the potential revealed itself. Kang Lin just looked flummoxed.
Benton grinned. She was fast becoming his absolute favorite person to tease.
"If you partake in the third trial…" He paused, allowing the tension of the moment to build.
A lot of the audience literally leaned forward in their seats.
"If you successfully complete the third trial, you will be able to improve your spiritual roots by one minor step."
Finally, he got the reaction he had been looking for. Even the villagers understood the importance of the rank of one's spiritual roots as it was the sole determining factor in acceptance to most sects. They also knew that it was incredibly rare to change such a thing. After all, only a very few of his most talented sect members so far had been afforded that opportunity.
To hear that any of them could possible do so was of profound relevance.
Benton couldn't wait announce that all of them would be allowed to advance one minor step free of charge. The reactions were sure to be hilarious.
Chapter 159 Trials and Tribulations
Kang Lin waited in the stands of the arena, eagerly anticipating Master's presentation to begin. When he announced that there would be rewards, she was sure that, considering the source, it would be something over the top and nearly impossible.
She was not disappointed.
A Trials Pagoda was a thing of legend. No sect on the continent had one, but a few larger, more powerful sects in other places had found or established such wonders. Enough stories had made their way to the continent that she was familiar with the concept.
To see one for herself was truly amazing.
Obviously, as a mere disciple and not a Rising Tide Sect member, she would not get to experience a trial, but it was enough for her to simply be present at its unveiling. She exchanged a glance with Pan Jiang, who sat next to her. He looked just as excited as she felt.
Kang Lin was glad he was present as it meant that nothing Master said tonight would be a secret. She was mentally composing her message to Grandfather even as the announcement continued.
When Master started talking about specifics of the first trial, her ears really perked up. Prizes for trials were typically things like a spiritual weapon or a rare, valuable herb or a good technique or cultivation method. Instead, the very first reward had the potential to break bottlenecks.
What?
When the other sects found out about that possibility, they'd surely be lining up for a chance to use it, considering how many old monsters were out there languishing at their current level unable to move forward. The news might cause a riot.
The second trial was no less heaven shattering. No wonder Master was able to use so many different types of qi. He had access to a trial pagoda that gave out new aspects as prizes like they were pieces of candy.
Kang Lin had never heard of such a thing. She'd never even imagined it was possible.
Then, he told them about the final trial. To improve one's spiritual roots was a major advancement. The only way she knew of involved vastly expensive pills that required a minimum of a Golden Core level alchemist and several almost impossible to find ingredients to make. And those pills could only be consumed prior to the start of cultivating.
A method of increasing an existing cultivator's spiritual roots was unheard of. Literally. Every alchemist had searched in vain for such a thing and not found it. The fact that a new, small sect had it was going to cause major waves.
She hoped that Master was as strong as he seemed. He would need to be to keep the sect safe.
The fact that he'd defeated a rank ten beast that commanded a tide and apparently suffered no ill effects from the battle boded well in that regard. She was sure that Grandfather would spread that story around to at least give other sects pause.
"There are a couple of very big caveats that go with the third trial, however," Master said. "One, that resource that I talked about earlier that only I can provide? The third trial consumes a not insignificant amount. Two, failing the trial risks death, and I don't currently know what percentage of applicants pass or fail or what percentage might die. I'm going to be very reluctant to let anyone try this trial. Understood?"
"Yes, Master!" All the core sect members yelled in response, leaving the rest of the audience looking at each other.
Kang Lin felt a bit of relief. The limitations on the use of the pagoda for the most heaven shattering of the effects was a good thing. The big three sects would already be eying the small new sect that had sprouted in their midst with suspicion, fear, and avarice. That the new sect couldn't easily advance all their members to the peak of S rank talent would soothe some of the hotheadedness.
The news would definitely present challenges and opportunities for the Poison Claw Sect. Having established friendly relations already was a benefit in that they were in the best position to profit from Master's many impossibilities. If the other two decided to destroy the Rising Tide Sect, however, it could put her sect in a difficult situation.
Kang Lin was very glad that people much higher in realm than her would be making such life and death decisions. At the same time, she hoped they'd stand strong with her Master and her new friends.
"On the plus side, I do have another surprise for you. All current sect members—" He looked directly at Kang Lin and smiled. "—and disciples will soon receive the option of increasing their spiritual roots by one minor step at no cost. Additionally, anyone joining the sect or becoming my disciple in the future will receive this same boon."
Kang Lin was absolutely floored by that revelation. In fact, if anyone besides Master had said it, she literally would not have believed it. Such a thing should not be possible. She wasn't sure that it was possible.
It couldn't be, right? That bonus was too heaven shattering to be real.
"Be aware, however," he said, "that the process is quite painful."
Yang Xiu, Yang Ru, Xun Wu, and Peng Hanying all nodded vigorously.
"You do not have to accept this boon," Master said. "It is not in any way a requirement for being in this sect. In fact, I will not tolerate anyone in this sect looking down on another sect member for their choice in this matter. The pain is nothing to scoff at. I hate that some of you will have to suffer through it."
Kang Lin did not understand him at all. How could anyone, even a mortal, pass up the opportunity to improve their spiritual roots simply because it hurt? That choice would be insane.
She would have spoken up, but she was so utterly flabbergasted by the entire concept of such a choice being real that the possibility of someone refusing it was a bridge too far.
"Okay," Master said, "why don't we spread out so that all the Rising Tide Sect members and my non-affiliated disciple have some room?"
The arena had space for over a thousand people to sit, and only about half the seats were in use. The non-cultivating villagers all moved en masse to the opposite side, leaving plenty of room for the rest of them to spread out.
It was quite a surreal experience for Kang Lin. Yet again, Master was proclaiming to be about to do something that was literally impossible, and everyone around her trusted that he was telling the absolute truth. The problem was that she believed him, too. She'd already seen too many ridiculous claims become reality for her to have any doubt.
No. She couldn't just sit there and say nothing. A mass changing of spiritual roots was too much. It was a direct challenge to the heavens. She would not remain silent.
Kang Lin stood. "Master, you can't do this."
He looked puzzled as if what he was about to do was completely normal and any claim otherwise was just silly. "Why not?"
"Because it's impossible. I mean, a lot of the stuff you do is impossible, but this is really, really impossible. It's… I mean… You just can't!"
Master smiled. "I know. You're right. It is impossible."
Kang Lin let out a breath. Good. It had just been a joke. She didn't understand the humor, but he'd just been teasing her. Or them. Or something.
"Just because something is impossible, doesn't meant I cannot and will not do it anyway, though," Master said. "This is a cultivation world. We are meant to challenge the heavens. Anything can and will happen."
What? But…
On top of the wagon down on the sand, Master did that thing where his eyes moved rapidly around, and suddenly, the late evening sky grew even darker. Lightning flashed.
"Oops," Master said, still smiling. "I think I've made the heavens angry."
###
If there was any lesson that Benton had learned from his years serving corporate bigwigs, it was, "Never let them see you sweat."
Internally, he was sweating up a storm. Just before he confirmed his choice to select the enhanced spiritual roots reward for his sect members, the sky flashed lightning. And it wasn't just any lightning. It was tribulation lightning.
He could feel the power contained in those clouds in his very bones.
Still, he kept a smile on his face for his sect members and made light of the situation. No reason to make them worried. He'd either survive the experience or he wouldn't.
Not that he was planning on leaving something like that to chance. Tribulation lightning was nothing to play around with. Many cultivators had their paths ended due to it. And he, fortunately, was a cheating cheater who cheats.
"System," he said internally, "I'd like to form a Concept of an Anti-Tribulation element. This element's sole purpose is to neutralize tribulation lightning. Please confirm purchase of the Concept to Mastery."
""Concept creation confirmed.
Host has learned a Concept for Anti-Tribulation - Mastery.
Host has 790 Sect Points available.""
There. Now when the lightning hit, his shield would be super effective against it. He just hoped that would be enough.
###
Kang Lin tensed.
One heard stories about cultivators undergoing a tribulation, of course, but it wasn't something any sane person ever wanted to witness, much less experience. Few if any who suffered heaven's lightning survived to tell the tale. Though Master appeared confident that he'd make it through just fine, she was positive that she was about to witness his end.
When she'd come to the village, it had been at the direction of her grandfather. She was to gather information for him as to what was happening with the mysterious and powerful Chao Su and, if it didn't appear too unsafe, gain experience by participating in the beast tide. Her instructions were to flee at the first sign of danger.
Since then, she'd made friends. More than friends, actually. Yang Xiu was more like a sister. Yang Ru was a potential fiancé. And Kang Lin had found a Master, and she was finding that he meant a lot more to her than she'd thought.
She didn't want him to die, but there was nothing she could do about it. None could come between the heavens and its target.
At the same time, it was impossible for him to survive. Only literal legends were able to come through such an experience alive. She estimated his chances to be one in a million at best.
The first bolt formed, splitting the sky with a violet burst. It lanced toward Master, and he didn't even attempt to evade, standing strong and tall against it, against the heavens.
The lightning exploded when it hit him, but no damage was done to the surroundings. Master glowed with purple light.
When the blast and the accompanying thunder faded, Master still stood, looking as fresh and uninjured as he had been before the blast.
Impossible. Kang Lin literally didn't believe her eyes.
Then another bolt formed and hit him. And another. And so on until a total of five lightning strikes exploded against him.
None so much a fazed him. Not a hair on his body was singed as far as she could tell.
Master truly was unfathomable.
"Well, now that little bit of excitement is over," he said, sounding complete unperturbed, "why don't we get on with the reward?"
His eyes made the funny motion again, and she felt something. It wasn't intrusive. Instead, it was just like she had a certainty that, if she chose to meditate at that time, she would improve her spiritual roots.
She'd never experienced enlightenment, but the way she felt mirrored the accounts of it that she'd read.
Considering that Master had just underwent tribulation for her to have the chance to improve her roots and it was a once in a lifetime opportunity, she surrendered to the moment and sank into a lotus position.
From her experiences so far, the Rising Tide Sect treated impossibilities as just another thing that happened. She might as well go along for the ride.
Master was rubbing off on her; she couldn't wait to explain everything that happened to Grandfather. Just imagining his reaction made her smile.
Chapter 160 arc 1 epilogue
12/17/24 A/N: Okay, this is kind of a weird way of doing things, but I'm combining three of what would be chapters in a novel into a single post. The first is this epilogue, which is almost long enough to stand alone. The second, though, is a table that hopefully you can bookmark and come back to if you forget who someone is? And the third is the prologue for the next arc, and it's a bit on the short side. So I decided to post them all separately because that's the way they would be in a book, but since they're the same post, I labeled them a, b, and c. Hope that works for everyone.
He shook his head again. Cultivators.
Wan Ai and the three Foundation Establishment level cultivators all looked to have come through the experience just fine, but the low to mid ranks appeared to be absolutely wiped. It was nearing noon of the next day, and they hadn't had any good rest for a while. He sent everyone back to the village with street food from his ring and instructions to eat quickly and go to sleep.
After the arena cleared out, Benton remained behind, directing his attention to his To Do list. With the beast tide complete, there was little danger remaining. It would be a while, months probably, before even rank ones started returning to the area. Most of the sect members could fight such a beast one on one. By the time beasts became a threat, the wall would be finished, and his sect would be even bigger and his members more powerful.
All of those factors meant there was nothing preventing him from moving the sect to the grounds. He just had to start placing buildings. That was one task for him.
His other major goal was to get to Nascent Soul. The fight against the rank ten beast had been an eye opener. Benton was very powerful for his realm, but auras were no joke. A strong enough opponent could end him and everything he was trying to build.
He needed to get his sect to one thousand members quickly. That was his second task.
There were other smaller goals that needed accomplishing, and he would work on those as they came up. For the moment, though, it was good to keep his eyes on what the most important priorities were.
It was time to increase the number of sect members by adding another fifty. The mayor was indisposed having just improved his spiritual roots, but he and Benton had worked out lists many, many inductions in advance. Everyone knew exactly when their turn was, so Benton only had to return to the village and find one of the mayor's still mortal administrators to get the word around.
Soon, he completed the ceremony, and as expected, each of the new sect members had received the option to increase their spiritual roots as well. And also as expected, each of them had chosen to do so.
Cultivators!
Benton didn't know what the future would bring. He was positive there would be new dangers and new challenges. Overall, though, he couldn't think of a better group of people to have standing next to him as he faced all that was to come.
They were his new family. Obviously, no one could replace Evelyn or his children or his grandchildren, but he was … happy.
He pulled up his status.
Sect Name:
Rising Tide
Sect Members:
262
Disciples:
57
Sect Points:
840
Shop Points
138
Host Cultivation:
Golden Core - Minor Realm
Nine
Qi Available:
5,647,745
Host Body Cultivation:
Gold - Minor Realm Nine
Host Mind Cultivation:
Higher - Minor Realm One
Host Soul Cultivation:
Manifestation - Minor Realm
One
Host Techniques (Qi Gathering):
Basic Archery - Mastery
Basic Spear Combat - Mastery
Expert Golden Core
Cultivation - Mastery
General Mind Cultivation
Knowledge - Mastery
General Soul Cultivation
Knowledge - Mastery
Knowledge of Rank 1
Formations - Mastery
Knowledge of Rank 2
Formations - Mastery
Knowledge of Rank 3
Formations - Mastery
Nascent Soul Cultivation
Knowledge - Mastery
Pill Basics - Mastery
Host Techniques (Foundation Establishment):
Absolute Speed
Enhancement - Mastery
Aura Defense - Mastery
Automatic Reaction
Variable Shield -
Mastery
Chain Lightning - Mastery
Extreme Area
Temperature
Manipulation - Mastery
Folded Space Quickstep -
Mastery
Foundation Excavation -
Mastery
Healing - Mastery
Layered Variable Shield
Breaker with Void
Finisher Weapon
Augmentation - Mastery
Pause Time -Mastery
Meditation - Mastery
Perception - Mastery
Rank 1 Formation
Construction - Mastery
Rank 1 Formation
Construction Acceleration -
Mastery
Rank 1 Inscription -
Mastery
Rank 2 Formation
Construction - Mastery
Rank 2 Formation
Construction
Acceleration - Mastery
Rank 2 Inscription - Mastery
Rank 3 Formation
Construction - Mastery
Rank 3 Formation
Construction Acceleration -
Mastery
Rank 3 Inscription -
Mastery
Seeking Speeding Arrow -
Mastery
Stealth - Mastery
Time Manipulation - Mastery
Variable AoE Gravity
Burst - Mastery
Variable AoE Shield - Mastery
Variable Spirit Coin
Manifestation - Mastery
Host Concepts (Golden Core):
Anti-Tribulation -
Mastery
Earth - Mastery
Fire - Mastery
Gravity - Mastery
Healing - Mastery
Ice - Mastery
Illusion - Mastery
Light - Mastery
Lightning - Mastery
Metal - Mastery
Momentum - Mastery
Poison - Mastery
Smell - Mastery
Sound - Mastery
Space - Mastery
Temperature - Mastery
Time - Mastery
Void - Mastery
Water - Mastery
Wood - Mastery
Menu:
[Cultivation Method]
[Technique]
[Quest]
[Perk]
[Advancement]
[Shop]
[Sect]
Chapter 161 volunteer
Nighttime neared as Benton watched over the fifty newest inductees into the Rising Tide Sect while they all writhed in agony. He dearly hoped they all would be as positive that improving their spiritual roots was worth the pain after they finished the process as they did going into it.
Since it was his second time performing such a task in a very short period of time, he was, frankly, getting a little bored.
Honestly, he was really eager to begin setting up the sect buildings. It wasn't like anyone or anything could attack the arena while he was outside nearby. He could get all the pavilions and the required housing placed before morning. They could be fully using the grounds tomorrow.
The problem was that his new sect members were completely vulnerable as their bodies went through the upgrade. A single rank one beast could kill everyone in the stands without anyone raising a finger against it. Even if such an outcome was extremely unlikely, Benton just didn't feel comfortable leaving them alone.
Besides, these people were suffering for the good of the sect. It was his responsibility and his duty to watch over them. He just wished the job wasn't so boring.
Since he'd told all the veteran sect members to rest until tomorrow with the only acceptable activity besides sleep being cultivating if they wanted to, he didn't expect anyone to relieve him of that boredom. Cue Yang Xiu showing up at the arena. He should have known.
"Master, this disciple has a question."
If she was starting so formally, she surely wanted something, and it was probably something she knew he wouldn't want to grant. Poor girl. It would be a lot easier for her to get her way if he didn't already have decades of experience fending off the requests of kids and grandkids.
"Please ask, Disciple."
"Well, Master, you see, I got to thinking," Yang Xiu said. "You told us that the Trials Pagoda could be used only one time per day. I was wondering exactly when that reset."
So that was her game. Interesting. And not a bad point, really.
"Daybreak."
"Ah."
His answer clearly broke her from whatever she'd planned to say next. She probably thought he'd say nightfall or midnight or something closer to the current time.
"Well, at any rate, if… Has anyone claimed the first spot, Master?"
There it was.
"No," Benton said, "actually no one has, since, you know, I told everyone to rest tonight."
"Oh."
Of course, Yang Xiu and Yang Ru were the two least in need of rest to consolidate their newly improved spirit roots. They were two of the highest three ranked disciples in the sect as well as the two highest sect members in terms of realm. Additionally, they'd gone through the process once already.
Benton felt that it would do no real harm for her to try the pagoda tonight, not that he would let her off quite so easily.
"I was thinking, Master, that it's a darn shame to waste resources."
"You're right. We have all those beast corpses that need to be gathered and processed. With their high qi content, they don't decay nearly as fast as mortal animals, but they will need to be dealt with sooner rather than later. It's good of you to volunteer!"
Her face fell, and he almost chuckled. She purely hated skinning and deboning beasts.
"Actually, I was thinking about a different resource, Master."
"Really? Which one?"
"The … Trials Pagoda, Master? You said it could only be used once a day, and if no one else uses it, that opportunity will just disappear. If that happens, we can never get it back." She started out plaintive but warmed up as she went along.
Benton made a big show of frowning. "And what, pray tell, would you do in the Trials Pagoda?"
That was the question she wanted. He could tell because her eyes practically sparked with joy. And because she literally clapped her hands. But mainly the eye thing.
"My qi aspect, Master. It's great for combat, but I want to embrace the scouting role you chose for me when you recommended my perception technique. Sure, I can learn an non-aspect technique or try to work my aspect into one somehow, but imagine how much more effective I'd be if my aspect actively supported such a thing!"
Okay. That was well reasoned. He'd honestly thought her request would be a little more out there.
"What specific adjustment are you planning on making?" he said.
That question took the wind out of her sails as she visibly deflated.
"I was hoping you could help me with that, Master. You seem so good with qi elements."
"No. Sorry. I can't."
"Oh."
The look on her face… She obviously wasn't used to him refusing her requests.
"Yang Xiu, I cannot express this strongly enough. Anything regarding your qi aspect, especially something as fundamental as actively altering it, has to come from you and only you. I can't help you. Kang Lin can't help you. Yang Ru can't help you. Us helping you now could cripple you later."
"But what if I get it wrong, Master?"
"There is no right and wrong. It is what you think it is. The problem comes if someone or something external tries to impose their vision of what your qi is on you. Does that make any sense?"
"No, Master. Sorry."
"There's nothing to be sorry about. It's not your fault. This is something that you should be learning and experiencing over the next couple of years as you advance through Foundation Establishment, not something to decide at minor realm one. The long and short of it is that you can only enter the Trials Pagoda for this purpose if you both have a concrete idea in mind of exactly what change you want to make and you are absolutely positive that the change resonates with the core of your being."
She signed. "I'm guessing that I won't be allowed in the pagoda tonight, then, Master."
"Not for that purpose…"
"For improving my spirit roots again, Master? That would move me to S-!"
"No!"
She was so excited that he hated to burst her bubble, but he wanted to clamp down on that idea fast and hard.
"For one thing," he said, "you could die if you fail. Until I know more about the process, no one in our sect will be allowed to even try. For another, you've already improved your roots twice in less than a year. Too much change too fast isn't good for your cultivation base."
"Yes, Master."
She looked suitably chastened. For an instant. Then, she smiled.
"So I can work on a technique then, Master? My shield is not coming along nearly as well as I'd like."
"Peng Zhen and his family have already moved into the upper floor of the shop. Tell him that you have my permission but that you'll have to negotiate contribution points with him. I want a full report about the trial after you're done!"
"Yes, Master!"
She practically skipped out of the arena.
###
Yang Xiu couldn't care less about her contribution points. She had tens of thousands of them, and they seemingly came to her from doing what she was going to do anyway. When Peng Zhen proposed a thousand to enter the lowest of the three trials, she readily agreed.
The important thing was that she was to be the first in the entire sect to use the pagoda. Her brother would be green with envy when he found out.
From the outside, the pagoda didn't look like anything special. It was two stories and, like the arena and the new Contribution Points Shop, painted in shades of blue. The door was a regular wood door, which opened with a regular old pull on a regular handle. The space beyond was … nice? Wood floors. Empty except for a white pedestal.
She'd been expecting something more mystical or something. Not that she was disappointed. It was just that…
Well, okay, maybe a little disappointed.
She walked up to the pedestal, and nothing happened.
There was a white sphere, an orb maybe, that appeared to be made of marble or some kind of polished stone with black and gold flecks mixed in. She touched it.
A weird blue box popped up in front of her eyes.
""Welcome to the Trial Pagoda, Disciple Yang Xiu.
You have the choice of one of the following three
Trials:
Advance Cultivation or Technique
Add or Modify Qi Aspect
Improve Spiritual Roots""
Yang Xiu clapped her hands. Ethereal blue boxes popping up in her vision that referred to her by name? That was what she expected. She should have known that Master wouldn't let her down.
Obviously, the first trial was the reason she was in the pagoda, and the most responsible, dutiful part of her urged her to select it. A more impulsive side of her couldn't help but be a little curious about the other choices, though.
After putting a bit of thought into it, she began to understand what Master was trying to tell her about her qi aspect. It was a deeply personal thing, and no one but her could figure out what worked. Which was unfortunate.
Her primary technique was already at Large Success, an amazing accomplishment. The shield was … more difficult for her. It just wasn't coming along nearly as well as she wanted it to, even though she'd at least managed to get it to Small Success.
She really wanted to buy her third technique, one that would use external qi to augment her perception, but since she had the option of modifying her qi aspect, it made no sense to add that technique until she solved the issue of exactly what the modification should be. Which might take forever.
For all she knew, it might take her days or even weeks to figure it out.
Well, she definitely didn't have the solution at the moment, so there was no way she could pick that trial. And she was forbidden for picking the third trial for at least another year.
On the other hand, Master seemed interested in the workings of the pagoda. What would happen if she tried to choose one of those two forbidden trials? Would the pagoda let her? That would be good information for Master.
She grinned. He'd probably praise her for her initiative in testing the pagoda's workings.
"Esteemed Trials Pagoda, please let me try the trial to improve my spiritual roots."
Worst case scenario, she could just quit or something if it actually let her attempt it.
""Selection to Improve Spiritual Roots requires an expenditure of sect resources and approval from Sect Leader Chao Su.
Contacting Sect Leader Chao Su.
Sect Leader Chao Su says, "Yang Xiu, stop playing around and pick the correct trial or I swear that I'll let every single person in the village go through the pagoda before you.""
Oops.
"Esteemed Trials Pagoda, please let me try the trial to advance my Automated Slippery Ice Shield."
Chapter 162 A Slippery Solution
The Trials Pagoda immediately approved Yang Xiu's request to be attempt a trial to improve her shield technique, and the next thing she knew, she was standing in a room that was unfamiliar to her. The floor was covered with some sort of springy material, and one wall was filled with mirrors.
Other than her, it was completely empty.
A gangly man with long bushy hair and an equally unkempt beard appeared.
"Take the shield," he said.
"What shield?" Before the last word was fully formed, a triangular shield about the width and length of her torso popped into being at her feet. "Oh."
It was laying face down with two leather straps for her arm on top. At first, she thought it was made of metal, but when she bent to grasp the straps, she realized that it was actually constructed of a thin layer of ice.
Interesting.
Yang Xiu hadn't known exactly what to expect from the trial, but she'd thought that it would be something like how she trained her shield technique with either Kang Lin or Yang Ru throwing weapons or qi at her while she tried to form her shield quickly enough to block it. Apparently, the Trials Pagoda had a different method in mind as it was supplying her with an actual shield made of ice instead of relying on her to conjure one.
As she slung her arms through the leather straps, she expected the ice's cold to sting, but it didn't. In fact, it didn't feel cold at all. The entire weapon was room temperature.
"Get ready," the man said. "A large sphere will be shot at you from that aperture."
Before she could ask the obvious question, a hole about the diameter of Yang Ru's head appeared.
"The sphere will be both fast and powerful," he said. "Prepare yourself. I will count down from three."
The aperture was about fifteen feet from her and about the level of her chest. She hastily placed the shield in front of herself and, she thought, readied herself.
"Three. Two. One. Go."
She didn't even see the sphere. She didn't really even feel the impact. One instant, she was standing, ready to receive the blow. The next, everything went black.
Literally everything. There was nothing around her but blackness. And not in a it was dark or she had her eyes closed and she couldn't see kind of way, either. It felt like she was the only thing in existence.
"You have died," the man's disembodied voice said. "Continue the trial or quit?"
Uh.
On one hand, she didn't even know what happened, so how could she fix it? On the other, she wasn't one to give up so easily.
"Continue."
As soon as the word left her mouth, she was back in the room.
"Prepare yourself," the man said, once again standing in the room with her. "I will count down from three."
Yang Xiu took a deep breath and took her preparations much more seriously. She dropped her back leg and really braced herself. The entirety of her not inconsiderable strength was focused on blocking the sphere.
"Three. Two. One."
She used her perception skill and focused on the hole. The shot wouldn't take her by surprise again.
"Go."
Her concentration and resolve succeeded. Somewhat. In that she actually felt the sphere make contact, blowing right through the shield and her chest and coming out of her back.
The event only lasted a fraction of a second, but it hurt. A lot.
Then, she was back in the black space.
"You have died," the man's disembodied voice said. "Continue the trial or quit?"
There had to be something she was missing. The trial couldn't be unwinnable, but she didn't see how she could stop something so strong that it could pass through the shield and her body without being hindered in any way and so fast that she couldn't even see it move.
She gritted her teeth. "Continue."
The next six times, she did the exact same thing. Braced herself. Studied the sphere as much as she was able. Experienced brief, blinding pain. Died.
After eight failures with no sign of a way forward, she began to feel just a touch of despair. Maybe the trial was too tough for her. Maybe she should just quit. Tell Master. Ask his advice for the next time.
And completely waste the opportunity for today's trial for the entire sect by failing.
Master would be so disappointed in her. Not that he'd say anything. In fact, he'd probably console her. But she would be disappointed in herself, so he would have to feel the same way.
That line of thought did raise an interesting question—what would Master tell her to do? As she stared into the infinite blackness, she pondered the answer.
He'd say to work smarter, not harder.
No. He'd said something like that before, but it didn't fit the situation exactly. She did need to work smarter, though. That was the key. How to work smarter.
He'd say, if you can't win, cheat.
No. That wasn't it. He always said that he cheated, not that his disciples should.
He'd say, go back to the root cause.
Yes. That was the answer. What was the root cause of the problem?
Easy. The sphere was too strong and too fast. So she should … slow it down and make it weaker.
No. That didn't make any sense. The purpose of the trial was to improve her shield.
Yes. Something about the exercise was supposed to improve either her technique in using the shield or her knowledge of it or, most probably, both.
So what was she supposed to learn?
The shield couldn't stop every attack.
That lesson made sense. If Master attacked her, his qi would shred her shield like it was wet paper. She didn't see how that helped her.
From the man's instructions, he seemed to fully expect her to be able to block the sphere. But that made no sense. It was too strong and too fast.
Could she modify her shield? That idea was worth a try, and for the next five attempts, she tried adding her qi to the shield, managing to add some ice in the center so that it was a bit thicker.
The sphere was not impressed.
Okay. That didn't work. So what could she try next?
After a bit of thought, she circled back to the root cause. She refused to think that the trial was designed to teach her about futility or to give up, so there had to be a way to stop the sphere. With her shield.
Or, rather, with the shield provided by the trial.
"Continue," she said.
Yang Xiu found herself back in the room. Again. She'd honestly lost count of how many times she'd died by that point.
"Prepare yourself," the man said. Again. "I will count down from three."
"Wait for a moment. I want to study the shield."
The man didn't say anything, but neither did he begin counting.
Yes! Maybe that meant she was on the right track.
She turned the shield over so that the straps rested on the floor and ran her fingers over the ice.
It was slick, more slippery than anything she'd ever encountered. Master had introduced her to the idea of friction and had explained to her that her qi aspect was probably pretty close to an ideal frictionless surface. He'd laughed after saying that and claimed that he wouldn't be at all surprised if it actually was frictionless.
Then he'd laughed out loud and said something about a spherical horse*? It didn't make any sense to her.
The point was that the shield was so slippery that everything that touched it should slide right off it. That was basically the idea that she held in her mind about her qi aspect. Absolute slipperiness. Even other forms of energy, other forms of qi, should slide right off.
So why wasn't the sphere sliding off?
Because it couldn't. It was hitting a flat surface straight on at incredible speed with incredible force. Any inclination that the sphere had to slide to one side or the other was overwhelmed by the force pushing it forward.
Or something. She wasn't very good at what Master referred to as physics. He'd said that it wasn't his area of expertise, either.
The takeaway was that she couldn't help but be curious about what would happen if the shield were angled instead of flat. It was worth a try, right? Worst case scenario, she'd just die. Again.
"I'm ready," she said. "Proceed with your count."
She angled the shield about thirty degrees.
"Three. Two. One. Go."
No blackness. And nothing hurt. She glanced behind her. A portion of the room's wall was just gone.
"Congratulations," the man said. "You have passed the trial."