Chapter 65 - Roll with the Punches

Benton let out a deep breath. The fight with the Chameleon Jade Sect member had been too close. If the spear had been a fraction of an inch off, the tip might not have penetrated the cultivator’s brain. After an unsuccessful attack against a powerful foe, the outcome would have been in doubt.

That had been entirely too close.

Benton shook his head. He needed to grow stronger. He needed to stop letting the needs of the moment cause him to draw too heavily on his available Sect Points.

But in the end, he had won.

He breathed back in. And nearly gagged from the stench.

Without a word, he rushed into the woods, his newly advanced body propelling him at speeds dwarfing what had been possible in the Qi Gathering realm, speeds he’d previously only reached in Su’s memories. Once he judged himself far enough from the caravan, he quickly doffed his clothes, up to and including his shoes. The entire outfit was a total loss. It would need to be burned.

Benton removed a luffa from his spatial storage and held his ring hand over his head before letting a significant quantity of pond water pour out to wash over him. He rubbed his tough skin so hard that his old body would have been bloodied and rinsed off the residue. Then, he repeated the process.

It took many cycles before he felt clean enough to return to civilized society—or what served as such at the camp his followers had settled at for the night.

After stepping several yards away from the nasty remnants of the purge, he pulled a bit of the most masculine smelling perfume he’d found back in the city from his ring. With that applied and a fully new set of clothes put on, he felt almost human—well, superhuman—again.

That experience had been the nastiest of his life. Unclogging toilets and changing diapers just didn’t compare.

Benton stared at the disgusting pile of materials that had been purged from his body. There wasn’t even all that much of it. Su’s body had been cleansed at the beginning of Foundation Establishment not all that long before he died, and Benton had spent less than six months in Qi Gathering.

Su’s first experience advancing had been after sixteen years of gunk building up in his body. Yikes.



It didn’t feel right to Benton to just leave the putrid mess for animals or anyone else to discover. Luckily, he was no longer in the weak Qi Gathering stage.

There were several differences that separated a cultivator in the second major realm from one in the first. The three most obvious distinctions were the sheer increase in physical toughness and might, a tenfold growth in available qi, and, perhaps most important, the ability to manipulate qi outside the body.

That last advantage came with a significant caveat. External manipulation was much more difficult than internal manipulation. Whereas Qi Gathering cultivators could learn to replicate most skills granted by techniques simply by practicing hard enough, it was nearly impossible to do the same in the Foundation Establishment realm.

Stated more simply, Qi Gathering cultivators could do a lot without using techniques; Foundation Establishment cultivators couldn’t. And since Benton had just spent another two points that he hadn’t yet allocated to himself in order to advance, he wouldn’t obtain a new skill anytime in the near future.

Which meant, as a practical matter, he had to manually bury his clothes and the goop left on the ground instead of burning it with a fiery blast of qi. Oh well, he possessed superhuman strength, speed, and endurance. With a shovel from his ring, he quickly covered the mess with enough dirt to conceal, if not eliminate, the smell.

That task accomplished, Benton pulled up his status.

Sect Name:Not ChosenSect Members:0Disciples:16Sect Points:8Shop Points:20Host Cultivation:Foundation Establishment - Minor Realm OneQi Available:1,110Host Body Cultivation:Bronze - Minor Realm TwoHost Techniques:Analysis - Large Success Basic Archery - Large Success Basic Spear Combat - Large Success Pill Basics - Large SuccessMenus:[Cultivation Method][Technique][Quest][Perk][Advancement][Shop - LOCKED]

He did not like seeing his available Sect Points in the single digits, and spending two of them to get to Foundation Establishment left him owing himself earning five for his personal use before he would feel good about using any more. Those negatives were the only real downsides he saw on his status, though.

The good things outweighed the bad. First of all, he was much more powerful now. Even his senses had improved. He had run through the forest without any light other than what of the moonlight filtered through the overhead trees, and he was seeing just fine. Not like it was daylight or anything, but he had no trouble making out where trees and objects were. And he really liked seeing that huge pool of available qi.

Comparatively, the negatives were quite temporary annoyances rather than long term problems. Turning his guards and drivers into disciples would help with those low numbers, and he thought about rushing back to the path and doing the ceremony immediately. With seventeen people, though, it would take hours, and it was already late. Mortals needed to sleep much longer than cultivators, and the need for points wasn’t so urgent he couldn’t wait until they stopped tomorrow night.

Of course, the real issues with what had just happened had nothing to do with remaining Sect Points. His thoughts turned to the ramifications of killing a cultivator from the Chameleon Jade Sect.

Benton feared he’d just made an enemy of one of the three most powerful cultivating entities in the area. He sincerely hoped he hadn’t, but he didn’t know. On one hand, sects tending to react rather badly to having one of their members killed, and claiming self-defense wasn’t likely to do anything to deter their wrath.

On the other hand, Benton’s affiliation with the Poison Claw Sect might just be all the protection he needed. A member of one sect killing a rival sect member happened all the time. There might be some risk of personal retribution involving the friends or family of the deceased, but the entire organization didn’t go to war over it.

Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

Benton would have no choice but to deal with anyone who came seeking vengeance for the unnamed cultivator, but he might not have to handle the whole sect turning against him. He needed to reach out to Elder Kang.

Obviously, he wasn’t going to go running back to the city. Such an event would be noticed and draw the attention of the Chameleon Jade Sect immediately.

No, his best bet was to continue on the road like nothing happened and use one of the merchants heading toward Sixth Flawless Flowing City to send the letter to the elder.

Yes. Let Kang Ya-Ting know what happened. Bury the body. Move on. Pretend it never happened. If anything ever came of it, deal with it then.

There wasn’t much else he could do, so Benton decided not to waste any more time worrying about it.

The other issue was that he had advanced to Foundation Establishment right in front of his four disciples and seventeen soon to be disciples. And he was supposed to already be in the Nascent Soul realm or higher. The signs of that advancement had been quite unmistakable.

Unless or until one of the people contacted someone in the city, it wasn’t really much of an issue, but Benton wasn’t naïve enough to think that some or all of the guards and drivers weren’t being paid by various sects or other organizations to spy on him. The information of the signs of his sudden advancement before combat with a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator would get out. Even if the people reporting the incident didn’t understand the importance, the people they reported it to would.

That was going to make bluffing a whole lot harder in the future.

He only saw three ways to deal with the issue. The first, simply killing all of the mortals when they reached the village, was out. That was not his way. Even if other cultivators would view him as weak for not doing it, he didn’t care.

The second method was a lot riskier but a lot more palatable. He had to win the loyalty of each of the mortals so they wouldn’t accept whatever bribes they’d been promised.

The third method was the most likely to be successful but was probably the hardest to achieve—simply gain power fast enough that the sects finding out he’d just reached Foundation Establishment wouldn’t matter.

Well, he could only do what he could do, which was pursue both the second and third methods, and leave any further issues arising from the incident as a problem for future Benton.

The only positive step he could take at the moment was to write the letter to Elder Kang.

Though his eyes were much better, he still needed light to see ink on a page, so he pulled out another orb from his ring along with the paper and writing implement. He quickly composed a letter.



Friend Kang,

I hope this letter finds you well. Probably so, because I’m writing it a day after I left the city. I bet you’re surprised to hear from me so quickly. :)

Anyway, a cultivator wearing the robes of the Chameleon Jade Sect tried to rob us. He knew I was a friend of your sect but thought I had somehow conned you into thinking I was powerful, as if you were that gullible.

He was only at the peak of the Foundation Establishment realm and looked to be about in his mid to late thirties, so I’m guessing he wasn’t all that important.

Anyway, the guy threatened my disciples, so I had to kill him. I hope that doesn’t cause you any problems.

I’m going to bury the body in the woods and mark a tree by the road with three horizontal lines to let you know how to find it if anyone wants it.

Thanks again for all your assistance in the city, and I hope my actions today don’t cause you undue trouble. Send a letter to the Prosperous Gray Forest Village if you wish for more information. I look forward to catching up with you.

- Friend Su

Benton re-read it and really liked how it turned out. Light and friendly but still contained all the relevant details without going on too long. Exactly what he was going for.

That task accomplished, he returned to the path. His disciples appeared anxious, and the mortals milled around the area like it was a disturbed ant hill.

“It’s about time for everyone to go to sleep, huh?” Benton said. “Morning will be here all too soon, and I want to break camp at sunrise.”

All of them, even his disciples, appeared startled by his appearance at the camp. He hadn’t realized how quickly and silently he moved now.

Ye Zan cupped his hands and bowed, looking terrified. “This lowly one will set a guard and get everyone else settled down.”

Excellent. It was important to have subordinates who were good at their job, and that Ye Zan fellow appeared to know his business. The terror the man felt upon realizing how easy it was for his boss to kill all of them in seconds would eventually pass. Probably.

“Follow me, my disciples,” Benton said.

Yang Xiu and Yang Ru immediately moved to do as instructed, but the other two hesitated. Benton paused for a moment. Zou Tian already knew a bunch of his secrets, but Shi Long was basically an outsider. And he would remain an outsider if that was how Benton treated him.

“I meant all my disciples.” He cast a significant glance at Zou Tian and Shi Long.

The two hurried after the others.

Using qi orbs to light the way, the five walked out of earshot of the mortals and sat in a circle.

“I haven’t figured out exactly how I want to organize my sect, but you represent four of my most talented five disciples. Eventually, my hope is that all of you serve as leaders in the sect along with, so far, Wan Ai and Mistress Zhong. Note that Mistress Zhong does not share your talent, but I value her experience and wisdom. She will be in charge of the outer sect.” Benton paused for a moment to let his words sink in. “As leaders in the sect, you need to know what is going on, so this meeting is to brief you.”

The siblings accepted his statements as a matter of course. Zou Tian nodded like he was putting pieces of a puzzle together in his head. Only Shi Long looked lost. But that was okay. The boy was being thrown into the deep end. Benton was willing to give him time to figure out the whole making himself stay afloat thing.

“Zou Tian,” Benton said, “will you give us your take on what happened?”

“Yes, Master. A member of the Jade Chameleon Sect attacked us, and Master killed him, in a single strike this one notes. This one doesn’t have much wisdom or experience regarding the inner workings of sects, but it would be logical to guess that the Jade Chameleon Sect member had been instructed to observe us only, but seeing what he perceived as weakness, his greed got the better of him. Since Master is a verified friend of the Poison Claw Sect, this one doesn’t expect any major ramifications in response.”

“Excellent,” Benton said. “That’s what I thought as well. That doesn’t mean the guy won’t have friends show up in the meantime, so I’ll be on the lookout for that. All in all, I don’t think we have to worry about it too much at the moment.”

All four of them nodded, Shi Long after the others.

“I bet that there’s another question all of you have,” Benton said.

“Yes, Master,” the twins chorused.

“When one advances between Qi Gathering and Foundation Establishment and from Foundation Establishment to Golden Core, the body expels all impurities inside it in the form of smelly gunk. During the battle, I was forced to advance, hence the smell.”



That explanation was sufficient for the siblings and Shi Long, but it made Zou Tian visibly puzzled.

“I am not a normal cultivator, so rules that apply to others simply don’t to me. For one thing, if the highest cultivator possible, a Celestial Being, were in front of me, I would be able to use my spiritual senses to detect him and to determine his cultivation realm. Even the strongest cultivator on this continent, including the sect leaders of the three sects, would not be able to do the same. By the same token, not even that Celestial Being could determine my cultivation realm.”

At least, that was what Benton thought. There could be limits to the System’s power that he didn’t know about yet. He could only hope he didn’t discover any at the worst possible time.

“Those qualities of mine are my closest held secrets,” Benton said. “Over time, you’ll learn more about them and others that I have. For the moment, you only have to know two things. One, my power level is not easily determined by normal cultivators, and it benefits you personally and our entire sect if any rival sects were not ever to learn this secret. Two, I will use every bit of my ability to protect my disciples and my sect, and that ability is not to be underestimated.”

While three of the disciples nodded, the other looked like he was about to burst with the need to ask a question.

“It’s okay, Shi Long,” Benton said. “You can ask any question you want. No one will get mad at you.”

“It’s just … why? Why would … uh, Master share such information with this lowly one. A little over a week ago, this lowly one was a simple clerk in a store.”

“And now you’re an important cultivator who is destined to be a leader in an about to be formed sect. It’s a cultivation world, Shi Long. Anything can happen. The sooner you accept that and learn to roll with the punches, the happier you’ll be.”

The boy appeared deep in thought, so Benton left him to mull things over.

Zou Tian, on the other hand, looked like he’d just reached an important realization. “Are you a demonic cultivator?”

Yang Ru immediately jumped to his feet and pointed his spear at the younger disciple. At the same time, Yang Xiu rose as well and nocked an arrow.

Well, that conversation sure devolved fast.