The raven flew over the gathering of humans far below. It used its aspect, death, to cloak its presence, utilizing the natural aversion the living felt toward anything not alive.
So many tasty morsels were below, and the number had grown recently. Grown by a lot. And all were so weak.
Too many of its fellows had found death in pursuing those morsels, though, including fellows only slightly weaker than itself. Away from the gathering, several as strong as itself had also fallen. And far from the gathering, even ones stronger had met their End.
Not the raven, though. It was too smart. It flew. It observed.
There was one that seemed to be a mortal but who clearly wasn’t. He covered great distances in an instant and seemed able to sense any of the raven’s fellows who came close to the gathering, even those more skilled at concealment than the raven.
That was why the raven chose to fly far above the gathering and simply dream of eating the morsels below instead of diving for a snack.
As it circled, it spotted a fellow. A weak fellow. The weakest of fellows. Surely, no one would miss that one little fellow who would not be able to contribute to what was to come at all.
But the raven was forbidden from snacking on its fellows, even the weakest of the weak. So, it flew, and it dreamed of morsels. Tasty, tasty morsels.
If only the Not Mortal wasn’t at the gathering. Then it could feast. Truly feast.
----------------------------------------
The sun was just beginning to peek over the horizon when Benton gathered the twins and Zou Tian at the area outside the village’s gate.
“I’ve just finished sweeping for spirit beasts,” Benton said. “There are none stronger than a rank three within a five-mile radius of here.”
At least, there better not have been. He’d spent the majority of the night patrolling for ranks four and higher, killing a good half dozen all told. Even ranging out for the full five miles he’d stated, he couldn’t sense any more threats.
“Yang Xiu, Yang Ru, you’re in charge. Zou Tian, you’re their advisor. If they’re about to do something stupid, call their attention to the problem, but it’s their decision, understood?”
“Yes, Master,” all three said.
“You are not alone. You have the mayor, Ye Zan, Guang Yin, and Xiang Qiao for support. All of them have a lot of experience. Use them.”
“Yes, Master.”
He’d already given out an allotment of pills, spreading two Minor Healing Pills to each of the three in front of him plus the four he’d mentioned and to Pan Xiaolian. He’d also given Major Healing Pills to Yang Xiu, Zou Tian, the mayor, and Pan Xiaolian.
“You have your pills,” Benton said. “What’s the goal?”
“To keep everyone alive. As long as they’re not brain dead…” Yang Xiu stumbled over the unfamiliar term. “They can be brought back with a pill after you kill any spirit beast that dares attack us.”
“Exactly.” The Shop offered many pills that were even more powerful than the Major Healing Pill, but it couldn’t return the truly dead to living. “Be wary. Do everything you can to harry the beast and keep it at bay until I return.”
Benton had taken every precaution and, honestly, thought that the chances of an attack in the small amount of time he’d be gone was small. He was, however, living in a cultivation world. Anything could, and sometimes did, happen.
He was very reluctant to leave.
“Go, Master,” Yang Xiu said, reminding him very much of his youngest the first time she’d been left at home alone when he and Evelyn had gone out to eat. “We’ve got this.”
“I know. I trust you. I just don’t trust this world.” Benton sighed. “Alright, I’m going. Remember, eight hours. Just last that long, and I’ll be back.”
Actually, he hoped to return in less than half that time, but better to over deliver and under promise than the other way around.
“Bye…” He’d almost said kids, but these were, by the standard of their society, adults, so he just left it at that.
“Bye, Master,” the three said.
After a quick wave, he triggered Quickstep and traveled twenty-five miles from the village in a single step, emerging on the road. It was so cool that he could move without crossing the intervening space. The wall, trees, hills. None of it mattered. He didn’t even pass through them, instead just moving from one place to the next like the parts in between didn’t exist.
Folding space indeed.
Of course, crossing that distance took a good chunk of his qi, close to a hundred thousand. He let his pool naturally recover while he ran through the woods trying to detect higher rank spirit beasts. There were none, though,
He pulled a handful of spirit coins from his ring and absorbed them as rapidly as he could, re-filling his qi. The consumption wasn’t instantaneous, though, and he lamented each minute of delay.
Repeating that process, Quickstepping twenty-five miles and using coins to refill his reserves, sped him toward Vermillion Incomparable Rain Town much faster than even running flat out but not as fast as he’d hoped. He ended up reaching his destination in about a third of the time, a little over an hour.
The town laid about six hundred miles almost due northeast from the Prosperous Gray Forest Village, and the road between the two places was fairly straight. If the mountain that Benton believed the beast tide was originating from were equidistant from the two, it would have to lie due east of the village and due south of the town. Instead, it was much closer to the village, lying slightly southeast of it.
Basically, the brunt of the tide was likely to hit the village, not the town.
Sure enough, the incidence of spirit beasts diminished the entire trip to Vermillion Incomparable Rain Town, and the highest rank he sensed anywhere near the walls was a rank three.
As he drew within several miles of his destination, however, he discovered a different problem. There were a lot more cultivators there than he’d expected. Instead of five, there were dozens.
The likelihood was that the newcomers were the help he’d requested for Fatty Ren from the Poison Claw Sect, but in a cultivation world, it was never a bad idea to be too careful.
But there was a problem.
Caution required gathering intel. Gathering intel required time. Time was a resource he was unbearably short on.
“Screw it,” he said. “I’m going straight to the palace. Fatty Ren will know what’s going on.”
Folding space was an interesting experience. His field of view went from the area in front of him when he began the technique to the area he was going to land in mid-step. He had a small amount of control over where he finished beyond a vague command to move ten miles, enough that he didn’t conflict himself with something like the inside of a tree at any rate.
Thus, when he chose to land inside Fatty Ren throne room, he visualized an area he remembered as being devoid of furniture and where people were unlikely to gather.
Unlikely apparently didn’t mean never.
A half dozen people wearing the dark green robes of the Poison Claw Sect had picked just that area to stand. Benton had no choice but to land between two of them, brushing their robes. He immediately triggered another small step to end up between the group and Fatty Ren.
Everyone in the room stared at Benton in astonishment as he appeared. He stifled a grin. From their perspective, it must have seemed like he teleported in.
That would help establish his image as an old monster even more. Sweet.
Benton first greeted Fatty Ren, cupping his hands respectfully toward the Town Lord. “Greetings, Friend. Sorry to barge in on you, but I’m in a bit of a hurry.”
“Nonsense,” the big man said, “my palace is open to you always.”
Benton turned to the group from the Poison Claw Sect and noticed some familiar figures. “Kang Lin! Pan Jiang! How the heck are you two? Great to see both of you again!”
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He scanned the two.
Name: Kang Lin Affiliation: Poison Claw Sect Age: 16 Cultivation: Qi Gathering - Minor Realm Nine Qi Available: 115 Techniques: Lightning Dash - Mastery Shocking Spear - Mastery Spiritual Roots: C+ Qi Aspect: Forked Lightning ripping the sky asunder
Name: Pan Jiang Affiliation: Poison Claw Sect Age: 14 Cultivation: Qi Gathering - Minor Realm Six Qi Available: 36 Techniques: Bend Like the Willow - Large Success Strong Oak Sword - Large Success Spiritual Roots: D Qi Aspect: Hard but brittle oak standing strong against all elements
Benton walked toward the pair of them and held out his right fist. They both looked at him, flummoxed.
“Oh. We have a tradition where I’m from. When you see an associate that is well met, the two bump fists.” Benton shrugged. “It’s just a thing.”
The two looked at each other, before each lightly tapping his fist.
“You got it. Great job.” Benton paused. “Speaking of jobs, how is that technique coming, Pan Jiang?”
“This lowly one is doing quite well, Esteemed Master Cultivator.”
“Well, I can’t just take your word for it. Show me!” Benton held out his arm. “Hit me.”
The kid looked really unsure.
“Fatty Ren,” Benton said. “Do you think there’s any chance this young man can harm me?”
The Town Lord laughed. “I think he’s more scared that he’ll damage his sword.”
“Ah,” Benton said. “No worries, Pan Jiang. I won’t use a shield. Your sword can handle it. Give it everything you’ve got.”
Could he not use a shield? He wasn’t sure if his automatic response could be turned off or not, but he willed it not to respond to the next hit.
Still looking doubtful, Pan Jiang used a few flashy moves and ended with a downward slash, hitting Benton on the arm. The metal stopped at the surface of his skin.
“See? No harm. And you looked great. Large Success?”
“Yes, Esteemed Master Cultivator.”
“Awesome. You are a credit to your sect.”
The martial arts demonstration complete, Kang Lin pulled a scroll from her robe. “Esteemed Elder Kang has another letter for the Esteemed Master Cultivator.”
Benton took it from her. “I don’t have time to reply now. I honestly don’t even have time to read it. Express my apologies to your grandfather.”
She cupped her hands.
He turned back to Fatty Ren. “Sorry for getting distracted. It’s always fun to catch up with the juniors.”
“That’s okay, Friend Su,” the big man said, leaving unstated the very obvious question.
“I’ve got good news and bad news, my friend,” Benton said. “First, the bad. It looks like we’re less than two months out from the beast tide starting, but the good news, for you, is that I don’t expect Vermillion Incomparable Rain Town to take much more than a glancing blow. The brunt will hit Prosperous Gray Forest Village.”
“That’s troublesome news for you, Friend Su. Do you want me to come with you back to the village.”
That was a nice and generous offer. Benton thought about it for a moment. Having another Foundation Establishment cultivator would be a boon.
“Honestly, Esteemed Town Lord, while I would personally appreciate the gesture and the help, the citizens of your town seeing you fighting to protect them would be a huge boost to morale.”
“What about us, Esteemed Master Cultivator?” Pan Jiang called. “We would love to help you. We were just asking the Esteemed Town Lord for his blessing to continue on to the village. The town can spare the six of us.”
“That’s mighty kind of you, Pan Jiang, but all of you are still in the Qi Gathering realm. When I leave, which will be very soon, I can’t afford to wait for you, and the way back is too dangerous. The village is being attacked by rank fours on a regular basis, and we’re seeing fives. I’ve killed sixes while ranging far from the walls.”
The four sect members Benton didn’t know looked at each other, clearly worried.
Kang Lin sighed. “If only this one could get through the bottleneck.”
That was a thought. Adding five experienced Qi Gathering cultivators and a Foundation Establishment one to the village’s defense would be nice.
“System,” Benton said internally, “if I created a technique to examine someone’s cultivation, would that cost four points to master?”
Such a technique would cost Host eight Sect Points to master. Because Host must use qi to circulate the examinee’s body, the technique requires external qi manipulation and is thus a Foundation Establishment ranked technique.
Darn. He was pretty flush with Sect Points, but he was still a miser at heart. That was a lot to spend.
“System, is there any way to get that cheaper?”
Host could upgrade the Analyze technique to perform this function. Eight points would still be required to bring it to Mastery, but four have already been expended.
He could live with four.
“System, please modify Analyze and bring it to Mastery.”
Choice confirmed.
Host has 249 Sect Points remaining.
Perfect.
“Kang Lin,” Benton said, “may I touch your hand for a moment for the purpose of scanning your cultivation?”
She looked at Pan Jiang, who nodded.
“Yes, Esteemed Master Cultivator.”
Benton took her proffered hand and sent a pulse of his qi through her body. His spiritual sense soon homed in on a problem.
“Ah,” he said as he dropped her hand. “I see the issue. There is a slight discord between your qi aspect and your cultivation method, and it is creating a block. I’m pretty sure you’ll work through it on your own, but it will take several more months.”
Kang Lin looked quite relieved. It had to be hard on the girl not knowing how long a breakthrough might take or if she’d even be able to achieve it.
“System,” he said internally, “how much for a pill to fix Kang Lin’s problem.”
One Shop Point.
That cost was very low to obtain the services of six cultivators to help with the beast tide.
“Tell me, Kang Lin,” Benton said. “Do you have techniques available for when you breakthrough?”
If she didn’t, her reaching Foundation Establishment would be worthless for his purposes. She’d need to be able to fight off rank four and five spirit beasts to get to the village.
She fingered a ring on her left hand. “Grandfather had thoughtfully provided everything this one will need upon reaching Foundation Establishment, including techniques for the spear, a shield, and movement.”
Benton nodded. “I’m willing to provide you with a pill that will assist in your breakthrough if you want. I don’t know if your grandfather told you, but I’m something of an expert on such matters. I swear on my honor that the pill will not only provide a smooth advancement, but it will actually help with the current discord in your cultivation.”
“Grandfather spoke very highly of Esteemed Master Cultivator’s expertise, but this lowly one cannot accept such a gracious gift.”
“Kang Lin, this is not a gift,” Benton said. “It’s payment. You’re going to use this breakthrough to bring yourself and your friends to the village, are you not?”
“Yes, Esteemed Master Cultivator.”
“Right now, the only cultivator in the village above the Qi Gathering realm is me,” Benton said. “The twins will almost definitely advance in time, but that still leaves me with only two Foundation Establishment cultivators to protect the village from who knows how many rank fours and fives and even sixes while I deal with the greater threats. Believe me when I say that your assistance, if it even saves a single life, is more than worth the paltry amount of this pill.”
She clearly hadn’t looked at the situation in that light.
“In that case,” she said, “this lowly one accepts the Esteemed Master Cultivator’s gracious payment.”
“Awesome.” Benton quickly made the purchase and handed the pill over. “Do you have people you trust to guard you while you consume this?”
She eyed Pan Jiang, who nodded.
“Grandfather’s disciple would not let this lowly one come to harm, Esteemed Master Cultivator.”
“Great,” Benton said. “Take it today, and use the next four weeks learning your three techniques to the best of your ability. Leave town in exactly four weeks. I’ll keep a watch for you and, if possible, escort you the rest of the way to the village.”
“Yes, Esteemed Master Cultivator.”
Benton glanced at the Town Lord, who was giving what could only be described as puppy dog eyes.
“Yes, my friend,” Benton said. “I now have resources that may be able to help you with your breakthrough as well.”
It would be a boon to the Rising Tide Sect to recruit Fatty Ren and essentially gain sway over the entire town, meaning Benton would control the entire region around this quadrant of the mountain. The problem was that he had exactly no time to do any of that. The kids at the village could be facing danger even as he was chatting.
“If it pleases you,” Benton said, “I’ll come back after this mess has been resolved, and we’ll see what arrangements can be made.”
Fatty Ren cupped his hands. “I look forward to it, Friend Su.”
The trip to Vermillion Incomparable Rain Town was going great. He’d checked in with Fatty Ren and, unbelievably, managed to obtain some much needed assistance for the village’s defense in exchange for a paltry sum.
He just needed to see Mistress Gong and find that merchant before getting back to the village in time to avert any potential disaster struck.