Benton’s first attack didn’t kill either of the two Golden Core cultivators from the Jade Chameleon Sect, but that was to be expected. Even Nascent Soul cultivators rarely one shot Golden Cores.
There was a reason cultivators of that realm were respected and feared. It took a lot of effort to reach so high on one’s journey. The other thing it took was time. Lots of time. Decades.
Benton’s spiritual sense told him that the three men were in the seventh, sixth, and fifth minor realms respectively. They’d each spent years and years learning techniques and acquiring treasures. Each was surely a killing machine feared by all who opposed them.
Despite all those deadly accomplishments, Benton had absolutely no doubt he could kill all of them. He was simply on a different level than a typical Golden Core cultivator. The only question was how much damage they’d do first.
At the moment, he had a big choice in front of him—finish off the two struggling under the impact of a Lightning bolt and the effects of the Gravity technique or go after the one attacking the village. The obvious answer seemed to be to go after the one who was putting his sect members in danger.
There were multiple problems with that approach, however. One, the man was invisible and would take time to find, leaving the two here the opportunity to heal by consuming pills. Even worse was the fact that Benton would not be able to keep them suppressed with his technique while he was out of range at the village, giving them an even better opportunity to recover. Two, the men he left behind would be aware for the next encounter that he could immobilize them with Gravity, something he actually couldn’t do as easily if they were close to the village, and that he could reveal their invisibility. Three, he’d be demonstrating that he was desperate to protect the village, giving them a tool to use against him.
The counterpoint was that a Golden Core cultivator could destroy a bunch of mortals in an instant. And Benton’s Foundation Establishment cultivators were all still in the first minor realm. With their shields and Body Cultivation, maybe they could withstand a single hit. Maybe.
But Yang Ru and Kang Lin weren’t even back yet, leaving only Yang Xiu to protect the village. The girl was talented and powerful for her realm, but she was no match for a Golden Core Cultivator.
The most likely outcome of Benton waiting even a few seconds was for the entire village to be wiped out.
Which also happened to be the most likely outcome of him not taking that time to destroy the two intruders in front of him.
When in doubt, take the bird in the hand rather than counting the birds in the bush.
Benton drew his bow and shot seeking arrow after seeking arrow, all charged with Light and Void for the father of the jerk Benton had killed and with Fire and Void for the other one. As expected, the arrows were so fast that, combined with the homing feature, neither of the two were able to dodge. Also as expected, the two had some tricks up their sleeve, and even as roughed up as they were from dealing with the two previous techniques, they were each able to destroy the first volley of arrows.
And the second.
Benton was very frustrated. He needed to kill them and kill them fast. His people were in danger. True danger. Not even the beast tide had left them so vulnerable.
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Ye Zan was tense. And there were more than just the two bolts in the distance and the way Senior Sister was acting causing him to feel that way. There was just something in the air. Danger.
“What is it?” he said. “Is there something out there?”
“I don’t know.” Senior Sister scanned the forest and the sky, her bow held at the ready with an arrow nocked. “I can’t sense anything, but I think there is.”
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Ye Zan looked at the areas she was scanning and saw nothing. That wasn’t his area of expertise. There was someone, however, who had spotted danger when no one else was able to.
“Zou Tian,” Ye Zan yelled. “Get up here. Alert! Alert! Danger is near.”
The scout was still in the house that Wan Ai used for the temporary Alchemy Pavilion, but he had sharp senses and always kept an ear out. Seconds later, he came running and jumped up onto the allure with Ye Zan and Senior Sister.
Pan Jiang, who had been practicing his sword art in the plaza, and Huang Yimun, who had been sparring against one of the other guards, both jumped up as well.
“What do we know?” Zou Tian said.
“Master is fighting something,” Ye Zan said. “Senior Sister thinks there is danger nearby.”
Zou Tian immediately sank into a lotus position and closed his eyes, presumably using Shadow to sense anything concealed nearby.
Suddenly, a laugh came from the sky above the wall. “A baby Foundation Establishment cultivator will never sense me. Nor will you find me with Shadow qi.”
All of them looked in the direction of the voice, but as far as Ye Zan could tell, there was no one there.
“Poison Claw Sect scion,” the voice said, “the Jade Chameleon Sect has no quarrel with you. If you and your sect mates flee the village within the next five seconds, you will not be pursued, and no harm will come to you. Otherwise, you and them will be killed along with the others.”
That was not good. Master was apparently tied up fighting others, and the man the voice belonged to was seemingly committed to killing everyone.
Yang Xiu loosed an arrow in the direction of the sound, but it sailed through the air, hitting nothing.
The voice laughed.
Ye Zan and the others looked to Pan Jiang.
“What? Do you think I’d leave? I stayed through the beast tide, and I’m staying now.”
“Five,” the voice said. “Four. Three. Two. One. So be it. The Foundation Establishment baby gets it first, and you’re next, scion. You might want to rethink your choices.”
Ten fast-moving blades appeared in the air, reminiscent of the attack the thug that had tried to rob them had sent at Zou Tian so long ago. Considering that these came from the air, though, Ye Zan believed them to be shot by a Golden Core cultivator, and all of them were headed toward Yang Xiu.
Instead of dodging, she loosed another arrow in the direction from which the blades came.
In one way, Ye Zan applauded her tactics. There was no way for them to kill an opponent they couldn’t see. It only made sense to capitalize on any information their enemy revealed.
The problem was twofold. One, even if she somehow hit the Golden Core cultivator—which was extremely unlikely—her arrow would do negligible, if any, damage. Two, she probably thought that, with her peak Bronze Body Cultivation and Foundation Establishment realm toughness, she could take the hit and survive in time to be given a Major Healing Pill.
She’d never taken a hit from such a high realmed opponent. None of them had. But they’d all seen what Master could do. No one in the sect could stand up to even a single one of his strikes if he meant to kill them.
Yang Xiu was about to die, and Ye Zan could not allow that. He shoved her out of the way.
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Only Benton’s main attack would be able to kill a Golden Core cultivator. He’d designed it to have the first bit of qi overwhelm an opponent’s shield so that the Void qi charged second strike hit unprotected skin. Not even two very old and tricky sect members could defend against Void qi that got past their shield.
His Gravity technique was helpful for holding people in place. His temperature technique penetrated shields but was too slow to kill his opponents in the timeframe he needed. His Lightning delivered a strong bolt of qi to his enemy quickly, but most of it was absorbed by their shield.
No, his main attack was the way to go. Just because they’d destroyed the first few volleys didn’t mean they could keep it up.
So he kept firing arrows as quickly as he possibly could, alternating between the two cultivators.
The sixth realm was the first to falter. He whiffed as he tried to knock an arrow out of the air, and it struck. The dual charge worked exactly as intended. The Fire qi overwhelmed his shield, and the void qi hit him.
The man had been able to twist his body to avoid a killing blow, so the void only took a chunk out of his shoulder. That was okay, though. Benton doubled up on targeting him, making the seventh realm play defender.
The third arrow got through, hitting the sixth realm in the head. Game over.
For that one, anyway. Two more to go.
With one down, the rate of fire at the seventh realm effectively doubled. He wasn’t able to keep destroying every arrow, missing the sixth one.
Like with the first target, the arrow only hit his shoulder, but the Void qi really did a number on him. His arm was only hanging on by a thin thread, and Benton could tell that it was painful.
The guy barely managed to block the next arrow, and he didn’t even manage that much for the next one.
His other shoulder was obliterated, leaving him with no way to defend himself. One more arrow. One more hit. Target destroyed.
Now, Benton just had to Quickstep to the village fast enough to prevent his sect members from being killed.
If he wasn’t already too late.