With the recent tragedy a little way in the rearview mirror and the unpleasantness in Sixth Flawless Flowing City dealt with, Benton could actually enjoy flying on a sword. It was as neat as he’d hoped. The wind whipping through his hair. The sheer exhilaration of hurdling over the land at speed.
If anything back on Earth compared to the experience, he didn’t know what it was. Obviously, he’d flown before. Many times. But being crammed into a packed airplane was not nearly the same thing as standing on a flat piece of metal not much wider than his feet and just … moving. Flying. Maybe hang gliding or parasailing or something like that would have come close to making him feel the same way, but he’d never done any of those things.
To be honest, he had been a bit … cautious in his old life. Death defying risks hadn’t exactly been something he would have embraced.
Being isekai’d to a new world was very liberating in that sense. That he had been given an opportunity of a brand-new start was already beyond anything he’d expected. That fact combined with the feeling that he’d already lived one full life made it a lot easier than he would have thought to risk himself battling fearsome cultivators and wild beasts.
His lack of regard for his personal safety made flying so, so fast hundreds of yards above the ground with nothing separating him from the ground other than a thin strip of metal exciting instead of terrifying. Well, that lack and the fact that, with his Body Cultivation and high Spiritual Cultivation realm, a fall even from that height at that speed wasn’t likely to even hurt all that much.
Honestly, flying was a practical as it was fun, requiring less effort, less qi, and less concentration than Quickstepping. He also suspected that the flying sword was also, in a way, faster than the movement technique for long distances.
Benton couldn’t help but remember how bored he’d been the last time he’d made the journey between the city and Vermillion Incomparable Rain Town. How slowly the wagons had moved. How long the trip had taken.
With his new flying sword, he reached his destination in way less than an hour. As he approached the orphanage, he began to feel a little bad. In the two months since he’d last visited, he’d barely even given the place a single thought.
He had, of course, provided them plenty of funds for food and clothes and asked Fatty Ren to look out for them, but the town surely had some number of beasts attack it during the tide. There was no guarantee than none of the creatures got inside the walls, meaning there was no guarantee that the orphanage survived unscathed.
It looked fine from the outside, though. No damage. No sign of recent construction or repairs. And kids were playing happily.
Good. They had apparently come through the tide just fine.
Even though he was only visiting for the third time and those visits were really spread out, the kids knew exactly who he was. Apparently, the street vendor meals he’d fed them previously had been a huge hit because they surrounded him as soon as he walked close enough.
In contrast to when he’d first found the place, the kids looked great. Well fed. New clothes that fit. They were all recently bathed. It seemed like Mistress Gong and her helpers were making good use of the money he’d supplied.
Fantastic.
“You kids don’t look hungry,” Benton said. “What exactly do you think I’ll give you?”
“We don’t know,” one of the little guys said, “but we’re sure it’ll be good!”
Benton laughed, removed a handful of candy from his ring, and distributed one to each of the kids. “Try this. I think you’ll like it.”
They did like it. They really liked it.
The commotion had attracted Mistress Gong, who met Benton at the door.
“Greetings, Esteemed Master Cultivator.”
The first time he’d met her, the woman had been worn and beat down. The second time, she’d appeared more rested but still weary. She looked even better than last time. No dark circles under her eyes. A new dress.
Good. Mistress Gong had taken on a thankless job, looking after the children when no one else would. She deserved to do well for herself.
He cupped his hands. “It looks like you’ve got things well in hand here.”
“Because of your generosity, Esteemed Master Cultivator.”
He got a brief status report from her. Fatty Ren had been taking a more active role in governing the town, and when the beasts came, he’d been at the forefront of the defense. The attacks seemed relatively minor as far as Mistress Gong could tell, and she hadn’t heard of any casualties or of any civilians being put in danger by the beasts.
The children had been doing as well as they looked. With the money he provided and, just as importantly, the help, the kids were getting fed three times a day. Other than the normal sniffles and bruises normally associated with childhood, they were all healthy and, as far as she could tell, as happy as kids in their situation could be.
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“How are the children you took to your village, Esteemed Master Cultivator?” she said.
“They all came through the tide great. They’re growing and cultivating and, hopefully, having the time of their lives.”
She cupped her hands. “Gratitude, Esteemed Master Cultivator.”
“That brings up a question, though. What are we going to do with the rest of you?”
She looked at him quizzically.
“The more stuff I get done, the more stuff I have yet to do,” Benton said. “It was always my intention to, at some point, bring you and the rest of these kids back to the village, but once again, I need to get back quickly, which means that I cannot escort you right now.”
“It’s no problem, Esteemed Master Cultivator. We’re all doing fine here.”
“That does appear to be the case. Seeing as how things are looking up here in Vermilion Incomparable Rain Town, it might even be best for you to stay. Either way, I want you and the children to join my sect.”
“You want me, us, to be cultivators, Esteemed Master Cultivator?”
“To be clear, none of you have very much talent, so it is highly unlikely that any of you will be challenging the heavens or anything, but cultivation offers many advantages, mainly better health and a longer life. It would be highly beneficial to all of you to join.”
“Of course, Esteemed Master Cultivator. Gratitude.”
“As I see it, you have a few options. One, I can arrange guards to escort you back to the village. With the beast tide over, the way should be relatively safe. Two, you can wait until I return again. I promise I’ll do my best to plan to bring you back with me next time. Three, you can remain here. My intention is to recruit the Town Lord into my sect so that he can create a branch here. I will have him prioritize adding you and your charges.”
“The children have lived here all their lives, Esteemed Master Cultivator. I would suspect that most of them harbor hopes that their parents will one day return. This one would prefer not to take them away from their home unless you believe it is beneficial to do so?”
Benton thought about it for a moment. With him starting a branch of the sect in Vermilion Incomparable Rain Town, there was no real reason for them to move to the village. The only hitch was that, in order to qualify for the System advancing him to Nascent Soul, he had to have half of his sect members living at the main sect grounds.
Still, that wasn’t a hard task. He’d soon have all the inducted villagers move to the grounds, so all he had to do was keep the membership at the village higher than the membership in town.
“Things seem to be better since we replaced the Town Manager, right?” Benton said. “No more thugs taxing you right and left or anything like that?”
“Correct, Esteemed Master Cultivator.”
“Well, then, I see no reason for you to move.” He handed her a few message talismans. “If you ever need me, simply write a note on one of these pages, and it will find me.”
“Gratitude, Master.”
They talked about the orphanage for a few more minutes, but there wasn’t really anything else he could do for them as they had everything they needed. He promised to drop off more money for her with the manager he’d established before he left town, and they parted amicably.
His next stop was Fatty Ren’s palace.
“Greetings,” Benton said after Quickstepping into the Town Lord’s combination cultivation and throne room.
“Friend Su! Welcome. You survived the beast tide, I see?”
They exchanged stories about recent events, with Fatty Ren being appropriately impressed with Benton singlehandedly beating a rank ten boss beast. The Town Lord's adventures were tame in comparison. The highest rank he’d had to fight was a five, and there were only a few of those. Between him and all the help provided by the sects, the town was never in any danger.
Benton finished up by explaining about the new sect he’d created.
“That kind of brings me to the reason I dropped by,” Benton said. “I’d like you to join.”
Fatty Ren grimaced. “It’s not that I don’t want to join your sect, my friend. It’s just that it would put me in an awkward political situation. Being only affiliated with a sect that has been all but destroyed allows me to be on good terms with each of the big three.”
“I understand,” Benton said, “and if you refuse, I will bear you no ill will. Neither will the refusal impact our friendship as far as I’m concerned. I do think it’s important, however, for you to hear the benefits before you make any decision.”
“Of course, Friend Su. Tell me of the advantages of your sect.”
Benton had been thinking for a while about the best way to get Fatty Ren to break through to Golden Core, and the obvious solution was to provide him with a pill. The Shop would charge him two points for one of those, however. Which, honestly, was fairly reasonable for the benefit it provided. He was positive that a lot of sect cultivators would cough blood to learn that their bottleneck could be resolved so easily.
Benton, however, had recently happened upon a better way, one that would cost him nothing at all. “First, I’ll give you access to a Trials Pagoda. Assuming you pass the trial, it will help you bypass your bottleneck. If you join me and for some reason are either unable to pass the trial or the reward isn’t enough for you to breakthrough, I will provide you with a pill to do the job.”
Fatty Ren’s eyes lit up. The man had been in the Foundation Establishment realm for more than twenty years. He had to be absolutely desperate to reach Golden Core.
“Additionally,” Benton said, “I will provide you with a top heaven grade cultivation method perfectly suited to you personally as well as a single Foundation Establishment level technique of your choice, also top heaven grade.”
No cultivator could pass up such resources, and Fatty Ren was no different. “I don’t have a choice, Friend Su. I have to join your sect!” He paused. “What about my fellow members of my former sect, though?”
Those members had had their cultivation damaged by the demonic cultivators and had been stuck at Qi Gathering for the last two decades. It was a sad situation, one that Benton was glad to have a chance at resolving.
“I’ll examine each of them individually and see what can be done,” Benton said. “Regardless, they’ll be offered membership in my sect, but I honestly don’t know what damage was done to them or if it can be reversed. I can only promise to determine what is wrong, figure out if it can be fixed, and if so, what the cost for the remedy would be.”
Fatty Ren cupped his hands. “Gratitude, Friend Su.”
“As one of my sect members, there is one thing that I require of you.”
“Name it, Friend Su.”
“I need you to create a branch of my sect here in Vermillion Incomparable Rain Town and start recruiting. I care not about the quality of the talent, but I need numbers. Fast. Within a month, you are to set up an organization here and induct a minimum of two hundred members.”