Benton thought he was doing pretty well for being on a cultivation world for less than six months. Between Su’s memories of his experiences as a cultivator and his own life lessons from sixty years on Earth, he had plenty of mental resources to draw upon in any given situation to guide him down the right path.
That opinion lasted until Yang Xiu told him about what happened with Kang Ya-Ting.
His experience had failed him. Su had never played in the big leagues of sect politics. The most he had to worry about as far as intrigue went was trying to hide a new technique from his fellow sect members so he could unveil it during the next tournament.
Benton’s lapse was more inexcusable. He had dealt with interoffice politics for decades. The only defense he had was that he’d never had much to hide from his bosses, so he’d never sweated it when his protégés had been forced to spend time with one of them.
He had never even considered the possibility that the Poison Claw Sect Elder would pump his disciples for information. Granted, he should have, but the thought simply didn’t enter his mind.
Well, done was done. No use fretting over it.
After he assured Yang Xiu that her performance was well within his expectations, good even, he sent her away and played a mental game of “How Screwed Was Benton?”.
Based on what she had shared with Kang Ya-Ting, The Poison Claw Sect elders had to suspect one of three things about Benton.
One, he had the ability to supply cultivation methods that were so good and easy to use that it made the talent level of the disciple nearly meaningless. Honestly, that one didn’t represent a change from what they already probably thought. In their heads, his ring surely was full of heaven-shattering jade slips, considering the technique he’d suppled to Pan Jiang.
Two, Benton had the ability to easily and without the subject’s knowledge determine the rank of a subject’s spiritual roots. That one, by far, was the one he most wanted to hide. As with his ring and his ability to produce heaven grade cultivation methods and techniques on demand, such a skill would make him stand out too much. That ability just wasn’t something that a normal cultivator could do, no matter how high the realm.
Once they discovered he had one unique secret ability, they’d be far more inclined to try to find out if he had any others. That result had to be avoided at all costs.
Three, he was an expert at using pills to advance cultivation. That suspicion might be the most problematic one but not because he didn’t want the elders to believe he had such an ability. It actually fit the persona of the ancient expert high level cultivator he was creating.
No, the problem was that Yang Xiu had outright told Kang Ya-Ting that Benton he could do such a thing, and the sect would have plenty of opportunity to test him at the alchemy shop the next day. His entire relationship with them was built on a foundation no sturdier than a house of cards. One kick could send the whole thing crashing down, and his disciple being caught in such a lie was likely to be just that kick.
There was no help for it. He couldn’t let the sect know that Yang Xiu lied about Benton’s ability, and proving his expertise would make them less likely to think that he had the ability to detect the rank of spiritual roots. His only choice was to prove that he was, in fact, an expert in using pills to advance cultivation.
The problem was that he simply didn’t possess any such proficiency. Su’s education on the subject had been only as extensive as any other outer sect member. In other words, he was taught that pill toxicity was, in general, a Bad Thing and that he should avoid it.
Yeah. That advice was just so helpful. Thanks, Elder Qin.
Try as he might, Benton could think of no other option. He was going to have to use Sect Points.
“System, I’d like to add a technique, please.”
Please specify the technique to add.
“Something that gives me expertise in administering pills to disciples to advance their cultivation and/or otherwise make them stronger without harming them.”
Host currently has twenty-seven Sect Points.
Spend one Sect Point to attain Pill Basics – Small Success?
He hated spending the point. Partly because that twenty-seven was already looking paltry but also because he was breaking his ten percent rule.
Well, if the current situation wasn’t an emergency, he didn’t know what was.
“Yes. Spend the point.”
A flood of information and memories about using pills was downloaded directly into his brain. He knew, in general, how much toxicity was too much depending on a bunch of factors, what pills were good in combination, in which minor realm the usage was most effective, and a great number of other things.
In general simply wasn’t good enough, though, to impress the Poison Claw Sect with his expertise and certainly not to begin applying the knowledge to his disciples.
“System, please advance Pill Basics to Large Success.”
Choice confirmed.
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
Host currently has twenty-five Sect Points.
More knowledge inundated his head, filling in the gaps. He of course considered using two more points to advance to Master in order to make him even more of an expert, but as a practical matter, Large Success seemed sufficient for his immediate needs. The remaining gaps in his knowledge seemed to mostly involve more esoteric topics, especially concerning the higher realms.
Unfortunately, the technique didn’t tell him everything he needed to know.
In order to use most of the knowledge given by the technique, he had to know the purity of the pill. Su’s memory indicated that most shops only ranked pills by a very wide grade, which was way too inexact for his purposes, and that those grades weren’t always completely accurate, making the ranking almost worthless for him.
Besides, if he wanted to portray himself as an expert, could he really be constantly asking the shop attendant, “Hey, how good is the pill? What is it again?”
Nope.
He needed the ability to look at a pill and just know everything about it.
Yep. It was time.
“System, I’d like to buy the Analyze technique that we previously discussed.”
Choice confirmed.
Host currently has twenty-four Sect Points.
Setting aside the question of whether his interactions with the System could properly be categorized as “discussions,” his points were rapidly shrinking.
“You’re going the wrong way. You’re going the wrong way.”
Funny movie.
Even worse, he knew, simply knew, that Small Success wasn’t going to give him enough to even bother with. Might as well rip off the Band Aid.
He sighed. “Advance Analyze to Large Success, please.”
Choice confirmed.
Host currently has twenty-three Sect Points.
That should do it. No more bleeding his supply of Sect Points tonight.
He spent the rest of the evening scanning everything he could with his new technique.
Object: Small Stone Qi Rank: None Grade: None Use: Possible weapon if thrown by hand or sling. Possible building material for gravel road or in an aggregate. Value: Negligible Other: N/A
Yes!
Object: Silver Tael Qi Rank: None Grade: None Use: Buy things with it. Melt it and use the silver for crafting. Value: 1 Silver Tael Other: N/A
Neat.
He borrowed Yang Ru’s spear.
Object: Spear Qi Rank: Foundation Establishment Grade: Heaven, top Use: Weapon. Kill things. Defense. Value: 50,000 Silver Taels Other: This System-wrought weapon is unique. Nothing crafted by man can compare.
What the huh? Fifty thousand taels? Yikes.
Benson pulled out one of his pills.
Object: Major Healing Pill Qi Rank: Suitable for mortals up to cultivators in the Foundation Establishment realm Grade: Heaven, top; 100% Purity Use: Heal gravest of injuries Value: 10,000 Silver Taels Other: Will return any user up to Foundation Establishment from brink of death to fully healed but still can be used on mortals with no ill effects.
He had been so worried when he’d given the twins both the Spiritual Root Refinement Pill and the Qi Condensing Pill, but he need not have. If those were anything like the one he scanned, the kids were never in any danger. The pills were simply too high quality to hurt them.
The more he experienced the System, the more he realized what a huge cheat it was.
Benton chuckled. He was cheating so he must be trying.
So far, he’d been focused on just setting up a sect, surviving, and helping some kids and the village with no further goals. Which made sense. There were still challenges aplenty to overcome, and the System only became truly overpowered when he had enough recruits for a proper sect.
Once he got things running, though, he could do more. Much more. Change the world more.
There was so much misery in the world. Intense poverty. The haves literally being able to kill the have-nots with impunity.
Systemic issues were not easy to solve, though. Better—and worse—men than him had tried. And the people in power tended to be invested in keeping the status quo, and surely there were many ancient immortal or nearly so cultivators that would curb stomp anyone making waves.
Benton needed to put some thought into what he actually wanted to accomplish, but that was for another day. One thing was for sure. His life as a cultivator was going to be a lot more interesting than his last.