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Fu Qingshan sat in his hiding spot near the road outside the main gate leading into Sixth Flawless Flowing City. He'd meticulously pulled branches and leaves around himself, and the technique he used to mask his qi was at Mastery. Additionally, his sect supplied a treasure that further concealed his presence.
With his spyglass, he could see the road, but even though he was only in the middle of the Foundation Establishment realm, no one aside from a Golden Core cultivator specializing in detection or a Nascent Soul would ever be able to see or detect him.
Day after day, week after week, month after month, he spent all his duty hours alone in that location or one similar. Which was exactly how he liked it. No one bothered him. He could cultivate or read or do whatever he wanted as long as he kept watch with his spiritual sense.
Best of all, he earned lots of contribution points for performing his crucial task.
As the grandson of a sect elder, he'd been tested on the fourteenth anniversary of his birth, and he'd expected nothing less than an A+ rank as was his right as the young master of his house. When he'd tested as only a D-, he'd been crushed. He went to his grandfather, fully anticipating being disowned.
Instead, Grandfather had given Fu Qingshan sage advice. "Grandson, as fruit of my lineage, your spiritual roots qualify you, barely, for admission into our Jade Chameleon Sect, but you will never amount to much. Put aside thoughts of being an unbeatable warrior or formations master or alchemy expert. Find something that is useful to the sect that few people can or will do and specialize in that thing. In that way, you'll bring honor to yourself and our family."
Fu Qingshan had taken that guidance to heart. After three and a half years in the Qi Gathering realm and over twenty as a Foundation Establishment cultivator, he'd mastered many, many techniques. And all of them worked together to make him the best in the sect at hiding, detecting messages flying past, intercepting and copying those messages, and sending them on their way with no one the wiser.
He could barely swing a sword without injuring himself. His ability to cultivate was lacking. None of the pavilions wanted him as a member. But in the area of spying on messages sent by other factions, he was an expert, and that service he performed for the sect was deemed critical by the elders.
In the last year, not a single message going in or out of the city had slipped past while he was on duty. Well, to the best of his knowledge or as best anyone in his sect could determine, anyway. It was possible that someone had a message technique with enough stealth to avoid his detection. He doubted it, though.
His grandfather had recently honored him at a family dinner, and it had felt so good to be the one on the receiving end of that praise instead of his idiot cousin. So what if she had B roots? Had she been assigned a critical mission like he had?
No. No, she hadn't.
He would always remember the look on her face that night, at least partially because he kept picturing it over and over and over at every opportunity. And as he continued reminiscing about that evening, he pulsed out his senses every minute or so until he finally detected … something.
Like his every other skill, he'd honed his spiritual sense to detect the minute qi fluctuations typical of messages. So specialized was he that he couldn't tell a Qi Gathering cultivator from a Golden Core.
Well, that example might have been a bit of an exaggeration but not much of one.
A message approaching the city, though? He could pick one of those up a mile away.
The blip he detected was strange, though. It appeared, disappeared, and appeared again closer to him, repeating that pattern over and over. And it moved faster than any message he'd ever sensed.
Besides those two anomalies, the signature of the blip definitely felt like a message.
Fu Qingshan determined that his best course of action was to treat the moving object as if it were a legitimate target. Better to do that and discover it was something else entirely than to ignore it and let a message pass.
As it neared, he finally spotted it through his spyglass—a blue origami dragon, if an oddly shaped one.
He reached out with his capture technique, one he'd reached Mastery in years ago. One that never failed. As his qi extended toward the dragon, however, the slip of blue folded paper disappeared.
Fu Qingshan bolted upright, ruining the camouflage provided by the surrounding branches, but he no longer cared about being discovered. The only thing that mattered was not letting the message get away.
There. The dragon reappeared a couple hundred yards farther down the road, and he quickly sent out his qi again. Before it could reach, though, the message disappeared again, and the next time it reappeared, it was already inside the wall.
He'd missed one. And who knew how important whatever was written on that dragon was? The whole sect was in an uproar over recent events. Now was the absolute worst time possible to miss a message.
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It wasn't his fault, though. Someone must have known he was there. A message that traveled that fast and used Spatial qi to teleport? Who could afford the expense of such a thing? They'd surely designed the technique specifically to counter his ability.
Grandfather would be so disappointed. Fu Qingshan could only hope that his cousin wasn't around to hear about his failure.
Kang Ya-Ting sipped from a cup of tea, one of his favorite blends, as he contemplated the current political situation. Everyone was lying low, waiting for someone else to make a move, to err. Word of Fatty Ren joining the Rising Tide Sect had, of course, caused quite a stir, moving the Swift Blizzard Sect slightly toward the Jade Chameleons and the Emperor's faction slightly toward the side of the alliance between Chao Su and the Poison Claw Sect.
The whole situation was becoming fraught. A single wrong move might cause an all-out sect war. And right now, no one wanted to be the one to make that mistake.
As he tried to determine the best way for his sect to come out on top in such a scenario, the weirdest thing happened. A blue origami dragon appeared right in front of him. One moment it wasn't there. The next, it was.
Messages were typically stopped by the formations surrounding his cultivation room and funneled to his assistant. Of course, most messages didn't utilize Spatial qi.
"Chao Su," he muttered. "It has to be."
Kang Ya-Ting reached out for the dragon, and it landed in his hand. As soon as it did, the paper unfolded itself. It also deposited a second sheet of folded blue paper into his palm.
Apparently, Chao Su's message required a response.
Friend Kang,
I find myself having a hard time with a decision and wondered if you might advise me.
The sect is of need of a few trifling materials that might be found for purchase in Sixth Flawless Flowing City, but I am unfortunately needed here to take care of a number of projects. My disciples, Yang Xiu and Yang Ru, have volunteered, along with your granddaughter, to run this minor errand for me.
On one hand, the task would be good for the juniors, giving them experience in finding items, negotiating prices, etc. Skills they will need later in their careers.
Frankly, though, I worry about their safety. This old man is having a difficult time thinking of ones so young as anything but children requiring protection. With the regrettable situation that occurred between me and the Jade Chameleon Sect, I worry that they might encounter overwhelming force during their journey.
Don't get me wrong; my juniors can handle themselves against opponents similar in realm, but I'd hate to see them have to fight against a large group of opponents or a cultivator who purely outclassed them in cultivation.
What are your thoughts on this matter?
I thank you for any guidance you may provide.
Friend Su
P.S. Please use the message paper that I provided for your response.
As always, Chao Su proved himself not to be simple with his every action. Kang Ya-Ting couldn't wait to discover what trifling materials the enigmatic sect leader might require. They were sure to be something quite interesting if he was considering sending his prize disciples into danger to obtain them.
For once, though, Kang Ya-Ting didn't feel there were hidden meanings in the rest of the letter. From what he knew of Chao Su, the man really did feel strongly for his disciples and would risk much to keep them safe.
The other interesting part of the note was the end. Why did Chao Su insist that his message paper be used? Did he believe the Poison Claw Sect's messages to be compromised?
If so, that portended dire things. The elder in charge of espionage had guaranteed that messages sent via their technique could not be intersected. If Chao Su believed otherwise, though, perhaps the elder spymaster was mistaken. Which meant a lot of important information might be in the hands of their enemies. Most of the truly crucial missives were, of course, encoded, but enough wasn't that such a leak could be very damaging indeed.
Kang Ya-Ting would have to inform Elder Dai, the branch sect leader, of his suspicions. But first, he'd respond to Chao Su's message.
Friend Su,
No formal declaration of war has been made by the Jade Chameleon Sect against the Rising Tide Sect. Absent that declaration, rules of the city demand that your sect members not be attacked by overwhelming force while inside the walls. Likewise, such an attack would be a huge loss of face for the Jade Chameleon Sect.
An attack like you fear on your disciples would make them appear desperate, a huge further hit to their face. If news of such an attack got out, any faint hopes they have of finding an alliance would fade to nothing.
The situation in the city is not, by any means, safe for your disciples. If the Jade Chameleons discover your disciples' presence, they will be attacked by a reasonable force of like realmed cultivators and taunted by higher realms. If your disciples give into those taunts, any aggressive action will give the higher realmed cultivators cause to attack.
Should you choose to proceed, I highly recommend that you assign Kang Lin charge over your disciples while they are on the mission. She will understand the situation and not give into anger or temptation. With your authority backing her, your disciples will hopefully see reason and follow her lead.
Though the danger is present, there is a reasonable chance that your disciples can accomplish their task without suffering a defeat. The Poison Claw Sect will support them and you in any way that we can, but I can neither recommend that you proceed nor that you abandon the mission. Only you can make that determination.
Best to you,
Friend Kang
Kang Ya-Ting sighed. He had no issue sending his granddaughter into such a situation. Losing her would be … painful, but as a cultivator, she had to learn to take care of herself in challenging circumstances. It was the same with Chao Su's prize disciples. If they could not navigate a difficult state of affairs, were they really even prize disciples in the first place?
Benton received a response less than an hour after sending the message to Kang Ya-Ting. The space messenger dragons really were overpowered in the speed category compared to what everyone else used. Which was why Benton sent the paper for the reply. Otherwise, he would have had to wait hours to hear back.
Now that he'd read the response, though, he was just as unsure about his decision as he had been.
Well, that wasn't strictly true. Kang Ya-Ting's words regarding the societal rules governing the situation helped as did the assurances that the Poison Claw Sect would assist to the degree possible.
Still, Yang Xiu and Yang Ru would be headed into a potentially deadly situation. Benton hated to risk their lives like that, no matter the importance of their mission or the opportunities for experience that it provided. On the other hand, a parent had to shoo their little birdies out of the nest at some point.
Should he send them or not?
Benton fretted about his decision for most of the afternoon, going back and forth in his head. One minute, he leaned on letting the twins go to Sixth Flawless Flowing City. The next, he changed his mind.
Ugh. The choice wasn't complicated. On the "let them go" side, he had the benefit to the sect in allowing the pursuit of the two most important ventures possible at the moment and both the experience that his two disciples would gain and the world of good it would do them for him to express his belief in them.
On the "keep them home at all costs" side, they could die.
That was it. They could die. Simple. Easy to understand. Death. Final. He'd just buried Ye Zan and couldn't bear to think about having to do the same for either Yang Xiu or Yang Ru.
It was the same decision he and Evelyn had had to make every time they let their children leave the house. There was always the possibility of something bad happening. They weren't exactly free-range parents, but they leaned in that direction, believing that giving into fear set a poor example.
The current decision was different, though. Real danger awaited. The Jade Chameleon Sect was gunning for the Rising Tide Sect. Benton's disciples would be targets. And targets of a sect tended to end up dead.
On the other hand, there were a few ticks in the "likely to avoid death" column. One, Kang Lin would be with them to help the twins avoid danger. Two, the twins were head and shoulders above other Foundation Establishment cultivators anywhere near their realm in terms of talent, available qi, and quality of techniques. Three, the Poison Claw Sect had promised support in any way possible.
A brilliant thought occurred to Benton. What if he let the twins go to the city, but he insisted on them having more advantages first? No one had used the Trial Pagoda yet that day. He could slot the twins in for today and tomorrow morning, making their permission to go contingent on advancing the level of their respective shields.
Mastery for those techniques carried the very important bonus feature of activating the fully automatic functionality of the shields. With that trait, the twins wouldn't even need to be aware of an attack for them to be protected from it, making Benton feel a lot better about their probability of coming through the trip just fine.
And he could whip up something for them, right? Like…
A teleportation device maybe? That project would require the installation of a teleportation beacon at the sect grounds, though, and Benton didn't have access to the necessary materials. Other than spending way too many Shop Points—more than he had available once he pulled the trigger on the tower formation schematics—he had no idea where or how to obtain those materials, either. They were all both rare and in demand by all sects who wanted teleportation beacons of their own.
So giving them a way to teleport out of danger was a non-starter.
But how about setting them up with a panic button of some kind that would signal him if they were in danger and ping his spiritual sense with their location? That could work. He could craft a formation that would send him a signal, but how would that help?
"System," he said, "can I buy a technique to give me true teleportation? And if so, how much qi would it cost to go from here to Sixth Flawless Flowing City?"
Host may purchase a technique for Teleportation. To teleport roughly three hundred miles will cost approximately one hundred thousand qi.
Awesome. That amount was very qi efficient and would make travel between the village, Vermilion Incomparable Rain Town, and the city so much more convenient. He should have done that a long time ago.
Benton pulled the trigger on the technique, spending eight Sect Points to get it to Mastery.
Okay. If both kids had their shield at Mastery and he could create contingency rings for them, he could tentatively agree to let them go to the city.
That decision meant that he had a lot to do to get ready for their trip. First, he sent all three of the Foundation Establishment disciples messages that explained the requirement for the twins to successfully use the Trials Pagoda. Next, he Quickstepped to the Wood and found Guang Yin, letting him know that the schedule that had been established for the harvesters using the pagoda was pushed back two days.
"There's one other thing I need," Benton said.
"Name it, Sect Leader."
Since establishing the sect and giving the harvesters new top heaven grade cultivation methods, the lead harvester's opinion of Benton had done a full one eighty. Guang Yin had turned from someone who had been highly skeptical of Benton to one of his most enthusiastic supporters.
"I'm making rings for several of my disciples, and the base needs to be Orange Vigor Spirit Wood because that's the only thing I have on hand that can handle storing and channeling the amount of qi I require. Can you get me five thin circles of wood that are about the diameter of the kids' fingers?"
"Easy enough, Sect Leader," Guang Yin said. "I can just cut sections off a branch."
Ah. Made sense. Benton could have done that. Then again, it was good to have the people who were in charge of particular resource handle all the chores involved with that resource. It gave them a sense of ownership. In contrast, Benton just popping in and taking what he needed would ruin any chance of them seeing themselves as the actual leader of that pavilion.
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"Only five, Sect Leader?"
"For now. I'll probably need a bunch of them in the future, so cut me several dozen more when you have the chance."
"Of course, Sect Leader."
It didn't take the man long to slice five thin sections off an appropriately sized branch, and once Benton had them in hand, he Quickstepped back to the section of the fourth floor of the Administration Hall that was turning into his personal crafting area.
Using a thin construct of Void qi, he cut the middles out of all the circles, leaving him with wood rings. Then came the hard part, inscribing. Which wasn't normally all that difficult for him. It was just that he was planning on fitting a lot of formations in a really tiny space.
The problem with any device meant for a cultivator to wear was that it had to be quite durable. After all, fights often involved getting up close and personal, so anything that might be hit by qi or fists or weapons must withstand extreme forces. Even qi rich materials like Orange Vigor Spirit Wood needed help in that regard.
Before he began, he took a moment to lament the fact that he didn't have time to have the material alchemically treated. That process would have made it tougher and more conducive to qi. It would have also taken days to soak and dry before being ready.
The first array that got inscribed in the wood served simply to make the material tougher. Well, tougher overall. He also created a single weak point that, when enough force was applied, caused the entire ring to fall to pieces.
Next, unlike most of Benton's crafted devices, the ring was essentially a one-time use item, meaning that, instead of needing to be supplied with qi from spirit coins, all the energy it would ever need would be loaded in upon creation. Thus, the second array was a simple one designed to store the correct amount of qi.
Third came an array that used Space qi to adjust the size of the circle. By doing so, he could make the rings one size fits all. Otherwise, he would have had to fit each ring to an individual cultivator.
With the three utility features implemented, it was time for Benton to start on the functionality, beginning with the signal. Upon the ring being destroyed, either by the weak spot being deliberately triggered or the entire device being subjected to too much force in the form of physical power or qi, a pulse traveling near the speed of light would seek him out.
Perfect.
The final array produced a beacon that his new Teleport technique could home in on.
After testing it and fixing a few minor flaws, he declared the prototype done and made four more of them.
Like any good formation expert, Benton did not like to leave inscriptions out in the open. For one thing, they were prone to being damaged without a protective layer over them. For another, leaving them visible made it too easy for a rival formation expert to steal one's designs.
His plan was to coat the ring in a mortal metal, which would serve the dual purpose of protecting the inscriptions and in somewhat disguising the importance and purpose of the devices. Obviously, with his control of Gravity and Fire, he could simply melt and form the necessary metal right there in his workshop, but he had a reason to do otherwise.
Benton purchased a Blacksmithing technique from the System, Quickstepped to the Blacksmith Pavilion, and found Xun Wu.
"I need to use the forge," Benton said.
"You're a smith, Sect Leader?" Xun Wu's voice couldn't have been more skeptical.
"As I keep telling people, the longer one lives, the more skills one picks up."
The expert blacksmith looked conflicted. "Normally, no one whose skill I haven't personally verified can use the forges, but you are the sect leader. So…"
"If you have time, why don't you watch me? That way you can verify my abilities for next time," Benton said. "To be honest, what I'm doing today is really simple. I don't even really need the forge for it, but there's a project I'll be tackling in the near future that will require its use. It's better for me to get acquainted with the setup here on an easy job, right?"
"That makes sense, Sect Leader, but are you sure it wouldn't be better to have me do that project for you?"
"I wish you could, but until you reach Foundation Establishment and get an advanced technique for it, you can't. Even your considerable expertise can't substitute for the ability to sense and manipulate qi."
"Understood, Sect Leader."
The expert blacksmith led Benton to the most advanced forge, one that no one else was using because none of the pavilion members could yet handle qi.
Benton explained what he was trying to accomplish with the rings. "What metal do you recommend?"
"Gold or silver would be more decorative and, thus, more of a disguise, Sect Leader."
"The qi inside will be detectable to anyone with a halfway decent spiritual sense. Disguise isn't the main priority. Added durability is."
"Then simple steel is probably our best bet, Sect Leader. We don't have access to anything more exotic at the moment."
"That's fine. I'll etch a pattern on it or something to make it more decorative."
Xun Wu had one of the apprentices fetch an ingot of steel, and Benton was thankful he didn't have to go through the steps to create the alloy. The expert blacksmith tensed when Benton used his hands to place the ingot inside the hot forge, and he thought about pretending to be burned.
But he didn't. Joking about safety in that manner wouldn't have been funny. He did, however, take a moment to show his unburned hand to Xun Wu. The robe's sleeve wasn't even singed.
The great thing about the forge was that, not only was it capable of attaining a much, much hotter temperature than a mortal forge, it used Fire qi in addition to just fire in order to heat the metal. Benton used his new Blacksmithing technique to manipulate that qi, softening the steel in seconds.
He reached in for a second time and pulled the metal back out, placing it on an anvil.
"Do you need to borrow a hammer, Sect Leader?" Xun Wu said.
"Ah… Not this time." Benton had better ways to work the metal, mainly his Gravity technique which he could so finely manipulate by that point that it essentially functioned akin to a form of telekinesis.
He chuckled to himself. Even if he couldn't just use Gravity, his hand was tougher than any hammer the Blacksmith Pavilion had available.
Using Void and Gravity, Benton snipped off a small section of the ingot and flattened it. The next part was tricky. Since the wood hadn't been alchemically treated, it was a bit sensitive to heat, so he had to protect it from getting too hot while not letting the metal cool.
Benton actually had to use his Dual Mind to accomplish the trick, but the first circle of wood was quickly encased in steel.
He held it up to Xun Wu. "What do you think?"
"Looks good to me, Sect Leader, though I've never seen blacksmithing done quite like that."
"Get used to the unusual. I can't wait to see what you'll do when you have the proper techniques. Be thinking about exactly what skills you most need. Be creative."
"Yes, Sect Leader."
Making the first ring proved out the process, and Benton quickly replicated it for the next four. Before he left the pavilion, he made a point of politely requesting another glider base from Xun Wu.
"I can do that, Sect Leader. When do you need it?"
"You've got a little more time that the last one. Tomorrow morning?"
"Of course, Sect Leader."
The rings were done, and Kang Lin's glider was in progress. And there was still daylight remaining. Benton planned to spend the night creating more spirit coins, but he figured he had a few hours to begin work on the towers.
No rest for a sect leader when his members were under threat from Nascent Souls.
Benton had spent a lot of time coming up with a design for the towers. The formation capable of killing a Nascent Soul cultivator would go near the top, but that array wasn't the only one. He had to start with a solid base, one that could withstand quite a bit of punishment if anything got through the shield. Or if an attack on the sect came before the shield was finished.
The first step, though, was to obtain the base material for the tower, which meant another visit to the Wood, so Benton Quickstepped over there to find Guang Yin again.
"Sect Leader? I thought you didn't need the wood discs for a while yet."
Benton rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, I already finished that project, and I'm ready for my next one. Can I get two Orange Vigor Spirit Wood trunks, the bigger and taller the better."
Guang Yin frowned. "How important is the project, Sect Leader?"
"More important than anything I can imagine. It might one day save the entire sect from destruction."
"Okay." The old harvester let out a breath. "There are two trees that meet your description, the two oldest in the Wood at several hundred years old. We've been saving them for something big and important. If this project is really that important, Sect Leader, they're yours."
"It is that important." Benton cupped his hands. "Gratitude." He paused. "About how tall are these trees?"
"About two to three hundred feet, Sect Leader."
Benton was thinking of making the towers about forty feet tall. Even considering the need to extend fairly far underground for stability, anything over a hundred feet was serious overkill. In fact, sixty to eighty feet would be fine. "You know, I think one of those would be sufficient."
"As you wish, Sect Leader."
Benton left instructions for the trunk to be cut down and sectioned into equal segments in the range he needed. Guang Yin promised to have the tree felled immediately and delivered to the village woodworkers for treatment with the alchemical baths.
"Perfect," Benton said. "I also need a bunch of branches of different sizes, as many as your harvesters can gather. Don't bother treating those. Just have them delivered to Administration Hall by this evening if possible."
"It will be as you have instructed, Sect Leader," Guang Yin said. "I should also have the kernel you requested by that time and will have it delivered as well. The segments of the big trunk should be ready for your use three days from now."
That didn't give Benton much time to make his other preparations, considering he also needed to spend a bunch of time creating spirit coins. All he made that night would go with the twins to the city to pay for the materials to make the qi source.
On top of that usage, both towers would need as many coins as possible. The power supply for them would obviously be a big target. Destroy the power source, and the tower would cease to work. Which meant he'd have to secure the power source. Which meant that resupply during combat would be difficult at best and likely impossible. Which meant that he needed to provide as many coins as he could or risk the tower running out during a protracted battle.
He also needed rocks. A lot of rocks.
Treated Orange Vigor Spirit Wood was relatively strong, but strong was a relative term. When one's expected opponent was a Nascent Soul, strong needed to mean virtually indestructible.
The wood was not, by any means, indestructible, so Benton's plan was to use layers. Unfortunately, he neither had access to sufficient Shop Points to buy enough heaven grade materials to coat the towers nor any other way to get metals that would resist Nascent Souls. So he'd have to improvise.
His memory from Earth was that igneous rock tended to be quite strong when compared to regular stones. Maybe something to do with the crystalline structure that formed when they cooled?
Anyway, he planned to coat each tower base in a thick layer of lava and cool into a solid protective shell.
To do that, he needed a massive quantity of basalt, a common rock formed by cooling lava. He'd run across several deposits of the stuff in his travels around the mountains, so that feat was easy enough. Which was one of the reasons he'd chosen to use the material in the first place.
For the outside layer, he planned to use more rock, though not in a solid shell as he had other plans in mind instead. And the material he'd chosen was likewise easy to find. The name of it escaped him, but it was the kind that formed the really steep cliffs because it was so resistant to erosion.
Benton spent the rest of the daylight hours gathering both those types of materials into his ring. When he Quickstepped back to his workshop, he found a pile of branches waiting for him along with a small chunk of dense wood that was absolutely packed with qi.
He used Analyze on the kernel.
Object:
Orange Vigor Spirit Wood Qi Seed
Qi Rank:
Golden Core
Grade:
Earth, top
Use:
Grow Orange Vigor Spirit Wood Tree. Nature aspected crafting material.
Value:
Spirit Coins in excess of 1,000,000 qi units
Other:
Seed is not large enough to provide enough base material for the plant portion of a Nature qi source. Four additional seeds of a like size would be required.
Benton really appreciated how the System looked out for him. The information listed under Other told him exactly what he wanted to know—first that the kernel was exactly what he needed for crafting a qi source and, second, that he'd need four more of them for the task. And if one of the kernels was worth one hundred ten-thousand-qi spirit coins, that meant any sufficient crafting material was probably worth at least five hundred.
He made a mental note of that information and moved on to examining the branches. Guang Yin and his men had done a great job. The pile was exactly what Benton needed.
Perfect. Between the sticks and stones, his entire next day would be consumed with inscribing formations. Before he began that part of the project, he had a full eight hours of spirit coin production ahead of him.
If he ever had thought that the life of a sect leader was glamorous, the tediousness of that night abused him of that notion.
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He actually ended up going over the eight hours as he decided to maximize the number of coins to give to the twins. When he got the notification that Yang Ru had advanced his shield the Mastery, just like his sister had the previous day, Benton knew he should expect the trio of travelers soon, so he Quickstepped to the Blacksmith Pavilion to pick up the base he'd commissioned from Xun Wu.
With his Time Manipulation, it took him only a little more than a subjective minute to finish creating Kang Lin's glider.
Benton had a few minutes, maybe as many as a quarter hour, before she and the twins arrived, and he took a second to determine the best use of that short period. Starting his new project just to be interrupted didn't make much sense, and he couldn't make many coins that quickly.
On the other hand…
It was difficult to do extremely detailed work involving multiple techniques when he was also altering time, but creating spirit coins was one of the easiest things he did. The only real limiting factor was qi, and his pool wasn't anywhere close to being depleted. The twins might end up needed an immense amount of coins, so every little bit might help.
Ten minutes of production was nothing. Ten minutes worth of production while also using Time Manipulation was an entirely different story. His decision made, he triggered the technique, and by the time the kids arrived, he'd spent an additional ten hours making coins.
"First of all, disciples, I have gifts for each of you." Benton pulled three rings from his spatial storage. "Take these, put them on, and do not remove them."
"But Master, we already have storage rings?" Yang Xiu said.
"These serve a different purpose. I call them contingency rings. If they break, they send me a pulse that lets me know you're in trouble and sets off a beacon I can teleport to." Benton pointed to a small etched line on the ring. "Wear it with this mark on the bottom of your finger. It indicates a weak spot. Just a bit of force from your finger will crush it, as will any force that gets through your shield that is strong enough to hurt you."
"You made one for me, too, Master?" Kang Lin said. "I'm not one of your sect members."
"I've said it many times. You are one of my disciples. And you're going into a potentially dangerous situation in service of me and my sect. I'm not going to hang you out to dry."
All three of them cupped their hands. "Gratitude, Master."
"The final gift is just for Kang Lin. We'll call it an early birthday present." He withdrew it from his ring and deposited it on the floor in front of her.
"My flier!" Kang Lin said. "Gratitude, Master."
"Glider, not flier," Benton said.
She tilted her head. "But gliding implies that the device doesn't fly under its own power, Master."
Okay, her criticism was valid as the device did use qi for lift and thrust. Hmm. The argument against it was that the movie called it a glider. Which, upon further consideration, was probably for alliterative purposes. In the end, nostalgia for Earth won out over accuracy.
"The inventor gets to name the device," Benton said. "It's a glider."
She cupped her hands. "Of course, Master."
Benton's expectation was that Kang Lin would have a much higher degree of protection than the twins simply by wearing her Poison Claw Sect robe. The Jade Chameleons would be idiots to provoke a fight with another member of the big three by attacking her. Which was why he hadn't insisted on her improving her shield before leaving on the mission.
Yang Ru had his shield at Mastery and both a movement technique and his main attack technique at Large Success. In contrast, his sister matched him with her shield and attack technique, but she hadn't even learned a movement technique.
Benton felt the need to rectify that oversight prior to her leaving. He quickly created one for her, Slippery Steps, that would let her glide across the ground must faster than she would otherwise be able to.
"And finally, for Yang Xiu, an aid in escaping danger and in creating distance to proper bow range." Benton tossed her a jade slip.
Yang Xiu caught it and immediately cupped her hands. "Gratitude, Master."
With the gift giving out of the way, he moved onto giving them instructions. "Your first goal of the trip is to stay safe. Period. If you manage to buy literally nothing on the list, that's fine as long as you return healthy and hale. If you're facing an opponent and you feel yourself to be in true danger, forget face. Run. If you can't run, break your ring. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Master," the three chorused.
"Second instruction," Benton said. "Kang Lin is in charge. If she says run, you run. You do not question an order from her any more than you would from me. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Master," the twins chorused.
"Your grandfather has great faith in your ability to keep the twins out of trouble, Kang Lin. I'm trusting both him and you. Do not let me down."
She swallowed hard. "Yes, Master."
"Good. Now on to the actual mission." Benton pulled out the Orange Vigor Spirit Wood kernel and showed it to the trio. "This is what you're looking for. It holds about one fifth the amount of qi needed to be a proper ingredient for a source. Commit the feeling your spiritual sense gives you to memory."
He gave the disciples a little while to examine the kernel, allowing each to hold it. The success of their entire mission rested on their ability to recognize the materials he needed, and the kernel was the only example he had. In fact…
"I can get more of these from the harvesters," Benton said. "Why don't you three take this kernel with you? That way, you can compare it to any materials you find to make sure the two are similar."
Kang Lin cupped her hands. "Gratitude, Master." She stored the kernel in her ring.
"Next thing is the money I have for you." Benton deposited a pile of ten-thousand-qi spirit coins on a table.
Kang Lin's eyes went wide. "Are all those greater spirit coins, Master? How many?"
Greater spirit coins? Benton had never heard the term, but it was a lot less cumbersome than referring to them as ten-thousand-qi coins. He liked it.
"Yes," Benton said. "Five thousand of them."
"Master… This is too much," Kang Lin said. "If anyone knew we carried this much wealth in our rings, we'd be hunted by every sect in the city."
"It's actually not enough. The kernel you're taking with you should go for about one hundred greater spirit coins, but we actually need materials that are higher grade and contain more qi than that. At a minimum, you'll be paying between one hundred and a thousand for anything we can actually use. Most of the really nice stuff, you probably won't even be able to buy. In that case, try to barter. As long as you can get the base materials, I can craft just about anything that alchemy, blacksmithing, or formations can produce."
"Understood, Master," Kang Lin said.
"I get your concern about having that much money on you, though. You'll just have to take measures to keep the amount you have on you hidden. Maybe leave most of it with Kang Ya-Ting?"
"Yes, Master," Kang Lin said.
He reiterated that they needed three types of material for each of six qi elements, going over those types of each. "These materials should be relatively difficult to find, so please do not stress if you can only find one or two or if you don't find any. This project is one we'll be working on for a long time."
"Understood, Master," the three chorused.
"You should be able to find any number of different spirit metals, though. Look for anything in the Golden Core or Nascent Soul realm, though the latter is unlikely for you to find. My preference is that you buy an ingot or two of a bunch of different types so that I can test them to determine which is best for my purposes. Please note the name of each, where you got it, and how much it cost."
"Yes, Master," the three said.
"The final thing I'll need for you to purchase is a better cauldron. The ones here are for Foundation Establishment cultivators, and they just can't handle the amount of qi I'll be generating. I'd love one rated for Nascent Souls, but those are almost impossible to find and crazy expensive. One for Golden Cores should be fine."
"Yes, Master."
"Any questions?" Benton said.
"No, Master."
He was sending them off into a potentially very dangerous situation, and man, he wanted so much to hug each of them. Their culture wasn't nearly as big on physical displays as Earth was, though. They'd just find it awkward.
"Oh, I almost forgot, I need one more thing," Benton said. "And this one is not important at all, so don't stress about it. If you can, though, find me some sort of acting troupe, like people who put on plays or performances of some kind."
He hadn't encountered anyone like that when he was last in the city, but from Su's memories, they existed. Considering that mortals would take weeks or months to travel from the city, the current crises should have hopefully passed by the time they arrived, and he had an idea that required actors.
"Of course, Master." Kang Lin's answer was firm, but her tone said that she thought the request to be quite strange.
Her confusion was okay, though. Being sect leader meant not having to explain oneself. Kind of like being grandpa. Eccentricity was actually a plus.
"Alright, then," Benton said. "Be safe."
That dismissal sounded so inadequate compared to what he wanted to tell them, but it would have to do. He was going to be a very anxious until he saw them safe again at home.
Yang Xiu had rarely, if ever, been so excited in her life. For one thing, she was flying. Actually flying. The ground below passed in a blur as she soared past on her glider, Yang Ru and Kang Lin trailing behind. Even though the experience had grown more common over the last few days, she still found it amazing.
The main reason Yang Xiu felt so exhilarated, though, was that she was going on an actual mission for the sect. One that involved danger. Her previous one had been to escort a bunch of juniors into the woods to process beast parts. There was nothing in the world more boring than processing beast parts.
Though not officially declared, the members of the Jade Chameleon Sect were her sect's sworn enemies by that point. Their rivalry was like something out of a book. Any of those sect members who saw her would be honor bound to fight her. Which meant she could fight back. Really fight back.
So far, she felt she was coming along nicely in her martial pursuits. She split spars with Yang Ru about half and half. Against Kang Lin, Yang Xiu won probably three quarters of the time.
Spars were not true combat, though.
She'd acquitted herself well against beasts in her equivalent minor realm and had done the best she could when confronted with those above her, not backing down in the face of danger.
But she hadn't faced any cultivators of a like realm with real stakes on the line. There was no chance that either her brother or Kang Lin would actually escalate to death stakes. At worst, minor injuries easily taken care of by the weakest of Healing Pills would result, and the rooms in the pavilion eliminated even those small concerns.
Yang Xiu wanted to experience actual combat against someone who truly wanted to do her harm and who wasn't so far above her in realm that she had no chance to win. She wanted to test herself, to temper herself in the fire of battle.
She couldn't help but be eager in her anticipation. Cultivation was about challenge. The heavens. Oneself. Other cultivators. Let her enemies be the whetstone to sharpen the blade she was becoming.
The mission also served a true purpose. Not that processing beasts didn't. But if successful, the trip to Sixth Flawless Flowing City was the first step in making a major leap forward for the Rising Tide Sect.
Though Yang Xiu wasn't nearly the most knowledgeable person when it came to the world of sects and cultivators, she understood that her fledgling sect was quite deficient in its quantity of high-realmed cultivators. The advancement that qi sources could provide, especially when combined with all the other advantages Master supplied, was exactly what they needed to close the gap with the other factions.
She was determined not to fail.
The trio arrived outside the city about an hour after lunch. At Kang Lin's urging, the three landed out of sight of the walls and stored their gliders in their rings.
"Why couldn't we just fly all the way to the gate?" Yang Xiu said.
"Because it would draw even more attention to us," Kang Lin said. "Spies are already going to go wild when they see your robes."
From Kang Lin's tone, she clearly wished the twins could wear something other than the blue robes marking them as members of the Rising Tide Sect. Since they were on a not quite declared war footing with a local sect, though, hiding their affiliation would strip them of all protection.
Face required that the Jade Chameleons treat juniors of a rival sect according to certain rules. If the twins were to disguise themselves, they'd essentially be acting as spies, and face would no longer apply. A Golden Core cultivator could kill them with a finger and not think twice about it.
Yang Xiu didn't care about the protection face provided. She would not have assented to hide her membership in her sect even if it were the prudent choice. Her own honor wouldn't have allowed it.
She sighed. Yang Ru probably would have gone along with wearing alternate robes, though. There was a disadvantage of him being sweet on Kang Lin. He still occasionally put his foot down as stubbornly as he ever did, but if he didn't truly care about something one way or the other, it was guaranteed that he'd side with her.
"Where are we going first?" Yang Xiu said.
"The Poison Claw Sect. I am deeply uncomfortable with the two of you carrying around so much wealth, and I need to consult with Grandfather. Additionally, there's no sense scouring the entire city before checking if we can buy some of the materials from my sect."
Yang Xiu was eager to explore the city in pursuit of accomplishing her mission, but she knew not to let her excitement drive her actions. Kang Lin's reasoning made sense. Not that Yang Xiu would have strenuously objected even if the logic were unsound. She was duty bound, of course, to follow the orders of the person Master placed above her. Being obedient didn't mean not voicing her opinions, however. Kang Lin was not Master, just someone appointed by him.
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After checking in with the gate guards, Kang Lin led them quickly through the streets at a hurried but not frantic pace, clearly striving for a stride that said, "We're important and have some place to be" while avoiding going too far and communicating, "We're desperate to get off the streets."
Neither did she avoid main thoroughfares by taking shortcuts and using alleys, etc. That routing would have conveyed that they were trying to hide.
Yang Xiu agreed with that strategy if for completely different reasons. Kang Lin wanted to maximize keeping all three of them safe. Yang Xiu wanted to avoid even the appearance of hiding. The Rising Tide Sect members were not cowards.
Whether no one had time to intercept them or their potential enemies were taking a wait and see approach or the Jade Chameleons' operations had been so impacted in the city that they couldn't get their members in place in time, Yang Xiu didn't know, but the end result was that they reached the Poison Claw Sect without encountering anyone brave enough to impede them.
Kang Lin was, of course, well known at the sect's branch grounds and was quickly admitted with her guests, whom she escorted directly to her grandfather's cultivation room where the man's assistant waved them inside.
After they'd been granted admittance, Elder Kang said, "Kang Lin, you're here so soon? Friend Su messaged that you'd be coming, but I was expecting it to be weeks before you arrived."
There was clearly affection for his granddaughter in the man's tone, and Yang Xiu's jealously flared for a moment. She missed her parents dearly. When things calmed down, she would have to pay a visit to her hometown. She doubted Fang Wei's family would survive the trip.
"It would be easier to show you than to explain." Kang Lin extracted her glider from her ring, letting it rest on the floor in front of her grandfather.
The man peered at it with interest, surely scanning it with his spiritual sense. "An interesting device. Gravity and Wind, right?"
Kang Lin nodded.
"How long was the trip?" he said.
"A little over three hours, Grandfather."
"And that was maximum velocity?"
Kang Lin nodded again.
"Very interesting. I wonder at its usefulness, however," Elder Kang said. "Once you reach Golden Core, you'll have a much better and faster option."
"They were birthday gifts from Master to us, Elder Kang," Yang Xiu said.
The term was clearly unfamiliar to him, but he didn't react to it.
"I see. I guess it is useful for juniors. Saved you a bit of time traveling at any rate. It's just hard to see how the time and expense to create three of them would be worth it."
Yang Xiu didn't think that Master particularly cared about how difficult their gift was to create or how much it cost. Him being in their lives was the only thing that even somewhat lessened the sting of losing their parents.
"Master apparently crafted the two for my brother and me in a couple of hours total, Elder Kang," Yang Xiu said, "and my understanding was it took almost that long for Expert Blacksmith Xun Wu to create the bases."
"Friend Su inscribed these arrays in less than an hour?"
"My understanding is that Master accomplished the feat in minutes, Elder Kang."
There was almost nothing in the world better than impressing someone with tales of just how unfathomable Master was.
"I see. That is amazing," Elder Kang said. "Now, please explain the purpose of your visit. Friend Su messaged me that you were seeking to purchase certain materials, but he did not go into detail as to what it is exactly that you need."
"Beast cores, plant kernels, and minerals that contain densely packed qi for the elements of Fire, Ice, Momentum, Shadow, Nature, and Time, Elder Kang."
Kang Lin pulled the Orange Vigor Spirit Wood kernel from her ring. "Something like this, Grandfather."
"I see. And I suppose you can't tell me why the dire need for such things…"
"Sorry, Grandfather. As a disciple, I cannot reveal my Master's secrets."
Yang Xiu knew she could trust the girl, but it was still gool to hear Kang Lin put loyalty to Master above her family.
"I understand," Elder Kang said. "You do know, however, that these will be very expensive. Some will not even be available for spirit coins alone."
"Master told us the same, Elder Yang," Yang Xiu said and explained Master's idea to barter for the materials.
"Hmm. He's that confident, eh? Don't answer that. Of course, he is. You know, it might be worth the loss of a qi treasure to obtain the work of a true master craftsman. I will propose an idea to Elder Dai."
Yang Xiu cupped her hands. "Gratitude, Elder."
The two girls related the other things the sect leader required.
"Metals ranked for Golden Cores won't be an issue. Ingots go from fifty to two hundred greater spirit coins, depending on the rarity or difficulty of creation. I'll have our blacksmiths gather two ingots of ten types and get that to you at the best possible prices."
Yang Xiu cupped her hands again.
"The cauldron is more difficult," Elder Kang said. "At that level, most are created by Masters for their disciples. Not many are sold. But I have a couple of contacts who could possibly help."
The elder was really going out of his way to be of assistance. His attitude was something that Yang Xiu had grown accustomed to from the way Master behaved, but her understanding was that most sect elders took a more hands-off approach, forcing the disciples to figure out most things on their own.
"This lowly one will inform her Master about how generous Elder Kang has been with his time and expertise," Yang Xiu said.
She was sure that her gratitude would cost Master, but she was equally sure that he wouldn't mind that cost, whatever it was.
After the audience with the sect elder, Kang Lin brought the twins to a private area. "Until we determine what my sect can provide us and for what price, there is no sense searching the city. I recommend spending the evening on other pursuits here on the sect grounds. After we check back with Grandfather in the morning, we can determine our plans. In the meantime, I will consult with my contacts about the best places to go to seek the materials we need."
Yang Xiu reluctantly agreed with the idea even though she really would have preferred a more active course. She did understand that proceeding after gathering information often led to a much faster resolution than rushing off too soon. If nothing else, cultivation was teaching her about patience.
While her brother and Kang Lin researched tomorrow's activities, Yang Xiu was directed to the room she'd be using for the duration of her stay, and she spent the portion of the evening and night she wasn't sleeping cultivating. Getting to Golden Core was a long, long road, one that she'd never reach the end of if she didn't keep placing one foot in front of the other.
Kang Lin genuinely liked Yang Xiu. Even in the event that the two of them did not end up as sisters-in-law, Kang Lin thought they would at least remain friends. Considering that sect life didn't lead to making many friends, it was prudent to cherish one when one came along.
But the girl had gotten on Kang Lin's nerves over the last two days. Unlike Yang Ru, who was calm and reserved, Yang Xiu was way too eager to face combat. Her head was filled with visions of glory and honor, all from books about cultivators that she'd read in her youth. It seemed like seeing real death as a result of such a battle had only enhanced her ardor.
In contrast, Kang Lin's grandfather had filled her head with tales of young masters who'd overstepped their bounds and paid a price, some of them the ultimate one. He held a deep disdain for that type of sect member, which was why he'd been assigned Pan Jiang as a disciple; the boy's father had hoped to have some of that arrogance beaten out of him.
A slow and steady advancement. Patience. Caution. Not acting before all the factors were understood. Those lessons were the ones imparted to her from the time she could walk.
Which was exactly why she had been entrusted with the leadership of the mission to obtain vital resources for the Rising Tide Sect and why Yang Xiu hadn't.
Kang Lin sighed. She was in charge of the mission. What she said went. The goal was to avoid confrontation, and if unavoidable, they would disengage at the first opportunity.
Such concerns were for later, though. She needed to rise and get ready. It had been nice to spend the night in her own bed. Not that the Rising Tide Sect's accommodations had exactly been lacking, but there was just nothing like one's own home.
The rest of the morning would be spent on home turf as well. After breakfast, they had a meeting scheduled with Grandfather. The sect was moving fast to get results, showing just how much they held Sect Leader Chao Su in esteem. A rich merchant who had made requests for those same materials would have had to wait weeks or even months for a response.
She took a luxurious bath in her own tub before dressing in a sect robe that it felt like months since she'd seen. It truly was good to be home, so good that a part of her wanted to spend the day getting reacquainted with people she knew. Such an indulgence wasn't possible, however. Duties called.
The twins remained in their respective rooms waiting for her to collect them as they'd arranged the previous evening, and the three ate together before proceeding to her grandfather's study.
"Ah," he said. "Right on time."
"Esteemed Grandfather," Kang Lin said just before the twins added their own greeting. "Did your search bear fruit?"
"Indeed, it did, Granddaughter." He deposited a pile of ingots on the ground, twenty of them total. "Here is the spirit metal you desired, along with a list that gives the name, properties, and cost per ingot."
Kang Lin cupped her hands. "Gratitude, Grandfather. How much?"
"Twenty-five hundred greater spirit coins."
Yang Xiu's eyes went wide. "So much, Elder Kang?"
Kang Lin could understand the girl's surprise. That was half their total. "Remember, Yang Xiu, that these are spirit metals. And we're getting a lot of it, and not all of it will be useful for Master's project. He can use the leftovers to create swords or devices that he can use to trade for the materials he needs. We were not expected to buy these materials with the spirit coins he provided."
The girl frowned but didn't object further.
"Quite so," Grandfather said. "I also found someone willing to create a cauldron for him and even supply the materials."
"That's wonderful, Grandfather! What is the cost?"
"The woman needs a new forge to even attempt the project. If your master will build her a new one, she'll create the cauldron. She says that the quality of the forge will naturally dictate the quality of the cauldron."
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Kang Lin could tell that Yang Xiu wanted to object again, but the deal was actually quite good. It did commit Master's time, but that consideration was trivial considering the need. The fact that they'd been able to find something at all was amazing.
She cupped her hands again. "Gratitude, Grandfather."
"For the materials you requested, I have three possibilities available from the Poison Claw Sect. The first is the easiest. One of the mountains at the main sect grounds produces a Fire aspected rock similar in size and qi concentration as the kernel you showed me yesterday. The sect is willing to make a trade for five of the Nature aspected kernels plus two hundred fifty greater spirit coins."
"We do not have the many with us, Grandfather. I will message Master for confirmation."
"That is to be expected, Granddaughter."
"And the other materials, Elder Kang?" Yang Xiu said.
"The next two are exactly what I believe you are looking for. Elder Dai has a rank eleven Shadow aspected beast core she'd be willing to trade for the right enticement, and Elder Feng might be convinced to give up his Ice Lotus for the right price. Forgive this old man, but the negotiations for those two sources will need to be worked out directly between the elders and your Master."
"Understood, Grandfather. Gratitude for all that you and the sect have done. Is there any other guidance you can give these lowly ones?"
"Besides your usual connections, try the Heavenly Transit Mercantile Association."
Kang Lin raised her eyebrows. "I've never heard of that one, Grandfather."
"They're a small concern located near the docks. Sect Leader Chao Su had dealings with them, however, so they might be willing to provide assistance in order to maintain that relationship." He shrugged. "Worth a try."
All three disciples cupped their hands and announced their gratitude.
The meeting had been much more successful than Kang Lin had expected. To have a lead on three of the materials was a bigger boon than she thought they would accomplish for the entire trip, and the fact that Grandfather had found someone to make the cauldron was fantastic. Master was going to be so pleased.
"Well, that was disappointing," Yang Xiu said as soon as the three had exited Grandfather's study.
"Huh?" Kang Lin said. "In what way?"
"What do you mean, in what way? Just the metals were half our spirit coins, which you were worried about us carrying around because it was such a treasure. And we won't actually acquire anything for Master. All we can do is tell him that we found people willing to negotiate with him. We were supposed to do this!"
As Kang Lin was about to respond, Yang Ru grabbed her hand. It was a bold move for him, and he wasn't prone to bold moves. She looked at him, and he shook his head.
Kang Lin sighed. So what if Yang Xiu was living in a fantasy world? Let her remain in it for a while longer.
"Fine," Kang Lin said. "Let's go see what we can accomplish."
Yang Xiu rushed to her and hugged her. "Thank you, Sister."
It turned out that they could accomplish very little. None of the merchants that Kang Lin's family normally used either had anything they wanted or even knew where to find it. The best they could recommend was the auction house, so after she exhausted all her sources save for the small one that Grandfather had mentioned, the trio headed to the auction company.
An attractive woman met them inside the door with a deep bow, one much too low for mere Foundation Establishment disciples. "Greetings, honored cultivators. This lowly one welcomes you to the Premiere Jade Treasures Auction House. How may this lowly one be of service?"
Yang Xiu stepped forward. "We're looking for—"
"Information about the next auction," Kang Lin said.
The girl was talented and a great fighter, but one didn't just walk into a merchant's business and tell them exactly what you wanted. That method would get you robbed blind.
While Yang Xiu glared at her, the attractive woman seemed to take the exchange as a matter of course. "The next minor auction will be in two weeks' time, but this lowly one suspects that the mundane items on offer will not meet your needs. The next major auction is in six weeks, and it is likely to be more to your liking with many high-end cultivation resources suitable for a young miss of the Poison Claw Sect and the two most famous members of the Rising Tide Sect."
Kang Lin kept the frown from her face, but she was sure some of her displeasure seeped into her tone. "It is a surprise that such an illustrious establishment would know of these lowly ones."
"Nonsense! the Premiere Jade Treasures Auction House is honored to have such distinguished guests. Three disciples of the great Sect Leader Chao Su, who put on such an amazing display of prowess. Though this one's boss did weep when he was told of the destruction of so much wealth. This lowly one is sure that your Master's anger was well deserved, however. This paltry organization will certainly do everything possible to avoid his wrath."
Yang Xiu was grinning from ear to ear upon hearing that statement, but the fact that the woman knew so much about them was a bad sign. If she knew, then others probably did, too. Which meant that word of their whereabouts was reaching throughout the city.
"Come. We have the information we came for. It's time to leave." Kang Lin cupped her hands to the woman. "Gratitude, Mistress."
The woman bowed low again in return.
It was Kang Lin's turn to be bold as she grabbed Yang Ru's hands and practically drug him out of the building. She had a bad, bad feeling about the situation.
As soon as they stepped into the sunlight, her fears were realized. A Golden Core cultivator wearing the gray robes of the Jade Chameleon Sect descended on a flying sword, towing behind it a sled with five Foundation Establishment cultivators.
"Well, well, well," the Golden Core cultivator said. "What do we have here? A trio of whelps from the Rising Tide Sect. It seems like it's time for my juniors to clean up the trash."
Kang Lin's eyes darted all around, looking for any avenue of escape. The Golden Core cultivator from the Jade Chameleon Sect hovered above them, and he and his five juniors were clearly out for blood.
There was no way to outrun them. Even if the trio had all been able to use movement techniques, it wouldn't have mattered against someone an entire major realm above them.
They were trapped. The only way out was after a confrontation. If then.
The only good thing about the situation was that the Golden Core cultivator could not participate in the fight other than by keeping his quarry from getting away. Though the street was deserted, Kang Lin could sense cultivators from the auction house watching from inside. Those witnesses were the best protection the trio had.
She fingered the contingency ring that Master had given her. Though she hesitated to summon him to the city as that act might escalate the situation, using the ring might be the only way for the twins to escape with their lives.
Kang Lin glanced at her companions. Yang Xiu was quivering. Which was understandable as such a thing happened to a lot of cultivators. They'd stand brave in their first battles, but after seeing a friend cut down, they'd lose their nerve. There was no shame in it. Eventually, she'd be okay.
Next to her, Yang Ru wasn't doing any better. The normally stoic boy was fidgeting, shifting his weight from foot to foot, too nervous to stand still.
They must be terrified.
Kang Lin's finger hovered above the etching on the ring that marked where to break it, but she still hesitated. The situation wasn't an emergency yet, though it was quickly headed in that direction. She'd hold out as long as she could just in case someone like the City Lord somehow decided to intervene. The twins would just have to suffer a little longer.
As if to prove her point, Yang Xiu suddenly said, "This is not fair."
Kang Lin's heart broke. Oh, her poor almost sister.
Yang Xiu practically jumped for joy at the sight of the Jade Chameleon cultivators. Her hands trembled in excitement.
Ye Zan had fallen protecting her. She hadn't asked him to do that. Hadn't wanted him to do that. And ever since, she couldn't help but worry if she was worthy of what he had given up. Maybe, just maybe, if she could defeat the sect's enemies, she could prove to herself that she was.
Finally, no more waiting. Their enemy had presented themselves.
Unfortunately, the forces arrayed against her were … lackluster. Not counting the Golden Core who shouldn't interfere, there were five enemies in the early stages of Foundation Establishment, none above the third minor realm. Since none of them had yet broken into the middle of the realm, she doubted that any individually held an advantage over either her or her brother.
She glanced at Yang Ru. He was shifting his weight from foot to foot, building up Momentum for his charge. Good.
The only thing that would have made the situation better was if the enemy had brought more or better combatants. She wanted a challenge.
No, she wanted to beat down what seemed like a superior force to show them the power of the Rising Tide Sect. The five trash cultivators weren't strong enough, not to prove her worthy of Ye Zan's sacrifice.
"This is not fair," she said.
"Fair, little girl?" The Golden Core cultivator on the flying sword said from above them. "My juniors will teach you a lesson you and your master will never forget. Five on three is much better odds than you deserve for what he did."
Yang Xiu was stunned. Was the elder cultivator delusional?
Kang Lin fingered the contingency ring. The Golden Core cultivator confirmed his intentions. There was no point in waiting any longer.
"Wait," Yang Xiu said.
Kang Lin hesitated, thinking that comment was meant for her.
"You think I'm worried that you aren't being fair to us?" Yang Xiu laughed, and it wasn't just a light chuckle. She laughed several great big belly laughs.
Kang Lin didn't know what to think. The comment had definitely been addressed to the Golden Core cultivator. But what was Yang Xiu saying? And the laughing! Had she gone mad?
"First of all, Kang Lin here is from the Poison Claw Sect," Yang Xiu said. "I doubt she's willing to risk pulling her sect into this dispute, so your juniors will face my brother and me. More importantly, though, I meant this situation isn't fair to your trash juniors. You should get them more backup."
She grinned. "Oh wait. You probably can't since you no longer have a branch sect here in the city. I'm so sorry for your loss."
Was she taunting a Golden Core cultivator? She was mad!
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Yang Xiu rolled her eyes at the pompous jerk hovering above them. He sounded like a cultivator from one of the stories she liked, one of the really trashy, poorly written books.
If he represented the threat the Jade Chameleon Sect posed, her sect had nothing to worry about. The look on his face after she set him straight, though! And using the same level of dialogue.
Master would have burst out laughing had he been present. He'd have called both of them cheesy.
Yang Xiu had no idea what cheese had to do with anything, and she didn't care. The important thing was that the man couldn't harm her, Yang Ru, or Kang Lin. The rules of honor for sects protected them. And if he did try something… well, that was why Master had given them the contingency rings.
All Yang Xiu and Yang Ru had to do was to defeat the five Foundation Establishment cultivators. And she knew that, between their talent and the superior cultivation methods and techniques bestowed upon them by Master and their body cultivation, they'd have no trouble.
The Golden Core cultivator's face turned bright red. "You… You…" He turned back to the juniors on the sled. "Kill her and kill him. If the other one raises a finger, kill her, too."
"Yes, Elder Fang!" his five sycophants yelled.
Since the fight was about to begin, Yang Xiu took a moment to cement her surroundings into her memory. Master taught that using the environment to one's advantage was an important part of the martial path, and she did not plan on disappointing him.
The entrance to the auction house was off a courtyard. The three-story building, probably re-enforced by formations, was at her back, and ten-foot stone walls surrounded them except for where the open iron gate was. A rock-paved path ran down the middle of the courtyard, leading from the gate to the door, and trees lined it.
She could definitely make use of many of those elements.
The sled was about twenty feet in the air, and the five Foundation Establishment goons jumped down. Such a distance was easy for cultivators of their realm even if they didn't practice Body Cultivation, so they all landed softly on their feet in roughly the same formation they'd been in on the sled—two in front, two behind them, and one in the rear.
Next to her, Yang Ru began stomping his feet faster and faster. Timing was important, so she made sure to keep watch for when he started forward.
In the meantime, it was up to her to keep their enemies back.
With a thought, she pulled her bow from her spatial ring, and it landed perfectly in her outstretched left hand. It was a move she'd practiced at least a hundred times since reaching Foundation Establishment, and even after mastering the skill, she still felt cool every time she did it.
Another thought landed her quiver in her hand, and she quickly attached it to a hook on her left hip placed there for that purpose.
Remove arrow, nock, draw, aim, loose.
Master had told her that an expert mortal archer could shoot, at most, an arrow every five seconds. She wasn't a mortal. Between her Spiritual and Body Cultivation and a qi aspect that allowed her limbs to slide through air, she'd shaved a good four seconds off that rate, four and a half if she wasn't worried about accuracy.
In the ten seconds it took Yang Ru to finish building up the Momentum he desired, she shot ten arrows, equally dispersed at the two lead enemies. Each hit an eye. And each was, of course, thwarted by the enemies' qi shield.
That was okay, though. She'd anticipated just that result. Her arrows were not yet powerful enough to penetrate qi shields without help.
She still achieved the result she desired. Those front two cultivators were so distracted that they didn't move an inch forward, and since they were in front, neither did the three cultivators behind them.
Even better, she hadn't bothered supercharging the arrows. The ten had cost her a truly minimal amount of qi, less than she regenerated in half a minute. In contrast, each of her opponents had to engage their full shield for each hit, draining their qi rapidly.
At very little cost to her and much cost to them, she'd kept them frozen in place while her brother prepared his charge. As Master would say, she loved it when a plan came together.
With her brother on the move, though, it was time to step up her game.
Each of the five enemies were sword users, and they all appeared to use similar techniques, holding their hilts in both hands with the right above the left and the blade elevated ahead of them slightly to the right of their bodies.
Since the lead cultivators were distracted, she chose the one on the right of the middle two as her target. Intensely concentrating, she hesitated a moment as she lined up her next two shots.
Remove arrow, nock, draw, aim, charge, loose.
Before the arrow quite hit its first target, she repeated the process.
Remove arrow, nock, draw, aim, loose.
The first arrow deflected off a tree and flew toward its goal, the right wrist of the cultivator she'd selected. The second arrow, just the tiniest fraction of a second behind the first, sailed toward the exact spot as the first one.
The first hit expended its overcharged qi as it made impact, disrupting his qi shield for an instant, and in that instant, that most minute sliver of time, the second arrow found its target, the exposed skin of the cultivator.
Thunk!
The wet, meaty sound of the arrow penetrating the Jade Chameleon's skin was music to Yang Xiu's ears. The boy let out an agonized cry, forming the next note in the victory melody she was composing.
That was one enemy who wouldn't be much use for the rest of the fight. Not that he was of much use in the starting phases, either.
Yang Ru, still in the process of building up a full head of steam, wasn't even halfway to the lead enemies. Yang Xiu hit each of them in the face with another arrow to keep them distracted.
For an instant, she almost thought the range advantage the bow granted her to be unfair. But then she remembered Master's teachings. He had his cheats. She had hers.
When she next chose a technique, though, she definitely wanted one that gave her the ability to shoot two arrows simultaneously and have them arrive at the same target a split second apart. Accomplishing that feat without a technique took a lot of setup and concentration.
Yang Ru was clearly aiming for the cultivator standing behind all the others, probably to gain a few extra steps to build Momentum. With the front two distracted and one of the middle line more worried about the arrow stuck through his wrist than the cultivator charging at him, there was only one other opponent who could attack her brother.
Well, who could try to attack her brother. She had no doubt that the shield Master had gifted him would hold up to any force one of the Jade Chameleon cultivators could muster.
Still, she could at least pretend to take those guys seriously.
The only problem was that the trees were out of position to use to hit the holdout. There was a nice rock of just the right shape in just the right position, though.
Yang Xiu frowned. It would have been nice to give the two of them matching injuries, but she remembered well her lesson all those months ago when her brother got injured because she refused to take a suboptimal shot.
She was no longer that girl. Efficiency and perfection were good. Results and getting her job accomplished were better.
Two quick shots later, and the remaining cultivator had an arrow sticking through his calf.
She glanced up at the Golden Core cultivator and smirked.