Chapter 16 - Strength, Weakness, and Technique
Benton's spiritual senses told him that Yang Ru was close to breaking into the second minor realm. Meanwhile, Yang Xiu had switched from meditation to running around the campsite, trying to get used to her new physical improvements.
It was still short of midday, but with both of them having advanced, Benton needed to sit the kids down to discuss next steps. He figured he might as well get lunch ready even if it was a little early.
Just before the food finished cooking, he got the notification he'd been expecting.
Host's Disciple, Yang Ru, has reached Qi Gathering – Minor Realm Two
Host is awarded one Sect Point.
Host has 54 Sect Points available.
Curious to see if Yang Ru's slightly inferior spiritual roots impacted his qi available, Benton scanned him with his senses and found that the boy had five just like his sister.
So far, the minor difference in the siblings' root quality wasn't having a huge impact. Without a clock, it was difficult to determine times exactly, but each of the siblings completed a cycle in just under a half hour, though it seemed like Yang Xiu did so slightly quicker. Yang Ru had required a few more cycles than his sister to break through, but Su's memories said that the exact number needed tended to be variable.
After congratulating the young man on his breakthrough and explaining the consolidation process, Benton called Yang Xiu over, and they all sat down to eat.
"You both breezed through the first minor realm in half the time it would have taken the average sect disciple," Benton said once they'd finished their meal. "Well done!"
Both siblings looked pleased at the praise, though Yang Xiu's expression was much more demonstrative than the stoic Yang Ru's.
"Part of that speed is your heaven defying talent. Not many cultivators have the natural ability that you two possess." Benton hesitated. He preferred not to toot his own horn, but it was important that the siblings understood the full reason for their success. "As I had told you before, there will be both advantages and disadvantages to having me as a master. We'll get to one of those drawbacks soon, but quite frankly, the other cause of your rapid advancement is the benefit of the uniquely attuned cultivation method that I provided you, that likely no other sect could have provided you."
"Gratitude, Senior Brother Chao," Yang Xiu said.
Ugh. Getting their thanks wasn't why he'd brought it up.
"What do you think of the changes to your body and spirit?" he said to her.
"Answering Senior Brother Chao's question, the changes are good." She tried to hide her expression, but he could tell she was disappointed.
"You were expecting more, huh?"
"No, Senior Brother Chao. Becoming a cultivator is amazing. Sensing qi, taking it into my body, experiencing definite growth. It is all I could have wanted and more."
"Uh, huh. You're disappointed. I can tell."
Her face fell. "This lowly disciple apologizes, Senior Brother Chao. It's just … Senior Brother Chao is so fast and smooth when he moves. I was hoping… This lowly disciple is being silly. You have given us so much."
She got down on her knees and kowtowed.
That girl! It had been quite some time since he'd had to deal with the wild emotional swings of a teenager. The experience brought back both good and bad memories.
"Please get up," he said, trying to keep any hint of displeasure from his voice.
Apparently, he failed because, when she rose, her expression showed her devastation.
"Don't you think I know what you're feeling?" he said. "I told you I wasn't much further along in cultivation than you are, and you see me doing these extraordinary things. It's only natural for you to expect to be able to do those things yourself. And you will be able to. You're just missing one component."
His explanation hooked both her and her brother. Both looked at him expectantly.
"The beginning of your cultivation journey doesn't change you much. You can sense qi and pull it into yourself and cycle it, but your dantian isn't used to holding qi yet. Your channels are unexercised, unused to moving it around your body. The first minor realm is all about preparing your dantian and your channels for you to manipulate qi to your benefit. The breakthrough to the second stage is where you actually gain that ability."
The two still stared at him raptly, hanging on his every word. Good.
"As a cultivator who reached into the Foundation Establishment realm, I have years of experience moving my internal qi wherever I want to give me the result I desire. You two don't have that experience. You require either a technique or many hours of directed practice."
The next part was trickier to make them understand. Too many details would confuse them, but he wanted them to know what he had planned and why.
"Sects differ on how they handle this stage. A martial sect might give their disciples a movement technique but rely on training to teach weapons. Another sect might try to have disciples learn both a weapon technique and a movement technique. Some sects don't allow Qi Gathering disciples to learn any techniques at all, believing that the best foundation is built by learning how to manipulate qi without any crutch.
"Honestly, I agree most with that latter philosophy, especially for disciples as talented as you two. If I had all the time in the world, I would spend months drilling you on how to manipulate internal qi. That approach gives you infinite flexibility. You wouldn't need to rely on a technique to understand how to make your body move a certain way."
He let out a frustrated breath. "Unfortunately, training in that way is just too slow. We are too weak as we are. I need to found a sect in order to realize my potential, and to do that, we must move on from this spot as soon as we can. That journey will take us through a territory teeming with spirit beasts, so for your safety, you both must learn a weapon quickly.
"Thus, I will be giving you each a weapon technique. Because I believe so strongly in the rewards of being flexible, however, I will not be giving you a movement technique."
He held back a wince at that declaration. In the long run, the more techniques his sect members learned in the Qi Gathering realm, the more profit he'd make. On the other hand, there were only so many hours in a day. Time spent working on one technique was hours not spent cultivating or working on a different technique.
"As you learn how to manipulate qi to use your weapon, I expect you two shining stars to apply that knowledge to other aspects of combat, including movement."
Benton pulled his System-given spear, bow, and quiver full of arrows from his spatial ring. "Soon after being inducted into my previous sect, all of us were brought to a huge armory where we could choose any weapon that resonated with us. They had more choices than you could imagine, from common ones like swords to esoteric ones like war fans and whips."
He smiled at the memory. Su had really enjoyed that experience even though he'd ended up choosing a common longsword.
"This area is one in which being a part of a fledgling sect is a disadvantage," Benton said. "I only have these two weapons right now, and honestly, it makes sense from a resource allocation standpoint to have all sect members focus on them."
"Senior Brother Chao," Yang Xiu said, "those weapons far exceed anything we could have ever hoped to use."
He nodded in what he hoped was a sage manner. "I understand that perspective, but the lack of choice is still a disadvantage. It is important you understand both the strengths and weaknesses of our sect. Honest examination is key to advancing as a cultivator. If you refuse to acknowledge your flaws, you will not be able to move past them, and you will bottleneck or have those flaws exploited by an enemy. As it is with an individual cultivator so is it with a sect. You two are my core disciples. You are more than just random members. I will be relying on you to strengthen the sect in all ways."
"Yes, Senior Brother Chao," the two chorused.
"You two need to decide which of you are taking which of these weapons. Once you make that determination, I will distribute the appropriate technique to you. From this point onward, you should spend a minimum of one to four hours per day practicing the technique on top of your ten hours of cultivation. Understand?"
"Yes, Senior Brother Chao."
"At first," he said, "you will rapidly drain the available qi in your dantian, dissipating it to your muscles. You might fear that you're somehow losing that qi. You aren't. It will naturally return to your channels as you cultivate. You'll need to practice for a little while, cultivate for a few cycles, practice again, cultivate again, and so forth. Your goal is to obtain the same boost to your muscles using less and less qi. Become efficient."
He grinned, remembering Su's early efforts. "My first time trying to channel qi for a punch, I flooded qi into my entire arm, which basically drained all the qi at my disposal. It took many hours of practice to learn to focus on just a single muscle. Then on a portion of that muscle. Then on just the tiniest bit of that muscle. Now, I only use what I absolutely must to gain the boost I need. I have confidence that the two of you will advance much faster than I did."
"Yes, Senior Brother Chao."
Yang Xiu couldn't believe how much her life had changed in such a short period of time. She'd gone from fearing for her life and almost starving to becoming a cultivator—an actual cultivator like those in the stories! She'd already broken through to the second minor realm!
And it was all due to her master. He was the best.
She did wish sometimes that he would just make decisions for them. Instead, he'd left it to her and her brother to determine which weapon each of them took. And she knew how that would go.
"I supposed you want the spear," she said to Ru'er.
"Yes."
It wasn't like she had a burning desire for that particular weapon. Her dreams weren't filled with spear combat. The problem was the principle of the thing.
"You want me far from the fight as possible so that you can protect me," she said.
He grunted.
Though the two were the same age, her brother had always assumed the role of older, protective big brother, but those tendencies had ramped up to the level of obsession since their parents had been murdered. And honestly, she hadn't minded. She'd needed all the protection she could get.
Things had changed, though. She was becoming powerful, and if whatever spiritual roots were actually served as an accurate predictor, she would in fact grow more powerful than him.
But she understood. Protecting her was her brother's way of dealing with their parents' deaths, deaths she had caused.
"Fine," she said. "I'll take the bow."
Chapter 17 - Nah, It'll be Fine.
Benton listened to the discussion between the two kids and found himself somewhat surprised at how easily Yang Xiu acquiesced. The result was what he would have chosen, though, so he didn't concern himself about it too much. He called them over to him.
"You're both in agreement? Yang Ru will get the spear and Yang Xiu the bow?"
"Yes, Senior Brother Chao," Yang Ru said.
Yang Xiu frowned instead of answering. "Senior Brother Chao, do you think we made a good decision?"
That question was a smart one. Benton approved.
"You made the best choice you could under the circumstances."
They looked at him quizzically.
"I'll explain." He met Yang Ru's eyes. "Your qi aspect is flowing lava. Are you familiar with that?"
"No, Senior Brother Chao."
Right. These kids had grown up as peasants in feudal world without internet. Unless they happened to live near a volcano, why would they know anything about it?
"It's related to fire, but it's much more than that." Benton paused to come up with a good way to explain it. "You know how ice is a solid and when it melts it turns into liquid water, correct?"
"Of course, Senior Brother Chao."
Benton picked up one of the rocks he'd used to create the ring around his campfire. "Imagine that this rock melted and turned into a liquid."
While Yang Xiu nodded thoughtfully, her brother looked confused.
"How would it compare to water, do you think?" Benton said.
He glanced at Yang Xiu when Yang Ru didn't answer.
"It would be slow and heavy, right, Senior Brother Chao?"
"Correct. And it would be hot because unlike how water needs to be frozen to turn into ice, lava will turn back into rock as soon as it cools below a temperature that would burn your arm right off your body."
Both kids' faces took on far off looks.
"So Yang Ru, are you picturing that in your mind? A flowing stream of rock that glows orange and puts off so much heat you can barely get close to it?"
The kid nodded.
"Lava flowing down a mountain, a sight I've had the privilege to see, is an unstoppable force. It will roll right over anything in its path. It's indomitable. Inevitable. As your qi is so will your fighting style be, so remember that well. You will find yourself wanting to go through enemies, careless of damage that you receive because you know you'll deal more damage to them than they do to you." Benton paused to make sure the kid was keeping up. "A spear may not be your natural weapon, but it will suffice. In contrast, a bow would be fundamentally at odds with who you are."
"Yes, Senior Brother Chao," Yang Ru said.
"That is not to say that you will be exempt from learning archery. Everyone in my sect will be required to have access to a ranged attack, but I understand that you will find learning it harder than most."
"Yes, Senior Brother Chao."
Benton turned to Yang Xiu, who gazed at him with expectant eyes. She might as well have been screaming, "What about me? What about me?"
"Your qi aspect is smooth, slippery ice. While your brother accepts damage as a matter of course, you use your speed and agility to evade blows. While your brother runs through an opponent, you dart in to stab. While your brother uses heat to directly burn his enemy, you use cold to slow yours down, controlling that enemy until you are ready to deliver the finishing blow. Had I two spears, I would have gladly handed one of them to you, but the bow is perfectly acceptable for you as well. Use your speed to create the distance you need. Control the flow of the battle with arrows from afar. Evade opponent's strikes from range."
"Thank you, Senior Brother Chao. I understand."
There were stars in her eyes. She was surely imagining doing all those things he just told her.
Benton handed the bow to Yang Xiu. "This is not a gift; it's a loan. If you want to keep it, you owe me one thousand contribution points." He swiftly continued before either of the kids could ask the obvious questions. "You get points for performing missions for the sect. It's not time to worry about that yet."
He gave the spear to Yang Ru. "Same thing. If you want to own it, you owe me. You both accept those terms?"
"Yes, Senior Brother Chao."
Benton pulled two jade slips from his spatial ring and handed the correct technique to each of the siblings. "First, finish consolidating your breakthrough. Then cultivate two to four complete cycles until the qi you're circling feels as natural as it did before you reached the second minor realm. Only after that point should you use the jade slip and begin practicing the weapon technique. Got it?"
He met each of their sets of eyes to make sure they understood the importance of his instruction. Jumping from the first to the second minor realm wasn't all that much of a big deal, but failing to fully and properly consolidate at higher realms could result in disaster. It was important to establish the right habits from the start.
"Yes, Senior Brother Chao," the two chorused.
While they went off to comply with his instructions, Benton had work to do. Yang Xiu would need a target. While her arrows were tough enough to sink into a tree and suffer little damage, they would get more and more difficult for her to pull out as her draw strength improved.
He considered the issue. Both his memory and Su's agreed that, since he lacked the ability to run down to the nearest sporting goods store for a block of Styrofoam, his best bet was to use straw.
Though Benton had a good idea what he wanted his final product to look like, he had no experience with crafting anything remotely like that. Su, fortunately or unfortunately, did.
The rest of that day and over the next three, Benton crafted. He gathered piles and piles of whatever fibrous material he could find, mainly grass and pine straw. Using strings from the spare clothes he'd gathered from Fang's men, he tied small bundles together at the bottom and painstakingly twisted strands together to form rope, splicing in additional threads to make it the desired length. He then coiled all the rope, tying it with string to hold it together, into a round target. A cut piece of cloth was used to create the bullseye.
When he finished, he was proud of what he'd created. His new cultivator instincts must have lent him loads of patience because he'd never have been able to do anything like that back on Earth.
While he'd been waiting for the cut grass and pine straw to dry, he'd also crafted a couple dozen practice arrows, simple notched sticks with sharpened points and feathers tied to the end of the shaft, and as many long, sharpened sticks to use as spears.
The tasks had been tedious, but it had given him something useful to do besides cooking meals while the kids cultivated and practiced.
Nearly a full day after he'd finished, he got the notification he'd been waiting for.
Host's Disciple, Yang Ru, has reached Small Success in the Foundational Spear Essentials Technique.
Host is awarded one Sect Point.
Host has 55 Sect Points available.
That night after dinner, Benton said to Yang Ru, "Congratulations on your success with the spear technique. Tomorrow I'll start sparring with you for part of your practice."
There was a retired drill sergeant who'd joined Benton's company a number of years back. The guy would tell stories about how all his recruits thought he was a god who could do anything. He'd achieved that by showing them his skills when they'd first got to boot camp, beating all their best efforts at marksmanship, the obstacle course, running, everything. Of course, by the end of basic training, a lot of those soldiers would have surpassed his ability in one way or the other, but they wouldn't know that. All they had to judge him by was how dominant he'd been when they first started learning.
Judging from the way things were going, Benton was pretty sure his disciples were going to worship him as a hero in the same way. While that thought upset his Earthborn sensibilities, it wasn't exactly the worst thing ever for a sect leader.
"Senior Brother Chao," Yang Xiu said, "should I be concerned that I haven't achieved the same success as Yang Ru? I started practicing the bow hours before him and have spent more time working on my weapon skill each day than he has."
Man. She was green with jealousy, wasn't she? Good old sibling rivalry.
"The bow is a more difficult weapon to master in the early stages than the spear," Benton said, "and your brother's innate fighting style is more attuned to the spear than yours is to the bow. It is only to be expected that you will lag behind. When the two of you switch, he will have an even harder time picking up archery."
"I understand, Senior Brother Chao. I will just have to practice harder."
Benton opened his mouth to dissuade her but decided not to. Working harder wouldn't hurt her any. He glanced over at Yang Ru. From the look on his face, he had no intention of letting her pass him.
Nothing like a little bit of competitive fire to keep them motivated.
Overall, Benton was pleased with how things were going. Both disciples should reach the third and then fourth minor realms in less than a week and, by then, should hopefully both be ready to fight weak rank one spirit beasts.
His leadership skills had translated well to the cultivation world.
Something tickled at his mind, though, and after some thought, he realized it was the memory of the drill sergeant. That guy would have hated how soft Benton was being on the kids. Being too friendly. Explaining all his actions.
But Benton wasn't training soldiers.
Except that he kind of was. Spirit beasts, rival cultivators, demonic cultivators, the cultivation world was filled with threats. In a way, a sect was similar to an army.
A memory from Benton's life bubbled up. He'd just been promoted to project manager. A powerful, important client objected to what Benton wanted to do, and his instincts told him he should sit down with the client and collaboratively come up with a mutually agreeable solution.
Benton, however, was unsure his method of resolution was the correct one as it might make him seem weak, so he asked advice from his mentor. The man, a literal cowboy who, of all things, performed in rodeos as a hobby, told Benton he should be forceful and push through his ideas over the client's objections.
Benton followed the advice, and it turned out poorly. He almost lost his job. Though he was positive his mentor would have been able to make things work out just fine, Benton simply wasn't well equipped to use that management style. From then on out, he stuck with what he thought would work for him.
He sighed. Best to go with what he knew than to try to be someone else. Besides, he was definitely overthinking things. It would be fine.
Chapter 18 - Corrective Measures
Benton stepped to the side. The tip of a spear—well, a sharpened stick, anyway—slid past him a fraction of an inch from his robe.
The stick retracted and plunged toward him again, aimed at his chest. To his senses, the thrust might as well have been moving through molasses.
He infused qi in microbursts throughout his torso and twisted. Again, the attack missed by less than an inch.
His opponent withdrew the stick once more and lunged forward right at his face. That blow was even easier to dodge, not even requiring qi.
Yang Ru sank to the ground, his qi and his stamina exhausted.
"The power contained in your strikes was excellent," Benton said. "If any of those had landed, I would have been in a world of hurt, especially if you'd been using a real weapon."
"But none hit you, Senior Brother Chao."
"Exactly! Strength is a necessary component of your fighting style, but it comes easy to you. The three attempts you managed used up all your qi, and I easily dodged each of them because it took far too long for you to move the qi to your muscles, slowing down your strike. Speed and efficiency are where you need to focus."
"Yes, Senior Brother Chao."
The kid was coming along nicely, progressing much faster than Su had in a similar situation. A lot of times, lava users eschewed weapons altogether, depending on their bare fists, but the spear seemed more well adapted to Yang Ru's qi aspect than Benton would have expected.
That development was a nice one. At the Qi Gathering stage, the kid's body just wasn't up to taking punishment from even weak spirit beasts. The spear was necessary for him to keep claws and jaws at a distance, allowing him to effectively hunt. Reaching the Foundation Establishment stage would toughen him up some, but to really shine, he'd be best off with access to a body cultivation technique.
Benton sighed. He could easily get all the beast cores he needed for that, but he was limited in options for alchemical ingredients. It was tempting to create the necessary technique and spend time gathering what he'd need.
The downsides to pursuing that path were threefold. One, it would mean leaving his disciples alone to fend for themselves for who knew how long as he searched the forest. After the incident with the boar, the thought of not having them under his watchful eye every minute gave him pause. Of course, the kids were stronger now, over halfway to the third minor realm and actively practicing weapon arts.
It wouldn't do to become too overprotective. If one wanted a nestling to soar, one had to eventually kick them out of the nest.
No, it was really the other two reasons that stopped him.
Two, one or two levels of body cultivation wouldn't help Yang Ru all that much. He needed to advance all the way to Silver for the advancement to truly be a dominant factor in fights, and chasing that goal would take way too much time scouring the woods for resources, not to mention the very real chance of failure if Benton wasn't able to locate the exact ingredients he needed. No, it was best to wait until he had a reliable source of herbs like a market or until he recruited a sect member who could grow them.
Three, Benton would have to use at least two Sect Points to get him to large success in alchemy. Increasing his personal power to solve problems was becoming an insidious impulse. Sure, it seemed like a point here and a point there were no big deal, but if he used too many, he could literally get stuck, unable to ever increase again. It was far safer to invest his points in profitable outer sect members and only use points beyond the ten percent he'd decided upon in a true life-threatening emergency.
Besides, Yang Ru was progressing well enough. When he reached the fourth minor realm and had several more days of practice under his belt, Benton would feel reasonably comfortable setting the kid loose against really weak spirit beasts.
He turned to watch Yang Xiu aim at the target he'd made. The arrow sailed high and to the left, landing in between two trees a couple dozen yards past the target.
The girl on the other hand…
Yang Xiu clenched her hands. Another shot, another miss. What was she doing wrong?
She let out a breath. Nock arrow. Raise bow. Pull the string back. Aim. Loose.
Miss.
Nock arrow. Raise bow. Pull the string back. Aim. Loose.
Miss.
Nock arrow. Raise bow. Pull the string back. Aim. Loose.
Miss.
Argh!
"Having trouble?" her master said.
Her face heated. Even worse than not being able to hit the target was having her failure be witnessed by her master. "No, Senior Brother Chao."
"Really? Are you sure?"
There was nothing she could say, so she didn't respond.
"There's no shame in needing help. That's kind of what I'm here for. Do you want this old man to feel useless?"
Old man? He looked at best a few years older than her, maybe in his low, low twenties at the oldest.
"Answering Senior Brother Chao, Senior Brother Chao is not worthless. Senior Brother Chao has made me a cultivator and given me this wonderful technique."
He fixed her with a stare until she looked away.
"Maybe this lowly disciple could use a pointer, Senior Brother Chao."
"Good decision." He kept his face impassive, but it almost felt like he was hiding a grin. "If you were a mortal practicing, you'd be doing fine. You're exercising the right muscles, and if you shoot enough arrows, your accuracy will eventually improve. But there is a problem. Do you know what it is?"
"Yes, Senior Brother Chao. I am no longer a mortal."
She didn't know exactly how no longer being a mortal was supposed to affect her practice, but that answer was obviously the one he was looking for.
"Exactly. Mortals can't use techniques like the one I gave you. Are you using your technique?"
Yes, she was. She followed it almost to the letter. Mostly. Kind of.
"This lowly disciple doesn't understand, Senior Brother Chao. Cycling the qi to those specific arm muscles is difficult. And why does the technique tell me to be perfectly still without even breathing? Doing all that at once while trying to also hit the target was confusing. I thought that, if I could get one part of the process correct, it would be easier to do the rest." She was so frustrated that she wanted to cry. Only her mortification at the possibility of her master seeing her lose control like that stopped her.
"It's okay, Yang Xiu. Less than two weeks ago, you were a mortal. This is the first technique you've ever used. There is no reason to expect for you to pick it up immediately."
Yang Ru didn't seem to be having any trouble.
"Go over each step of the technique in detail in your mind, every minute move of a muscle, each manipulation of your qi," her master said. "Visualize yourself completing each step successfully. After you've successfully gone from nocking your arrow to hitting the target in your mind, try to execute the steps. Regardless of the result, a miss or a hit, compare what the technique told you to do to what you actually did and consider what corrective measures need to be taken. Then repeat the process."
"Yes, Senior Brother Chao. Thank you, Senior Brother Chao."
It all sounded so simple when he put it that way.
Benton watched his two disciples for the rest of the day, sparring with Yang Ru when appropriate and offering the occasional tip or encouraging word to Yang Xiu. By midafternoon, she was hitting the target more often than not, and by evening, Benton got the popup he'd been hoping for.
Host's Disciple, Yang Xiu, has reached Small Success in the Foundational Archery Essentials Technique.
Host is awarded one Sect Point.
Host has 56 Sect Points available.
After they'd finished dinner, he said, "Yang Xiu, you made real progress on your technique today."
"Thank you for your encouragement and help, Senior Brother Chao."
"Did you feel that you made a step forward, like something clicked into place?"
"Yes, Senior Brother Chao. It was similar to breaking through to a higher minor realm but not as … intense? It wasn't the same, but I did feel something."
"Exactly. Congratulations! You have reached Small Success with your archery technique. Great job!"
The girl smiled.
"Yang Ru, I notice that your strikes are getting faster and that you can now make five thrusts before you've used all your qi. Keep up the good work."
"Yes, Senior Brother Chao."
"At first," Benton said, "simply repeating the actions of the technique over and over again is adequate. You'll never get to Large Success that way, though. As I touched on briefly with my instructions to Yang Xiu earlier today, further advancement requires reflection and meditation. Much like you must consolidate your cultivation after a breakthrough, meditation cements your gains when learning techniques. From now on, I want you to start your training sessions with your weapons by meditating on your technique and meditate again at the end of your session, focusing on what you've learned and what you have left to improve upon."
"Yes, Senior Brother Chao," the two chorused.
Those kids truly did their best to accomplish everything he told them to do. Their attitude was frankly amazing. How many times back on Earth had he wished all his employees and even his own children would have been so receptive to his advice?
The flip side of his disciples' dedication was that it really put the pressure on him. If either were hurt or, perish forbid, died, it would all be on him. He had to navigate them through a forest filled with deadly spirit beasts, find his starting location, and found his sect in order to get them to safety, and that was just the start. Letting them down was not an option.
He just hoped that the three of them would be strong enough for what was to come.
Chapter 19 - Advancement
Over the next several days, Benton fixed meals, sparred with his disciples, and offered guidance where appropriate. Mostly, though, the kids stayed on the right track, cultivating and practicing diligently.
Late on the fourth day, he got the notification he'd been waiting for; Yang Xiu had advanced to the third minor realm. Even better, it took only another full cycle for Yang Ru to reach the same milestone, leaving them both plenty of time to consolidate before dinner.
The next morning after breakfast, Benton said, "I am so proud of you two. It took you only two weeks to advance from never having so much as sensed a mote of qi to reaching the third minor realm. It's now time for me to deliver on my promise to you and speed your ascent to the next level."
He handed each of them a large, dense pill that emitted a strong herbal fragrance. "This is a Qi Condensing Pill. It is chock full of qi, literally crammed with so much as to almost be bursting. That quality is in fact what makes these so rare. Even a master alchemist fails at successfully creating one of these more than half the time. I'm hopeful I can get more of these in the future, but they're the only two I have right now."
The siblings exchanged a look, apparently settled on something, and nodded at each other.
"May I ask Senior Brother Chao a question?" Yang Xiu said.
"You may."
"Senior Brother Chao, would a better use of these pills be for the senior brother to use them instead of these lowly disciples?"
Benton did what any wizened old expert should do in such a situation. He answered a question with a question. "In the time since you've known me, have you seen me cultivate even once?"
The siblings looked at each other again and did that weird twin communication thing.
"No, Senior Brother Chao," Yang Xiu said.
"Can you guess a reason for that?"
"Answering Senior Brother Chao, you wished to devote all your attention to your disciples."
He nodded. "Well, that is a good guess, and I do appreciate the ability to track your progress closely. The real reason, though, is that my cultivation is on a different path now. Aids such as these pills no longer benefit me. What I need to propel me forward is for the two of you to succeed and for us to found a sect."
Both kids looked really confused, which Benton could understand.
"The cultivation world is large and filled with many wonders. Never assume that just because one thing works for you it will work the same for someone else. Never assume that a situation that limits you also limits your opponent. Observe your surroundings and keep your mind open."
With the exception of having to actually kill people, Benton was honestly having a lot of fun with the experience so far and was even starting to embrace the whole mysterious sect leader role. Between knowledge from Su's memory and random crap he remembered from various entertainment back on Earth, he had a ton of material to pull from, and a lot of it actually applied to his circumstances. He'd been told that he was the only person on the planet with a system, but who knew what other strange advantages other people might have run across? It was far better for his disciples to accept that anything could happen than be surprised during combat.
"Yes, Senior Brother Chao," the two chorused.
"Good. Now onto my instructions for taking the pill. It won't be painful, per se, but it will be uncomfortable," Benton said. "Basically, the pill will flood your body with qi, easily enough to advance you from the third minor realm to the fourth."
He paused. "The big question for each of you is what to do once you've broken through?"
"Answering Senior Brother Chao," Yang Xiu said, "we should stop and consolidate our cultivation."
"That is a correct answer, and it's certainly the safest choice. There is another option, though—keep on cultivating." Benton leaned hard on Su's memories. "Every cultivator that I personally have heard about who stopped at that point and consolidated their gains experienced no ill effects. Some who continued on couldn't say that. I've heard of everything from damaged channels to one guy who suffered a deviation."
He met each of their sets of eyes. "I am being crystal clear right? You understand that continuing to cultivate instead of immediately consolidating carries risk, correct?"
"Yes, Senior Brother Chao."
"Here's the problem. I think but cannot absolutely say for sure that continuing to cultivate may not be nearly as dangerous for both of you. I say this because each of you possesses superior talent, and I've never seen or heard of a A-ranked cultivator having an issue in a circumstance like this one. Additionally, the cultivation method you are using is much better than what most sect members have available to them. That, too, plays a role in protecting you.
"At the end of the day, I do not know which decision I would make if I were in your shoes, and I cannot make that decision for you. The road to immortality is ultimately a lonely path. Each of us must balance opportunity versus risk for ourselves."
Honestly, Benton thought that the risk was small. Even if they suffered blowback, it was likely to be minor at worst. Learning to accept risk and understand when to press forward and when to back off was ultimately far more important for them than whether they sped up the cultivation by a little bit.
"May I ask Senior Brother Chao a question?" Yang Xiu said.
"The amount you advance is purely up to you but will surely be less than you need to reach yet another minor realm. Exactly how much benefit you gain depends on how quickly you can cycle and how long you can keep that cycling effort going," Benton said. "Does that answer your question?"
"Yes, Senior Brother Chao."
The two shared another glance. Benton could practically hear Yang Xiu telling her brother that she was absolutely not taking the safe route and boasting that she would retain more of the qi than he did and Yang Ru answering, "Challenge accepted."
"This one isn't like the Spiritual Root Refinement Pill," Benton said. "There will be no delay. As soon as you swallow this thing, it will start generating qi, slowly at first but ramping up fast. Be ready."
"Yes, Senior Brother Chao."
Yang Xiu glared at her brother about ten feet away who, like her, sat in a lotus position holding a pill in one hand and a waterskin in the other.
"Ready?" she asked with her eyes.
He nodded.
She placed the huge pill in her mouth and took a huge swig of water. One big gulp slid it down her throat.
Her master had been right. She barely had a chance to take a breath before she felt qi being emitted within her stomach.
By that point, she was quite familiar with sensing qi motes in the air, pulling them into her body, and cycling them through channels around her body. She was less experienced but at least acquainted with the concept of using qi to power a muscle and then having that qi soak back into her channels over time.
A new source of qi suddenly erupting in her stomach just felt weird.
Her master's words had prepared her, though. She didn't lose an instant but instead immediately started cycling the qi throughout her body according to the route prescribed by her cultivation method.
At first, there was no problem. Though the qi came from a different location, the fundamental process wasn't changed. For a minute, maybe two, the amounts of qi were no more than she was used to, either.
As her master had also said, the quantity did not remain manageable.
Qi flooded her stomach. She cycled as fast as she could, but she couldn't keep up. Motes escaped her body, first one at a time. Those singles soon turned into a stream. Then a river.
Yang Xiu grabbed all she could, furiously cycling and cycling.
Her dantian pulsed. Once. Twice. Three times. On the fourth pulse, it expanded to more than four times larger than it had been and stayed that way.
A surge of energy swept through her body. She felt stronger. Better.
She'd broken through to the fourth minor realm.
There was never any real question what she'd do next. She kept cycling. And cycling.
Eventually, with the pill still gushing out qi, black spots appeared in her vision, and moments later, the world went black.
Benton breathed a sigh of relief. Though each of his disciples were unconscious, his spiritual sense revealed both to be fine. They might have a slight headache when they woke later, but the gains had been more than worth it.
Name:Yang XiuAffiliation:Host's DiscipleAge:15Cultivation:Qi Gathering - Minor Realm FourQi Available:46Techniques:Foundational Archery Essentials - Small SuccessSpiritual Roots:AQi Aspect:Perfectly smooth ice balanced on the razor edge of freezing and thawingShe now had the same cultivation as him, but that was where any similarities ended. His qi available was a paltry twenty. Hers was forty-six. Even once he advanced another two minor realms, he doubted he'd pass what she had available at that moment.
Ah, to be young and talented. He was so glad he'd chosen the Auspicious Encounter perk.
Name:Yang RuAffiliation:Host's DiscipleAge:15Cultivation:Qi Gathering - Minor Realm FourQi Available:46Techniques:Foundational Spear Essentials - Small SuccessSpiritual Roots:A-Qi Aspect:Low viscosity lava flowing down Mount Burning Thunder#asexpected
More important was another notification Benton had gotten recently, the second of its kind in a short period of time.
Host's Disciple, Yang Ru, has reached Qi Gathering – Minor Realm Four
Host is awarded one Sect Point.
Host has 60 Sect Points available.
Benton had now gained ten Sect Points from the two siblings—four each for advancing their cultivation to the fourth minor realm and one each for attaining small success in their respective techniques. Since he'd committed to allowing himself the use of one point for every ten he earned, it was time for him to level up.
He pulled up the appropriate menu and considered his choices.
Welcome, Host, to the Advancement Menu. You have 60 Sect Points available.
Please select one of the following options:
Increase Cultivation
Increase Body Cultivation
Add/Modify/Increase Technique
The last option on the menu was pretty easily rejected. He only had one point available to use, so spending two points to master a weapon was obviously out, the bow even more so since he didn't even have a mortal version that was his to use. Picking a new technique didn't make a lot of sense, either. Besides his brief flirtation with the idea of picking up alchemy, he couldn't think of any technique he could add that would make a huge difference to his situation.
That elimination left him with either increasing his cultivation or his body cultivation.
He didn't regret his original decision to devote two points to body cultivation. His every physical attribute had benefited. He was stronger, tougher, faster, and just generally harder to kill than he would have been without that investment. The improvements were incremental, though, and wouldn't give him substantial gains without putting a whole heck of a lot more points into it.
Moreover, he'd yet to face real danger. His senses were so good that he should be able to avoid any strong cultivators or spirit beasts in his path, and if he encountered something of a high enough realm to evade his senses, another point in body cultivation just wasn't going to do him any good.
Spirit cultivation, on the other hand, was the measure by which everyone in the cultivation world was judged. Though advancing to the fifth minor realm wouldn't provide him with much of a jump in power, it was another step toward the next major realm, and the sooner he reached at least Golden Core, the better off he and his future sect would be.
Besides, his disciples had caught up to him in their cultivation. He'd figured that they'd end up passing him eventually, but an old man could preserve what little pride he had left for a little while at least.
Benton confirmed his choice, dismissed the acceptance notification, and pulled up his status.
Sect Name:Not ChosenSect Members:0Disciples:2Sect Points:59Shop Points:6Host Cultivation:Qi Gathering - Minor Realm FiveQi Available:30Host Body Cultivation:Bronze - Minor Realm TwoHost Techniques:Basic Spear Combat - Large SuccessBasic Archery - Large SuccessMenus:[Cultivation Method][Technique][Quest][Perk][Advancement][Shop - LOCKED]Assuming the kids regained consciousness in time to consolidate their breakthroughs before nightfall, they'd be ready to leave first thing the next day for what might be a much more dangerous journey than he anticipated. He just hoped he was as prepared as he thought he was.
Chapter 20 - A Single Step
As Benton had expected, both his disciples had woken the previous evening in plenty of time to consolidate their cultivation, so as the two ate breakfast, he packed their tents and bedrolls and most of the rest of the supplies from around the camp into his spatial ring.
"It has been said that a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step," he told them, "and today, we will all take that step. It is time to begin our search for a suitable location to found our sect. From now until we reach that destination, we will be traveling, much of that time through dangerous territories filled with spirit beasts.
"Our goals during the journey are threefold. One, to avoid serious injury. Keep your eyes open. Pay attention to your surroundings. Follow my instructions. Two, to continue to build your cultivation and prowess with weapons. To accomplish these objectives, I will limit our traveling to four hours per day. You will spend five hours daily cultivating. The rest of our time will be spent practicing weapons and working on the last goal. Which brings us to three, to harvest spirit beast cores. Our new sect will need resources such as cultivation aids and weapons. We will also need to feed, clothe, and house all the sect members we recruit. All these things require money, and spirit beast cores are quite valuable. Additionally, they are directly useful to our sect in a number of ways, from allowing our members to use jade slips to powering body cultivation baths and formations. And finally, hunting and defeating spirit beasts will advance your martial skills.
"Take a few minutes to attend to any personal matters and make sure we haven't missed anything. We will not be returning to this site."
Benton used his waterskins to douse the fire before refilling them all at a nearby stream and washing all the dishes. By the time he'd finished, the kids were ready to depart.
"Both of you now have some experience using a technique to direct qi into your muscles to perform a specific function. You've seen me move. Today, you'll start learning how to do that yourself without a technique to guide you."
Yang Ru, true to his stoic nature, simply acknowledged that he'd been listening. In contrast, Yang Xiu was visibly excited. That made sense. Being exuberant was in her nature, and smooth movement and speed suited her qi aspect.
Benton explained to them how he manipulated his qi in microbursts to add power to his legs and feet, propelling him forward at great speeds, and how he also sent it to his brain. Without that last effort, his mental faculties wouldn't be able to process his physical senses fast enough for him to adjust to obstacles as he rushed past them.
Then, they were off.
His disciples' first efforts at using qi to move were predictably bad. Yang Ru ran into a tree as he used too much power pushing off one leg. Yang Xiu face planted as she lost her balance. Neither lasted more than a dozen tries before Benton told them to stop so as not to completely drain their qi and stamina.
"It's okay," Benton said. "You'll have plenty of time to practice."
After letting their qi recover for a couple of hours while they walked, they tried again to not much better results and then again before they found a flat clearing with a stream nearby to serve as their resting spot for the day.
As the two cultivated, Benton set up the camp. He interrupted them for lunch as he sensed them ending cycles and, after, sent them back to complete their daily requirement.
Each had seized the opportunity given to them by the Qi Refinement Pill and were more than halfway to the fifth minor realm with Yang Xiu a little further along than her brother.
Benton's best guess was that, limiting themselves to only five hours a day, it would take them about a month to reach their next breakthrough. He hated to slow them down by literally half what they could achieve, but it was a necessary evil. Overall, he—and by extension, they—would be much safer once he had a sect supporting him. Certainly, he'd be much better off with more people feeding him points than he could achieve in any reasonable time period by simply having the siblings increase their personal power levels. That wasn't even mentioning the fact that founding a sect would allow him access to the system shop. Who knew what goodies he'd find for them there.
Once they'd finished cycling, Benton said, "Time to start our conquest of the spirit beasts. We're barely in range of where their territory starts, but there are a couple of rank ones relatively nearby. Yang Ru, you're up first." He pointed to far end of the clearing. "I'm going to go herd the beast toward us. It will emerge over there. I'll be behind it, and should you fail to kill it, I'll take care of it before it can hurt either of you. Until I'm confident you can handle them by yourselves, I'll make sure you're not in any danger."
Yang Xiu was excited. She was finally starting to feel like a real cultivator from the stories. Not only was she becoming more and more adept at cycling and had experienced her dantian expanding three times already, but she also knew how to use a weapon. She rarely missed the target anymore.
And though progress was halting and more than a little embarrassing, she'd learned how her master moved the way he did. With enough practice, she'd be able to zoom around just like him!
He was also about to have them face real live spirit beasts. She imagined what the first one might be. Probably not a dragon; they weren't ready for that yet. Maybe a tiger. That opponent was popular in the stories. Or a wolf. Yeah. A wolf would be good.
She was a little disappointed that her brother got to go first, but she was sure that her master had his reasons. He was probably saving the best for last.
Fifteen or twenty minutes after her master had disappeared into the forest, a rustling in the woods approached from the direction he'd told them to expect.
She bounced on the balls of her feet. "Get ready, Ru'er."
As he'd raised his spear as soon as he'd heard the noise, he shot her an annoyed glance.
"Sorry," she said.
The rustling got closer and closer. From the sound, something big was coming. Could it be a bear?
Yang Xiu tensed, both eager and anxious to see what would come out of the bushes. Whatever it was, its size didn't slow it down, considering how fast it approached.
If she didn't trust her master so much, she might have even gotten a little worried. Spirit beasts didn't often wander near their village, but when they did, it was always a calamity. The nearest sect was a long distance away, and by the time help could be requested, several people had usually died. Those things were no joke.
Anticipation built.
Finally, the creature emerged. It was … a squirrel.
Yang Xiu frowned. That wasn't like the stories at all. And how had that tiny thing made so much noise?
Her brother didn't hesitate one bit. He charged, the tip of his spear proceeding him and looking every bit the ferocious cultivator she hoped to become.
The squirrel leapt toward his face. He thrust his weapon at it.
A miss.
She tensed. Even though it looked harmless, no spirit beast actually was. Filled with qi, even the most innocent seeming creatures could and would kill mortals as prey.
Suddenly, her master was there. Before the squirrel had leapt, she'd not even seen a single sign that he was nearby, but prior to the beast landing, he just appeared.
He wielded only a small mortal-made knife, but that didn't seem to matter. With a flick of his wrist, the creature split in two, one half landing to the right of Yang Ru and the other to the left.
Both halves soon disappeared into Master's ring.
"That was a good first effort," her master said. "You charged forward without any hesitation. Your thrust looked steady and powerful. You know your mistake, though, right?"
"Answering the Senior Brother, I was too slow."
"Exactly. Speed kills. While I go wrangle up something for your sister to practice against, meditate on the fight. Examine your actions and your opponents'. Let the technique guide you mentally into what you could have done differently." He paused. "I'm serious, though. That was a good start. Many sect members completely freeze up in their first fight. You put forth a good effort. Great job."
"Senior Brother Chao, may I ask a question?" Yang Xiu said.
For an instant, a look of irritation flashed across her master's face.
She quickly said, "This lowly one is sorry, Senior Brother Chao. Please forgive me."
He sighed. "It's not your fault, and I probably should have said something before now. I get that asking me if you can ask a question is one of the ways you show respect, and I've been trying to accommodate that. The issue is that it is so inefficient. You are my disciple. It is my job to answer your questions. I want you to feel free to ask me anything you think you need to know."
"Yes, Senior Brother Chao."
"It's not that big of a deal. Go ahead and ask your question."
The exchange had left her more than a little flustered. "It's just that … there was a lot of noise."
"Ah. Yes. It probably sounded something huge like a bear was approaching, huh?"
She nodded.
"Most of that noise was me," he said.
"But Senior Brother Chao normally moves completely silently?"
Her master didn't respond, and the silence stretched. He tended to alternate between explaining things in great detail to wanting her to figure things out for herself. Obviously, the answer to her latest question was the latter. She thought on it for a moment.
"Senior Brother Chao wanted us to hear him coming so that we would be prepared for the beast emerging," she said.
"Good job. Got it in one. Now, get ready. The next beast is yours."
He disappeared into the woods again, a feat he accomplished silently.
Yang Xiu began her preparations. First, she moved as far as she could from the edge of the clearing where her master had told them to expect the beast. There was a nice, large tree there, and she moved so that half her body was shielded by it. She stuck a half dozen arrows tip first into the ground and visualized herself grabbing one and going through her technique's steps to loose it.
Over and over, she repeated the mental process until, finally, a great deal of rustling brought her back to the present.
Yang Xiu took a steadying breath. Soon, it would be her turn. She would not let her master down.
The rustling grew louder, closer, until the beast finally appeared. It was a snake. Its mottled brown coloring blended into the surroundings, but its several inches in girth and ten-foot length made it visible enough for her to take aim.
She nocked an arrow, smoothly raised her bow, set her eyes on the snake, stilled herself, channeled qi into the appropriate muscles, drew back the string, and smoothly let the fingers on her draw hand relax.
Twang!
The arrow loosed.
She immediately nocked another arrow and didn't discover that her first one missed until her eyes found the snake before loosing that one. The second one also missed. As did the third.
Before she could even grasp the fourth, the snake was upon her, and her master had to kill it.
"Good job," he said. "Three arrows in the time it took to cross the clearing. Nice."
"Senior Brother Chao, may this … I mean, what did I do wrong?"
"Honestly, your accuracy looked darn good, especially considering that a spirit beast was bearing down on you. You were calm and focused and fast. I couldn't ask anything more from you at this stage in those regards. Your issue was that you didn't take into account the nature of your opponent and its speed. It undulated as it moved. By the time your arrow reached where you aimed it, its body had moved to the side."
Yang Xiu considered his critique. Meditation would show her ways to improve.
She'd failed in her first combat, but the next time, she wouldn't. Or if not, the time after that. How ever many times it took to succeed, she would eventually do so. After all, the journey to become an immortal was long, and she'd only taken her first small steps.
Chapter 21 - Questions and Contributions
The group traveled further toward spirit beast territory, but the creatures were still scarce. Benton was only able to round up one set of rank ones for the siblings to fight each of the next two days. Neither made a kill on their own, but they improved.
On the third day, the density of spirit beasts was high enough that he found two sets nearby for the kids to fight. Even better, Yang Xiu managed a kill by herself on her second one. As if spurred by his sister, Yang Ru killed two out of the three he fought the next day.
After dinner that night, Benton said, "The first order of business is to determine what you want done with your cores."
"Our cores, Senior Brother Chao?" Yang Xiu said.
She was getting much better about just asking Benton questions. In fact, she was becoming less formal with him overall. Her relative casualness suited him just fine.
"If you kill a beast on your own," Benton said, "the core is yours to do with as you please."
"But Senior Brother, you helped by making the beasts run right to us."
"I still count it as your kill." He grew serious. "Responsibilities and requirements will always be part of your life as a sect member, but it's important to know that risk and hard work result in you gaining what you need. Besides, I'd feel like a huge jerk if I just took them from you. Do you have any idea how much one of these is worth?"
She shook her head, and Yang Ru grunted.
Benton wasn't quite to the point of speaking grunt yet, and the response could have easily meant either yes or no. Honestly, he sometimes felt like responding to the taciturn boy with "I am Groot."
In the end, Benton decided to disregard the confusing response and continued with his explanation. "Room and board at a decent inn will run you about a silver tael in a medium sized city. A villager making five taels a week would generally be considered prosperous. Do you agree?"
"Father would have thought five in a week to be a blessing, Senior Brother Chao," Yang Xiu said.
"You were from a smaller village, were you not?"
She nodded.
"Prices and wages tend to be higher in more populated areas."
She nodded again.
"We're getting off subject," Benton said. "The point of that illustration was to establish agreement on the relative value of a silver tael. Maybe it would stretch a little further in your village than in the city nearest my former sect, but as far as order of magnitude goes, we're close, right?"
"Yes, Senior Brother."
Benton held up one of the tiny rank one spirit beast cores, not much larger than a pea. "If you can find a merchant who has ready access to trade with a sect, you'll easily get fifty to a hundred taels for this, depending on the qi density, the qi aspect, and a few other more esoteric factors." He pulled another core from his ring. "This is my lone rank two core. It would go for something in the seven hundred fifty to a thousand range. For rank three and above cores, you can't even buy them for taels. You must use spirit coins, the currency that cultivators use."
Both kids gawked. Even Yang Ru looked thoroughly surprised. The cores the two had collected combined so far was worth more than their parents likely saw in a year.
"So, yeah, see why I won't just take them from you? You earned them, so they're yours."
"Thank you, Senior Brother Chao," they chorused.
"If you'd like, you can choose for me to hand yours over to you right now. You can keep them for personal use or to sell when we reach a town or, I don't know, to play marbles with them. Whatever floats your boat."
They looked at him strange, likely because marbles weren't a thing in his new reality. He soldiered on. "Your other option is to give them to me in exchange for sect contribution points. I'll pay ten for a rank one and a hundred for a rank two, and since it's a lot easier for me to hold the cores now than it is for you, I'll give you the option to buy them back from me at that same rate once we arrive at somewhere stable."
He'd found time to query the System about contribution points. A full management menu would open once he founded his sect, but the System would thankfully start keeping track of whatever he assigned to his disciples whenever he wanted.
"What are contribution points, Senior Brother?"
Sometimes he forgot that the two kids were so green that their knowledge of the cultivation world came almost solely from what he taught them.
"Everything that cultivators use is expensive compared to what mortals use. Your family might have bought a chicken to kill and eat for a single tael or less. A cultivator only eats chickens that are close to their rank, so a minimum of a hundred taels for the core and anywhere from a tenth to a half of that for the meat. Want to use some herbs to flavor your stew? Grow them in your garden over the course of days or weeks or buy a bunch for a small fraction of a tael. Herbs that interest a cultivator might take centuries or even millennia to grow and cost anywhere from tens of taels to riches the likes of which you wouldn't believe.
"Instead of dealing with the huge numbers involved, cultivators came up with their own currency, a coin that is infused with qi. These can be used to pay for things, but they are also useful as a resource. When your qi available runs dry, you can simply drain a spirit coin to replenish it."
"Does that mean we can create these coins, Senior Brother?" If Yang Xiu were in a cartoon, she'd have dollar signs for pupils.
"Right now, you have forty-six qi available. The absolute lowest denomination of spirit coin starts at one thousand qi. So the answer to your question is not yet."
"Oh."
"You'll get there sooner than you think," he said. "But the point is that spirit coins are worth so much and are so useful that it sometimes is impractical to use them. Say you need to buy one of those rank one cores from the sect. It's worth a tiny fraction of a spirit coin and keeping enough silver on hand to make change would bankrupt the entire continent. Sect members needed a convenient way to pay for things."
"Contribution points," Yang Xiu said. "I understand, Senior Brother. The sects create their own money."
"Exactly. As long as the sect stands, it's a secure and guaranteed currency that is simple and convenient. And if the sect falls, believe me that you have much bigger problems to worry about than losing a bit of cash."
With the siblings having gained a full understanding of how the point system worked, they made the sensible decision to sell all their cores to him.
"The next thing you need to decide is if you're ready to move onto the next phase of spirit beast hunting," Benton said. "Right now, I am personally guaranteeing that no spirit beast will lay the tiniest of claws on you."
Well, assuming they didn't get ambushed by one even he couldn't handle, anyway, but that exclusion was probably best left unspoken.
"The next stage is for me to go hands off. If you get attacked," he shrugged, "you get attacked."
As much as Benton hated to see either of the kids hurt, he knew that protecting them too much would harm them in the long run. Of course, the weak rank one spirit beasts they'd been fighting weren't nearly a match for either of the siblings. At worst, they were at risk of suffering a scratch not much worse than one of Benton's younger grandkids falling off a tricycle on the road.
His disciples didn't need to know that, though. According to Su's memories, believing they were facing death would help them advance with their weapon techniques.
"Yang Xiu, you defeated the last four of your opponents. Yang Ru, you defeated two of your last three. That is good enough for me to take off the training wheels should you so choose."
The siblings looked at each other, but Benton couldn't tell if they were both agreeing to face the beasts alone or challenging each other or asking each other what the heck training wheels were.
"Senior Brother Chao," Yang Xiu said, "I wish to face the spirit beasts alone."
Yang Ru glared at her, his protective instinct coming to the fore, but his sister was not dissuaded. He eventually gave up and grumbled, "Me, too, Senior Brother Chao."
"Very well," Benton said. "Your safety is now your own responsibility."