Chapter 148 - 332-338

Chapter 332 – Take Out the Trash

With the Qi Gathering portion of the Quinquennial Tournament officially in the history books as of earlier that morning, Benton's next task was to attend a briefing at the Poison Claw Sect. He Teleported to Kang Ya-Ting's study and found both him and Elder Dai waiting.

"How livid is the JCSB alliance?" Benton said once greetings were out of the way.

Kang Ya-Ting grinned. "Mao Biya is beyond frustrated. She openly disparages you, your sect, the Poison Claw Sect, and, best of all, the City Lord and his representatives. In public no less."

It seemed that Benton's over-the-top acting and displays of friendship toward the clan had worked. Maybe he should have the troupe's first movie feature him in the lead.

He shuddered, remembering exactly how bad he was when he presented the sword to Qiu ZhenKang. Or not.

Still, Benton couldn't help but pat himself on the back for both that move and for his open display of friendship with the Gao Clan. He said as much.

"That tactic worked quite well initially," Elder Dai said. "You do have much to be proud about. However, once it became clear that all your sect members were Body Cultivators as well, Teng Wuying calmed his ally down quite a bit."

"But I thought Friend Kang said it worked?"

"He said that Mao Biya is extremely upset, which she is. The reason, though, is due to how well your sect has performed so far overall in the tournament, not because of the bit of theater regarding the clan."

Benton frowned. "But we haven't even won anything yet."

The two Poison Claw Sect elders shared a glance.

"Four top ten finishes is no small accomplishment, Friend Su. No small sect or clan has ever placed in the top five, and your sect did it in both Alchemy and Blacksmithing."

Benton scoffed. "Barely top five. Both Xun Wu and Wan Ai literally got fifth."

"It's never been done, Sect Leader," Elder Dai said. "Besides, the real accomplishment, at least from Mao Biya's perspective, was you having two of your members make the final ten in the martial division. She couldn't care less about crafting, but she respects martial prowess. Your two juniors finishing so high has her ready to spit nails."

Benton was, of course, proud of Huang Yimun and Zi Delan, as he was of all his sect members. They'd worked hard, walked into that arena, and done their best. Which was all he asked of any of them. But…

"It's hard to feel like we accomplished much compared to the might of the Poison Claw Sect," Benton said. "Your members won the Qi Gathering division for both Formations and Blacksmithing and had a minimum of three members finish in the top ten for every contest. Well done!"

The two elders shared another glance, and whereas he'd gotten pretty good at interpreting what the twins communicated with such actions, that ability apparently didn't translate to Kang Ya-Ting and Dai Shuren.

"We expected that level of performance, Friend Su. Every tournament, it's the same—the big three competing against each other to see who can do the best. You have to understand the advantages we have, starting with tens of thousands of members and recruiting only the best of the best. We take in more recruits each year than your entire sect has members. And that's not even taking into account talent. Few of the contestants you put forward would have even been invited to attempt to join a big three sect. The level of success the Rising Tide has achieved so far has left all of us stunned, and you still have your two most talented members left to go."

Benton took a moment to digest Kang Ya-Ting's statement. It was kind of like the Rising Tide Sect was a small college whose football team had somehow found itself in the playoffs against SEC and Big Ten teams. Then, instead of getting blown off the field in the first round, they'd actually made it to the finals. Sure, they didn't win, but simply not getting annihilated was an accomplishment in and of itself.

When he thought about it that way, the elders' opinion made sense. He cupped his hands to acknowledge his acceptance of their compliments.

"One of my most talented disciples, though, is actually competing for your team," Benton said. "Personally, I can't wait to see how Kang Lin does."

One of the reasons that he got along so well with Kang Ya-Ting was that they shared a kindred spirit as proud grandparents.

"This old man expects her to perform adequately." The huge grin that split the elder's face belied his humble words regarding his granddaughter.

They talked for a while longer, but the upshot of the meeting was that the Rising Tide Sect members' performance was so good that it caused their enemies—Mao Biya, anyway—great distress. Anytime you could put an opponent off their game, it could lead to them making mistakes, and Benton would take any advantage he could get to keep his kids safe.

Teng Wuying walked to yet another tea shop for yet another meeting with Mao Biya. By that point, they might as well proclaim their alliance to all the world for all that it was supposed to remain a secret.

Still, there was value in not making an official announcement. Preserving the fiction that it might not exist left some doubt in their enemies' minds as to when or if an attack might be made. Of course, not broadcasting the alliance also gave his allies a chance to back out, but he didn't think that was a realistic concern. Mao Biya was more committed than even he was, if for the wrong reasons.

People consumed by intense emotions were quite annoying for a rational person to deal with, but their lack of control made them so, so easy to manipulate.

He arrived at the shop, as usual, fifteen minutes early, taking care to soundproof the booth with an array and to check the surroundings for any invisible observers. With none detected, he sat to wait. And wait. And wait.

Twenty minutes after the meeting was supposed to begin, Mao Biya stormed in. She sat without a word of apology for her tardiness, her face showing clear agitation.

"At your advice," she practically yelled, "I set myself in opposition to that man, and I've suffered nothing but humiliation after humiliation. He threatened my sect. He made of mockery of my announced intention to limit his gains at the auction. He killed one of my Golden Cores. Killed. After torturing her. He gave us no face. And what did I do about any of it? Nothing. I simply sat there as two of his trash peasants were allowed on stage as if they deserved to be there alongside my sect members. This cannot stand."

Teng Wuying held his tongue but barely. He was the one to warn her against the attempt at manipulating the auction, the one who tried to prevent her from sending a Golden Core against Chao Su's juniors. Her setbacks were due entirely to her refusal to listen.

Though the Jade Chameleon Sect and hers were natural allies—both valuing martial might over all other facets of cultivation—Teng Wuying personally would have been better suited for membership in another faction. The Poison Claw Sect valued crafters as much as fighters. A clerk was more likely to be respected and ascend the ranks in the Emperor's faction than was a soldier. Even the Rising Tide Sect granted much respect to the sect leader's assistant.

Would that Teng Wuying's muscle-brained family hadn't thrown in their lot so long ago with others of their ilk.

He was close to realizing all his dreams, though. So close. With his skill at convincing people to act as he wanted combined with the favors that would be owed him for granting access to that miracle Trials Pagoda, no one on the entire continent would dare disrespect him ever again.

All he had to do was stay the course. Keep Mao Biya on board. Ambush the Rising Tide Sect leader. And all Teng Wuying's ambitions would be realized.

She was too incensed to listen to reason, though, so his usual method of calming her was unlikely to work. Time to take things in the opposite direction.

"You're right," he said. "It cannot stand, and it will not stand. At the conclusion of the low Foundation Establishment division matches, the ambush will take place. We will kill him and the entirety of his so-called sect. You can personally execute the two pieces of trash who dared stand on stage with true cultivators."

He put a lot of vehemence into his tone, and for a moment, she was taken aback. She recovered quickly, though.

"I am glad to hear you say that, but it's not enough," she said. "I want his prize disciples humiliated in the tournament, not just killed later."

"I'm listening."

Mao Biya smiled. "Let me manipulate the brackets. The two brats, being A rank talents, will have a bye through the first two rounds. I'll stack it so that they'll each meet a perfect counter in their very first contest. Their sect members will see their precious Senior Sister and Senior Brother taken out like the trash they are."

Teng Wuying's political capital was diminishing by the day, especially given how much Mao Biya was openly badmouthing the City Lord and his representative, but there was enough left to make some minor modifications to the tournament lineup. So the question wasn't if her request could be accommodated but whether it should be.

Keeping Mao Biya happy—or at least tempering her bloodlust—was a valid objective, but Teng Wuying didn't know how Chao Su would react to having his favorites embarrassed in front of everyone. He might pull the entire sect from the tournament and go home, leaving no opportunity for the ambush. After all, he only had one other person—a little girl named Jin LiJuan—scheduled to compete after the low Foundation Establishment division was complete.

Of course, that outcome assumed that Mao Biya could somehow outwit Chao Su, a powerful, sophisticated opponent, someone who was constantly enacting flawless plans and contingencies. Someone who never made a single misstep.

He was a worthy foe, one who could only be defeated by being outmaneuvered. The man was a worthy nemesis for Teng Wuying. The possibility of a brute like Mao Biya besting such a masterful opponent was impossible.

Yes. Teng Wuying would let her have her futile attempt, making her grateful and keeping her on board. When she failed, it would only make her even more dedicated to the ambush.

Besides, her machinations might actually be for the good. If nothing else, it would provide a distraction.

Honestly, Teng Wuying would much rather wait until the end of the tournament to attack due almost solely to how much more elegant that time would appear. The problem was how to keep the Rising Tide Sect in Sixth Flawless Flowing City for so long.

If only he'd already put into motion a contingency that served just that purpose.

Oh wait. He had.

"Absolutely," he said. "We'll crush them, wad them up, and toss them away like the trash they are."

Chapter 333 – The Clan's Karma?

Gao Zian hadn't expected to be treated well or even fairly by the sects, but being locked out of the tournament grounds without being given the chance to gather the clan's belongings went beyond the pale. And there was nothing he could do about it. Even if the gate guards didn't have substantial backing—which they most assuredly did—they were both of a higher minor realm of Foundation Establishment than he was. His Body Cultivation might have allowed him to fight one of them, but he doubted the entire rest of his clan, including two Foundation Establishment subordinates, could handle the other one.

As the patriarch, he was responsible for the safety of his clan members, a large portion of whom were standing behind him, and they were all in a dire situation. Since the Jade Chameleon Sect had ejected them from the grounds, it was clear that the sect would not be providing transport back.

With no other choice, they'd have to walk, which was doable for even the weakest of the nearly fifty Bronze Body Cultivators. They had the necessary strength and stamina, after all.

The problem was that the journey would take at least two months, which meant they needed food and water. Portable shelters. Money.

Some of that they possessed. Not enough, but some. But all of it was back with their tents. Inside the compound. Which they weren't allowed to enter.

Basically, they were left with the clothes on their backs and whatever coins they happened to have on them.

Gao Zian had no idea how they'd make it back without starving. Sure, hunting and foraging could provide some nourishment. Unlike Spiritual Cultivators who needed less sustenance the further they progressed, the clan's Body Cultivation made them require more food than a mortal.

If they left the city without supplies, some would die along the route. That outcome was guaranteed.

One option, obviously, was to seek work and save enough to buy adequate supplies. But he suspected that the Jade Chameleon Sect would thwart any such plan.

Gao Zian sighed. It might be that they'd all be killed as soon as they got out of sight of the city, anyway. The only things preventing that outcome were all the eyes watching and the resultant loss of face.

He never should have accepted the invitation to attend the tournament.

Just as he was about to turn back to his clan members and explain just how grim their situation was, a voice called out, "Gao Zian! Hey! What's up?"

What's up?

There was only one person who Gao Zian knew that spoke in such an odd manner, but he hoped—no, he prayed—to the heavens that it wasn't that person. But the voice had come from the sky, and he couldn't help but look.

Above him, floating effortlessly, was Chao Su. If there was one person in the city who both had the power to do anything he wanted and didn't care a lick about face, it was that monster.

Gao Zian had feigned an association with Chao Su, which was one reason for the Jade Chameleon Sect's poor treatment of the clan. That treatment likely would have been the same regardless just due to the clan's utter failure to defeat a single one of the Rising Tide members.

Looking at the man, who was grinning like a loon, Gao Zian was vividly reminded of how much their supposed friendship was an act. There was nothing preventing the madman from destroying all of them on a whim. The sooner he was sent on his way, the better.

Gao Zian swallowed hard before cupping his hands. "This lowly one greets the sect leader."

"Why are you outside the gate? Why does it look like the guards won't let you in?"

"It is of no matter, Sect Leader. Truly."

Chao Su frowned, an expression that terrified Gao Zian more than anything his entire life had.

"They did that thing where they kicked you out and didn't even let you collect your stuff, didn't they?" Chao Su shook his head slowly. "What a cliché. Are they going down a checklist from the Evildoer's Guide to Being Evil or something? I mean, surely they could be more original than that."

As expected of a monster, his objection wasn't regarding how contemptible the act was but rather the lack of cleverness.

"There is no need to concern yourself, Sect Leader. We were just leaving."

"Without your stuff?"

"Material possessions burden the soul, Sect Leader."

Gao Zian almost gaped at the nonsense that just left his mouth, but it seemed to work. Chao Su nodded as if he'd heard something profound.

"That's a good one. I may use that sometime."

"Feel free, Sect Leader."

Anything to get rid of him.

"Why don't y'all come back to the compound and share a meal before y'all hit the road?"

"We've—"

The stomach of one of the clan juniors grumbled at just that moment, ruining telling Chao Su that they'd already eaten. And with that excuse burned, Gao Zian floundered for an alternate reason.

"Whatever you're about to say, it's nonsense. I insist."

"Apologies, Sect Leader, but the guards won't let us back in."

"Oh really? We'll see about that."

Even though the pressure from Chao Su's Aura wasn't directed at him, Gao Zian winced just from being so near it, the memory from the stands almost forcing him to his knees just from the pure sympathy of seeing the two guards bear the brute of the force.

"Is what Patriarch Gao Zian says true? Will you refuse entrance to my guests?"

"N-no, S-sect L-leader."

The pressure disappeared as quickly as it had sprung into being.

Chao Su cupped his hands in the direction of the head guard, not that he noticed the mockery as he was too busy trying to regain his wits.

"Gratitude," Chao Su said before turning his attention back to Gao Zian. "Ready to eat?"

Despite being one of the most powerful men on the planet, Benton didn't throw his weight around often. He honestly didn't want to get in the habit of it. Better to remain polite and low key, just as he'd been in his life on Earth.

And he thought he was doing pretty well at that, too. Sure, people respected him because of his position as a Nascent Soul Sect Leader, but personally, he was positive that everyone saw that he was, at heart, a nice guy.

When it came to bullies, though, that was something he simply couldn't tolerate. And to see an entire clan being pushed around by the Jade Chameleon Sect… well, that just really got his goat.

Not to mention that Benton felt like the entire thing with the clan was at least partially his fault. The least he could do was treat them to a meal and get their stuff back before they departed the city.

Considering how much the Jade Chameleons already hated him, it wasn't like one more strike against him would make any impact on their relationship.

After cowing the guards and sending a message dragon back to Sun Hua, Benton escorted the clan back to the Rising Tide Sect compound. His assistant, ever efficient, had food waiting for them by the time they arrived.

Perfect.

Leaving the new kids to visit with his sect members, Benton escorted the patriarch to a nearby private dining room.

"So how screwed are you guys?" Benton said as soon as they both were seated.

"I'm sorry, Sect Leader?"

"You have few supplies and little money, right? The Jade Chameleon Sect probably flew y'all here and, since things didn't go their way, are now hanging you out to dry. Is that an accurate assessment of the situation?"

The patriarch gritted his teeth. "Yes, Sect Leader."

"I'm not trying to rub it in." Benton paused. "Look, I know I bear some of the blame for your situation. The least I can do is make sure you get your stuff back and get home safely."

Gao Zian didn't say anything for a moment, and silence stretched uncomfortably. "Why?"

Benton's first impulse was simply to answer, but he decided to take the opportunity to gain the measure of the man sitting across from him. "I'll turn that question right back on you. Imagine that your enemy brought in a small faction solely to try to hinder you. Because you're so powerful and so awesome, though, you flipped the script, made both your enemy and the small faction look like idiots."

The patriarch clenched his fists.

"Granted," Benton said, "you are not responsible for the actions of the small faction. They had a choice, albeit probably an undesirable one, not to go along with the enemy's plans. That faction's leader is, after all, a grown ass adult who has agency."

Gao Zian took a deep breath.

"Still, that faction doesn't seem evil or anything and it did end up in dire straits at least partially due to your actions," Benton said. "So, in that situation, would you help and why?"

The patriarch took only a short moment to consider. "In that situation, Sect Leader, my honor would require that I provide some assistance to the extent that I could and that it did not cause undue stress on my clan's resources."

Benton thought that response was excellent, well in line with his own thoughts. "Does it surprise you, then, that others would make a similar choice, or do you think you're the only moral person on the continent?"

Gao Zian pursed his lips. "When dealing with sects, my experience has been not to expect honorable behavior, Sect Leader."

"I get that, and to be honest, circumstances have not always allowed me to operate in a manner in which I'd consider to be particularly exemplary. That being said, I prefer to treat others fairly unless I have no other choice."

The patriarch slumped, tension easing from his shoulders. "What form of help do you propose, Sect Leader?"

"Nothing extravagant. Getting your stuff back will be a trivial matter. The JCSB alliance doesn't seem ready for a full-on attack yet, and no guards are willing to stand against me without significant backing. Besides that, I have a number of options for transport."

The patriarch nodded.

With Gao Zian on board with the idea of Benton helping, the discussion delved into logistics. The best options for getting all the patriarch's people back to their clan was to either transport them there directly—which involved Benton personally escorting them since he couldn't just Teleport them since he'd never been there—or to provide them with them with flying devices.

The latter was a lot simpler and didn't require him to be apart from his sect members.

"You'll simply gift me a glider?" Gao Zian said, his voice incredulous as he stared at the one Benton had pulled from his ring.

"Yeah. It's no big thing. I give them to all my sect members when they reach Foundation Establishment."

Gao Zian's eyes grew huge. "This… Sect Leader, this device is worth more than all the equipment my clan possesses combined."

"Really? You guys are that poor? I hadn't realized."

Extreme poverty obviously existed in the world, just like it had back on Earth. Benton knew that. But it was an "out of sight, out of mind" kind of thing. He really had no idea of the struggles the man before him must go through just to keep his people alive.

Benton naturally wanted to help, and there was a really obvious win-win situation before him—induct the entire clan into the Rising Tide Sect. The clan would get a massive increase in quality and quantity of cultivation methods and techniques and material wealth, and Benton would get more Sect Points.

Perfect.

Except… He was coming to realize exactly how much of an advantage membership in his sect gave. The System offered benefits that no one else on the continent, maybe even the world, could. Those benefits led to power, and power, it was said, led to corruption.

Inducting a small number of family members from Sixth Flawless Flowing City into the main branch was one thing. He could keep an eye on them and make sure they didn't abuse that power. Forming a new branch sect was another thing entirely.

Gao Zian seemed like an upright dude and all, but Benton had a responsibility to make sure that he didn't create powerhouses who would do the world more harm than good.

But how? Who knew what evil lurked in the hearts of men… or something like that.

If only there were a way to measure how good—for values of good—someone was.

When put like that, the answer struck Benton immediately—karma.

Chapter 334 – An Offer He Couldn't Refuse?

Yan Guangli wanted to see action. A fight. Anything.

Losing his how many ever greats aunt Yan Mingxia was a big indignity for his family. She'd served the Jade Chameleon Sect loyally for centuries, and one defeat—her final one—against the murderous Chao Su and suddenly none of the Yan family was given face any longer.

That one event had caused them to fall so far that Yan Guangli was even excluded from participating in the tournament. The only reason he was even in Sixth Flawless Flowing City was to serve as guard, a situation that was clearly meant as an insult.

Someone would pay for him suffering such an embarrassment. He didn't know who or when, but someone would definitely pay.

And his duty wasn't even to protect anything important, like the sect's compound. No, he defended the trash left behind by that nothing clan that had embarrassed the sect by not winning even a single match. And trash was too kind a description for the items left behind. Old clothes. Hard bread. Cheese. Travel rations. Nothing worth returning for even if any of the idiots could get back inside.

Expecting his boring night to continue, Yan Guangli continued to stew as he stood in front of the gate. That wasn't what he got as two men popped into existence in front of him. Though taken by surprise, he immediately bared his blade.

One of the men he recognized as the leader of the clan. Even though the guy was like middle-aged, he was barely in the low Foundation Establishment realm. Total trash. The other, a young man with close cropped hair, wore the robes of the Rising Tide Sect.

Yan Guangli grinned. Things just got interesting. Finally.

He took into account the two appearing in front of him out of nowhere and the fact that he couldn't sense the cultivation realm of one of them and came to the only sensible conclusion possible—they were trying to trick him. Appearing out of nowhere? Obviously an illusion, which Yang Guangli, a member of the Jade Chameleon Sect, absolutely would not fall for. And not sensing the guy's cultivation? They were trying to make him think the guy was the infamous Chao Su.

As if.

"What are you doing here, old man?" Yan Guangli said.

"We came to retrieve the clan's possessions," the clan leader said.

Yan Guangli was almost stunned into silence by the audacity. "How did you even get inside the grounds?" He grinned, realizing that the answer didn't matter. "You know what? Never mind. Time for your beat down."

The old man tried to say something but the younger guy in the Rising Tide Sect robes stopped him.

"What will you do to us?" the younger one said.

There was something off about his tone, like it was supposed to sound like he was scared. But it didn't. It was obvious the guy had no fear at all.

Yan Guangli knew the type. Way too confident and sure of their own power. He almost laughed. When someone like that encountered a cultivator with real power, like him, they learned their place quickly. Unless they didn't survive the lesson.

"The old man is to be beaten and thrown from the compound. He'll survive. You, however, will receive no such mercy. I'll quarter you like that sect leader of yours is so fond of doing."

For the first time, a bit of caution entered Yan Guangli's thoughts. There was a reason that no one attacked the Rising Tide Sect juniors despite how much they were despised. He glanced at the young man's hands but saw only a ring that appeared to be a storage device.

"You're not wearing one of those coward rings, are you?" Yan Guangli said.

"Coward ring?" the young man said.

"The one that allows you to call for daddy when you bite off more than you can chew."

"Interesting perspective, but no, I'm not wearing a coward ring."

"Good. Let's get on with this, then." Yan Guangli stepped forward, ready to attack with his sword.

Or he tried to, anyway. Instead, he found himself frozen, unable to move at all.

"Yes," the young man said. "Let's."

An orb that looked much like the ones recruiters used to test village kids appeared in one of the young man's hands and a flat metallic device in the other. "He seems like a great example of a young master type, a perfect test subject. I'm sure he's done lots of bad stuff."

The clan patriarch simply stood there unspeaking.

Yan Guangli struggled to free himself from whatever held him. His shield hadn't been disrupted, so it wasn't qi. He tried using a movement technique to escape and directly manipulating qi both internally and externally, but nothing helped. He was stuck.

It had to be some kind of trick.

He didn't start to panic until his body lifted a foot into the air and started moving forward. As he stopped, his arm raised, extending toward the young man who showed no signs of strain.

Yan Guangli's hand made contact with the orb, and wording appeared on the flat rectangular metal that the young man held.

"As I thought, this guy has been a bad, bad boy. Negative seventy-five hundred."

Yan Guangli began to get seriously worried. The young man was not so simple.

Gao Zian watched as the Jade Chameleon young master was launched, somehow, fifty feet into the air and pushed back until he crashed into a building with a grunt.

"He'll be fine," Chao Su said. "His qi shield protected him."

"You didn't simply kill him, Sect Leader?"

"I don't kill kids. Besides, young masters might be toxic messes, but I've seen proof that not all of them are irredeemable."

Gao Zian nodded before walking forward into what had been the clan's compound. Utilizing the spatial treasure lent to him—no one in the clan could afford such a thing—he swiftly gathered all their belongings.

"Ready," he called.

Instantly, they were back in what the sect leader called his office.

It had been so strange. They'd been discussing the value of the glider and the poverty of the clan when the sect leader grew distracted. He'd requested to be excused to investigate a thought, disappeared, and returned less than ten minutes later, asking Gao Zian to put his hand on what looked like a testing orb.

At that point, whether he lived or died was solely up to the sect leader's forbearance, so Gao Zian had no real objections to whatever was being done. He complied.

"Hmm," the sect leader said. "Fifteen hundred per year average since you reached the age of accountability. Solidly on the side of good, if only slightly."

Gao Zian simply nodded. When dealing with a madman, agreement was the safest course.

"To really test the device, though, I need someone who skews evil." Chao Su paused. "I know. I bet the Jade Chameleons have someone watching over your stuff. Let's see how bad they are."

"Of course, Sect Leader."

Once they arrived back in the office, Gao Zian took stock of the situation. He had no idea what testing the sect leader was doing or why, but all his clan members were alive and hale. They'd also re-gained their meager possessions. As long as Chao Su didn't go on a murdering spree, the clan might actually end up in a better situation.

Chao Su fired off one of his message dragons. "I've asked Sun Hua to bring ten random clansmen to be tested. Of all my disciples, she'll definitely do the best job of picking randomly. Well, Zou Tian might have done better, but he's still out of pocket."

"Of course, Sect Leader."

Gao Zian hesitated. While humoring the powerful and eccentric sect leader was a good survival technique, the man clearly had some plan in the works that involved the clan. As patriarch, it was his responsibility to protect his sect, which required knowledge of risks. At some point, pursuing safety at the expense of all else ventured into the territory of cowardice.

"May this patriarch ask what the sect leader is trying to ascertain?" He hunched his shoulders as he asked the question.

"Honestly, I want to know if you and the clan are good people, and while this method isn't perfect, it apparently can give me a decent indicator."

"I see, Sect Leader. Gratitude for answering."

Gao Zian hesitated again. If the clan wasn't deemed good, would they be executed? And what could the orb possibly measure that would purport to say whether a man was good or bad?

He wasn't sure what knowing would do for him, considering the sect leader's extraordinary power, but as patriarch, he felt it was his duty to find out.

"May this patriarch ask why the sect leader seeks this information?"

"I'm thinking about extending an invitation to join my sect, but since I'm no longer in a situation where I need to rapidly expand, I'm trying to be a little more picky, you know?"

Gao Zian did not, in fact, know, but that was not nearly his biggest problem with the sect leader's words. No, that criterion belonged to the fact that the sect leader apparently was considering forcing the clan to join a sect.

For a moment, pure avarice overwhelmed Gao Zian. Though the sect leader was well known for killing anyone who so much as looked at him wrong, he was also famous for distributing top heaven grade scriptures to his subordinates, and it was clear that even his Body Cultivation methods were better than those developed by the clan. Not only that, but rumors said that the sect leader's cultivation methods practically assured that all who used them would reach, at a minimum, Foundation Establishment.

Gao Zian found such fanciful tales to be unlikely, of course, but such accounts usually held a kernel of truth. The fact was that the clan was severely hampered by being unable to advance many of its members to that realm. Finding correctly aspected beast cores to advance their members to the peak of Bronze Body Cultivation was difficult but doable.

Reaching the peak of Silver and beyond, however, demanded many, many more cores, and getting the qi element correct became even more crucial. It was difficult to raise a single clan member using the method, much less all of them.

No, reaching that high required the ability to manipulate qi externally.

If Chao Su's cultivation methods could improve the rate of clan members advancing to that milestone by even ten percent, the clan would become much more powerful, able to defend itself from the nearby sects. On the other hand, being beholden to a murderous sect leader who might decide to end them in a horrific manner at any moment was ideal despite the gains offered.

When considered in that way, Gao Zian decided it was best to stay as far away from the Rising Tide Sect as possible. If he were given the choice, that was.

Chapter 335 – What Was I Thinking?

Once Benton happened to consider using karma as a method to determine who deserved to be offered an invitation to the sect, his first action was to buy a Knowledge of Karma technique from the System for four Sect Points.

The information granted was sparser than Benton's experience with other such techniques led him to expect, but after further inquiries, the System revealed that its information on the subject was limited.

Good to know that even the almighty System had limitations.

The bottom line, to the best of what the technique revealed to him, was that karma increased with positive thoughts, words, and deeds and decreased when those were instead negative.

Another major point was that karma was only gained or lost based on intention. Say a man stepped on an innocent person's foot. The circumstances behind the move mattered. If the act was an accident, karma remained constant. If intentional, karma decreased.

The exact amount of the decrease wasn't something that the System could calculate, however, as it varied based on way too many factors. How much harm was done? What was the karma score of the innocent person? How bad was the injury? What were the follow-on effects of the wound?

Those were apparently just some of the variables involved.

The System also revealed that Benton, upon buying an appropriate Concept, could obtain a karma score on a targeted individual. Which was fantastic. Exactly what he wanted.

Only it wasn't exactly what he wanted.

Benton basically wanted to know if someone was good or bad, a measure of who someone was inside their heart. Karma didn't measure a person's innate goodness, only their actions. Circumstances could drive a good person to bad acts. Thus, It was possible for a person Benton would consider to be good to have a negative karma score and vice versa.

That the score was based on intent, however, helped tremendously in making it an indicator of what Benton wanted to measure, especially when taken as an average over the subject's lifetime. He felt fairly confident in saying that a person with a decently high average score was probably a decent person.

His first test revealed that Gao Zian averaged around a positive fifteen hundred per year. Which seemed solid. But Benton had no idea what the number actually meant.

The next test was on the Jade Chameleon arrogant young master. Negative seventy-five hundred per year. That seemed really awful, like someone who went around performing bad acts constantly. But again, Benton didn't know that for sure.

He needed more data.

The obvious thing to do was to measure the karma of his own kids, but honestly, that felt intrusive. So the next best thing was to run tests on his potential new members, which was something he was considering doing for inductees going forward, anyway.

The practice was still invasive, obviously, but it would make him feel better about giving someone access to the power inherent in his superior scriptures. He didn't necessarily need to check all the clan kids, but a sampling was necessary, both to establish a baseline and to ensure that most of the clan was, in fact, good.

Benton messaged Sun Hua, and soon, ten of the clan members were escorted into his office.

He was quite pleased with the orb and readout he'd created. It would have been easy to simply upgrade Analysis to include the information he needed, but that wouldn't help his sect members in the future. So, instead, he'd created an all-in-one test orb that output data to a tablet.

Drawing on the System, it displayed all the information Analysis normally did—name, age, affiliation, cultivation specifics, spiritual roots, and aspect. Additionally, he had it reveal the subject's average karma score. It was everything his sect members would need to decide to offer membership and, if they did, to determine what cultivation method to provide the subject.

Benton suspected that the device he'd put together on a whim might become a crucial tool for the Rising Tide Sect's future.

Perfect.

Of the ten clan kids he tested, the lowest was in the eleven hundred range and the highest in the low three thousands. None were negative. Given the mindset of cultivators in general and the brutality he'd seen of sect members other than his own, he figured that was pretty darn good.

"Okay," he said to Gao Zian once all the others had cleared out of the office, "I feel comfortable offering you and your entire clan membership in my sect."

Contrary to Benton's expectations, the patriarch didn't jump at the offer.

Instead, he said, "May this one inquire as to why the sect leader would extend this offer? No one in the clan is particularly talented, and the average Rising Tide Sect member already possesses more martial might than any in the clan as well."

Benton shrugged. "To stagnate is to die. Growth is imperative. Move upward or perish. I can offer you as many platitudes as you want, but the gist is that we're a small sect. We need to grow, and it's not easy finding people we can trust."

"The sect leader trusts us?"

"Not totally, obviously, but enough to establish an ongoing relationship."

The barest hint of a frown appeared on the patriarch's face. "What would be expected of us, Sect Leader?"

"To be honest, little. Cultivate. Grow. You'll mostly manage yourselves. Try to keep our affiliation on the down low until all this mess with the JCSB blows over. Once that happens, which will hopefully be soon, we'll discuss integrating everyone."

Gao Zian sighed. "Permission to speak freely, Sect Leader?"

"Of course."

"I don't see what you get out of this deal. You're basically adding around two hundred random people into your sect. Sure, we have a lot more training than an average peasant, but given what you can offer, I'm not sure that we present much of an upgrade over a random person off the street."

"You know what? You're right. What was I thinking?" Benton got up like he was planning on leaving the room. The yell came just as he was about to open the door.

"Wait!"

Benton turned around. "Yeah?"

"You changed your mind just like that?"

"No. I just wanted to see your reaction." Benton grinned. "It was kind of funny, to tell you the truth."

Gao Zian just kind of sputtered, his mouth making noises but none of them coherent enough to be recognized as a word.

"Look, some of what I do is, frankly, inscrutable," Benton said. "I know there's not a lot of trust between us, but I absolutely will get something out of your clan joining me. And that something that I gain will not harm you or, really, affect you at all."

The patriarch very clearly mulled that over for a while. "A leader having secrets regarding his faction makes sense. There are matters regarding the clan that I'd prefer not to reveal even to the closest of allies. So I can accept that you have valid reasons for wanting us in your sect. It's more difficult to accept that those reasons won't impact us."

Benton shrugged again. "Frankly… I don't care? It's not like I'm begging you to join. If you're not interested, I'll get you back to your home, and we'll go our separate ways. No hard feelings as far as I'm concerned."

"Truly?"

"Yeah. I would bear you no ill will. Why would I?"

"Why indeed." Gao Zian sighed. "If I accept, I'm taking a risk of you having nefarious intentions. If I refuse, I possibly pass up a chance to make my clan much, much stronger than it ever would have a chance to be otherwise."

"That's about the sum of it."

The patriarch paused again, looking very conflicted. "Can you at least explain to me why it is so important to you that only people with good karma are inducted?"

Benton frowned. "See, that question worries me. I get that your clan is pretty much, by definition, your family, but if you had a choice, wouldn't you prefer to let in only good people versus bad?"

"Of course I would."

"I'm confused then," Benton said. "If you're so adamant about what your decision would be, why would you not think that I would answer the same way?"

For once, Benton wasn't being lighthearted with his question, either. He was honestly perplexed.

Gao Zian's eyes went wide. "This one simply didn't think of it in that manner, Sect Leader."

"Okay…"

"The Sect Leader has indulged this one beyond any reasonable expectations, but if this one could ask one more question?"

"Sure."

"What would you say is your sect's mission, Sect Leader?"

"Ah. That's an easy one." Benton realized that was pretty much the first thing he should tell anyone who considered joining. "When I created the sect, I made a promise to the heavens regarding just that subject, which was witnessed with quite the display of purple lightning. Impressed my members, it did, believe you me."

Gao Zian seemed astonished as well, especially since that wasn't the kind of thing one could lie about as the heavens tended to take a dim view of using its name in vain. A cultivator who claimed to have promise witnessed who didn't was likely to experience that purple lightning up close and personal like.

"The mission is in the sect's name," Benton said. "A rising tide lifts all boats. We lift each other up. We want those around us to rise even as we seek the heavens ourselves. Further, the Rising Tide Sect is a righteous sect, not simply in the context of opposing demonic sects but in the true meaning of the word. Our members seek righteousness. We protect the innocent. We punish evil. We are bound by our word."

A small flash of purple lightning lit up the office, and Benton smiled. "See?"

"That… I've never seen anything like that."

"Hang around me long enough, and it'll become common."

Gao Zian closed his eyes for a moment before reopening them. "This lowly one cannot refute the heavens. Considering your sect's mission and what it offers, the clan would be fools to refuse such a generous offer. If you're still offering, that is?"

"I am."

With the negotiations—such that they were—settled, it was time for logistics. Gao Zian flew a glider alone back to his sect. Once there, he popped a contingency ring given to him for just that purpose, and the beacon produced by the device gave Benton what he needed to Teleport directly to the clan's home.

After that, he Teleported both of them back to the compound before moving all the clan back home. Benton had Huang Yimun, five guards, and Sun Hua accompany them as well, and over the next half day she inducted everyone and got them settled with cultivation methods.

By afternoon of the next day, the Rising Tide Sect had grown by one hundred ninety-seven members.

Chapter 336 – Huh?

Benton had escorted a small contingent of the Rising Tide Sect to watch Kang Lin's first match in the low Foundation Establishment division, one she easily dominated. Which was to be expected. The first round pitted the top non-A talents, who all had byes, against the worst of the participants.

Since there was no reason for the Poison Claw Sect to re-test Kang Lin's spiritual roots, she entered the tournament with them thinking she still was C+ ranked, which put her in the next tier down. That ranking was still plenty high enough, though, that she faced an extremely weak opponent.

After escorting the kiddos back to the compound, Benton Teleported to Kang Ya-Ting's study for a pre-arranged meeting.

"Greetings, Friend Su. Elder Dai had other duties and couldn't attend today."

"No problem," Benton said. "Anything I should know?"

"That depends. You haven't expressed much interest in the tournament manipulations by our friends in the Jade Chameleon and Swift Blizzard Sects to this point, but I personally am disturbed by the lengths of their audacity."

The elder clearly had something he wanted to reveal, and when your friend had a juicy piece of gossip he wanted to share, the polite thing to do was indulge him.

"Go ahead and let me hear it," Benton said. "Worst-case scenario, I'll simply ignore it."

Kang Ya-Ting explained how the bracket was set up and, with how things were likely to work out, who the twins and Kang Lin would be facing in the third round. Honestly, the JCSB alliance apparently underestimated the girls, and Benton was positive they'd come through like champs. Yang Ru, on the other hand, would face an opponent he quite simply was not prepared for.

What to do?

On one hand, a loss in the tournament was inconsequential, especially for Yang Ru. The once boy was steadily transforming into a mature young man, one who knew his worth. Not advancing wouldn't negatively impact him in the least. He'd simply learn what he could from the experience and move on.

Benton was proud as punch of the person Yang Ru was becoming.

On the other hand, the method of the probable loss could have ramifications above and beyond just the tournament, ones that could lead to true regret for Yang Ru. Of course, suffering led to character. Or something like that. Benton wasn't sure that particular old saying was enough of a justification not to intercede, however.

What really made him angry was that the setup was intentional. Somewhere, grown adult elders had made a decision to put Yang Ru, a junior, in that position in order to strike at the Rising Tide Sect.

That simply wasn't okay, especially since the situation was so easily resolved.

Due to anger as much as any other reason, Benton made his decision and Teleported back to his office in the compound. Once there, he immediately sent message dragons to Yang Ru and Yang Xiu.

Once they arrived and exchanged greetings, Benton said, "You both know my stance regarding influencing the tournament matches. I gave you every advantage you requested before we arrived. Now that we're here, my job is to protect you, not to help you win."

"Yes, Master," they chorused.

"I have received concerning news about manipulation of the brackets by our enemies. My position remains that the tournament isn't important, and I wouldn't normally take any extraordinary steps to make it more likely for either of you to win. Unfortunately for them or us—I haven't yet decided which—our enemies crossed a line, and it's incumbent upon me as the sect leader to protect you from their machinations. To that end, I've decided to offer each of you a new technique."

Benton turned to Yang Ru. "Without the new technique, I do not think you will win your match, though it's always possible that you'll surprise me. More concerning, however, is that others may react to a loss on your part in ways that you will find … unpleasant. I advise you to accept the technique."

Without giving the young man a chance to respond, Benton turned to Yang Xiu. "Your situation is much less dire, and I honestly think you don't need a new technique to win your first match. I didn't want to offer your brother an advantage without extending the same to you, however. The technique is not one you need but rather one that will make winning even easier, the better to completely dominate our enemies."

The twins shared a glance, one that said, "Master is offering us a technique and trying to convince us to take it. What, exactly, is the downside? Of course, we'll take it!"

They cupped their hands. "Gratitude, Master."

Benton should have predicted that exact response. Really, it was stupid of him to ask in the first place.

"Very well," he said. "You've got three full days plus this afternoon to practice. Since that's obviously not enough time to learn a new technique, I'll Teleport you back to the sect, so you can use the Time dilation rooms."

Kang Lin clenched her fists, internally railing against the fundamental unfairness of it all. Well, she couldn't actually blame her current problem on the heavens. No, the fact that she'd be facing Fan Tao in only the third round stunk of sect politics. He was widely regarded as the third best combatant the Swift Blizzard Sect had participating in the low Foundation Establishment division of the tournament, someone with a real chance at reaching the top eight.

In other words, he was an elite talent.

She'd known that becoming Sect Leader Chao Su's disciple would come with downsides, but the pairing she saw posted on the bulletin board in front of her still took her by surprise.

Her first two rounds had been against easy opponents who had recently advanced to the realm and who had little mastery of either their new strength or their techniques. And those opponents had been exactly the level of competition she'd expected. She was firmly in the middle tier of participants from the Poison Claw Sect, meaning she drew easy competition in the early rounds.

Including in the third and fourth.

For those next two rounds, the A talents who'd had a bye for the first two would mop up against whatever dregs were left over. Her opponents, therefore, should have been solid combatants who were still lower in realm and/or talent than her. At worst, she should have matched against someone roughly equivalent in strength.

Instead, she would serve as one of those dregs facing Fan Tao.

"Wow, Senior Sister," one of her sect mates said from behind her. "Tough luck."

Kang Lin grunted and pushed her way back through the crowd. There wasn't anything she could say in response, really.

As a little girl viewing the tournament matches, she'd dreamed of being on the stage and fighting. Even as a child, she'd been realistic, though, not even contemplating that she'd reach as high as the top eight. Those positions were for the true stars of the sects.

She just wanted a showing good enough to make her parents and grandfather proud, meaning the fifth round. An exit prior to that was a failure, pure and simple. Just reaching the sixth, on the other hand, would have been a massive success.

Instead, she'd be disgracefully eliminated in the third. It so wasn't fair. But nothing good would come from complaining. She was sure her grandfather would have done something if he could have.

The only good path forward was to perform the best she could and, when she lost, to do so gracefully.

Even with that resolution made, the night was not an easy one for her as disappointment weighed heavily on her mind, making sleep difficult. The next morning, she trudged to the arena, not looking forward to what was about to happen.

As she stepped onto the sand floor, she heard rhythmic shouting, "Kang Lin! Kang Lin! Kang Lin!"

She glanced up. Yang Xiu and the Rising Tide Sect, of course. The weird chant must have been something that Master came up with. It was … embarrassing. Also a touch sweet. But, mostly, embarrassing, especially considering she was about to get trounced.

Not only was she about to lose, she was about to do so in front of all her friends after they'd called so much attention to her. She felt miserable.

Almost as a distraction, she examined her opponent with her spiritual sense. And found him … lacking? Considering his reputation, she'd expected to be immediately cowed by his strength. Instead, compared to Yang Xiu and Yang Ru, his qi pool was small, not any larger than Kang Lin's.

That wasn't to say that he wasn't strong. He seemed both quick and capable. It was just that she was used to sparring against two future legends. The two were A ranked talents who had techniques so high in quality that any cultivator on the continent would weep at the thought of obtaining a similar one.

Ones like Kang Lin also had access to.

The match was about to begin, though. There was no more time for woolgathering, whatever that meant.

Kang Lin bowed to her opponent. Fan Tao smirked and gave her an entirely inappropriate head nod. She frowned. To beat her was one thing. Not to show her any face was another thing entirely.

He was not a Golden Core that she had to respect. In fact, he was only in the second minor realm of Foundation Establishment, meaning that he was her junior.

Still, he was a known force in the big three, a feted genius who seemed fated for martial greatness, and she was nobody. No one ever talked about her or her future. If anything, she was someone with the potential to become a minor elder, respected for her knowledge and experience once she gained more of both. No one anticipated her to add anything significant to her sect's marital might.

Similarly, no one expected her to do well in the tournament.

Well, no one other than the Rising Tide Sect members, but it wasn't like they truly knew anything about how major sects or such competitions worked.

The match began, and he charged forward. He was quicker than Yang Ru at first, but Fan Tao did not build Momentum or get any faster. Instead, he reached his maximum speed and maintained it, his sword held up and to his right.

Without having to worry about him suddenly converting his Momentum into a strike too fast for her to counter or utilizing a ranged attack, Kang Lin relaxed. Sure, Fan Tao was fast but not exceptionally so. He was barely as quick as her even when she wasn't using a technique.

Just as he was about to swing that blade of his, she activated Path of Lightning. It was still a qi hog, though, so she only used it for a couple of steps. That was enough for her to blur past him.

Before he even knew what was happening, she spun, charged the tip of her spear with lightning, and thrust. The strike took him in the small of his back and was stopped by his qi shield.

It drained a lot of his energy, though. A lot. Just probably not as much as she'd used moving into position.

She was still happy, though. Fan Tao wasn't likely to fall to her of all people, but at least she'd go down swinging.

He turned to face her, clearly unhappy that she'd landed the first blow. The phrase, "too bad, so sad" came to her mind, something she had heard Master say once.

Kang Lin grinned at him, which only seemed to make him angrier. She almost laughed. He was lucky he wasn't facing Yang Xiu. That girl could make anyone irritated.

"Swift Blizzard Sword Art: Indomitable Thrust!" he yelled.

Was he … yelling out his moves?

Sure, Kang Lin guessed that some cultivators did that, but Master had such disdain for the practice that it had filtered down to his sect members. And, she supposed, to her as well.

Regardless, compared to her movement technique, it looked like he was moving in slow motion. Even better, it took only a fraction of a step to get out of the way. She activated Path of Lightning and nudged her body to the side, evading the blade. At the same time, she swept her spears haft at his legs.

Kang Lin expected the wood to clank off his leg, at most leaving a bruise. Fan Tao was accounted to be quite strong, after all, and he was an experienced fighter, not one to neglect his footwork.

Instead, her spear hit with a solid thunk and kept on going, her own strength somehow pushing past all resistance. She swept his feet out from underneath him, and he landed on his back in the sand with a meaty thud.

Kang Lin didn't hesitate, reversing her spear and stabbing downward. It took two thrusts to break his shield, but both were accomplished before he recovered enough from the fall to block.

Before she knew it, the official called the match. For her. She had won. Against Fan Tao.

Huh?

Chapter 337 – A Weird Outfit

As Yang Xiu stepped onto the arena floor, she could barely contain her excitement. Finally. The Qi Gathering division had taken forever, and then, she'd had to wait days because of her byes. She just wanted to fight.

Her left hand held her bow, and she raised it high in the air. Her fellow Rising Tide Sect members went wild. Even some of the Poison Claw Sect members cheered. Better, lots of Jade Chameleons and Swift Blizzards looked quite irritated.

All in a good day's work.

She examined her opponent. He wore the gray robes of the Jade Chameleon Sect and was, honestly, kind of scrawny. Probably not someone who relied on physical might. That inference was backed up by the lack of a weapon, though he could simply be keeping one stored in his ring until just before the match started.

Next, she extended her spiritual sense toward him. The first thing she detected was just how small his qi pool was. Like tiny. Smaller even that Kang Lin's. Yang Xiu had at least three times as much available.

The second thing she detected was the boy's aspect. She got the feel primarily of Wind but with a hint of Illusion. Interesting.

Surely, the people manipulating the tournament brackets didn't think she would lose to that little guy just because his element was strong against hers. Surely not. Really.

Maybe he had some kind of hidden trick that he'd pull out to make the contest interesting. Hopefully.

Soon, it was time to begin the match. Remembering Master's words, Yang Xiu politely bowed to her opponent when it was the proper time to do so. He didn't even give her a nod. Instead, he simply stared at her like she was something yucky that he'd stepped on and was inconveniently stuck to his shoe.

Master truly didn't seem to care about face, but she'd read too many stories about cultivators to ignore her opponent's provocation. He'd pay for his insult. He'd pay dearly.

The official signal started the contest, and she immediately launched an arrow, curious as to what he would do.

He … gradually formed a crescent of air and propelled it at her, similar to Master's Wind Slash only much, much weaker. And slower.

She easily could have stepped to the side and avoided it completely, but given the small quantity of qi built up inside the attack, she wasn't exactly scared of it. And honestly, she was more than a little curious about how much damage it would do.

Yang Xiu let the slash impact her shield.

The answer to how much damage it would do was … not much.

Master had told her that her new technique, Feather Fall, wouldn't be needed in her first match, and he was right. For one thing, the ability to create separation by jumping high in the air and falling slowly down wasn't useful against an opponent using a ranged weapon. More importantly, though, he was simply too weak for her to reveal any of her tricks.

The match came down to straight math. He could send one Wind Slash in the time she could send roughly six arrows—sometimes seven. Each Wind Slash hit with one and a half times potency due to her aspect being weak against his. In contrast, her arrows landed with reduced potency for the same reason.

If she were fully reliant on Ice, her attacks would have been reduced to half damage against his Wind shield. Luckily, though, she'd added Sharpness to her repertoire. Ice was still the primary qi element attached to her arrows, but the additional element eliminated some of the type weakness, allowing her attacks to hit with seventy to eighty percent effectiveness.

She, however, had three times as much qi as he did. Another big advantage she had was that, while his qi had to form the projectile and move it and account for all the damage, her arrows were physical objects being driven by a physical mechanism, the bowstring. That meant all her qi essentially went to increased damage. Additionally, since she was more talented and had access to better techniques, her qi was naturally more efficient than his.

Furthermore, each arrow that hit his shield burned a simply enormous amount of his reserve compared to similar hits on her very efficient shield.

Overall, the calculations were very much not in his favor.

Despite those many, many disadvantages, though, he was content to stand there launching Wind Slash after Wind Slash while being pounded by her arrows. Sooner than probably most people watching expected, his shield sputtered, and his ability to create new attacks ceased.

Yang Xiu got in two additional hits before he surrendered.

Sweet. That was for not bowing.

Yang Ru couldn't help but be curious about his opponent. Master had broken his non-intervention policy by giving Yang Ru a technique to defend his mind and had done so solely because of the person he would be facing. Master, however, would not reveal anything else about the match.

Naturally, Yang Ru couldn't help but wonder why. On one hand, he had previously had no defense against mental attacks, so he understood why Master would provide such a technique. Without it, Yang Ru would have almost certainly lost.

But so what?

No cultivators in the very beginning stages of Foundation Establishment had learned enough techniques to protect against every avenue of attack. There should have been no reasonable expectation for him to defend against something esoteric. Losing to someone using mental manipulation wouldn't detract from his or the sect's honor. If anything, the sect whose member used such tactics might lose a bit of face, depending on how dishonorable their technique actually was.

The only other thing Yang Ru knew for sure was that his opponent possessed spiritual roots inferior to his, but again, he didn't see how that mattered. Since the mismatch in techniques wasn't something he should be expected to overcome, there was no shame in him losing.

Why, then, did Master care enough to step in, especially since he'd made it clear that winning tournament matches was still not a priority?

The answer, for some reason, lay in the opponent. Somehow, it would be bad for Yang Ru to lose to that particular person in the particular manner that he would have. And the consequences were not simply a loss of a tournament match, which Master didn't care about.

No, a loss would be bad for some other reason, which Master wouldn't reveal.

So yes, curious was an understatement.

Finally, though, it was time for Yang Ru to enter the arena, and when he saw his opponent, curiosity morphed into confusion.

He was pitted against a young lady, a young lady with ample … assets. Worse, her robe, the blue of the Swift Blizzard Sect, was not standard issue. For one thing, most robes, including his, practically drug the ground. Hers stopped before her knees, revealing her bare legs beneath the hem. And the top wasn't much better.

Normally, shawl collars came together just below the neck, showing almost no skin, but hers gaped wide and didn't connect until the middle of her chest, exposing a lot more than most women seemed comfortable showing. Even her sleeves were short, baring most of her arms.

Everything that absolutely had to be covered was but only just.

The outfit struck him as quite weird. Why would anyone fight wearing such a thing? He didn't understand what it was supposed to accomplish. If one of the members of his Martial Pavilion had worn such a thing, he would have pulled that person aside for a talk about practicableness and propriety.

On the other hand, who was he to judge? Maybe her aspect or techniques or Dao demanded she dress in that manner.

What she wore was irrelevant, though. None of what he observed so far answered his fundamental question about why Master didn't want him losing to her. Cultivation realm and methods and techniques and a lot of other factors determined strength, not gender. There was no shame in losing to a female, even one who for some reason fought while half dressed.

Yang Ri walked to the middle of the arena where the young lady and an official stood. He first bowed to the official before doing the same to his opponent. She returned the gesture, and he made sure to keep his eyes firmly focused on her face as she did.

The young lady then introduced herself as Zhao Chunhua, which was strange. In none of the other matches had the combatants announced their names. In the interest of being polite, Yang Ru gave her his name in return.

Finally, time for speculation was over. The two moved to opposite sides of the arena, and the match started.

Since he knew she practiced some form of mental manipulation, his proper move was to end the fight as quickly as possible, so he should have charged her, building up Momentum all the while. But he was curious.

For a moment, nothing happened. Yang Ru stared at her, waiting for her to do something. Anything. But she just stood there.

Which, okay, so was he.

As he watched her, though, he happened to notice her large green eyes. They were quite striking, really. How did he not notice those before? They sparkled vividly. So intriguing. He never seen eyes that were so compelling.

And honestly, her pale oval face with those bright red lips and her colorful eyes was quite pleasing.

He swallowed hard.

Her neck, too, was interesting with the way her smooth skin curved so enticingly. He'd never actually seen quite so much of a young lady before. The experience wasn't unpleasant.

A bead of sweat appeared on his brow as his eyes moved lower.

And her…

Wait. What was he thinking? A few minutes ago, he hadn't given the girl a second thought. Now, he was suddenly concentrating on how pretty she was? As if she could hold a candle to Kang Lin?

No.

Ah. Her mental manipulation. The weird outfit was intended to show off her body. Zhao Chunhua focused on seduction.

Got it.

His new technique had broken the spell, and since he knew what to look out for, there was little chance of it re-establishing its hold

If he had fallen for such a tactic and lost to her… He would have become a laughingstock and developed a reputation that would follow him for a lifetime. Worse, he could see how Kang Lin might interpret such a thing in exactly the wrong way. Even though he was pretty sure he'd completely messed up the relationship with her somehow, him making a fool of himself over a young lady in front of thousands of spectators would surely have closed the door on any chance he had of salvaging it.

He made a mental note to thank Master profusely. Not only had he gone out of his way to create a technique to prevent the girl's seduction from succeeding, he'd broken his policy of non-interference in the tournament to do so. And none of it had anything to do with the sect's face or anything like that.

No, he'd done it simply to preserve Yang Ru having some chance at happiness.

He didn't have his parents anymore, but he thought they were resting easier ever since he and Yang Xiu had found Master to take care of them.

It was time to end the farce that was the match, though.

Yang Ru calmly walked across the sand toward his opponent. Not ran. Not building Momentum. Simply walked.

Zhao Chunhua kept leaning forward and sticking out her leg and twisting so that her behind was toward him, trying desperately to draw his attention. She failed. Miserably.

Once he reached her, he said, "Do you yield?"

Her response was to lean even farther forward, her robe gaping.

He slugged her right in the face.

She made no attempt to block, and her qi shield was extraordinarily weak. His punch cracked her nose, and she collapsed onto the ground like a sack of potatoes.

Chapter 338 – A Sweet, Fibrous Oval Fruit Or a Day Specified Numerically Or…

Teng Wuying sighed. Judging from Mao Biya's bright red face, she was about to say something unwise.

Not that seeing signs of her anger was necessary to determine that she prepared to make an exuberant proclamation based solely on emotion. She needed no reason to do so, and even those with only a passing acquaintanceship with her could ascertain as much.

At least their current steering committee meeting was closed to the public, so her outburst would be somewhat contained with just Kang Ya-Ting and Qiu ZhenKang present to witness it.

Not that either of them seeing it was ideal, but they should be used to it by that point.

Teng Wuying watched as she grew more and more agitated the longer the meeting lasted until, finally, she apparently couldn't contain herself any longer.

"The Rising Tide Sect cheated!" she yelled.

It was all Teng Wuying could do not to bury his face in his hands as he wondered if it was too late to change sides.

Well, obviously, he couldn't do that. The whole point of his entire plot was to gain control of the Trials Pagoda, which would have to be taken by force. Still, his ally made the switch so very, very tempting.

"Please state the manner in which the official tournament rules were breached and present your evidence," Qiu ZhenKang said, appearing completely unperturbed.

"The boy obviously was prepared to defend against mind attacks."

"Apologies, Branch Sect Leader," Qiu ZhenKang said, "but what rule would that violate?"

Kang Ya-Ting chuckled as he paged through the rule manual. "I'm having a hard time finding the particular passage that states, 'Swift Blizzard Sect schemes should be allowed to proceed with no sect being allowed to enact countermeasures.' But she doesn't even have proof of any countermeasures being enacted. The boy could have simply learned a mind defense technique well before reaching the tournament. After all, techniques are private with no requirement for disclosure."

Qiu ZhenKang ignored the interruption. "Branch Sect Leader, can you identify the specific rule that you allege was violated?"

Mao Biya fixed Kang Ya-Ting with a glare. "I move for a vote."

"Very well," Qiu ZhenKang said.

He went around the table. Mao Biya was obviously in favor of declaring a violation. Teng Wuying had no choice but to back his ally, and Kang Ya-Ting voiced his opposition.

"As no rule was specified and no evidence provided, the Chair votes in the negative," Qiu ZhenKang said. "With no plurality, the motion fails. The next order of business is…"

Benton sensed a message dragon inbound and snagged it from the air as soon as it appeared in his office.

Master,

With the Rising Tide Sect's surprising finish in the Qi Gathering division and early victories in the low Foundation Establishment division, sentiment among the Jade Chameleons and Swift Blizzards grows ever more against us. At the same time, our Poison Claw allies cheer for us even harder.

Tensions are approaching a climax. If the heads of our rival sects are not decapitated, this one fears that a full out sect war will erupt with the neutral Emperor's faction coming out the victor.

In preparation for the worst case, this one requests several boons. Gratitude for the shield array pylons. They could prove to be a lifesaver. But this one was curious if Master could also provide a formation that disrupts our enemies' anti-Teleportation efforts? It would be a tremendous relief to have a counter for such.

Additionally, it occurs to this one that having a beacon that could pull Teleportation talismans to a certain location could be a benefit in organizing logistics such as those required for a rapid retreat. Granted, new talismans might be required, but putting those in the hands of the guards, Senior Sister, and Senior Brother might save lives.

If these boons are not possible or if Master believes them to be ill advised, this one understands.

Your Loyal Disciple,

Zou Tian

Well, that first request was a no brainer. Benton had already created and distributed talismans that included a Quickstep with a Teleport, but that method for getting out of the range of jamming was not absolute by any means. An array that canceled whatever the enemies were using was actually an inspired idea, and anything that increased Zou Tian's ability to escape for adverse conditions was a Good Thing as far as Benton was concerned.

The second was a bit more problematic. Though Zou Tian had framed the need for a Teleportation beacon as a logistical aid, Benton wasn't stupid. Such a thing could also be used to muster troops for an attack. Did he want to give his sect members that ability?

Not really.

Benton sighed. But that was one thing he didn't dare order them not to do since he wasn't sure they would obey. No matter what he said, they would want to take part in fighting, and it would be better that they were prepared. Their enthusiasm might even be a good if there were any realm appropriate attacks for them to handle.

They were cultivators who were considered adults in their society, not children. Keeping them one hundred percent safe was not appropriate.

All of which would be cold comfort if one of them got killed.

Fine. He'd make the beacon and provide a limited number of special Teleport talismans that would home in on that beacon to the appropriate people.

Oh, and he'd need another new talisman that checked if the beacon was active. Otherwise, the new Teleport would do nothing.

And while he was crafting, he might as well create a sword for the upcoming auction since he'd promised Jia Xueqin that he would. And while he was okay with popping back to the sect for a quick job like creating the karma orb, the current projects on his plate would take a decent amount of time. Which meant switching places with Yuan Yaozu again.

Oh well, that wasn't exactly hard to arrange, just a little annoying what with the messages and multiple Teleports. What Benton needed was a Dimensional space that he could use for crafting, one that he could create and then open portals to it from wherever he happened to be.

"System," he said internally, "does this world have access to extra dimensional spaces?"

Yes.Sweet.

He purchased a knowledge technique to Mastery that gave him the understanding that he needed and followed that purchase up with both a technique and a Concept.

Upon further reflection, it turned out that creating a dimension just for crafting wouldn't help him much with his current problem. He'd still have to be careful not to get so engrossed in his work that he stopped monitoring for contingency ring beacons, meaning a new space was functionally no different than simply Teleporting back to the Administration Hall.

Some of the unique characteristics of Dimensions could help solve future problems, though. For example, transit. Setting up a network of Teleport Stations to get between the sect, the clan, the town, and the city was doable, but anyone using it to get from one place to the next would have to pay a bunch of greater spirit coins. In contrast, he could set up a Dimensional portal from each of the locations to a new space that he created. Anyone wanting to travel from, say, the village to the city would simply step through the portal to the ancillary space and choose to portal from there to the city.

They'd still have to pay a price in qi, but it would be an order of magnitude smaller than Teleportation. Of course, the drawback was that it would cost Benton a lot, lot more to set up, but that was okay. He'd prefer to spend big at the beginning to save everyone money in the long run.

That project would take time and experimentation and would likely run his qi pool way too close to dry considering that he needed to be on alert for an ambush at all times. No, Dimensional travel was something for future Benton to figure out. Current Benton already had enough on his plate.

Soon, he'd coordinated with all his council members who were present at that tournament and with Yuan Yaozu, allowing Benton to get to crafting.

The pylons went quickly. He just had to create an array that would counter Teleportation jamming, easy work for a Formations Master. He whipped up a half dozen sets of four in objective minutes.

The talismans and the beacon took a bit longer as his standard formation used intent control. Modifying it to search for input from a beacon and take the user there turned out to be more difficult than he would have imagined, consuming subjective hours.

Finally came the fun part—the sword. Anything Time aspected seemed to have gone for a premium, so his first thought was to use that element. But he didn't want to just replicate the same thing he'd done last time. That would be boring.

Hmm.

The answer came to him—The Recursive Blade. Yes.

Upon activation when striking a target, the blade would wind back time in a small area and inflict two additional hits on the target. Three wounds for the price of one. Or, more accurately, the sword would cause one wound that was three times as bad for a quite modest qi cost.

Excellent. That was sure to sell for a good amount and further build on both his relationship with the auction house and his reputation as a crafter.

Yang Ru was practicing his forms when Yang Xiu approached.

"Brother, do you trust me?" she said.

That was a dangerous question.

"Depends on the context," he said.

"For something serious."

"Well, then, yes. I trust you with my life."

She smiled. "Good answer. Get cleaned up and come with me."

A short while later, he met her at the compound's exit where she waited with Sun Hua. He tilted his head at the surprise inclusion.

"She and I need to discuss something of importance while you're otherwise occupied," Yang Xiu said. "You don't mind, do you?"

Yang Ru grunted.

Sun Hua cupped her hands, and he responded the same way.

The three walked with Yang Ru trailing, only slightly curious as to where they were going. When they clearly approached a tea house, though, he couldn't help but wonder why.

"You're going on a date," Yang Xiu said.

His heart immediately sped. "Kang Lin is here?"

"No."

"But…"

"There is a very nice and quite cute young lady from the Poison Claw Sect inside waiting for you. Her name is Liao Fan."

"Xiu'er, you know that I'm not interested in dating anyone besides Kang Lin."

"I do know that, which is why you're going to sit down with the nice, cute young lady and have a cup of tea. While doing so, you'll be engag… uh, charm… uh, you'll talk to her. No grunting!"

"But—"

"Do you trust me?" she said.

"Yes, but—"

"It's a yes or no question, no buts allowed."

"Fine," he said, "but can you please explain what's going on? I don't understand."

Yang Xiu sighed. "Do you remember when I was five or six, and I really wanted that toy, the carved horse?"

"Of course. You went on and on and on about that thing for months, dragging me to the market daily so you could look at it. No one was more relieved than I was when our parents finally gave in and bought it for you."

"It was so cute." She grinned. "Anyway, how much did I actually play with that horse after I got it?"

"A lot for like the first couple of days. After that, not much."

"Exactly."

"I don't understand," he said.

"I know, and that's the problem."

"Xiu'er…"

"People want what they can't have, Ru'er, including girls. Especially girls. Even Kang Lin. What you did with that floozy in the tournament was perfect. It made half the girls in the audience swoon for you. All but Kang Lin, who knows now more than ever that, if she wants you, she has you."

Yang Ru opened and closed his mouth a few times. "You want me to pretend to like this girl, Liao Fan?"

"No. I want you to have a nice cup of tea with her and engage in conversation. Tell her about yourself. Ask her about herself. It's not difficult."

"This doesn't seem right, Xiu'er. I'm essentially using her to make myself more attractive to another girl. That kind of behavior is not okay."

Yang Xiu sighed and shook her head. "Didn't we talk about trust? Do you think I'd let you use a poor girl and get her hopes up?"

He relaxed. "You're right. Sorry for the accusation."

"You are, honestly, way out of her league. Besides being nice and cute, she doesn't have much going for her. From the standpoint of cultivators, anyway. Just having tea with you will raise her status. She's getting as much or more out of the date than you are, and she had no expectations of anything beyond tea."

Yang Xiu paused. "Don't get me wrong. If you developed feelings for her, she'd be ecstatic. But she knows exactly where you stand."

Yang Ru thought about the situation for a moment. On one hand, it felt like playing games, which he didn't like. On the other, his sister was a lot better than him at social stuff, and he trusted her to have his best interests in mind.

Honestly, all he was doing was having a cup of tea with a girl. There was nothing wrong with that.

He, his sister, and Sun Hua walked inside, and after having Liao Fan pointed out to him, he marched directly to her table.

"Greetings," he said, cupping his hands. "This one is Yang Ru. May I sit?"