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Chapter 221 – A Third Option
🕑 Added 2025-03-19 02:42:50 +0000 UTC4/13/25 A/N: Uploaded this chapter with a later version. Most of the stuff was clarity/typo related. However, I did retcon a couple of things about the trap to better match future events.
IIn preparation for the big reveal of an important sect secret, Benton paused to figure out how best to tell the council in a way that sounded believable. Well, he paused partly for that reason but mostly for dramatic effect.
The problem was that cultivators were hard to kill, and the higher one ascended, the truer that principle became. Even a Qi Gathering cultivator in the middle of the realm would be difficult for a mortal to defeat and reaching Foundation Establishment increased strength, speed, toughness, and any other attribute one could think of beyond human maximums. Way beyond.
By the time one reached Golden Core, one become practically indestructible from anything besides incredible force. If one were to go to Earth, the cultivator could stand up to the mightiest weapons the US military could muster short of nuclear missiles. And for all Benton knew, one might even be able to withstand even that amount of force if their qi shield was strong enough.
But Benton wasn’t really worried about Golden Cores. Given enough resources, any average formation expert could craft arrays to defend against and even defeat a Golden Core cultivator.
No, his enemies were Nascent Souls.
Those cultivators were tougher, stronger, and faster than Golden Cores by an order of magnitude. Their aura provided such an incredible suppressive power that it would dampen even a nuclear blast. A lesser cultivator managing to kill one fell outside the area of what was achievable barring extreme and once-in-multiple-millenniums-rare type situations.
There was no easy way to tell the council the truth in a way that made it sound reasonable, so he decided it was best to simply rip off the Band Aid. They’d either believe him or they wouldn’t.
“The two towers that I will build, attacking in tandem and combined with a trap formation, can kill a Nascent Soul cultivator,” Benton said.
The council members that possessed the most knowledge of high realmed cultivators, Guang Yin and Kang Lin, looked doubtful. Older members, like the mayor, Pan Xiaolian, and Xiang Da, seemed surprised. The other youngsters, on the other hand, took his word as a matter of course.
Benton didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at the faith the kids had in him. If he told them he was planning on bringing one of the moons down to the surface, they’d not only believe him, but they’d not think it was any big deal.
“You can build such a thing, Master?” Kang Lin said.
There was no way that Benton could have come up with a formation that was powerful enough. Nascent Souls were simply too tough, and their auras worked on devices as easily as they did on opponents. If he had a schematic, however, his expertise with formations was more than up to inscribing the most complicated and difficult arrays imaginable.
He just needed the right schematic. Which might not have existed anywhere on the planet.
Luckily, being a cheating cheater who cheats didn’t just apply to techniques and the use of Sect Points. The Shop could supply him with almost anything he could imagine, including the template he needed.
The problem was the cost. Two hundred fifty Shop Points. The majority of what he had available.
If he pulled the trigger on the schematic, he would have to learn alchemy just so he could supply Qi Condensation Pills to his sect members.
Which was probably something he should have been doing anyway.
The schematic wasn’t a perfect solution, of course. There were no perfect solutions for defeating an enemy as strong and versatile as a Nascent Soul cultivator. But as far as he could determine, it was the only thing that gave the sect even a chance at surviving an attack if he wasn’t around.
Or of him surviving an attack if the enemy came with overwhelming force.
“I don’t want to overstate my ability,” Benton said. “Nascent Souls are tough. For the towers to kill one of them, both would have to hit the target simultaneously as their combined power is exponential instead of multiplicative. Unfortunately, achieving such a feat would require the Nascent Soul to be stationary for a short period. Which would require luring the cultivator over a static trap formation.”
The problem there was that Nascent Souls also had exceptional spiritual senses. It was difficult to hide a formation from them. But that feat was remotely doable in the right circumstances. Instead of using the expensive, System-grade materials suggested by the schematic for the trap formation, he’d use mortal materials. Between the mundane resources and keeping the array completely inert of qi until it was triggered would make detecting it well-nigh impossible. Without qi or high-grade supplies, after all, there was nothing for the enemy to sense.
That setup created a big flaw, though. The resultant trap formation would be weaker than normal. The qi rushing through the inscribed channels would eventually destroy the flimsy material. He had no idea how long the trap would last while in operation, and it might not be able to be used a second time.
An even bigger flaw was that someone would have to lure one of the Nascent Souls close enough to trigger the trap, which was almost as monumental a task as killing one of them in the first place.
Relying on the towers was not a great plan. It was, in fact, a horrible plan. But it was the only plan that had any hope of success.
Kang Lin stared at him with wide eyes. “Even with those caveats, Master, the ability to create a formation that can destroy the pinnacle of cultivators is amazing.”
Somehow, describing the towers’ flaws had convinced her that he really could do what he said.
“If I work around the clock, I should be able to complete the towers in about a week,” Benton said. “Which means I wouldn’t have much time for anything else, especially since I’ll be the one building the wall pretty soon after the towers are finished. And then I’ll be busy inscribing the sect’s Grand Protective Formation.”
“Which is where we come in,” Zou Tian said. “Helping you decide if it’s better to commit all your time to the towers or if you should instead pursue the second option that you alluded to.”
That kid was, by far, the smartest person in the sect. Benton sure was glad for that encounter outside the warehouse back in the city.
“You are exactly correct,” Benton said. “Whereas the towers seem like the short-term project that would most benefit the sect, there’s something else I’m considering creating that would be much more useful in the long term—qi sources.”
That time, Kang Lin was the only one that had a reaction, and from her expression, she could barely contain herself. And honestly, he was kind of surprised that even she knew what a qi source was. Su’s memories had drawn a blank. If not for coming across a reference to them while researching other information provided by the System, Benton himself would have had no clue that they existed.
The more he thought about it, the more impressed he was by Kang Lin’s knowledge. His guess was that her grandfather was grooming her to eventually become a sect elder.
Benton stifled a grin. More his gain then if she and Yang Ru did end up getting married as cultivators from generally patriarchally led sects tended to remain with the husband’s.
“You know how you cultivate faster when you’re in the Wood, right?” Benton said.
“Yes, Sect Leader,” they chorused.
“The boost it provides is nice, right, even though it’s small?”
“Yes, Sect Leader.”
“What if you could double your cultivation speed?” Benton let that question hang as it soaked into his council members.
“Half the time, Master?” Yang Xiu’s eyes sparkled.
“Half the time.”
“I say we go with option two, Master,” his scamp of a disciple said.
Benton couldn’t help but grin. “Well, it’s not as easy as all that.” He explained about how difficult it was to obtain the materials necessary to create the qi source.
Guang Yin tentatively raised his hand, a strange act for the grizzled old wood harvester.
“Yes?” Benton said.
“We might have those for the Nature element, Sect Leader,” Guang Yin said. “The plant portion, anyway. At least, I think that your description matches what the Righteous Rain Sect used to harvest.”
Now that factoid was quite interesting. Benton waved his hand for the man to continue.
“You might be aware that we cut the trees about a foot above the ground?”
Benton nodded as he had noticed that. He’d assumed there was a reason for it but had never asked.
“Each of the trunks contains a kernel in that foot of trunk,” Guang Yin said. “It’s about the size of a walnut, and my understanding is that the little thing is packed with qi. As long as it remains in place, the tree re-grows.”
“And the sect harvested them?” Benton said.
“Only rarely. Over time, new trees grow, and if they get too close to other trees, it’s not healthy for either the new one or the old. Part of our job is to thin the grove as necessary.”
Interesting. Very interesting.
“Do you have any trees needing to be thinned now?” Benton said.
“Fifteen or twenty, Sect Leader,” Guang Yin said.
“Next chance you get, bring me one.” Benton was very curious to know if the object in question actually could be used to create a qi source and also what else, if anything, might be crafted from the mysterious kernels.
Regardless, it was time to put to his council the question he’d gathered them for.
“Who here is in favor of me, instead of constructing the towers, going to Sixth Flawless Flowing City and searching for proper materials?” Benton said.
The response was not as overwhelming as he anticipated. Even though the towers provided protection, the qi sources held the promise of more power faster. Few cultivators could resist such a siren call.
Yang Xiu was firmly in the affirmative camp, as were most of the younger sect members—Shi Long, Zi Delan, and both the guards. Yang Ru was, as usual, noncommittal, and Wan Ai’s gaze barely left the floor with so many people around.
It was Zou Tian who surprised Benton, though, by looking puzzled.
“Why do you have to go, Master?” Zou Tian said.
“I can’t very well find the materials needed for the qi sources by sitting around here.”
“I meant, why does it have to be you, Master?”
Benton shrugged. He supposed that it didn’t. An explanation of what to look for should be enough, especially if they imposed on Kang Ya-Ting for assistance. Without letting him know why they needed the materials, of course.
“Yeah. I guess that makes sense,” Benton said. “I could have Fatty Ren go to the City, but I hate having him leave his town again so soon, even though it’s for a good cause. That would allow me to build the towers while making forward progress on the qi sources. Great idea!”
“Why Fatty Ren, Master?”
“He’s the only other one who can…” Ah. Now Benton understood what Zou Tian was getting at. “Fly.”
Benton turned his eyes to his two star disciples. “Do you think you two could handle this mission? Fly your gliders all the way to Sixth Flawless Flowing City? Meet with Elder Kang and decide how much to spend on any materials you find?”
Yang Ru looked really hesitant but not Yang Xiu.
“Of course, Master. We’ll handle it for you.”
That response didn’t exactly fill him with great confidence. Besides, sending two kids to a location where the Jade Chameleons could get at them didn’t sit well with Benton. It didn’t sit well at all.
Regardless of what the council and the twins might want, he’d have to think long and hard about the situation before agreeing to let them go.
“If I might make a suggestion, Master?” Zou Tian said. “Maybe have Kang Lin go with them? She’s more familiar with the city.”
But she couldn’t fly…
Oh. Well, it wouldn’t take all that much time to make her a glider, too.
“Kang Lin?” Benton said.
“Of course, Master. It will be good to see Grandfather again.” Her eyes were sparkling, probably at the prospect of getting a glider of her own.
Having her along provided some protection, both from her added combat prowess and by the weight of the Poison Claw Sect that she carried with her. Benton still wasn’t convinced that sending them was a good idea, though.
But it did allow him to pursue a very nice third option—building the towers and searching for materials to build qi sources simultaneously.
“I will consider your recommendations and let you know my decision tomorrow. Unless anyone has any other ideas we should try?” Benton looked directly at Zou Tian.
“I did have a question, Master. How did you make the formations for the fliers so quickly? You disappeared for only a few minutes to pick the bases up from the Blacksmith Pavilion before returning with a completely finished product.”
That the lead scout/spy had known exactly where Benton went and what he was doing while he was away didn’t surprise him in the least.
“Time Manipulation,” Benton said.
Zou Tian nodded as if confirming something to himself. “Then could you not simply speed time up for us to cultivate, Master? It would still take us the same amount of time, but only a fraction of that would pass here in the real world, right?”
That idea was another interesting one, and something Benton hadn’t considered. There was a problem with it, though.
“Imagine a mortal trapped in a room, one that is sealed by a barrier that nothing can penetrate,” Benton said. “What will happen to that mortal if he’s left there long enough?”
“He’ll suffocate,” Zou Tian answered immediately.
“Exactly, because he’ll replace all the breathable air with non-breathable air. In other words, he’ll use up all the stuff that he needs to breathe. While I can provide plenty of breathable air to a space via a formation, it’s the same thing with qi. You’d quickly use up all that the bubble contained, making cultivation impossible.” Benton paused. “Of course, I guess we could use sensors and drop the Time Manipulation when the qi runs low. Then, we’d have to wait for the atmosphere to replenish the qi before starting again.
“That might be worth at least experimenting with to see how much acceleration we can gain.”
Yang Xiu frowned. “Why not use spirit coins, Master?”
“Because there are two types of qi—atmospheric qi that you use to cultivate and processed qi that a cultivator has used for some purpose. The latter will mix with the former after it’s expelled and eventually transform, but you can’t cultivate it until that point.”
She cupped her hands. “Gratitude, Master.”
“Any other questions or ideas?” Benton said.
There were none, so he quickly dismissed the council. He had a lot of work to do.
Comments
Xiver
Suggesting two corrections: “The two towers in going to build, attacking in tandem and combined with a trap formation, can kill a Nascent Soul cultivator,” Benton said. in -> I'm Now that factoid was quit interesting. Benton waved his hand for the man to continue. quit -> quite
Dark Phoenix
I'm surprised he didn't say anything, even an offhand like "Oh they aren't" and then moving on to keep her confused
RedFaux
"The pinnacle of Cultivatiors" heh. Totally the pinnacle
