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Chapter 119 – No-Brainer
🕑 Added 2024-10-21 20:56:42 +0000 UTCBenton accessed the System menu for cultivation method creation, and for the first time, chose Foundation Establishment. The Sect Point Factor being set to two was a bit of a bummer, but his elation at having a disciple finally breakthrough to the next major realm easily countered any negative feelings. Besides, he was quite flush with points.
The twins both were doing fantastic, advancing through realms and techniques quickly, and their qi pools were phenomenally high compared to their peers. Part of that was their talent and his having set the Power category so high, of course, but a lot of their success was using a cultivation method specifically aligned with their unique qi aspect.
That fact made choosing “Targeted to Specific Qi Aspect” a no-brainer. Next, though, came his two hardest decisions.
Generally, he started out his distribution of points by determining either the most important or the least important category, and creating Yang Xiu’s new cultivation method was no exception. Advancing through all nine minor realms of Foundation Establishment took the average sect member about a decade, assuming no major bottlenecks. Yang Xiu, simply due to her immense talent, would likely shave a year or two off that time, and Benton saw no pressing need for her to attain Golden Core more quickly than that.
Ease, therefore, was the lowest priority for the new method. He set it at 10.
Her Qi Gathering method had its Power set high at sixty-five points, and the results showed in her qi pool. The category remained important in Foundation Establishment, both for the size of the pool and the quality of her qi.
Benton didn’t have a way to empirically measure strength of qi, but he was willing to bet that the twins’ would outclass almost any of their peers from another sect. And that advantage was one that would help them in every fight of their entire long lives.
The problem was that Foundation was even more important. A weak Golden Core cultivator would obliterate the strongest one who was stuck in the Foundation Establishment realm, and he wanted to see the twins reach Nascent Soul or even higher.
He’d set the category low for their initial method because he was sure their talent would see them far. The higher they got, however, the less sure advancement became. Now was the time to make an investment for the future.
Benton set Foundation to fifty-five, leaving thirty-five for Power.
Yeah. That distribution felt right. He locked it in.
Finally, came his least favorite decision—the name.
Ugh.
He wanted something that conveyed action and impact since she could externally manipulate her qi while also referencing the nature of her ice. Reign. That word evoked action and impact in his mind, but what about her specific qi aspect?
It was smooth. Polished. Effortless.
That was it—Reign of Effortlessly Flowing Ice.
Good enough. He locked the name in as well, committing the twenty points for the new method.
Next, the techniques. He pulled up the appropriate menu and chose Foundation Establishment.
For his very talented core disciples, choosing “Targeted to Specific Qi Aspect” was again a no-brainer. Having techniques uniquely attuned to them would make them more powerful immediately, and that power would scale when they advanced to Golden Core and created their Concept.
For the rank and file of the sect, he’d have to be more thoughtful. Each person having a specific technique or two to build the core of their crafting or fighting around was probably justified, but so was having some standard techniques that anyone with a particular broad aspect could learn.
Anyway, that was a problem for future Benton.
“System,” he said internally, “please give me a technique that allows my disciple to coat an arrow with her qi making it slip effortlessly through the air at great speed and impact with the weight of ice.”
Unlike her beginning archery technique, the one he was creating wasn’t meant to be foundational. There were no more skills to be learned in the future that would build on what it provided. Instead, it was simply designed to give her a particular skill.
He set Foundation to zero.
The other two categories were both important, but Ease was considerably less so. With her combination of talent and diligence, he had no doubt that she’d be able to learn even the most difficult of techniques.
Still, there was a beast tide rapidly approaching, and she needed to have the skill at Small Success to have any chance at taking down rank four and above spirit beasts. He needed to allocate some points to the category solely because of the dire need for her to learn it quickly.
Choosing a number that was neither too high nor too low felt more like an art than a science. He set the category to twenty-five.
That distribution left a whopping seventy-five for power.
Good. That would give her quite a bit of needed oomph.
Benton was starting to prefer short descriptive names for techniques, so he went with Slippery Arrow.
That name was … fine. He probably wouldn’t forget what it did at least.
He repeated the process for her shield technique, once again choosing to target her specific qi aspect, of course. When the System asked him about the skill or ability to be imparted, however, he had a thought.
“System, I’m assuming that I can’t create a technique that lets my disciple use a different qi aspect, correct?”
As expected, of course, but it was prudent to make sure.
“System, how about the reactive nature of my shield? Can I make one for Yang Xiu that triggers automatically and only to the extent needed?”
He'd take that as a win, but there was a tradeoff for using programmed responses. Because they were automatic, the cultivator did not get to allocate the amount of qi to be drained. Instead, the technique simply took whatever it needed from the user’s qi pool.
“Yang Xiu, there’s another decision for you to make.”
Benton explained the basic function of the shield technique to her.
“I don’t understand why I wouldn’t want that feature, Master. Yes, the technique might drain my entire qi pool at once, but wouldn’t the alternative be that I’d be struck and perhaps severely injured or killed by an attack?”
“Yes. No. Maybe.”
She stared at him with a confused expression, and he laughed.
“Let’s say a sniper with stealth abilities good enough to hide even from you shoots an arrow at the back of your head. Without your shield active, you’re dead, so this feature is a no-brainer, right?”
Literally, because she would no longer have a brain.
He would have chuckled at his own pun if it wasn’t so grim.
She nodded vigorously.
“Great. New scenario. You’re fighting against an opponent who is slow but strong. You dodge, but their strike hits your arm. Without the technique’s special feature, you lose your arm, but your counterstrike kills your opponent. After, you take a Major Healing Pill, and you’re good as new. With the feature, your shield triggers and drains all your qi. You have nothing left to counterstrike. Your opponent decapitates you. Game over.”
“Oh.”
“Everything has positives and negatives, Yang Xiu. Everything.”
She thought for a moment. “Being struck unaware feels like a much greater risk than the second scenario. As long as I know the dangers, I can plan for them, Master. I would prefer that the technique have the feature.”
“I think that’s good reasoning.”
He told her about needing to attain Mastery for it to take effect.
“Understood, Master.”
Benton locked in the skill specification and moved onto allotting Technique Creation Points. The same reasoning process he used for Slippery Arrow still applied for Foundation, but he reconsidered his thoughts about Ease and Power.
It was crucial that Yang Xiu develop an attack that used qi prior to the beast tide. In contrast, the shield was a nice to have rather than a necessity. She could already go toe to toe with highly ranked spirit beasts just based on her speed and Body Cultivation.
Still, Ease did have some importance in that the sooner she got to Mastery and could use the automatic response, the better. Twenty-five was too high, but did it need to be ten, fifteen, or twenty?
Without any really good argument for one over the other two, he went with the choice in the middle, setting Ease at fifteen and Power at eighty-five. Considering that Ice was already considered one of the better qi aspects for shields, hers was going to be stout indeed.
A few moments and nine Sect Points later, and Automated Slippery Ice Shield was created.
He handed the three jade slips to Yang Xiu.
She cupped her hands. “Much gratitude, Master.”
Benton pulled up the Shop Menu and told it that he wanted the two pills that combined with the Black Ice Qi Concentrating Pill to increase a Foundation Establishment cultivator’s qi pool by ten percent. The System told him that the pills cost one Shop Point each.
Two Shop Points versus a ten percent permanent increase in qi pool.
He didn’t have to deliberate long. She’d immediately gain access to two hundred sixty-two more qi, a number that would increase to over two thousand six hundred at the start of Golden Core. That quantity was enough to one day save her life.
For two Shop Points, it was worth it.
“After you finish consolidating your gains but before you start either cultivating or learning your techniques, go to the Guard House and consume these, all three at once.”
“Yes, Master.”
Such was her trust in him that she didn’t even ask what the purpose of the pills were.
He had such amazing disciples.
Comments
ShadeByTheSea
I mean it's not my favorite but it works now that I know about.(I usually check patreon when a chapter is released on RR.)
BWFoster78 Last
That's way easier for me. Please, please let me know if that's not okay with you.
BWFoster78 Last
What I'm doing is making all the new chapters available on Monday. So tomorrow morning, seven new chapters will drop. That actually means that, instead of 20 chapters ahead of RR, you'll actually be 27 chapters ahead on Monday, 26 on Tuesday, etc.
tonright
where them new chapters at? it's been nearly a week!
BWFoster78 Last
Thank you! That means a lot.
Daoist_Matt
TFTC!!! 😋🥳 And I mean it! Thank you Mr Esteemed Super Talented Author Sir. I have enjoyed the hell out of this story so far. It makes me want to reread everything (again). Congrats on your patreon and new found success! Rooting for you!
Christopher
There appears to be no more chapters, alas.
ChillyPepper
And now back to the pain of the missing next chapter button :P Congrats on the successful patreon launch and looking forward to seeing what comes next! Gratitude, author 🙇
tonright
I caught up aaaaaaaaaa
Pagemaster
You're welcome!
BWFoster78 Last
Awesome! I cannot express how much it means to me. Thank you!
Pagemaster
I am here to support this wonderful novel! :-)
BWFoster78 Last
Thank you so much!
tonright
YES! Patreon! I said I would be here and here I am! Binge time!
