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Chapter 101 – The Reverberations of Actions
🕑 Added 2024-10-21 10:09:01 +0000 UTCYang Xiu couldn’t believe how unfathomable her master was.
First, he hopped over the fifteen-foot-tall gate with all the ease she would have demonstrated leaping over a fallen tree trunk. Upon landing, he calmly stood there as the jaguar, for no apparent reason, was repelled from atop Yang Ru.
Again for no apparent reason and with Master simply standing still, the cat smashed into the ground like it had been slammed with great force. It literally sunk several inches into hard-packed dirt and lie there unmoving.
Master walked at a leisurely pace to the spirit beast, crouched, and held out his arm, looking for all the world like he wanted the cat to claw him. Yang Xiu couldn’t understand what he was doing or why. Suddenly, the jaguar’s right front leg broke free of whatever force was holding it and swiped at him, and for an instant, she was worried.
She needn’t have been. The claw never even touched skin. An invisible force repelled it a fraction of an inch above his hand.
Master hmmed before pushing back his sleeve and letting the jaguar claw him again. The swipe was not repelled, but it had as little effect as if it had been.
Yang Xiu was amazed. She and Yang Ru were far and away the strongest of the disciples. They’d both went toe to toe with the best Poison Claw Sect members in the Qi Gathering realm.
Neither of them had even been able to scratch the big cat.
In contrast, Master dominated the spirit beast, controlling it with invisible forces beyond her comprehension. The dozens of people that had gathered to watch by that point were all murmuring their awe. Even Yang Ru seemed stunned by the power on display.
So unfathomable.
Master smoothly rose, summoned his spear from his ring, and struck the beast’s eye. By this point, Yang Xiu definitely wasn’t expecting the beast to be able to resist his blow, and for once, something that occurred during the fight met her expectations.
A flash of qi burst from his spear as it made contact with the invisible layer that had protected the beast. It resonated with her. Ice. The burst was ice qi.
Was Master an ice user? She’d never sensed him use it before.
The ice qi flared, and the tip of the spear kept going through the jaguar’s eye. A different type of qi burst, and the cat died instantly.
Master looked up, his eyes going to a small form lying on the floor of the bedroom.
It was a little boy. From the look of things, the cat had landed in his room and swiped him across the room, tearing off his arm near the shoulder in the process. In addition to the missing limb, his torso was heavily scratched, and there was a large knot on his head where he’d struck the wall. There was blood everywhere.
Yang Xiu’s heart rose in the throat. The boy was barely breathing, and blood still pumped out of his wounds. He wouldn’t last much longer.
Master wasn’t finished, though. He ran to the boy and forced a pill down the kid’s throat. Moments later, the arm started regrowing and, in seconds, had fully reformed.
Yang Xiu had learned enough about cultivation while at the Poison Claw Sect to know that only a Major Healing Pill could perform such a feat. Such alchemical miracles were treasured even by Golden Core cultivators. To use one on a mortal child was incomprehensible.
She grinned. Master was truly unfathomable. And that was the kind of cultivator he wanted each of them to be.
Yang Xiu didn’t know if she’d ever be as strong or generous as him, but she sure would try.
###
Benton had a notification pop up.
As soon as he dismissed it, another notification popped up.
That was nice. Honestly, he was a bit surprised that he didn’t already have the twins’ complete loyalty. Then again, he supposed it was quite difficult to earn that level of devotion from someone.
Focusing on more important immediate concerns, he feared that rank four spirit beast attacks would only become more common going forward. He needed a way for the village to send out an alarm.
“System,” he said internally, “is there some kind of device that the guards can use to alert the village of an attack, ideally something that can signal where the attack is happening as well?”
That was little expensive, but if he were going to establish his sect at a distance from the village, he needed a way for them to notify him when they were in danger.
Of course, with his enhanced spiritual sense, he could easily determine where the attack was occurring once he knew about it, but he would soon have Foundation Establishment disciples. Eventually, such duties might be farmed out to them, so something that indicated location would be beneficial.
Benton confirmed the purchase, giving back the two Shop Points the twins had earned him. The gong appeared in his ring, and he pulled it out and presented it to the guards.
“This is called a Four-Zone Gong,” Benton said.
He had never heard of such a device, but considering that the round gong had each of its quadrants a different color, it didn’t take a genius to figure out.
“If a beast attacks the gate area, from the northeast, strike the red area.” He did just that and clear tone rang out. Committing the timbre to memory, he continued. “If from the northwest, strike the blue.”
Again, he repeated his actions. A different tone rang out.
“From the southwest, yellow.” Yet another tone. “And from the southeast, black.” A fourth tone rang out. “That will let my disciples and me know where the attack is coming from so that we can get there faster.”
The lead guard cupped his hands and bowed low. “Of course, Esteemed Sect Leader. It will be done.”
Benton dismissed the guard and told the twins to summon the entire council for a quick meeting. He figured the commotion would have woken most of them. “We’ll use your house.”
As the twins took off, he stored the jaguar in his ring. The rank four skin, teeth, and claws would be quite valuable. Well, the rest of the beast would be, too, but he planned on keeping that. The twins would be breaking through to Foundation Establishment before too long, and the meat would make a good celebratory meal. The fact that the core was fire aspected was also too good to pass up. He’d have to find a way to convert it into a weapon for Yang Ru.
Of course, having a new spear made for him meant that Benton would also have to find an ice aspected one for Yang Xiu, but he had a feeling that he would be encountering plenty of rank fours in the near future. So, not a problem.
“System,” he said internally, “I need a way for my sect members to contact me over a long distance. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy, just a whistle or something. Maybe something that uses qi to enhance the sound so that I’ll definitely hear it even from miles away?”
That wasn’t too bad. He purchased six of them.
He walked slowly to the abandoned house the twins had taken over for their own use. By the time he made it there, most of the others had already gathered. Several minutes later, Peng Zhen was the last to arrive.
“Alright everyone, is everyone up to date on what happened?” Benton said.
“Master was amazing,” Yang Xiu said. “A spirit beast attacked, and neither Yang Ru nor I could so much as scratch it. Master came and killed it like it was nothing. How strong was it, Master?”
“A rank four.”
“Really? Only that high?” Yang Xiu said. “It seemed a lot stronger than that.”
“There’s a huge jump for a beast to go from rank three to rank four. It’s the equivalent of you going from peak Qi Gathering to Foundation Establishment,” Benton said. “None of you will be able to fight a beast of that rank until you have techniques to externally manipulate qi. Understand?”
“Yes, Master,” the group said.
“That’s actually what I called this meeting to discuss.” Benton pulled the six whistles from his ring. “Since one rank four has made it all the way to the village, I’m positive that others will follow. From now on, any group that leaves the village not in my presence needs to have one of you carrying a whistle. If you encounter a rank four or any other situation you can’t handle, simply blow it, and I’ll come running.”
Everyone nodded.
“Yang Xiu, I’m giving one of these to you since you and Yang Ru often range alone.”
“Yes, Master,” she said.
“Ye Zan, please hold on to the rest and distribute as needed.”
“Yes, Master.”
“You probably won’t even know the beast you’ve encountered is a rank four until your attack fails. Be ready. If that happens, your goal becomes to hold it off, not to injure it or kill it. Blow the whistle. Understand?”
“Yes, Master,” the entire council said.
“Other than that, travel in groups. Help each other stay safe. If there’s another attack in the village, do your best to protect the mortals but don’t get yourself killed.”
“Yes, Master.”
No one else had much to add, so he dismissed them to go back to bed.
The next morning after he’d returned from his sweep of the Orange Vigor Spirit Wood area, he returned to the village where he found the mayor waiting.
Mo Jain kowtowed, pressing his forehead all the way down to the dirt.
Well, that was unexpected.
“Esteemed Sect Leader, this lowly one has been an idiot. Though the Esteemed Sect Leader has only exhibited the most honorable of acts in both words and deeds, this lowly one held doubts. This lowly one is thankfully not stupid enough to have acted counter to the Esteemed Sect Leader’s interests, but apologies are still in order.”
Interesting.
“System,” Benton said internally, “what is my current average loyalty?”
Very interesting.
“Honorable Mayor, why the sudden change or heart?” Benton said.
“The Esteemed Sect Leader’s actions of last night are on every tongue—killing a ferocious spirit beast that managed to penetrate our walls that even your accomplished core disciples could not touch, generously using a treasure worth more than the entire village on a mortal child, and presenting the village with such an amazing gift along with the promise for future protection. The Esteemed Sect Leader has gone far beyond the expectations of this lowly one, treating the village and its people as true valued partners despite them being mortals and commoners besides.”
Benton scratched the back of his neck. “Gratitude, Honorable Mayor. I am glad that you have reached such a conclusion and look forward to our growing cooperation going forward.”
Once the mayor had left, Benton pondered the situation. Acts that he performed as a matter of course, thinking nothing of them, were turning out to have significant consequences. He wondered what else he may have done that had results that reverberated much farther than intended.
Comments
BWFoster78 Last
Thanks! I'll add to my revision list.
Jeff091
hi, thanks for the story typo He ran to boy and forced a +the He ran to the boy and forced a #################################### Since one rank four has made all the way to the village +it Since one rank four has made it all the way to the village
Daoist_Matt
TFTC 😋🥳
