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Chapter 115 – Letters and Numbers
🕑 Added 2024-10-21 19:09:23 +0000 UTCAs soon as the beast was dead, Yang Ru sunk into meditation, going over the fight in his head over and over again. Specifically, he concentrated on his use of Stone Skin to toughen two opposite ends of his body, the part facing the raven and his feet that he dug into the dirt.
He repeated the actions in his mind, feeling it almost click into place. So close. So, so close.
The usage felt off. Good. But not perfect. He’d toughened too much of his foot and started an instant too soon.
In his mind, the little image of Yang Ru corrected his mistake, found others, and corrected those as well.
Finally, finally, finally, it happened.
The image achieved perfection.
He’d done it. Achieved Mastery in Stone Skin.
Yang Xiu would no longer be able to rub that in his face.
He grimaced. No, but he was sure she’d soon find something else, probably reaching Foundation Establishment ahead of him. She had a bit of a lead. Maybe he could sneak in some extra cultivating at night when she was asleep…
###
Soon after the crisis involving the raven was resolved and everyone either fine or quickly on the mend, Benton received a pop up.
Awesome! Those were the kind of numbers he liked most, the ones that showed one of his disciples maxing out one of the things they were working on. First techniques and soon cultivation methods. He couldn’t wait.
Even better, the numbers took him to an even nine hundred fifty points earned, meaning he had another two to spend on himself.
Spending one point on Meditation would have left him with one remaining, so he instead invested both in Time Manipulation at Small Success.
He took a deep breath. There was something he was forgetting. Something important…
Ah. The letter from Kang Ya-Ting.
Benton pulled the scroll from his ring and broke the wax seal.
Friend Chao,
The two of us are in absolute agreement that my granddaughter is very much a delight. Filial, smart, and diligent. Any young man would be fortunate to even be considered as a potential suitor by her.
She doesn’t seem to have given the topic of your stellar disciple much thought, so I asked her to remedy that situation the next time the two of them meet. This old man has no objection to the pairing, not that my opinion is likely to hold much sway in such a matter.
I fear that you have once again managed to confound me. TTYL? What do those strange symbols represent?
The Poison Claw Sect has sent an official letter to the Chameleon Jade Sect warning them not to pursue any retaliation against the Prosperous Gray Forest Village or your disciples. Unfortunately, Teng Jian is known to be aggressive and somewhat undisciplined. Please watch yourself. When he emerges from seclusion, he will almost certainly fly into a murderous rage.
My friend, Elder Dai, and I are garnering much amusement from trying to decipher the mystery that is Chao Su. These ones would hate to be deprived of what limited entertainment is available to them due to an unfortunate incident with an enraged Golden Core cultivator.
Until next time.
Friend Kang
Benton had suggested that Kang Lin and Yang Ru should get together in order to provide an amusing opening to an otherwise serious letter as much as for any other reason. It seemed like Kang Ya-Ting took that ball and ran with it.
Hmm. That development was something the twins probably should know…
There was no sense penning another letter as Benton had no way to get it to Sixth Flawless Flowing City until after the beast tide, so any response could wait until then.
The same reasoning applied to Teng Jian. The Chameleon Jade Sect member would either come or he wouldn’t. Since Benton had advanced to Golden Core and was working on purchasing his Ultimate Juggernaut Combat Build Mark Two, he just wasn’t all that worried about a single cultivator in the same major realm.
It was kind of nice that Kang Ya-Ting expressed honest concern for Benton’s wellbeing, though. After Evelyn’s passing, he’d kind of lost touch with his old friends as he threw himself into his work. It might be a good thing to develop a real friendship with a peer.
Maybe he could even eventually come clean about his origins.
He’d have to be very careful on that front, though. Trust was something to be developed over years of closeness, not from a brief meeting and a couple of letters.
Feeling somehow more optimistic about the future, he called out to the twins. “Could I speak to the two of you privately?”
The two glanced at each other, probably worried about what such a request portended. “Yes, Master.”
Benton jumped over the wall and led them a few hundred yards into the forest, well away from prying ears.
“I might have done something … strange? Intrusive? Uncalled for? Something that was none of my business? I don’t know how to put it, but I wanted your input.”
The two stared back at him, attentive.
“Remember when Kang Lin came to visit?” Benton said.
They both nodded.
“Well, it kind of struck me—just an idle thought, mind you—that she was such a lovely girl. Really talented. Excellent with her spear. You know?”
They both nodded again, looking totally lost about where he was going with the conversation.
“I just happened to think that, you know, maybe, she and Yang Ru could possibly make a good match. And I just happened to mention that idea in the letter to Kang Ya-Ting, Kang Lin’s grandfather.”
Yang Ru looked stricken. Yang Xiu tried to hide a laugh and failed miserably.
“I want to be clear,” Benton said to the boy. “You are under absolutely no obligation to court this young lady, but it would please this old man if you would make an honest attempt to get to know her the next time you have the chance.”
“Of course, Master.” Yang Ru practically spit out the words.
Then, his face brightened. He had to be thinking that it would be, at least, forever and a day before he even saw her again.
“Oh, one more thing,” Benton said. “Kang Lin is in Vermillion Incomparable Rain Town right now probably using a pill I gave her to breakthrough to Foundation Establishment. She and several of her friends are going to be here in about a month to help out with the beast tide.”
Benton had never seen a face fall that fast.
Yang Xiu laughed long and hard.
That little scamp. Hmm. Now, who could he fix her up with?
###
Breaking through to Foundation Establishment had been both the most exhilarating and the most disgusting experience of Kang Lin’s life. She was very glad that she had been fully prepared for the purging of impurities. Ample cleaning supplies had been close at hand, but the mess still had been quite unpleasant.
Even though Esteemed Master Cultivator Chao Su had said she would have reached that point on her own in several more months, she found it hard to credit that the advancement would have been nearly so easy. Whatever was in that pill he gave her had miraculous results. She’d never even heard of a breakthrough going so smoothly for anyone aside from a literal top talent, and she was mid-tier at best.
Hopefully, whatever seeming friendship was developing between her grandfather and the mysterious cultivator was a true thing because Kang Lin owed the man. Owed him a lot.
She took out a scroll and writing implement.
Dearest Grandfather,
You will be pleased to know that this lowly one has now entered the Foundation Establishment realm.
Esteemed Master Cultivator Chao Su visited Honored Town Lord Fatty Ren yesterday and had the occasion to examine my cultivation, providing a diagnosis of a slight discord between my qi aspect and my cultivation method.
Even though Master Chao claimed that I would breakthrough on my own soon, he provided a pill, guaranteeing its quality and claiming it was payment for me and my associates’ help in assisting the Prosperous Gray Forest Village in a beast tide that will be occurring in the next two months.
The pill’s results were nothing short of miraculous as it eased my advancement tremendously, though it was just as stinky as you said it would be. Worse, even.
Master Chao was in quite a hurry, not even having time to read your missive. He reported that he has killed rank fours, fives, and even sixes near the village and is worried about his disciples being left there without him. I got the impression that he made the trip in a very short period of time, hours if not minutes.
This impression was strengthened by the fact that he teleported into the palace. Town Lord Fatty Ren confirmed that the palace’s arrays were fully functional, meaning that Master Chao had to use a form of true teleportation in lieu of briefly transforming himself into qi.
Town Lord Fatty Ren believes that performing such a feat means that Master Chao is at least near the peak of Golden Core. He obviously could not have reached such a high realm at the age his youthful appearance suggests, so Town Lord Fatty Ren is of the belief, due to those factors, that Master Chao has reached at least Nascent Soul.
Master Chao also reported that he expects both his disciples to reach Foundation Establishment prior to the beast tide. Given how little time has reportedly passed since Yang Ru started cultivating, maybe he would indeed be a good match for this lowly one.
Love,
Your Filial Granddaughter,
Kang Lin
She laughed as she wrote that last sentence, knowing her grandfather would understand that she was kidding. Mainly, she hoped he’d be pleased by the fact that she had reached Foundation Establishment.
With the message talismans that Grandfather had provided for the purpose of reporting on Master Chao’s actions, she didn’t have to wait long for a response as it came later that day.
Dearest Granddaughter,
Congratulations on your breakthrough. Well done! Regardless of what help you received, it was only due to your diligence that you were in a position to take advantage. This old man is proud of you.
Thank you for your report on Friend Chao’s actions and on Town Lord Fatty Ren’s thoughts. Elder Dai and I will take them into consideration.
Be careful in Prosperous Gray Forest Village. I know that you are a more than capable fighter and don’t need my advice, but beast tides are characterized by utter chaos. Keep yourself safe above all! If you can, protect my wayward disciple as well, but you are, as always, my priority.
It surprised this old man that you suddenly consider Yang Ru a good match after his master supplied you with a valuable and highly effective alchemical treatment. Is this old many being replaced by a better provider?
Your Doting Grandfather,
Kang Ya-Ting
Tears came to her eyes after reading the first two paragraphs. Making her grandfather proud of her was one of her biggest motivations for cultivating, and to hear his concern for her exceeds that for his very important disciple? She had no words.
The last part made her snicker, which she realized was the point after the rest of the letter had been unusually emotional.
Kang Lin put aside the scroll and cleared her mind. She’d be spending the next several days, if not a week, consolidating her gains, and then she had multiple techniques to learn. After that, there was a tide of beasts to fight.
As her grandfather always said, “Hard work begats more work.”
Best get to it.
Comments
richard C bond
Typo: "Is this old *many* being replaced by a better provider?"
BelligerentGnu
*J.J.Jameson "Oh wait, you're serious gif"*
RedFaux
To know how best to poison, you must know best how to heal. Experts in sowing the poison of discord within their enemies would be equally experts in maintaining harmony within their own infrastructure
BelligerentGnu
Man, you'd never expect a sect named Poison Claw to feature such wholesome people.
Daoist_Matt
TFTC!! 😋🥳
