BWFoster78

Chapter 77 – Ambush!

Yang Xiu was not happy. The bandits had prepared an ambush that she and Zou Tian had scouted. When she’d told the others about it, she had advocated for leaving the non-combatants behind with the wagons while the rest took the fight to the bad guys.

Yang Ru hadn’t liked that idea, and he had the right to make the decision since it was combat related. Surprisingly, both Xun Wu and Ye Zan sided with her brother, feeling uncomfortable either leaving the children essentially unprotected...

Chapter 76 – Offers and Acceptance

Feeding the kids hot, fresh food from the street vendors of Sixth Flawless Flowing City was one of the most satisfying experiences of either of Benton’s lives. Considering that the kids had never seen a spatial ring, the fact that they were more excited by the food coming out of it than the spectacle of its very existence was a bit sad, but their enthusiasm for the amount and variety of dishes trumped Benton’s ability to experience any emotion besides sheer joy.

He had great fun pro...

Chapter 75 – Scum of the Earth

Benton rarely got truly angry, but the idea that the Town Manager and his enforcers were so corrupt that children were suffering irritated him a great deal. For them to actively take their greed so far as to actually rob an orphanage, though? That was beyond the pale. Benton was infuriated.

He marched directly into the Town Lord’s palace and into the private cultivation chamber, not stopping to be announced.

“Friend Su. What’s wrong?” Fatty Ren looked nervous.

“I k...

Chapter 74 – Severely Outnumbered

Benton had a leisurely breakfast in the inn the next morning. His first task of the day was to find an orphanage. With the understanding that he wanted to donate food, the innkeeper had given Benton directions to one, and he didn’t want to arrive there too early and disrupt whatever their normal routine was.

When he finally made it to the place, it was even worse than he had feared. Kids were running around everywhere. A quick count of those outside yielded twenty-three kids mostly ol...

Chapter 73 – The System Isn’t Just a Cheat; It’s Broken

Benton needed to know what shape the old sect buildings were in before he considered how much to pay for them, and Fatty Ren simply didn’t know, having not been out to the site in years. Thus, Benton insisted on seeing the Righteous Rain Sect grounds before even mentioning a possible price. He and Fatty Ren did agree in principle that Benton could take whatever he could carry out.

So, Benton jogged toward the sect grounds. Not ran, jogged, at a nice, slow twenty-five miles per hour or...

Chapter 72 – A Friend Parting at Speed Is a Friend Indeed

Yang Xiu crept through the forest, all her enhanced senses alert. Everything her eyes saw in the early morning light was exactly as it should be. None of the shadows were just a little too big. The bulge on the backside of that tree was just a knot, not a small person trying to conceal himself behind it. Nothing was out of place.

Her ears filtered out the bird song and leaves rustling in the wind and even three squirrels dashing through leaves a hundred yards away. She didn’t hear any...

Chapter 71 – Home Alone

The next six days passed with excruciating slowness for Benton. Creak, creak, creak went the wheels. Followed by another creak, creak, creak. And another creak, creak, creak. Endless, endless creaks.

He missed cars and buses and trains and planes and literally any mode of transportation that moved faster than a oxen-driven wagon on a rutted dirt path, especially ones that didn't creak.

T...

Chapter 70 – Games Cultivators Play

Benton really liked the whole knights of the round table thing he had going on, even if there was a clear king instead of everyone actually being equal. Lips were certainly loosening, and the disciples were starting to feel more comfortable around him and around each other.

That result was a win in and of itself.

But he still had a decision to make.

“Each of you made really good points,” Benton said. “Zou Tian, I always like hearing your thought process. You never disa...

Chapter 69 – Is It Still a Round Table if There’s No Table?

Benton was pleased to see that everyone was packed up and ready to go at dawn the next morning, all having already eaten breakfast in the inn. The caravan hit the road on time to continue its slow journey. Ye Zan estimated about two weeks to Vermillion Incomparable Rain Town and another month from there to the village, so they had another six weeks total to travel, though Benton hoped to shave some of that off.

The blacksmith’s family had been placed in the middle of the procession fo...

Chapter 68 – A Hard Decision Made Easy

The next twelve days passed with excruciating slowness as the wagons creaked slowly along the rutted dirt path. On a positive note, all nineteen of Benton’s newest disciples advanced from Qi Gathering minor realm one to minor realm two in that time, earning him nineteen more points.

Benton spent much time viewing his status and watching those Sect Points tick up as various disciples reached that milestone. There was, after all, little else to do. Even running through the forest huntin...

Chapter 67 – Biggest Leap Forward Yet

Benton decided to stay up all night. The four guards on duty each shift were fine to deal with any mortal concerns such as raising an alarm if bandits approached or scaring off wild animals, but he wanted to make sure no cultivators appeared in range of his spiritual sense.

The night passed quietly, however, and he found himself really wishing he had the internet. He had managed to find some scrolls of what passed for fiction back in the city, basically short stories involving ghosts fo...

Chapter 66 – Righteous as Surfing the EAC

Benton was more than a little bemused at how quickly the twins had jumped to his defense from mere words when they’d been perfectly fine with him facing a Foundation Establishment cultivator alone.

“Everyone calm down!” he yelled. “Yang Xiu, Yang Ru, sit down. Put away your weapons. Zou Tian did nothing wrong.”

They both complied, but neither looked happy.

“Master, he spoke without using any honorific,” Yang Xiu said. “He disrespected Master with a horrible a...

Chapter 65 – Roll with the Punches

Benton let out a deep breath. The fight with the Chameleon Jade Sect member had been too close. If the spear had been a fraction of an inch off, the tip might not have penetrated the cultivator’s brain. After an unsuccessful attack against a powerful foe, the outcome would have been in doubt.

That had been entirely too close.

Benton shook his head. He needed to grow stronger. He needed to stop letting the needs of the moment cause him to draw too heavily on his available Sect Po...

Chapter 64 – Bluffing Works Great, Until It Doesn’t

Benton’s scan of the Jade Chameleon Sect member told him a lot about the man. The first important fact was that he used illusion aspected qi.

According to what Su had learned in one of his lessons at the Flowing Tiger Sect, around three quarters of people born had qi aspects corresponding to one of the five primary elements—earth, fire, metal, water, and wood. There were additionally many, many secondary elements, including lightning, ice, nature, poison, shadow, and the list goes o...

Chapter 63 – Every Day Is Like Survival

Benton took a deep breath as the wagon rolled slowly, really slowly, along beneath him. The mortals could walk as fast as the oxen moved, not to mention how much faster a cultivator could go.

He supposed it was fine. Two months on the road instead of one made little difference in the end, and the time would give all his soon-to-be new disciples time to cultivate. Some of them would probably reach Qi Gathering minor realm four before they reached the village.

There was no reason to...

Chapter 62 – So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiederseh’n, Goodnight

Benton hummed to himself as he walked toward the gates. When he saw the small crowd of people gathered waiting for him and his four disciples, he started softly singing. “So long, farewell, auf wiederseh’n, goodnight.”

He wondered how the kids would react to seeing The Sound of Music. Maybe he could figure out some technique with illusion that would let one of his disciples recreate movies. Or maybe enter a partnership with the Chameleon Jade Sect.

Hmm. Tha...

Chapter 61 – One Last Celebratory Dinner

Zou Tian had never eaten so well. Gone were the times when he had no idea when he would next find food. Instead, since being asked to move into the warehouse, he’d been given three meals a day and was allowed to eat as much as he wanted at each of them. He was even occasionally served dessert.

It was amazing.

Access to plentiful food wasn’t the only amazing thing, though. Watching the spars the previous day was one of the most fun things Zou Tian had experienced in his life. S...

Chapter 60 – A Healthy Rivalry

Benton watched as Yang Xiu and her opponent, a girl who looked severely out of place with her yellow hair, walked into the arena. He scanned the blonde.

Yikes. The sect was bringing out their best. An A- talent and already at minor realm six while still being fourteen. Nice. And like the previous duelist from the sect, she had both a weapon technique, interestingly a fan, and one for movement....

Chapter 59 – A Man Who Is Good at His Job

As Benton waited for the crew to reset the arena from archery range mode to the normal bare sandy floor for the upcoming duel, he wondered if the spars would be as tilted in favor of the Poison Claw Sect as the contests had been. He found he didn’t care all that much. As long as his disciples had an opportunity to advance, a loss was fine with him.

His mind drifted to the future, though, and the heights the twins could achieve. First, he had to get back to the village, though. Thought...

Chapter 58 – The Best a Man Can Get

Kang Ya-Ting remained in the alchemy shop until Chao Su and his young … ward were well out of sight. The boy was interesting in that the elder had almost forgotten he was in the shop.

That the boy could evade notice meant he was manifesting his qi aspect even though he was a mortal. Such a thing wasn’t unheard of, but it was rare.

Some people, even wizened cultivators, believed a display like that one meant the mortal would automatically have great talent, thinking that the po...

Chapter 57 – All the World’s a Stage

Benton was both dreading and looking forward to the trip to the alchemy shop. The former emotion was because a single mistake could have grave consequences, not just for himself but for the twins and all the orphans back in the village and the two boys he’d made promises to in the city.

He certainly had picked up a lot of responsibilities in a short time, but he wouldn’t have it any other way. Most of his adult life had been spent as a husband and father and grandfather and accompli...

Chapter 56 – If You’re Not Cheating, You’re Not Trying

Benton thought he was doing pretty well for being on a cultivation world for less than six months. Between Su’s memories of his experiences as a cultivator and his own life lessons from sixty years on Earth, he had plenty of mental resources to draw upon in any given situation to guide him down the right path.

That opinion lasted until Yang Xiu told him about what happened with Kang Ya-Ting.

His experience had failed him. Su had never played in the big leagues of sect politics. ...

Chapter 55 – Loose Lips Sink Ships

Yang Xiu was more than a little nervous because Master had left her and Yang Ru alone at a strange sect with no instructions other than to, “Have fun.”

“Esteemed Master Cultivator,” she said to Kang Ya-Ting, “this lowly one and her brother are a bit lost as to what to do. Please guide us.”

“Oh, so this one is your brother? You look quite similar in age.”

She cupped her hands. “Yes, Esteemed Master Cultivator. These lowly ones are twins.”

“Enough w...

Chapter 54 – Coming Up Roses

Benton and the twins were just finishing dessert in the restaurant when Kang Ya-Ting met them.

He immediately cupped his hands before giving each of the three a decorative metal pin. The piece of jewelry was the shape of a green snake and had a clasp on the back. “The Poison Claw Sect thanks the Esteemed Master Cultivator for his most gracious and prized gift. Though these tokens do not intrinsically represent an iota of the value of the gift given, this one hopes the Esteemed Master ...

Chapter 53 – Lessons from a Train Bound to Nowhere

Kang Ya-Ting excused himself from the mysterious cultivator, Chao Su, as quickly as was polite, telling him to treat himself and his disciples to one of the various restaurants on the sect grounds—free of charge, of course.

The sect leader was in secluded cultivation back at the main sect mountain, so Kang Ya-Ting, not even sparing a brief moment for a word with his disciple, rushed out of the arena and straight to the elder who had been placed in charge of the Sixth Flawless Flowing ...

Chapter 52 – The Cat Is Out of the Bag

Benton sat on a quite comfortable seat next to Yang Xiu in the stands overlooking the arena. Below, Yang Ru and the young sect idiot waited for the duel to begin.

Kang Ya-Ting entered the stands and sat nearby. The first words out of his mouth were, “So, Orange Vigor Spirit Wood?”

Yikes. That guy didn’t pull any punches.

“A valuable commodity,” Benton said.

“It is interesting when a resource that has been unavailable suddenly pops up on the market again. Su...

Chapter 51 – Exchanging Pointers

Yang Ru stood across a sandy arena from his opponent, the arrogant young master who had since been introduced as Pan Jiang.

The first hint of fall was in the air, and the sun was straight enough above not to get in either of the boy’s eyes. It was a good day to fight.

Yang Ru once again pondered how far he’d come in such a short period of time. In less than half a year, he’d advanced more than halfway through the first major realm of cultivation. Of course, only part of that...

Chapter 50 – Planning for the Best

Benton fell immediately in love.

Not with the cultivator’s master—a dude—obviously, but with that guy’s sword.

It flew. It was a real flying sword, and Benton wanted one more than he’d wanted anything in either life.

Admittedly, he knew flying swords were a thing from Su’s memories, but that was kind of like knowing that superheroes were a thing because he’d watched all the Avengers movies. Seeing one actually being used in person was a whole different...

Chapter 49 – They Do Exist

Yang Ru was pleased with himself. He and his sister had arranged for all the food on the list to be picked up in three days’ time, and the cost was only forty-six thousand taels, a staggering sum to him but much less than the budget that Master had given them.

Of course, that success was mainly due to Yang Xiu’s talent at haggling, but Yang Ru had done a nice job of “standing behind her and looking menacing.”

The nice lady as the market had even helped them make sure all o...

Chapter 48 – Retail Therapy

True to Benton’s decision, he and the twins spent the entire day in the warehouse cultivating, sparring, and practicing techniques. In the early evening, Yang Ru reached Small Success in Stone Skin, quickly returning one of the three Sect Points that had been spent on the technique.

Benton pulled up the boy’s status.

 Just because he hadn’t done it in a while, he did the...