The Sect Leader System-Chapter 223: Free-Range Parenting?

Benton fretted about his decision for most of the afternoon, going back and forth in his head. One minute, he leaned on letting the twins go to Sixth Flawless Flowing City. The next, he changed his mind.

Ugh. The choice wasn’t complicated. On the “let them go” side, he had the benefit to the sect in allowing the pursuit of the two most important ventures possible at the moment and both the experience that his two disciples would gain and the world of good it would do them for him to express his belief in them.

On the “keep them home at all costs” side, they could die.

That was it. They could die. Simple. Easy to understand. Death. Final. He’d just buried Ye Zan and couldn’t bear to think about having to do the same for either Yang Xiu or Yang Ru.

It was the same decision he and Evelyn had had to make every time they let their children leave the house. There was always the possibility of something bad happening. They weren’t exactly free-range parents, but they leaned in that direction, believing that giving into fear set a poor example.

The current decision was different, though. Real danger awaited. The Jade Chameleon Sect was gunning for the Rising Tide Sect. Benton’s disciples would be targets. And targets of a sect tended to end up dead.

On the other hand, there were a few ticks in the “likely to avoid death” column. One, Kang Lin would be with them to help the twins avoid danger. Two, the twins were head and shoulders above other Foundation Establishment cultivators anywhere near their realm in terms of talent, available qi, and quality of techniques. Three, the Poison Claw Sect had promised support in any way possible.

A brilliant thought occurred to Benton. What if he let the twins go to the city, but he insisted on them having more advantages first? No one had used the Trial Pagoda yet that day. He could slot the twins in for today and tomorrow morning, making their permission to go contingent on advancing the level of their respective shields.

Mastery for those techniques carried the very important bonus feature of activating the fully automatic functionality of the shields. With that trait, the twins wouldn’t even need to be aware of an attack for them to be protected from it, making Benton feel a lot better about their probability of coming through the trip just fine.

And he could whip up something for them, right? Like…

A teleportation device maybe? That project would require the installation of a teleportation beacon at the sect grounds, though, and Benton didn’t have access to the necessary materials. Other than spending way too many Shop Points—more than he had available once he pulled the trigger on the tower formation schematics—he had no idea where or how to obtain those materials, either. They were all both rare and in demand by all sects who wanted teleportation beacons of their own.

So giving them a way to teleport out of danger was a non-starter.

But how about setting them up with a panic button of some kind that would signal him if they were in danger and ping his spiritual sense with their location? That could work. He could craft a formation that would send him a signal, but how would that help?

“System,” he said, “can I buy a technique to give me true teleportation? And if so, how much qi would it cost to go from here to Sixth Flawless Flowing City?”

Host may purchase a technique for Teleportation. To teleport roughly three hundred miles will cost approximately one hundred thousand qi.

Awesome. That amount was very qi efficient and would make travel between the village, Vermilion Incomparable Rain Town, and the city so much more convenient. He should have done that a long time ago.

Benton pulled the trigger on the technique, spending eight Sect Points to get it to Mastery.

Okay. If both kids had their shield at Mastery and he could create contingency rings for them, he could tentatively agree to let them go to the city.

That decision meant that he had a lot to do to get ready for their trip. First, he sent all three of the Foundation Establishment disciples messages that explained the requirement for the twins to successfully use the Trials Pagoda. Next, he Quickstepped to the Wood and found Guang Yin, letting him know that the schedule that had been established for the harvesters using the pagoda was pushed back two days.

“There’s one other thing I need,” Benton said.

“Name it, Sect Leader.”

Since establishing the sect and giving the harvesters new top heaven grade cultivation methods, the lead harvester’s opinion of Benton had done a full one eighty. Guang Yin had turned from someone who had been highly skeptical of Benton to one of his most enthusiastic supporters.

“I’m making rings for several of my disciples, and the base needs to be Orange Vigor Spirit Wood because that’s the only thing I have on hand that can handle storing and channeling the amount of qi I require. Can you get me five thin circles of wood that are about the diameter of the kids’ fingers?”

“Easy enough, Sect Leader,” Guang Yin said. “I can just cut sections off a branch.”

Ah. Made sense. Benton could have done that. Then again, it was good to have the people who were in charge of particular resource handle all the chores involved with that resource. It gave them a sense of ownership. In contrast, Benton just popping in and taking what he needed would ruin any chance of them seeing themselves as the actual leader of that pavilion.

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“Only five, Sect Leader?”

“For now. I’ll probably need a bunch of them in the future, so cut me several dozen more when you have the chance.”

“Of course, Sect Leader.”

It didn’t take the man long to slice five thin sections off an appropriately sized branch, and once Benton had them in hand, he Quickstepped back to the section of the fourth floor of the Administration Hall that was turning into his personal crafting area.

Using a thin construct of Void qi, he cut the middles out of all the circles, leaving him with wood rings. Then came the hard part, inscribing. Which wasn’t normally all that difficult for him. It was just that he was planning on fitting a lot of formations in a really tiny space.

The problem with any device meant for a cultivator to wear was that it had to be quite durable. After all, fights often involved getting up close and personal, so anything that might be hit by qi or fists or weapons must withstand extreme forces. Even qi rich materials like Orange Vigor Spirit Wood needed help in that regard.

Before he began, he took a moment to lament the fact that he didn’t have time to have the material alchemically treated. That process would have made it tougher and more conducive to qi. It would have also taken days to soak and dry before being ready.

The first array that got inscribed in the wood served simply to make the material tougher. Well, tougher overall. He also created a single weak point that, when enough force was applied, caused the entire ring to fall to pieces.

Next, unlike most of Benton’s crafted devices, the ring was essentially a one-time use item, meaning that, instead of needing to be supplied with qi from spirit coins, all the energy it would ever need would be loaded in upon creation. Thus, the second array was a simple one designed to store the correct amount of qi.

Third came an array that used Space qi to adjust the size of the circle. By doing so, he could make the rings one size fits all. Otherwise, he would have had to fit each ring to an individual cultivator.

With the three utility features implemented, it was time for Benton to start on the functionality, beginning with the signal. Upon the ring being destroyed, either by the weak spot being deliberately triggered or the entire device being subjected to too much force in the form of physical power or qi, a pulse traveling near the speed of light would seek him out.

Perfect.

The final array produced a beacon that his new Teleport technique could home in on.

After testing it and fixing a few minor flaws, he declared the prototype done and made four more of them.

Like any good formation expert, Benton did not like to leave inscriptions out in the open. For one thing, they were prone to being damaged without a protective layer over them. For another, leaving them visible made it too easy for a rival formation expert to steal one’s designs.

His plan was to coat the ring in a mortal metal, which would serve the dual purpose of protecting the inscriptions and in somewhat disguising the importance and purpose of the devices. Obviously, with his control of Gravity and Fire, he could simply melt and form the necessary metal right there in his workshop, but he had a reason to do otherwise.

Benton purchased a Blacksmithing technique from the System, Quickstepped to the Blacksmith Pavilion, and found Xun Wu.

“I need to use the forge,” Benton said.

“You’re a smith, Sect Leader?” Xun Wu’s voice couldn’t have been more skeptical.

“As I keep telling people, the longer one lives, the more skills one picks up.”

The expert blacksmith looked conflicted. “Normally, no one whose skill I haven’t personally verified can use the forges, but you are the sect leader. So…”

“If you have time, why don’t you watch me? That way you can verify my abilities for next time,” Benton said. “To be honest, what I’m doing today is really simple. I don’t even really need the forge for it, but there’s a project I’ll be tackling in the near future that will require its use. It’s better for me to get acquainted with the setup here on an easy job, right?”

“That makes sense, Sect Leader, but are you sure it wouldn’t be better to have me do that project for you?”

“I wish you could, but until you reach Foundation Establishment and get an advanced technique for it, you can’t. Even your considerable expertise can’t substitute for the ability to sense and manipulate qi.”

“Understood, Sect Leader.”

The expert blacksmith led Benton to the most advanced forge, one that no one else was using because none of the pavilion members could yet handle qi.

Benton explained what he was trying to accomplish with the rings. “What metal do you recommend?”

“Gold or silver would be more decorative and, thus, more of a disguise, Sect Leader.”

“The qi inside will be detectable to anyone with a halfway decent spiritual sense. Disguise isn’t the main priority. Added durability is.”

“Then simple steel is probably our best bet, Sect Leader. We don’t have access to anything more exotic at the moment.”

“That’s fine. I’ll etch a pattern on it or something to make it more decorative.”

Xun Wu had one of the apprentices fetch an ingot of steel, and Benton was thankful he didn’t have to go through the steps to create the alloy. The expert blacksmith tensed when Benton used his hands to place the ingot inside the hot forge, and he thought about pretending to be burned.

But he didn’t. Joking about safety in that manner wouldn’t have been funny. He did, however, take a moment to show his unburned hand to Xun Wu. The robe’s sleeve wasn’t even singed.

The great thing about the forge was that, not only was it capable of attaining a much, much hotter temperature than a mortal forge, it used Fire qi in addition to just fire in order to heat the metal. Benton used his new Blacksmithing technique to manipulate that qi, softening the steel in seconds.

He reached in for a second time and pulled the metal back out, placing it on an anvil.

“Do you need to borrow a hammer, Sect Leader?” Xun Wu said.

“Ah… Not this time.” Benton had better ways to work the metal, mainly his Gravity technique which he could so finely manipulate by that point that it essentially functioned akin to a form of telekinesis.

He chuckled to himself. Even if he couldn’t just use Gravity, his hand was tougher than any hammer the Blacksmith Pavilion had available.

Using Void and Gravity, Benton snipped off a small section of the ingot and flattened it. The next part was tricky. Since the wood hadn’t been alchemically treated, it was a bit sensitive to heat, so he had to protect it from getting too hot while not letting the metal cool.

Benton actually had to use his Dual Mind to accomplish the trick, but the first circle of wood was quickly encased in steel.

He held it up to Xun Wu. “What do you think?”

“Looks good to me, Sect Leader, though I’ve never seen blacksmithing done quite like that.”

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“Get used to the unusual. I can’t wait to see what you’ll do when you have the proper techniques. Be thinking about exactly what skills you most need. Be creative.”

“Yes, Sect Leader.”

Making the first ring proved out the process, and Benton quickly replicated it for the next four. Before he left the pavilion, he made a point of politely requesting another glider base from Xun Wu.

“I can do that, Sect Leader. When do you need it?”

“You’ve got a little more time that the last one. Tomorrow morning?”

“Of course, Sect Leader.”

The rings were done, and Kang Lin’s glider was in progress. And there was still daylight remaining. Benton planned to spend the night creating more spirit coins, but he figured he had a few hours to begin work on the towers.

No rest for a sect leader when his members were under threat from Nascent Souls.