the multi

Chapter 127 – One Has to Run before One Can Walk

Yang Ru sprinted across the clearing and slammed his spear into the tree, using qi to increase his Momentum with each step. At the moment of impact, that qi erupted from the tip, transferred from his Momentum into the wood.

He stopped. Or more accurately, he was stopped.

As his Momentum shifted from him to the tree, all his inertia dissolved, leaving him standing still. It was the oddest feeling.

One moment he was running flat out. The next, he hit the trunk at full speed.

Experience told him that the result should be one of two things. Either the object he collided with should yield or he should end up on his butt. Again.

Instead, all the Momentum he'd built up disappeared, turned into pure qi, and was channeled through his spear into his target, leaving a big divot in the wood. Which didn't seem like a significant result but considering the wood, when properly treated, could stand up to attacks from rank four and higher beasts, the result was pretty impressive.

Success! His first.

Accomplishing something once didn't mean he'd be able to do it again when it mattered, so he retreated across the clearing and tried again.

Fail.

And again.

Fail.

And again.

Success!

He practiced for another hour, his successes and failures roughly equal. After a while, though, things took a turn. Victories began to outnumber defeats. Finally, he triumphantly attacked the tree five out of six times. Upon reaching that milestone, he sunk into mediation, going over his actions time after time until he felt both techniques click.

That was it. He'd done it. Small Success. With both.

His sister hadn't reached that level with her second technique, the shield, yet.

Yang Ru grinned. He'd passed her. Finally.

A moment later, Master appeared. "Are you ready?"

"Yes, Master."

"Really ready?"

Yang Ru grinned again. "As ready as I can be, Master."

"Okay. Good timing. Let's do this." Master returned the smile.

Kang Lin and Yang Xiu were sparring. Though the Rising Tide Sect member was a complete master with the bow, her spear work was, to be generous, somewhat lacking. That was okay, though. They were trying to work on her shield.

"Ouch!" Yang Xiu said. "Do you have to hit so hard?"

"According to Honored Grandfather, bruises provide motivation."

The girl muttered something, but Kang Lin couldn't make out the words.

Before she could respond, Master suddenly appeared, an occurrence that had become so commonplace that she, remarkably, was no longer fazed by it.

"Spirit beast," he said. "Interested?"

The two girls grinned at each other.

"Of course, Master," Yang Xiu said.

Well used to the process by that point, they each grabbed a hand and, after his countdown, stepped, emerging in a grassy meadow. Yang Ru was already there, waiting for them.

When Kang Lin had arrived at Prosperous Gray Forest Village, she'd been determined to get to know the boy, but with him being unwilling to take any initiative, her enthusiasm for the task waned. After over a week of not being able to coax more than a few words from him, she was almost positive that the two of them would not make a good match.

She frowned. That conclusion was unfortunate. Her grandfather might be disappointed. Master would be as well, despite his words to the contrary. Worse, she really liked Yang Xiu. It was a shame that the two wouldn't become sisters in truth.

Romantic entanglements weren't why they were in the meadow, though, so Kang Lin pushed such thoughts from her mind, reaching out with her senses instead. She didn't know her location relative to the village, but there were a lot of spirit beasts nearby. A lot. Powerful ones, too.

If she didn't have full confidence that Master could handle the beasts, she would have been terrified.

Master pointed to a large creature on the other side of the grassy field. "That's the target."

The four-legged spirit beast's shoulders reached the height of a man standing, and it had to weigh a couple thousand pounds. A curved horn extended several feet from each side of its head and ended in points that looked wickedly sharp.

"What is it, Master?" Kang Lin said.

"Some type of buffalo."

The creature stood out to her senses. Really stood out. It practically glowed.

"Master, is that…"

"A rank six? Yes. A peak rank six, in fact. If we don't kill it today, it will probably join the beast tide as a seven. I'd prefer not to have that happen."

Kang Lin swallowed hard. She felt confident about her ability to kill rank fours, even if she were solo. When teamed with Yang Xiu, the two girls had taken down a rank five. Doing so had been quite the battle, requiring the use of a spirit coin to replenish their qi pools, but they'd done it with no injuries.

A peak rank six was nearly a full major realm higher than them. Unless Master planned to participate directly, Kang Lin doubted they'd be able to kill it. But if he were going to fight, he had no reason to even involve them. Maybe they were there just to watch?

"We're not going to fight that thing, are we, Master?" Yang Xiu said.

"Nope. You two aren't," he said, addressing the girls.

"We two? Not three, Master?" Yang Xiu said.

"Yep. That target is for Yang Ru."

For the first time since Kang Lin met her new friend, Yang Xiu seemed flustered.

"Master, what would him failing against that monster prove? I know you're trying to motivate him, but being defeated by such a powerful foe will make things worse. I've known him all my life. Trust me."

Yang Ru snorted, and Master was clearly trying not to grin. Failing, but clearly trying. Something was going on.

The two of them had something planned.

She tried to meet Yang Xiu's eyes to convey a warning, but the girl was too agitated.

"What do you think, Yang Ru?" Master said. "Up for a challenge, one that you apparently have no chance of winning?"

Yang Ru grunted.

Kang Lin was given to understand that people who knew the taciturn boy well could interpret such responses, but she certainly didn't count among that number.

"Brother, no," Yang Xiu said. "There's no point in this. You have nothing to prove."

He grunted again.

"Fine. Be that way. See if I care. Don't complain to me when you're regrowing an arm or a leg, though."

Master had to turn his head to hide his smile that time. Something was definitely going on. What it could be, though, Kang Lin had no idea. There was no way for Yang Ru, having barely stepped into the first minor realm of Foundation Establishment, could defeat a peak rank six on his own.

"If there are no more objections?" Master had schooled the grin on his face, but his tone still reflected his mirth.

He hesitated a moment, giving anyone who wanted a chance to respond, but Yang Xiu kept her mouth closed that time. And Kang Lin certainly had no intention of intruding into whatever was about to happen.

"Alright," Master said. "Yang Run, you may proceed when ready."

The boy showed no hesitation. He started running, growing faster and faster with each step.

They were quite a distance from the buffalo, far enough that it hadn't taken notice of them. Over a hundred yards. Probably more like a hundred and a half.

Most cultivators accelerated to their top running speed quite quickly, but Kang Lin had noticed that Yang Ru tended to get faster and faster the longer he ran. His sprint toward the buffalo was no exception, and he built up a lot of speed over the relatively long distance.

By the time the beast noticed, it was too late. Yang Ru was moving faster than any Foundation Establishment cultivator she'd ever seen. Between his speed and the beast's weight, she was expecting a huge collision.

She just hoped that the boy could survive it. Yang Xiu would be devastated otherwise.

Kang Lin could say one positive thing about him. He was brave. She would have been leery about running toward a spirit beast almost a full major realm higher than her and outweighing her by nearly a ton, but he showed no hesitation.

Maybe he just wasn't that bright? That could be why he didn't talk much. Diminished mental capacity could also explain his slamming himself into a tree repeatedly.

She tensed as the collision grew imminent. With so much force involved, she didn't see how he wouldn't be hurt, perhaps even severely. And if he wasn't able to trigger whatever qi technique he used at the right time, all that energy would bounce off the buffalo's qi shield and be directed right into Yang Ru's body.

Yang Xiu clasped her hands over her eyes.

He was three steps away. Two. One.

Kang Lin expected that he'd be tossed back like a rag doll.

Impact.

Against all expectations, he remained standing. Somehow, he'd completely halted his momentum at the last instant?

Even more against her expectations, the beast was, incredibly, thrown back. And it had a gaping, bleeding hole where its head used to be.

Yang Ru had killed a rank six spirit beast in a single strike.

"Look," she said. "Your brother did it."

"What?" Yang Xiu uncovered her eyes. "How?"

Kang Lin shrugged.

"Let's go check it out," Master said, holding out his hands.

The three of them Quickstepped to Yang Ru and the bloody beast corpse.

"Great work, my disciple," Master said.

Yang Ru cupped his hands.

"What do you think, Yang Xiu?" Master said. "Do I still need to have that talk with him?"

In a fine imitation of her brother, Yang Xiu grunted.

"Master?" Kang Lin said, at least partially to spare her friend any more embarrassment. "What just happened?"

"While you and Yang Xiu have pursued a more traditional path of utilizing many quick attacks of a normal power level against opponents, Yang Ru went a different direction. His techniques allow him to build up an astounding amount of power for a Foundation Establishment cultivator and then transfer that energy in a single strike. If he were planning on working alone, learning those techniques first would have been a terrible idea. When combined with a team, with Yang Xiu specifically, his techniques give them the ability to take out opponents that they normally would have to flee from."

Kang Lin nodded. She'd never seen anything like what the boy, the man, did, but it was useful. Interesting. Smart.

She had not given Yang Ru enough credit.

Master did not have simple disciples. She should have realized that truth from the beginning.

"Yang Xiu, how is work on that shield coming?" Master said.

The girl grimaced. "Slower than I'd like, Master."

"That's okay. You're still making progress. I mean, not as much progress as your brother who's already reached Small Success with both his techniques, but progress nonetheless."

Kang Lin had never seen Yang Ru grin so widely.

He noticed her looking at him and stepped closer. "Kang Lin, will you go on a walk with me?"

Chapter 128 – Strong Enough?

It took the entirety of Benton's self-control not to burst out laughing at Yang Xiu's expression when he told her that Yang Ru had passed her. Nothing like good old sibling rivalry to spur his disciples to greater heights.

The boy had really impressed him, though. It took a lot of effort to advance two techniques at the same time so quickly, and killing a rank six beast at Foundation Establishment minor realm one was quite an accomplishment, one that Benton doubted many could make.

He scanned the boy.

Name:Yang RuAffiliation:Rising Tide SectAge:15Cultivation:Foundation Establishment - Minor Realm OneQi Available:2,968Body Cultivation:Bronze - Minor Realm SevenTechniques (Qi Gathering):Foundational Archery Essentials – Small SuccessFoundational Spear Essentials – MasteryStone Skin – MasteryTechniques (Foundation Establishment):Inevitability – Small SuccessTotal Momentum Transfer – Small SuccessSpiritual Roots:A-Qi Aspect:Low viscosity lava flowing down Mount Burning ThunderJust when he thought he couldn't be any more impressed by his disciple, the boy exceeded expectations again.

"Kang Lin," Yang Ru said, "will you go on a walk with me?"

It had been a long, long time since Benton had been in a position to ask a girl on a date, but he remembered how much courage it took to ask a question like that one. The way things were going, great grandkids might be in his future.

He mentally pumped on the brakes. Hopefully, his far future, several years at least. There was no hurry for such a thing.

After taking Yang Xiu back to the Wood with the first trip and the two potential lovebirds with the second, Benton turned his attention to his gains over the last several days.

Techniques had been a loser as no one besides Yang Ru had a significant advancement.

Likewise, cultivation advancements had slowed down quite a bit with most of his sect members getting into the higher minor realms, meaning that each took longer and longer, and the newest villagers not quite hitting the second minor realm yet. Of course, the time between advancements sped a little by so many taking advantage of the Wood's higher qi density.

The six harvesters, at least, advanced from minor realm four to five.

Body Cultivation was the star of the show. Besides the twins and Zou Tian advancing to the seventh minor realm of Bronze, thirty sect members had reached minor realm one, twenty minor realm four, and ten minor realm five.

All those improvements made Benton feel a lot better about their chances of surviving the beast tide. The improvements also added another fourteen points to his personal total, giving him eighteen overall when combined with the remainder from his previous spend.

He'd already mastered all the techniques he'd decided to purchase, but working with Yang Xiu had pointed out a weakness—Stealth. She was able to detect his exact location way too easily.

By spending eight points, he could create a layer around him that blocked sight, sound, and smell. Even better, knowing that his disciple spotted hidden spirit beasts by identifying voids, his technique could be tuned to match the surroundings, eliminating that particular vulnerability. Combined with his invisibility to spiritual sense, he'd be undetectable.

Well, to someone at Foundation Establishment.

To hide from Golden Core cultivators, he'd need to supercharge the qi aspects used. His mastered Concept of Illusion could handle the visual part of the technique, but he'd also need to spend sixteen each for sound and smell.

And if he were committing that far to stealth, he might as well go all out to include a perception technique to maximize his information gathering capabilities. He wasn't sure, but he didn't think that illusion would work as well for something seeing long distances as Light or Vision or something similar would.

Another thought had occurred to him, though. At some point, he needed to advance both his mind and soul cultivation at least to the start of the second major realm, and he also needed to buy knowledge of both of those to guide his sect members.

Thus, he created a new table:

Stealth8- Sound Concept16- Smell Concept16Perception8- Light/Vision Concept16Soul Cultivation11Knowledge of Soul Cultivation4Mind Cultivation11Knowledge of Mind Cultivation4He honestly felt like he'd earn all ninety-four points soon, and besides that, it was nice to not feel that any of the purchases were pressing. Stealth, along with the two Concepts needed to supercharge it, was definitely a nice to have, but his combat build wasn't centered around hiding or scouting.

Likewise, Mind Cultivation wasn't a huge add for him. He really wanted to get into crafting, where the upgrades would presumably come in handy, but that desire would have to wait until after the tide as he already had a lot on his plate simply protecting his sect members and the village from high ranked beasts.

Soul Cultivation was a much direr need. There was no telling when, or even if, he might encounter demonic cultivators. On the other hand, he was hard pressed to feel any sense of urgency about them given that the only attacks he knew about happened twenty years apart.

In contrast, knowledge of both cultivation methods would be useful. Though no one had taken him up on it yet—probably because the Contribution Point Store never officially opened and the impending beast tide was eating up all of everyone's focus—his sect members had access to a Soul Cultivation method. At some point, he'd need to guide them in their decisions regarding it.

Mind Cultivation might be even more useful for his sect members since he had so many people intending to pursue crafting. It would be much better to purchase knowledge of it before he created any techniques.

In retrospect, he wished he'd done that for Soul Cultivation as well.

He shrugged. Oh well, with all the points he was raking in, eating those ten if necessary wasn't exactly the end of the world.

With eighteen Sect Points available, he bought knowledge of both types to Mastery, leaving him with ten.

That left him with plenty to master one of the two Foundation Establishment level techniques—Stealth or Perception. Which would help him more in a beast tide?

Honestly, none of the beasts he'd encountered so far could hide from his spiritual senses as long as he was close enough, so he doubted that adding more perception would help.

Stealth, though, might come in handy. Tides were created by a single, high rank spirit beast driving other creatures to do its will and could not be ended until that Big Boss was defeated. Obviously, the only person in the sect capable of such a feat was him. The ability to sneak past hordes of minions to get straight to the final battle would be quite useful.

Besides, Yang Xiu was too good at finding Zou Tian since she'd reached Foundation Establishment and he hadn't. It would be nice to give her a real challenge, and Benton's mastery of the technique would allow him to dial his complete undetectability down enough so that she could just barely sense him if she truly pushed herself.

Perfect!

He made the purchase, leaving him with only two points left. Rather than banking them, he sunk one point each in both cultivation types, taking him to the first minor real for each.

He looked at his status.

Sect Name:Rising TideSect Members:212Disciples:57Sect Points:730Shop Points:159Host Cultivation:Golden Core - Minor Realm NineQi Available:5,647,745Host Body Cultivation:Gold - Minor Realm OneHost Mind Cultivation:Higher - Minor Realm OneHost Soul Cultivation:Manifestation - Minor Realm OneHost Techniques (Qi Gathering):Basic Archery – MasteryBasic Spear Combat – MasteryExpert Golden Core Cultivation – MasteryGeneral Knowledge of Mind Cultivation – MasteryGeneral Knowledge of Soul Cultivation – MasteryNascent Soul Cultivation Knowledge – MasteryPill Basics – MasteryHost Techniques (Foundation Establishment):Analysis – MasteryAutomatic Reaction Variable Shield – MasteryChain Lightning – MasteryFolded Space Quickstep – MasteryHealing – MasteryLayered Variable Shield Breaker with Void Finisher Weapon Augmentation – MasteryMeditation – MasteryPause Time – MasterySeeking Speeding Arrow – MasteryStealth – MasteryVariable AoE Gravity Burst – MasteryVariable AoE Shield – MasteryVariable Spirit Coin Manifestation – MasteryHost Techniques (Golden Core Concepts):Earth - MasteryFire - MasteryGravity - MasteryHealing - MasteryIce - MasteryIllusion - MasteryLightning - MasteryMetal - MasteryMomentum - MasteryPoison - MasterySpace - MasteryTime - MasteryVoid - MasteryWater - MasteryWood - MasteryMenus:[Cultivation Method][Technique][Quest][Perk][Advancement][Shop][Sect]He tensed as he locked in the two cultivation changes, but there wasn't much of a difference. He experienced neither pain nor anything that felt like the expanding of his mind or soul.

In hindsight, the lack made sense. He was at the beginning of the third major realm in Body Cultivation and at the peak of the same major realm in Spiritual Cultivation. Comparatively, his gains in mind and soul had been like sticking the very tip of his toe into the water instead of being fully emersed like he was with body and spirit.

More impactful was mastering the knowledge of the two types.

Mind Cultivation would indeed be very useful for crafters. For example, an alchemist trying to combine many essences into a pill had to focus on the heat of the furnace and controlling the rate of absorption of each of the essences at once. The human mind, even when enhanced by Spiritual Cultivation, simply wasn't capable of splitting in the ways necessary.

Higher realms brought other advantages, allowing things like telepathy, telekinesis, and psionics.

Neat.

Telekinesis would be invaluable for an alchemist as using qi to manipulate essences could cause impurities due to contamination of the cultivator's qi aspect into the mixture. The same was true for a blacksmith in trying to fuse metal essences into a weapon. Almost all crafters who created truly high ranked treasures would find it useful.

Not to mention that it would earn him a lot of points. With the quality of the methods created by the System, all but his least talented disciple could easily reach the second major realm, and there was no reason to create a separate technique for each qi aspect.

There might be some minor benefit for creating one method per craft, but he'd have to consider that issue. He'd selected a very broad expertise of the cultivation type as a whole, so the knowledge for each realm was somewhat rudimentary compared to the expertise provided by his Spiritual Cultivation techniques that focused on a single realm. Still, even if he had to create one method per pavilion, he'd end up making lots of profit considering the sheer quantity of sect members who'd end up using each one.

For the moment, though, his sect members were better off preparing for the beast tide by advancing their Spiritual Cultivation or becoming more proficient with their weapons. He moved on to considering what he'd learned from the other knowledge technique.

Soul Cultivation appeared to have three benefits. One, as Benton had already been told by the System, was protection against certain attacks. What he didn't know was that it protected from other types than just draining by demonic cultivators. For example, there was something called a gu worm that allowed rival cultivators to possess one's body. Soul Cultivation helped in resisting such possessions.

Two, it anchored one's self. Benton wasn't entirely sure what that meant, but something like, if someone tried to influence your personality to control you, that feature increased one's resistance. Or something. It sounded important.

Three, it gave one some minor amount of control over reincarnation. That was … useful. Having been through a similar process, he could definitely say that having choices was better than not.

Benton let out a sigh. There wasn't a lot more that he could do to prepare for the beast tide. His skill set, as far as useful techniques that he could think of were concerned, was maxed out, and his disciples were all diligently cultivating and practicing.

The driving question was—was it enough?