The Sect Leader System

Benton stepped to the side. The tip of a spear—well, a sharpened stick, anyway—slid past him a fraction of an inch from his robe.

The stick retracted and plunged toward him again, aimed at his chest. To his senses, the thrust might as well have been moving through molasses.

He infused qi in microbursts throughout his torso and twisted. Again, the attack missed by less than an inch.

His opponent withdrew the stick once more and lunged forward right at his face. That blow was even easier to dodge, not even requiring qi.

Yang Ru sank to the ground, his qi and his stamina exhausted.

“The power contained in your strikes was excellent,” Benton said. “If any of those had landed, I would have been in a world of hurt, especially if you’d been using a real weapon.”

“But none hit you, Senior Brother Chao.”

“Exactly! Strength is a necessary component of your fighting style, but it comes easy to you. The three attempts you managed used up all your qi, and I easily dodged each of them because it took far too long for you to move the qi to your muscles, slowing down your strike. Speed and efficiency are where you need to focus.”

“Yes, Senior Brother Chao.”

The kid was coming along nicely, progressing much faster than Su had in a similar situation. A lot of times, lava users eschewed weapons altogether, depending on their bare fists, but the spear seemed more well adapted the Yang Ru’s qi aspect than Benton would have expected.

That development was a nice one. At the Qi Gathering stage, the kid’s body just wasn’t up to taking punishment from even weak spirit beasts. The spear was necessary for him to keep claws and jaws at a distance, allowing him to effectively hunt. Reaching the Foundation Establishment stage would toughen him up some, but to really shine, he’d be best off with access to a body cultivation technique.

Benton sighed. He could easily get all the beast cores he needed for that, but he was limited in options for alchemical ingredients. It was tempting to create the necessary technique and spend time gathering what he’d need.

The downsides to pursuing that path were threefold. One, it would mean leaving his disciples alone to fend for themselves for who knew how long as he searched the forest. After the incident with the boar, the thought of not having them under his watchful eye every minute gave him pause. Of course, the kids were stronger now, over halfway to the third minor realm and actively practicing weapon arts.

It wouldn’t do to become too overprotective. If one wanted a nestling to soar, one had to eventually kick them out of the next.

No, it was really the other two reasons that stopped him.

Two, one or two levels of body cultivation wouldn’t help Yang Ru all that much. He needed to advance all the way to Silver for the advancement to truly be a dominant factor in fights, and chasing that goal would take way too much time scouring the woods for resources, not to mention the very real chance of failure due if Benton wasn’t able to locate the exact ingredients he needed. No, it was best to wait until he had a reliable source of herbs like a market or until he recruited a sect member who could grow them.

Three, Benton would have to use at least two Sect Points to get him to large success in alchemy. Increasing his personal power to solve problems was becoming an insidious impulse. Sure, it seemed like a point here and a point there were no big deal, but if he used too many, he could literally get stuck, unable to ever increase again. It was far safer to invest his points in profitable outer sect members and only use points beyond the ten percent he’d decided upon in a true life-threatening emergency.

Besides, Yang Ru was progressing well enough. When he reached the fourth minor realm and had several more days of practice under his belt, Benton would feel reasonably comfortable setting the kid loose against really weak spirit beasts.

He turned to watch Yang Xiu aim at the target he’d made. The arrow sailed high and to the left, landing in between two trees a couple dozen yards past the target.

The girl on the other hand…

---

Yang Xiu clenched her hands. Another shot, another miss. What was she doing wrong?

She let out a breath. Nock arrow. Raise bow. Pull the string back. Aim. Loose.

Miss.

Nock arrow. Raise bow. Pull the string back. Aim. Loose.

Miss.

Nock arrow. Raise bow. Pull the string back. Aim. Loose.

Miss.

Argh!

“Having trouble?” her master said.

Her face heated. Even worse than not being able to hit the target was having her failure be witnessed by her master. “No, Senior Brother Chao.”

“Really? Are you sure?”

There was nothing she could say, so she didn’t respond.

“There’s no shame in needing help. That’s kind of what I’m here for. Do you want this old man to feel useless?”

Old man? He looked at best a few years older than her, maybe in his low, low twenties at the oldest.

“Answering Senior Brother Chao, Senior Brother Chao is not worthless. Senior Brother Chao has made me a cultivator and given me this wonderful technique.”

He fixed her with a stare until she looked away.

“Maybe this lowly disciple could use a pointer, Senior Brother Chao.”

“Good decision.” He kept his face impassive, but it almost felt like he was hiding a grin. “If you were a mortal practicing, you’d be doing fine. You’re exercising the right muscles, and if you shoot enough arrows, your accuracy will eventually improve. But there is a problem. Do you know what it is?”

“Yes, Senior Brother Chao. I am no longer a mortal.”

She didn’t know exactly how no longer being a mortal was supposed to affect her practice, but that answer was obviously the one he was looking for.

“Exactly. Mortals can’t use techniques like the one I gave you. Are you using your technique?”

Yes, she was. She followed it almost to the letter. Mostly. Kind of.

“This lowly disciple doesn’t understand, Senior Brother Chao. Cycling the qi to those specific arm muscles is difficult. And why does the technique tell me to be perfectly still without even breathing? Doing all that at once while trying to also hit the target was confusing. I thought that, if I could get one part of the process correct, it would be easier to do the rest.” She was so frustrated that she wanted to cry. Only her mortification at the possibility of her master seeing her lose control like that stopped her.

“It’s okay, Yang Xiu. Less than two weeks ago, you were a mortal. This is the first technique you’ve ever used. There is no reason to expect for you to pick it up immediately.”

Yang Ru didn’t seem to be having any trouble.

 “Go over each step of the technique in detail in your mind, every minute move of a muscle, each manipulation of your qi,” her master said. “Visualize yourself completing each step successfully. After you’ve successfully gone from nocking your arrow to hitting the target in your mind, try to execute the steps. Regardless of the result, a miss or a hit, compare what the technique told you to do to what you actually did and consider what corrective measures need to be taken. Then repeat the process.”

“Yes, Senior Brother Chao. Thank you, Senior Brother Chao.”

It all sounded so simple when he put it that way.

---

Benton watched his two disciples for the rest of the day, sparring with Yang Ru when appropriate and offering the occasional tip or encouraging word to Yang Xiu. By midafternoon, she was hitting the target more often than not, and by evening, Benton got the popup he’d been hoping for.

Host’s Disciple, Yang Xiu, has reached Small Success in the Foundational Archery Essentials Technique.

Host is awarded one Sect Point.

Host has fifty-six Sect Points available.

 After they’d finished dinner, he said, “Yang Xiu, you made real progress on your technique today.”

“Thank you for your encouragement and help, Senior Brother Chao.”

“Did you feel that you made a step forward, like something clicked into place?”

“Yes, Senior Brother Chao. It was similar to breaking through to a higher minor realm but not as … intense? It wasn’t the same, but I did feel something.”

“Exactly. Congratulations! You have reached Small Success with your archery technique. Great job!”

The girl smiled.

“Yang Ru, I notice that your strikes are getting faster and that you can now make five thrusts before you’ve used all your qi. Keep up the good work.”

“Yes, Senior Brother Chao.”

“At first,” Benton said, “simply repeating the actions of the technique over and over again is adequate. You’ll never get to Large Success that way, though. As I touched on briefly with my instructions to Yang Xiu earlier today, further advancement requires reflection and meditation. Much like you must consolidate your cultivation after a breakthrough, meditation cements your gains when learning techniques. From now on, I want you to start your training sessions with your weapons by meditating on your technique and meditate again at the end of your session, focusing on what you’ve learned and what you have left to improve upon.”

“Yes, Senior Brother Chao,” the two chorused.

Those kids truly did their best to accomplish everything he told them to do. Their attitude was frankly amazing. How many times back on Earth had he wished all his employees and even his own children would have been so receptive to his advice?

The flip side of his disciples’ dedication was that it really put the pressure on him. If either were hurt or, perish forbid, died, it would all be on him. He had to navigate them through a forest filled with deadly spirit beasts, find his starting location, and found his sect in order to get them to safety, and that was just the start. Letting them down was not an option.

He just hoped that the three of them would be strong enough for what was to come.