The Sect Leader System

When Benton had first seen the list of six menus on his status screen, the one that had most excited him dealt with perks. The second most exciting was the one he was about to explore.

Welcome, Host, to the Advancement Menu. You have 100 Sect Points available.

Please select one of the following options:

Increase Cultivation

Increase Body Cultivation

Add/Modify/Increase Technique

He’d figured that was the purpose of the menu, and it was good to have his guess confirmed.

“System, I’d like to increase my cultivation.”

Host currently does not possess any cultivation.

Spend one Sect Point to attain Qi Gathering – Minor Realm One?

“Yes, please.”

Choice accepted. Host has ninety-nine Sect Points remaining.

Su had been apoplectic at his years of hard work being wiped out in seconds. To go from a respected Foundation Establishment cultivator back to a mortal with no cultivation or techniques was a horrible experience. He would have been both disappointed to be right back at the beginning and ecstatic to be on the journey to immortality again.

Benton had no such feelings. He’d been a mortal his entire life, and while he could remember having those emotions of dismay like they had been his own, he was more curious about what the change would mean than anything else.

Advancing to the first minor realm of Qi Gathering didn’t make much of an immediate difference to his body. Using Su’s memories to guide him, he directed his spiritual sense inward. There was definitely a merest hint of qi in his body that he suspected hadn’t been there a moment before.

He brought up the relevant part of his status screen to view the change.

Host Cultivation: Qi Gathering – Minor Realm One

Qi Available: <1

Host Techniques: None

Sweet! He was officially a cultivator. Again. Kind of again, anyway.

It was really strange to have memories of two completely different people in his head, especially considering how much the perspectives differed. The choices that a sixty-year-old middle manager from a mundane world would make were not the same decisions of a teenage cultivator. And that wasn’t even taking into consideration that the two of them had dissimilar personalities. One set of life experiences kept leading him in one direction only for a past lesson that the other had learned to pop up and make him question it.

He shook his head and refocused on the box.

The Qi Gathering realm allowed users to draw qi into their bodies and use that qi within themselves to power up specific muscle groups, organs, etc. As the newly displayed Qi Available section indicated, the first minor realm didn’t give him much to work with. In fact, even with Su’s expertise to guide him, there simply wasn’t enough qi in his body to accomplish anything.

“System, I’d like to increase my cultivation.”

Host is currently at Qi Gathering – Minor Realm One.

Spend one Sect Point to attain Qi Gathering – Minor Realm Two?

The fact that it only took a single point to move up to the next minor realm heartened him. Without any disciples, Sect Points were a critical and irreplaceable resource.

That thought brought up an important question, though—how many points should he devote to increasing his personal power? A sect leader was typically one of its most powerful members, and it would be difficult to attract disciples if he couldn’t show off a certain level of prowess. And that wasn’t even taking into consideration how dangerous simply existing in a cultivation world was. He was somewhat surprised that a horde of beasts hadn’t stampeded out of the forest to try to kill him yet.

Okay, maybe that fear was more based on his reading stories back on Earth rather than on Su’s actual memories, but there was at least a kernel of truth to the idea.

At the same time, he was insistent that he keep his main goal at the forefront of his mind. Every action he took should further the creation of a sect and building up its members. The vast majority of his points should be reserved for that purpose.

Hmm.

Ninety out of a hundred sounded good. He’d devote ninety percent to the sect and take the remaining ten for himself, both with his starting stash of points and with whatever he gained down the road.

Was the amount relatively arbitrary? Yes. Did he care? Not really. Sometimes the best course of action was to simply make a decision and move on, especially when presented with so many unknowable factors. Besides, as long as he always kept some points in reserve, it didn’t seem too difficult to quickly up his cultivation at a moment’s notice.

Choice made, his next question was how to spend his remaining nine points. Increasing his cultivation was an obvious use, but he also needed techniques. Per Su’s memories, each major realm was divided into nine minor realms, and those nine were divided into three groups of three. Going from the first to the second minor realm, or the second to the third, only bumped up the available qi slightly. Jumping between the third and the fourth, however, from one subgroup to the next, was a much bigger jump.

“System, please spend the point.”

After dismissing the choice acceptance message, he again pulled up his status.

Host Cultivation: Qi Gathering – Minor Realm Two

Qi Available: 2

Host Techniques: None

He quickly spent another Sect Point to reach the third minor realm, bringing his available qi to five. That selection was quickly followed by spending another point.

Host Cultivation: Qi Gathering – Minor Realm Four

Qi Available: 20

Host Techniques: None

Benton was jubilant to see his available qi jump so high. Su’s memories, taken from when he used to have much higher quantities as a Foundation Establishment practitioner, made him scoff instead.

Though Su didn’t have access to a numerical value that measured the size of his qi pool, he, like most cultivators, had developed a good understanding of how much they had available versus how much they needed to expend. Su’s memories made Benton think that his qi pool of twenty was enough to battle against low level opponents, especially considering the vast experience his body had in manipulating qi.

“System, I’d like to please add a technique.”

Please specify the technique to add.

“Something that tells me how to fight with a spear.”

He wasn’t one hundred percent sure about his request. Su had spent years learning how to use a spear, and Benton had all those memories. Remembering practicing with a weapon was not the same thing as having actually developed those moves and instincts himself, though.

Even if he knew, in general, how to use a spear and how to internally manipulate qi to get the best results, he felt no confidence that he would actually be able to fight even that weakest spirit beast, much less a rival cultivator.

Benton’s thinking was that his safety was paramount. Being confident in how to use his weapon was worth the point expenditure. He could just see dying before he truly got started because he’d been too arrogant to invest in a crucial weapon skill. It was just common sense to do so.

Host currently has ninety-six Sect Points.

Spend one Sect Point to attain Basic Spear Combat – Small Success?

A flood of information and memories, though not nearly as intense or as painful as the experience when he’d received Su’s, filled his head. He retrieved his spear from his ring and made a few thrusts. It felt good.

He laughed. “I know kung fu!”

Small Success in the technique didn’t exactly make him feel confident to challenge all comers, though, so he spent another point to increase his proficiency in the skill to Large Success before considering moving up to Mastery. Since that level would have taken two points, he postponed the move to a later time. Next, he repeated the procedure for his bow, increasing that related technique to Large Success as well.

Those moves left him with two points of the ten he’d allocated left to spend, and his immediate inclination was to use them to increase his cultivation. Before he could pull the trigger on that purchase, Su’s memories triggered Benton to consider an intriguing alternative—Body Cultivation.

Though knowledgeable about the subject in general, Su had never had the opportunity to increase his. Body cultivation was, in a word, expensive. Each bath used both alchemical herbs and, for anyone in the Qi Gathering realm who was not able to manipulate qi externally, beast cores. Multiple baths were required for advancement to each minor realm.

Expensive.

Benton wasn’t faced with the same issue. All he had to do was spend a single point, and boom, he was a body cultivator. It might be better to focus solely on cultivation, but given his situation, the alternative was at least worth consideration.

Increasing his cultivation to the fifth or even sixth minor realm would give him a larger pool of available qi, but other than minute increases in speed, strength, toughness, and stamina, it wouldn’t greatly expand his capabilities. His survivability would not be all that greatly impacted. He’d simply be able to last longer in a fight or utilize a greater number of moves.

In contrast, body cultivation would literally make him much tougher. Harder skin, more resilient bones, and damage resistant organs would make him harder to kill. Instead of the becoming a fraction of a step faster as with spirit cultivation, he’d become up to twenty percent faster per level. It was the same with becoming stronger and having more stamina. All his physical attributes would jump significantly. With each level.

A low-level Body Cultivator would trounce a low-level spirit cultivator easily. Of course, that imbalanced reversed quickly starting at the second major realm, but it was what happened in the first that was relevant for Benton.

Considering those thoughts, he really had no choice but to devote his final two allocated points for that purpose.

After making the commitment to those selections, Benton pulled up his status again.

Sect Name: Not Chosen

Sect Members: 0

Sect Points: 90

Shop Points: 0

Host Cultivation: Qi Gathering – Minor Realm Four

Qi Available: 20

Host Body Cultivation: Bronze – Minor Realm Two

Host Techniques: Basic Archery – Large Success; Basic Spear Combat – Large Success

Menu:

[Cultivation Method]

[Technique]

[Quest]

[Perk]

[Advancement]

[Shop – LOCKED]

He felt good, prepared for whatever the cultivation world wanted to throw at him.

No sooner had that thought passed through his mind than a girl’s voice screamed in the distance.