The Sect Leader System-Chapter 173: Terms of Punishment

Kang Ya-Ting was not expecting a message from his granddaughter, Kang Lin, but reports were not wholly unexpected. A lot was going on at the new Rising Tide Sect, including the recent revelation of a Trials Pagoda.

He eagerly dove his consciousness into the messaging device.

Dearest Grandfather,

This message will probably not reach you before Master Chao Su makes it to the city, but you need accurate information as soon as possible.

I was away from the village on a mission for Master Chao Su when the events took place, so I can only report what I’ve been told. The descriptions, however, come from reliable sources, and I believe the information to be as correct as is knowable at this point.

Three Golden Core cultivators from the Jade Chameleon Sect attacked the Rising Tide Sect earlier today. While Master Chao Su killed who I believe to be Teng Jian and another cultivator, the third attacked the village, aiming to kill Yang Xiu. The guard captain you hired saved her but was killed in the process.

Master Chao Su and the entire Rising Tide Sect are livid, far beyond the enmity that such an event typically creates. This lowly one cannot express enough how much importance has been placed on the loss of a single Qi Gathering cultivator.

This lowly one is hopeful that Master Chao Su can be persuaded to accept reasonable renumeration in the form of treasures and resources as is standard for this type of clash between sects. After talking to his other disciples, however, it is unknown whether Master Chao Su will be reasonable. Master Chao Su said something about Ye Zan being avenged and, after using Lightning to kill the third cultivator, flew toward the city at great speed on one of the flying swords he took from the defeated Jade Chameleon cultivators.

I hope you find this information useful.

Love,

Your Filial Granddaughter,

- Kang Lin

Interesting. Very interesting. And in interesting times, a smart man found opportunities. The problem was that the opportunities were as likely to be for disaster as for profit.

If the information in the message were accurate—and Kang Ya-Ting had no reason to believe it not to be—the Jade Chameleon Sect had suffered a grievous loss. Besides the almost complete destruction of the Righteous Rain Sect, he couldn’t remember in his lifetime a major sect losing three Golden Core cultivators in a single day, much less a single battle.

Even without being subjected to follow up repercussions, the Jade Chameleon’s actual power would be severely diminished, especially considering that Teng Jian had recently broken through into the seventh minor realm and was a leading candidate to maybe eventually reach Nascent Soul.

Worse than that loss was the blow to their reputation. The fact that an unimportant, basically unknown sect inflicted such losses on them caused an extreme loss of face. All the major factions would be circling to see what they could gain from the circumstances.

The absolutely great thing about the situation was the letter Kang Ya-Ting had sent warning the Jade Chameleons of such an outcome. No one could place any of the blame for the event on the Poison Claw Sect.

With these thoughts on his mind, he raced to the office of his friend and sometimes more than friend, the designated leader for the sect branch in the city, and quickly reported the contents of the message to her.

“It appears you were right,” Elder Dai said. “In order to defeat three Golden Core cultivators and only suffer the loss of a single minor subordinate, Chao Su must be at least in the Nascent Soul realm. Nihility stills seems a stretch, though, as the Jade Chameleons wouldn’t be able to have reached anywhere near the village otherwise.”

Kang Ya-Ting cupped his hands. The mysteries of Chao Su ran deep, but it wasn’t the time to argue the particularities. “There has been no word of Chao Su approaching the city or the Jade Chameleon Sect yet, correct? I can’t believe I would have missed such news.”

“No. It’s interesting that the message reached here before Chao Su did. Even if he backed off his vow to avenge the Qi Gathering cultivator, surely he would have come to us?”

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Kang Ya-Ting shrugged. “We have to plan for the worst and assume that he will soon appear in the city to seek recompense from the Jade Chameleon Sect branch here, perhaps violently. What should we do in response to such a scenario?”

She frowned. “I’m assuming you still advocate for supporting him?”

“A free agent who has, at the least, reached Nascent Soul with access to a seemingly infinite supply of heaven grade techniques and cultivation methods and now a Trials Pagoda? We definitely shouldn’t continue to pursue a friendship with that individual.”

Elder Dai fixed him with a glare. “Your sarcasm is unbecoming of a sect elder, Kang Ya-Ting, but I accept your point. Speaking on his behalf to the City Lord and the Swift Blizzard Sect costs us little and provides potentially huge benefits. Obviously, we won’t put our own resources on the line, but being outwardly supportive is a wise course. I’ll message the sect leader.”

He again cupped his hands. As long as Chao Su continued to come out a winner, both Kang Ya-Ting and his granddaughter would benefit from their association with the enigmatic cultivator.

Benton had spent just over two hours in Meditation regenerating his qi. Obviously, he could have finished a lot quicker by consuming spirit coins, but the process centered him, allowed him to let go of some of his anger.

Not all of it, of course. He needed it to drive him for what he had to do next, but it was better to face the upcoming task with a clear mind. The ramifications of what he was about to do would reverberate for a long time. Being seen as calm and someone that could be approached would help him and his new sect much more than appearing in the sky like a crazed god of vengeance.

He blew out a breath. If he were being honest with himself, a crazed god of vengeance was exactly what he wanted to be. Those assholes had killed Ye Zan. They deserved what they got.

But giving into such desires didn’t help anyone, least of all the others he was responsible for protecting.

To best provide that protection, his message needed to be clear. The Jade Chameleon Sect stepped on his bottom line, and there was a price they had to pay for that transgression. Once the price was paid, he would no longer pursue the matter unless they further wronged him or his. If that happened, the new payment would exceed the first one.

As he prepared to mount the flying sword once again, he noticed that he still wore the emblem marking him as a friend of the Poison Claw Sect. Given the major mess he was about to make, he decided it was best not to drag his friends into the muck with him. He stored the emblem in his spatial ring.

The actual flight didn’t take long, and his spiritual sense once again proved to be a superior navigating tool. Soon, he found himself approaching Sixth Flawless Flowing City, but he hesitated outside the gate.

He was about to cross the metaphorical Rubicon. No turning back. Crossing the plane of the wall on a flying sword without registering with the guards was in itself an aggressive act. But while it failed to show the City Lord the proper face, it also demonstrated strength. If Benton wanted to be taken seriously as a power in the region, he would have to take that respect by force.

The necessity of the act irked him, though. Benton would much prefer to approach the City Lord and explain the situation. That would be the polite thing to do.

Ignoring the guards was just rude.

Benton sighed. Considering everything else he was about to do, he supposed that worrying about not being polite was a bit silly.

As the guards below watched helplessly, he flew over the gate.

The city was so big that even spending a month there hadn’t made him overly familiar with the entire layout, but the important places were well known. The City Lord’s Palace. The grounds for the Poison Claw Sect, of course. And the location of the Jade Chameleon Sect’s branch.

He flew straight to the latter. As he hovered over the wall separating the grounds from the city, he thought about what to do next.

First, he supposed that he needed to get everyone’s attention. And he had a pretty good idea on how to do that, Then, he’d need to announce his terms, which was more problematic as he didn’t currently possess a way to do that.

Luckily, he was a cheating cheater who cheats.

“System,” he said internally, “please create a technique to amplify my voice and buy it to Mastery.”

Technique creation confirmed.

Host has learned the technique, Voice Amplification: Mastery.

Host has 838 Sect Points available.

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Perfect.

That task taken care of, he channeled one hundred thousand qi into a Lightning Bolt and targeted the big pagoda that he assumed served as the sect’s administrative hall.

A bright bolt lit up the cloudless sky and struck the building, doing no damage as a defensive formation blocked the attack. The light show and the accompanying thunder accomplished what he wanted, though. Everyone outside was looking around trying to figure out what was going on.

“Members of the Jade Chameleon Sect,” Benton boomed, using his new voice technique, “you have attacked my Rising Tide Sect and caused the death of one of my sect members. The three Golden Core cultivators you sent have been killed, but that is not consequence enough. Your sect grounds here in Sixth Flawless Flowing City are hereby forfeit as punishment for your aggression. I will return in thirty minutes to destroy the grounds. Anyone not evacuated by that time will be included in the destruction.”

Benton really didn’t like that last part, but he didn’t see that he had any other option. The sect grounds were a big place, and it would take a lot of qi to destroy the entire area, especially when he had to overwhelm the defenses of each building first. He would do what he could to not kill innocents, but he was going to be throwing around a lot of power. Better to set expectations from the outset.

With nothing else to do for a half hour, he set out toward the Poison Claw Sect.