The Sect Leader System-Chapter 178: That Could’ve Gone Better

Between the time Benton arrived in the cultivation world and a short while ago, he had killed a limited number of people. The young master and his men who had accosted Yang Xiu and Yang Ru in the forest. The cultivator gang who’d invaded the warehouse. The Foundation Establishment cultivator who had tried to rob the caravan on the road. The scum in Vermilion Incomparable Rain Town. And of course, the three Golden Core cultivators who had sought to kill his disciples.

When added up, that seemed like a lot for such a short time, especially since he’d never killed anyone in his life on Earth, but for the most part, he’d felt justified in each of those killings. They’d been necessary. But he’d never felt any pleasure in doing what he had to do.

Despite everything he told himself in advance, avenging Ye Zan’s death by executing those twelve men and women had almost been pleasurable. Benton couldn’t bring the guard captain back, but he felt good that he’d at least been able to make someone pay for the loss.

At the very least, he had been afforded the opportunity to, in some small measure, honor Ye Zan. By raining devastation on the Jade Chameleons in such a public manner, anyone wanting to harm any of Benton’s sect members in the future would have to take pause and worry that he might do the same to them and theirs.

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Ye Zan would have been happy to know that his death not only saved Yang Xiu’s life but protected the rest of the sect as well.

On the other hand, Benton was also glad that he hadn’t killed the ones who had surrendered. Removing the cultivation from those three was the right call. They still had their lives, but they’d never forget the punishment.

Vengeance was fine to a point, but he didn’t want to lose himself. When he got back to the Rising Tide Sect, he wanted to be the loving, doting grandfather figure to those kids just like always instead of a cold, miserable wretch obsessed with killing.

With the destruction of the Jade Chameleon Sect branch in Sixth Flawless Flowing City, he was ready to let bygones be bygones. As he sensed eight new Golden Core cultivators approach him, however, he sighed. It was unlikely that the rest of the world would be willing to adopt the same philosophy.

Oh well. At least, they waited until after he’d finished laying waste to the grounds before disturbing him. That patience showed some degree of manners on their part.

Benton hopped on his flying sword and ascended into the sky to meet his visitors, and when he arrived, he found Kang Ya-Ting and Elder Dai were already greeting the newcomers. From the robes the unfamiliar cultivators wore, Benton thought it likely that both the Swift Blizzard Sect and the City Lord factions were represented.

The conversation between his allies and the newcomers looked friendly enough. If all went well, maybe Kang Ya-Ting would be able to smooth the whole thing over.

Yeah. Like Benton was that lucky. He just knew the situation was almost guaranteed to turn into something troublesome.

Honestly, he was okay with that. He’d done what he had to, but in doing so, he’d stirred up some hornets by intruding on the territory of two relatively innocent factions. If someone had come into the territory of the Rising Tide Sect, started disrupting things in order to accomplish their own goals, and ignored him completely, he’d definitely be more than a little peeved.

It was good to think about the opposing parties’ point of view before entering into a discussion.

The flip side of walking a mile in another’s shoes was keeping one’s own objectives at the forefront. Benton’s only goal was to protect his sect members, and the sole method of achieving that was to project strength.

Of course, being strong didn’t necessarily mean being a jerk. If the two factions wanted a reasonable recompense for his rudeness and he could make that payment while maintaining a position of strength, he was just fine with that solution.

If they expected him to kowtow or wanted him to pay a price he couldn’t stomach, things would turn ugly fast.

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As he approached the gathering, the entire group of new cultivators plus his two allies from the Poison Claw Sect watched.

Elder Dai turned to the larger group once Benton stopped. “Luo Quan, Mao Biya, this one has the pleasure of introducing you to the leader of Rising Tide Sect, Chao Su.” She turned to Benton and gestured toward a tall, youthful man wearing very ornate purple robes. “Chao Su, this one is pleased to introduce His Imperial Majesty’s Servant, the Lord of Sixth Flawless Flowing City, Luo Quan.”

Benton cupped his hands and gave a modest bow to the man.

Elder Dai then gestured to an older woman wearing cerulean robes with white accents. “This one is also pleased to introduce the branch leader of the Swift Blizzard Sect, Mao Biya.”

Benton cupped his hands to her as well.

“Sect Leader Chao Su,” the City Lord said, “you have destroyed property in my city.”

“I have.”

The honest, straightforward reply seemed to throw the man off his game.

“Such an act is not acceptable,” the City Lord said.

Benton shrugged. “I told them there would be consequences if Teng Jian or anyone else from the Jade Chameleon Sect attacked my people. One of their cultivators killed one of mine. The destruction is the consequence of their actions.” He paused, letting his tense body relax somewhat. “That being said, I understand that I have disturbed the peace in your fair city. It is your responsibility to maintain order, and I have contributed to a rise in disorder. I am more than willing to pay an appropriate fine.”

The man frowned.

At first, Benton had suspected that the City Lord’s youthful appearance wasn’t indicative of his true age. After all, cultivators age differently than mortals and have many ways to combat the ravages of time. His overbearing and somewhat haughty manner, however, was beginning to remind Benton of the characteristics of an arrogant young master.

Before the man could speak again, a cultivator who Benton assumed was one of the City Lord’s flunkies chimed in. “There is precedent for levying a fine, my lord. The esteemed sect leader has provided an explanation for his actions, verified by the testimony of the honorable leader of the Poison Claw Sect branch, and showed his contriteness. The damage was also limited to just the offending party. One thousand spirit coins of the ten thousand qi denomination would surely provide an adequate balm to soothe nerves of the residents.”

The City Lord’s frown deepened briefly before he relented. “Very well. One thousand spirit coins. Next time, however, I will not be so lenient.”

Well, that had gone much better than Benton had expected. One thousand spirit coins were not a trivial sum as it represented over ten million qi when inefficiencies of the process were considered. Even using meditation to recoup nearly two million qi per hour, Benton would have to spend pretty much the entire night creating coins to pay the fine.

He cupped his hands toward the City Lord. “Gratitude for your fair and lenient ruling. I will bring the coins to the administrative building on the morn.”

“That is acceptable.”

With that, the City Lord and his four flunkies departed, but Benton wasn’t out of the woods yet. As soon as they were out of earshot, Mao Biya, the branch leader of the Swift Blizzard Sect met his eyes.

“Leader of the Rising Tide Sect?” she said.

Her tone made it clear that she was not happy to hear about the existence of his sect.

Benton had a choice to make. He could either downplay the existence of the sect as simply a way to counter the beast tide or start the process of legitimizing it.

Honestly, though, there wasn’t really much of a choice. For him to grow as a cultivator, he needed to grow his sect. Given that he planned to expand soon into Vermilion Incomparable Rain Town and had every intention of exploiting the Orange Vigor Spirit Wood and its market in the city, there was really no hiding that growth.

“Yes,” Benton said. “We’re a small outfit at the moment with almost all our members being in the Qi Gathering realm, but I plan on expanding quickly.”

Kang Ya-Ting looked shocked at the admission.

“Is that why you dealt such a major blow to the Jade Chameleons?” Mao Biya said. “They’re your rivals, and you’re planning to take their place?”

“Honestly, I couldn’t care less about their place or about the Jade Chameleon Sect in general. Had they left me alone, I would not have had a single issue with them. Instead, they sent a thug to try to rob me on the road, and after I killed him, his father came after me. Which is fine. To be expected, right? But since when is it okay to deliberately kill juniors? I delivered the response they deserved, and if anyone else messes with my people, the next time I’ll do worse.”

Everyone, even the Swift Blizzard leader, seemed taken aback by Benton’s outburst, and as soon as the words left his mouth, he worried that he had gone too far. His plan had been to be as conciliatory as possible, but the woman’s accusations and hostility had made that approach difficult.

Mao Biya frowned. “You believe that a major sect, one of the big three, owes you and your so-called sect face? Should I give you face as well?”

“Yes.”

“You dare dictate my actions?”

Benton knew he was treading on dangerous ground. He already had one sect gunning for him. It would have been better if he could have established friendly relations with the Swift Blizzard Sect. The woman’s attitude was making that task impossible.

“Yes,” Benton said simply.

To make any other statement would be to admit weakness.

The woman and her associates turned their flying swords and zoomed off into the distance.

Well, that could’ve gone better.