Nighttime neared as Benton watched over the fifty newest inductees into the Rising Tide Sect.

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The experience was not a pleasant one. They all writhed in agony. He was pretty sure he hadn’t previously actually seen anyone make a motion he’d describe as writhing, but that was the only word that fit.

It was like they wanted to sit still, but they were in so much pain that they couldn’t. Ergo writhing.

Before they’d started the process, they’d all appeared completely positive that improving their spiritual roots would be worth the pain. He dearly hoped that they all kept that same opinion when they finished.

Benton was almost positive he wouldn’t if he were them.

Be that as it may, it was his second time in a very short period watching over a large group undergoing the improvement. He was, frankly, getting a little bored.

Honestly, he was really eager to begin setting up the sect buildings. It wasn’t like anyone or anything could attack the arena while he was outside nearby. He could get all the pavilions and the required housing placed before morning. They could be fully using the grounds tomorrow.

The problem was that his new sect members were completely vulnerable as their bodies went through the upgrade. A single rank one beast could kill everyone in the stands without anyone raising a finger against it. Even if such an outcome was extremely unlikely, Benton just didn’t feel comfortable leaving them alone.

Besides, these people were suffering for the good of the sect. It was his responsibility and his duty to watch over them. He just wished the job wasn’t so boring.

Since he’d told all the veteran sect members to rest until tomorrow with the only acceptable activity besides sleep being cultivating if they wanted to, he didn’t expect anyone to relieve him of that boredom.

Literally just as he’d finished having that thought, Yang Xiu showed up at that arena. He should have known.

“Master, this disciple has a question.”

If she was starting so formally, she surely wanted something, and it was probably something she knew he wouldn’t want to grant. Poor girl. It would be a lot easier for her to get her way if he didn’t already have decades of experience fending off requests from kids and grandkids.

“Please ask, Disciple.”

“Well, Master, you see, I got to thinking,” Yang Xiu said. “You told us that the Trials Pagoda could be used only one time per day. I was wondering exactly when that reset.”

So that was her game. Interesting. And not a bad point, really.

“Daybreak.”

“Ah.”

His answer clearly broke her from whatever she’d planned to say next. She probably thought he’d say nightfall or midnight or something closer to the current time.

“Well, at any rate, if… Has anyone claimed the first spot, Master?”

There it was.

“No,” Benton said, “actually no one has, since, you know, I told everyone to rest tonight.”

“Oh.”

Of course, Yang Xiu and Yang Ru were the two least in need of rest to consolidate their newly improved spirit roots. They were two of the highest three ranked disciples in the sect in terms of talent as well as being the two highest sect members in terms of realm. Additionally, they’d gone through the process once already.

Benton felt that it would do no real harm for her to try the pagoda tonight, not that he would let her off quite so easily.

“I was thinking, Master, that it’s a darn shame to waste resources.”

“You’re right. We have all those beast corpses that need to be gathered and processed. With their high qi content, they don’t decay nearly as fast as mortal animals, but they will need to be dealt with sooner rather than later. It’s good of you to volunteer!”

Her face fell, and he almost chuckled. She purely hated skinning and deboning beasts.

“Actually, I was thinking about a different resource, Master.”

“Really? Which one?”

“The … Trials Pagoda, Master? You said it could only be used once a day, and if no one else uses it, that opportunity will just disappear. If that happens, we can never get it back.” She started out plaintive but warmed up as she went along.

Benton made a big show of frowning. “And what, pray tell, would you do in the Trials Pagoda?”

That was the question she wanted. He could tell because her eyes practically sparkled with joy. And because she literally clapped her hands. But mainly the eye thing.

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“My qi aspect, Master. It’s great for combat, but I want to embrace the scouting role you chose for me when you recommended my perception technique. Sure, I can learn a non-aspected technique or try to work my aspect into one somehow, but imagine how much more effective I’d be if my aspect actively supported such a thing!”

Okay. That was well reasoned. He’d honestly thought her request would be a little more out there.

“What specific adjustment are you planning on making?” he said.

That question took the wind out of her sails as she visibly deflated.

“I was hoping you could help me with that, Master. You seem so good with qi elements.”

“No. Sorry. I can’t.”

“Oh.”

The look on her face… She obviously wasn’t used to him refusing her requests.

“Yang Xiu, I cannot express this strongly enough. Anything regarding your qi aspect, especially something as fundamental as actively altering it, has to come from you and only you. I can’t help you. Kang Lin can’t help you. Yang Ru can’t help you. Us helping you now could cripple you later.”

“But what if I get it wrong, Master?”

“There is no right and wrong. It is what you think it is. The problem comes if someone or something external tries to impose their vision of what your qi is on you. Does that make any sense?”

“No, Master. Sorry.”

“There’s nothing to be sorry about. It’s not your fault. This is something that you should be learning and experiencing over the next couple of years as you advance through Foundation Establishment, not something to decide at minor realm one. The long and short of it is that you can only enter the Trials Pagoda for this purpose if you both have a concrete idea in mind of exactly what change you want to make and you are absolutely positive that the change resonates with the core of your being.”

She signed. “I’m guessing that I won’t be allowed in the pagoda tonight, then, Master.”

“Not for that purpose…”

“For improving my spirit roots again, Master? That would move me to S-!”

“No!”

She was so excited that he hated to burst her bubble, but he wanted to clamp down on that idea fast and hard.

“For one thing,” he said, “you could die if you fail. Until I know more about the process, no one in our sect will be allowed to even try. For another, you’ve already improved your roots twice in less than a year. Too much change too fast isn’t good for your cultivation base.”

“Yes, Master.”

She looked suitably chastened. For an instant. Then, she smiled.

“So I can work on a technique then, Master? My shield is not coming along nearly as well as I’d like.”

“Peng Zhen and his family have already moved into the upper floor of the shop. Tell him that you have my permission but that you’ll have to negotiate contribution points with him. I want a full report about the trial after you’re done!”

“Yes, Master!”

She practically skipped out of the arena.

Yang Xiu couldn’t care less about her contribution points. She had tens of thousands of them, and they seemingly came to her from doing what she was going to do anyway. When Peng Zhen proposed a thousand to enter the lowest of the three trials, she readily agreed.

The important thing was that she was to be the first in the entire sect to use the pagoda. Her brother would be green with envy when he found out.

From the outside, the pagoda didn’t look like anything special. It was two stories and, like the arena and the new Contribution Points Shop, painted in shades of blue. The door was a regular wood door, which opened with a regular old pull on a regular handle. The space beyond was … nice? Wood floors. Empty except for a white pedestal.

She’d been expecting the décor to be more mystical or something. Not that she was disappointed. It was just that…

Well, okay, maybe she was a little disappointed.

She walked up to the pedestal, and nothing happened.

There was a white sphere, an orb maybe, that appeared to be made of marble or some kind of polished stone with black and gold flecks mixed in. She touched it.

A weird blue box popped up in front of her eyes.

Welcome to the Trial Pagoda, Disciple Yang Xiu. You have the choice of one of the following three Trials:

Advance Cultivation or Technique

Add or Modify Qi Aspect

Improve Spiritual Roots

Yang Xiu clapped her hands. Ethereal blue boxes popping up in her vision that referred to her by name? That was what she expected. She should have known that Master wouldn’t let her down.

Obviously, the first trial was the reason she was in the pagoda, and the most responsible, dutiful part of her urged her to select it. A more impulsive side of her couldn’t help but be a little curious about the other choices, though.

After putting a bit of thought into it, she began to understand what Master was trying to tell her about her qi aspect. It was a deeply personal thing, and no one but her could figure out what worked. Which was unfortunate as such esoteric thinking wasn’t one of her strong points.

She’d figure it out eventually, though. There was nothing she couldn’t accomplish once she put her mind to it.

Yang Xiu grinned. That confidence was definitely new. Back in her village, she would never have though to be that sure of herself, but with Master’s teachings, she really thought she could do anything.

But she realized she was getting distracted, so she returned her focus to her task. Her primary Foundation Establishment technique was already at Large Success, an amazing accomplishment. The shield was … more difficult for her. It just wasn’t coming along nearly as well as she wanted it to, even though she’d at least managed to get it to Small Success.

She really wanted to buy her third technique, one that would use external qi to augment her perception, but since she had the option of modifying her qi aspect, it made no sense to add that technique until she solved the issue of exactly what the modification should be. Which might take forever.

For all she knew, it might take her days or even weeks to figure it out.

Well, she definitely didn’t have the solution at the moment, so there was no way she could pick that trial. And she was forbidden from picking the third trial for at least another year.

On the other hand, Master seemed interested in the workings of the pagoda. What would happen if she tried to choose one of those two forbidden trials? Would the pagoda let her? That would be good information for Master.

She grinned. He’d probably praise her for her initiative in testing the pagoda’s workings.

“Esteemed Trials Pagoda, please let me try the trial to improve my spiritual roots.”

Worst case scenario, she could just quit or something if it actually let her attempt it.

Selection to Improve Spiritual Roots requires an expenditure of sect resources and approval from Sect Leader Chao Su.

Contacting Sect Leader Chao Su.

Sect Leader Chao Su says, “Yang Xiu, stop playing around and pick the correct trial, or I swear that I’ll let every single person in the village go through the pagoda before you.”

Oops.

“Esteemed Trials Pagoda, please let me try the trial to advance my Automated Slippery Ice Shield.”