Fresh off a new round of cheating, Benton obviously needed to try out his new technique. He elevated high over the peak so that he could see the entire mountain at once, and triggering an old school memory of the Wonder Twins from the Superfriends, kind of, he said internally, “Detect Treasure activate. Form of an … Ice aspected beast core, rank ten or higher.”

He waited a moment, staring at what he imagined as specks of light representing qi below him. They were so numerous that they literally all blended together into one big light. Surely something would happen. Something would pop out for him to notice, maybe shining brighter than all others.

Nope. Nothing. Nada. Zilch.

“Detect Treasure activate. Form of a … rock emitting lots of Ice qi.”

Still nothing.

Same for a Momentum aspected beast core. Honestly, he was starting to think that the technique was a dud, though that would have been a first. Still, it had required the use of a Concept. Maybe he’d messed that part up somehow.

Or maybe the mountain didn’t happen to have the exact materials he needed for every qi aspect handy. Those things were supposed to be rare after all.

“Detect Treasure activate. Form of a … plant emitting lots of Momentum qi.”

That time, something did happen. Almost all the qi specks blanked out. All save one, actually. That tiny little pinprick burned as bright as the sun, drawing him to it.

Suddenly bereft of his ability to sense spirit beasts and other dangers while under the influence of his skill, he let himself drift slowly downward until he could make out the plant in question.

“Cancel technique,” he said internally.

The enormous flood of information returned to his thankfully enhanced brain, and he checked for any beasts that might have taken the opportunity to set up an ambush. None of them were apparently that stupid, though.

Even diverting his attention away from the plant for a moment, he had no problem locating it, having used one of the four instances his mind was capable of splitting into to keep focus on it.

Benton actually didn’t know a whole lot about plants. Herbs were a different story. His techniques had given him encyclopedic knowledge of anything that could be used for alchemy. If it wasn’t part of that group of catalogued flora, though, he couldn’t tell you much about the things.

A group of dozens of unfamiliar plants with long stalks with bulbous ends were growing near an outcrop overlooking a canyon. Winds naturally whipped through that canyon and up the wall before being funneled onto the outcrop where it blew the tips all around.

In the qi rich environment of the mountain, the tips naturally absorbed much of it and took on an aspect dictated by their surroundings. As one might expect, most of those tips acquired a Wind aspect. Several, and one in particular, had instead taken on a Momentum aspect as they were whirled around.

Analyze told him that Detect Treasure was absolutely correct. That particular plant had grown saturated enough with Momentum qi to fulfill the needs of the qi source he was trying to create.

Perfect.

He left the others in place and made a mental note of the location. Given enough time, it was quite possible that the three other plants would absorb enough as well.

With his new technique, scouring the mountain for the rest of the materials he wanted took very little time. Most simply didn’t exist, which made sense. It took much time and an unusual confluence of circumstances to make a material purely aspected with a single qi element of the strength that he required.

The Eternal Celestial Peak was quite an unusual place, however, and he located two more materials, both rocks—one with the Shadow element and one with the Time element.

All in all, Benton was quite pleased. With the results. With the mountain as a source of cultivation treasures. And most of all, with his continued ability to cheat his way through any situation that arose.

Since his job was finished, he decided to spend the rest of the week spying on the kids’ progress, a task that was sure to be interesting, fun, and educational.

Jin LiJuan purely hated spirit beasts. Most spirit beasts anyway. Despite herself, Ganzou was starting to grow on her.

Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

Regardless, whatever she felt for the wolf didn’t have much of an effect on her feelings for the badger approaching her. She hated everything about it.

Its stout, flattened body. Its short legs. That ludicrous white strip that ran down the center of its ugly face.

Mostly, though, she hated that it would likely be so hard to kill. For her anyway. Any of the others, including Ganzou, would surely destroy it with a single swipe.

She steadied herself. It didn’t matter what they could do. What mattered was that she needed to learn, to advance, to grow. Master and Ganzou had given her a tremendous advantage in being able to ascend realms at ridiculous speeds and to be able to use any qi aspect.

There was a catch, though. She had to attain Mastery of techniques to maximize those advantages. Once she did, she’d be unstoppable, second only to Master in terms of strength in the sect, passing even Town Lord Fatty Ren.

First, she had to work hard. But that was okay. She’d never been scared of hard work.

Jin LiJuan set her jaw and settled into her combat stance, her jian held in the ready position.

Her goal for the trip was to advance just two of her techniques to their respective next ranks—the Strong Oak Sword technique to Large Success and Ensnarl to Small Success.

Both goals seemed so tiny, eclipsed by the wonder that was advancing all the way to Foundation Establishment. But neither was easy. She had to fight tooth and nail for each minor improvement. Even with how easy Master said Ensnarl was or with how much help Senior Brother Pan Jiang had been with the blade, she just couldn't seem to make big gains.

That was why she would be forever grateful to her fellow disciples accompanying her on the hunt. Not only was she able to concentrate fully on improving her technique since she could trust any one of them to save her if she truly got into trouble, but they were giving her all their turns.

Oh, she did understand that the rank two creatures she fought weren’t a challenge for any of them, but to hear Pan Jiang talk, it wasn’t unusual at all for a cultivator to take what was theirs by right whether it actually benefited them or not. She was glad that her sect and her fellow disciples weren’t like that. Though she felt that she really didn’t know any of the three of them that well at all—they were, after all, three of the most important people at the sect and she was several years their junior—but she also knew that each of them would do everything in their power to help her.

Jin LiJuan vowed right then and there to follow their example to the best of her ability. She’d been given great gifts and, as soon as she gained Mastery of enough techniques, would become one of the most powerful members of the sect. Her responsibility was to help others as they were helping her.

The badger was almost upon her, though, so it was time to put away errant thoughts.

It waddled toward her with an awkward but powerful gait.

“The claws on the front feet and its teeth are its main weapons,” Kang Lin yelled. “It will be deceptively fast in a straight line, but with your agility, you should be able to flank it relatively easily.”

The eldest of the group, the girl seemed to know a lot about just about everything. Jin LiJuan nodded, both as thanks for the information and recognition that such knowledge was a type of power in its own right.

She truly hated sitting and reading, preferring to practice her sword or other techniques, but as she was expected to eventually be one of the leaders of a new Beast Pavilion—she mentally shook her head at the thought—it would be good for her to learn more about them.

The badger hesitated at the yell, surely realizing it had no hope at five against one with all its opponents at a higher realm than it. Jin LiJuan, however, was quite some distance ahead of the others, and none of them made a move to get closer.

Apparently coming to the conclusion that it was worth the risk—either that or it let its natural aggression get the better of it—the badger darted forward with a snarl.

Jin LiJuan thanked the heavens for Kang Lin’s warning. The thing was fast. Really fast. Way faster than Jin LiJuan would have expected given the beast’s awkward gait and its overall pudgy appearance.

Without having been told to be on the lookout, she might have been taken by surprise. Instead, she dashed to the right just as the badger began its burst. And as expected, the beast wasn’t able to turn in time, dashing right past her.

Jin LiJuan was ready. She slashed at the creature’s flank. Wind Whipping the Branch added both power and speed. Her blade fell, slashing the badger just in front of its tail.

It yelped.

The cut was deep, and blood flowed from it.

That was good. An improvement. The beast was only a rank two, but it was strong and fast for its rank. And she’d hit it on her first try, an attack made after a successful dodge.

Pan Jiang would be so proud when he learned of her actions.

The badger, on the other hand, didn’t like being struck. It tried to flee, obviously in the direction opposite her group.

Ganzou, at rank four, was much faster than the badger. The wolf also know that the kill wasn’t his to make, so he instead used his speed and the threat of his teeth to herd the badger.

The bloodied beast was driven, hissing and snarling, back to Jin LiJuan, and by the time it reached her, it was too agitated to do anything other than strike out blindly. She saw the attack coming almost before it made it.

Her footwork felt perfect as she stepped to the left.

The badger’s teeth missed her by inches, but she barely noticed. She’d already started her next move, a backward thrust with her jian.

Root Seeks Water.

The metal of her root found liquid as intended, blood taking the place of water. The blade sliced between the ribs and found the beast’s heart, killing it.

She’d won.

More importantly, she felt something change in her understanding of her sword technique. She’d done it.

Large Success.

Yes!

“Jin LiJuan?” a voice said from behind her. Kang Lin.

“Yes, Senior Sister?” Jin LiJuan had been so wrapped up in the excitement of advancing her technique that she hadn’t heard the others approach.

Pan Jiang would be disappointed in what he called her situation awareness.

“Why didn’t you use your plant technique to hold the beast in place?” Kang Lin said.

“Uh…”