As soon as Benton Teleported away from the kids, he clenched his fists. The JCSB alliance had killed Kang Lin. She had been dead. Her soul was slipping away. If he would have been a few seconds slower, he would have lost her forever.

They. Killed. Kang. Lin.

As soon as he re-appeared on the roof that had served as the JCSB’s base for the fight, Benton used three of his Auras to suppress the remaining enemy Nascent Souls and charged his Void finisher attack.

A small voice in his head told him that the weirdly proficient cultivators he faced probably had strong backing and that it would be a headache to deal with the repercussions that came from killing them. At that moment, though, he didn’t care.

They killed Kang Lin.

Luckily, another target for his anger appeared. The angry woman from the Swift Blizzard Sect was angrily haranguing the Nascent Souls at that very moment.

“What are you waiting for?” she yelled. “Kill him! That’s what we paid you for.”

Benton was pretty sure that the only reason the three hadn’t already killed her was that they had surrendered, and any offensive act would likely make their situation even worse. He had no idea why Yuan Yaozu hadn’t.

How the woman didn’t see that was beyond Benton. His understanding was that her sect practiced some type of Mind cultivation, so he couldn’t help but wonder if there was something seriously wrong with it that caused them to have suicidal impulses.

Or maybe they were simply stereotypical cultivators.

Either way, it didn’t matter to him.

Was she a Golden Core or above? Yes, check. Was she a member of either the Swift Blizzard or Jade Chameleon sects? Yes, check.

Two questions, two positive answers, one dead cultivator.

“Shut up, lady.” Benton reached out with his Gravity Aura and suppressed her.

“What? Wait. You can’t—”

Benton would never find out what it was that she thought he couldn’t do because the Void sphere that he tossed at her obliterated her entire body before she could finish her thought.

Darn. Now that was going to bug him.

“One annoying fly swatted,” he said. “Now, what to do about the other three?”

The woman who’d taken command bristled at his insult, but he didn’t care. She’d issued the order that resulted in Kang Lin’s death. The natural consequence of her actions should be death.

Once again, though, he was positive that killing them would come back to bite him in the butt. Same thing with the so-called Formations Master. Should he be tracked down and killed or just be let go?

“The typical resolution of such a situation is to ransom us, Esteemed Sect Leader,” the woman said.

“I seriously doubt you have anything that I need,” he said. “Pills, equipment, formations … my guess is that I can create better of all three than you have access to.”

The woman scoffed. The eyes of her two associates went wide.

“Did you just scoff at me?” Benton said.

“I did, Esteemed Sect Leader. If you truly think that you’re better than an Order verified Formations Master, it is your arrogance that is extraordinary.”

The man standing next to her tugged on the sleeve of her robe, but she ignored him.

“Did you not see how easily I countered his formation? What kind of idiot leaves such vulnerabilities? If you think he’s a master, I’ve got a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you.”

“You—”

“Esteemed Sect Leader,” the man who’d tugged on her sleeve said loudly, “This lowly one is Deng Boqin of the Azure Cliff Hunting Sect. This woman, Qian Liqin, is a rival from the Thousandth Heavenly Qi Sect and does not speak for me.”

“For us, Esteemed Sect Leader,” the third of the group said. “Harmonic Yellow Mercantile Association recognizes you as a Formations Master regardless of the word of the Order.”

The woman, Qian Liqin apparently, gasped. Literally gasped. If Benton hadn’t been so angry, he probably would have chuckled.

“Esteemed Sect Leader,” Deng Boqin said, “Did this lowly one sense the death of a Foundation Establishment junior who … was restored to life?”

“Yeah. And?”

The two men looked at each other. Even the woman grew quite flustered at his response. Only Yuan Yaozu seemed somewhat unimpressed, though Benton knew him well enough to understand that he was playing it cool.

“It’s not that big a thing,” Benton said. “Her soul hadn’t completely departed yet, so I could pull it back.”

“Pull it back, Esteemed Sect Leader?” Deng Boqin said.

“I used a Soul Cultivation technique. Pretty easy for someone at the peak of the Nirvana realm.”

That time, all four of them seemed shocked. Benton kept forgetting how rare Soul Cultivation methods were.

Well, kind of, anyway. Actually, he just figured that the citizens of the Da Qing continent probably had access to some as they appeared better off cultivation wise than both where he’d set up shop and where the original Chao Su had lived.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Clearly, he was wrong.

Deng Boqin was the first to recover his cool. “This lowly one has observed that the Esteemed Sect Leader can somehow suppress a fellow Nascent Soul with a single Aura; possesses a total of four Auras; has access to Void, Space, Time, and Gravity qi elements; and can pull souls back into the bodies of dead people. Are this lowly one’s observations … correct?”

“Don’t forget that I’m at the peak of Expert Mind Cultivation as well,” Benton said smugly. “That gives me some nifty benefits as well.”

If he decided to let them go, it would be wise for them to think he was as overpowered as possible, after all.

“Esteemed Sect Leader, this lowly one is Lai Xiaowen. Can you confirm that you were the Master Blacksmith and the Formations Master who created the swords sold at the Premiere Jade Treasures Auction House about a half year ago?”

“Yep. That was me.”

The man looked angry. If anyone had a right to be angry, it was Benton and only Benton, but seeing the man’s expression made him curious.

“What’s wrong?”

“That slimy man from the Jade Chameleon Sect swore that you were not the originator of those swords and that only he could provide the contact for the man who was. Without that lie, this lowly one would not be here.”

Ah.

“So you represent a merchant association and are only here to establish relations with a master craftsman?”

Lai Xiaowen cupped his hands. “Truly it is so, Esteemed Sect Leader.”

Benton thought it over. He could understand the motivation, and the guy hadn’t directly attacked the juniors. Besides, a merchant rich enough to afford to raise a Nascent Soul of such quality would surely be a pain in the neck to be on the wrong side of.

“Fine. You can go,” Benton said as he retracted the Aura suppressing the man. “Please provide what you feel is an appropriate ransom for your life to Kang Ya-Ting of the Poison Claw Sect. As long as you give enough, I won’t come after you.”

He wouldn’t go after the guy under any circumstances, but the rich merchant association didn't need to know that.

Lai Xiaowen cupped his hands. “Gratitude, Esteemed Sect Leader.” He wasted no time flying away.

Benton turned to the other man. “Why are you here?”

“At the behest of the Order, Esteemed Sect Leader. My sect has a formation we desperately wish to have created, and assisting in this matter was a condition put upon us.”

With the first decision made, the second was pretty easy. He retracted that Aura as well. “Fine. Same deal as with your friend.”

As Lai Xiaowen had before him, Deng Boqin cupped his hands, thanked Benton, and flew away.

That left only Qian Liqin on the side of the JCSB.

“You present me with a tougher choice,” Benton said. “I don’t like it when people hurt my juniors. Usually, I will not rest until such people are destroyed, and you ordered an attack that killed one of them.”

“One that you brought back to life,” she said. “Not to mention the fact that your juniors entered the fight of their own volition and were using Nascent Soul level talismans to attack. Either of those factors on their own made them valid targets. The two combined made it so that I would be an idiot not to attack them.”

Benton literally felt a vein on his forehead throbbing.

Qian Liqin swallowed. Hard. “Don’t forget that your juniors were not followed when they retreated, and they were only attacked to keep them from attacking us.”

On one hand, she had a point. On the other, she killed Kang Lin.

From her perspective, she’d come to do a job, probably in return for a shoddy array from that idiot Formations Master, and simply done her best to accomplish her mission. Even if that put her at odds with him, did it necessarily deserve death?

As he’d decided with the two men, no.

But she’d ordered the actions that led to Kang Lin’s death. Kang Lin, the girl who amused Benton so much with her reactions. She was a good, smart kid who, his enhanced senses told him, was even at that moment explaining to Yang Ru exactly why she’d run away.

And the tale made Benton so sad. Anyone who made someone as smart and funny and competent as her feel bad about herself warranted having something really bad happen to them.

He was so proud of her for working hard and finally realizing her worth. Good for her!

And the idiot standing in front of him had caused that awesome young lady to die.

Benton clenched and unclenched his fist several times.

“Are you okay, Esteemed Sect Leader?” Qian Liqin said.

“Give me a moment,” he said through gritted teeth.

He continued listening to the kids while Qian Liqin waited uncomfortably. Which was fine. A little discomfort and trepidation were far, far less than she deserved.

Finally, the kids’ conversation started to wane. And then it happened. Yang Ru proposed. And Kang Lin accepted.

Benton felt like his heart was about to burst. Finally. That outcome had been so long in coming.

They kissed. Which normally Benton would have tried to give them privacy for, but it wasn’t a need-to-find-a-room kind of kiss. Instead, it was about as chaste a kiss as two affianced could possibly get.

Yikes. Yang Ru would need to step up his game if Benton was ever going to get real grandbabies.

Eh, the kid would figure it out. They had time.

Benton fired off a message dragon to them, and the two soon Teleported to him.

“I approve of the marriage,” he said as soon as they both appeared.

Both their faces went scarlet, probably because they realized he’d heard their conversation. Well, tough, they could deal. He had more important matters to address than their embarrassment.

“But I have one condition,” he continued.

Yang Ru looked reticent at that, but Kang Lin said, “Of course, Master. Anything you want.”

“Perfect. Wan Ai won’t let me throw her and Zou Tian a big wedding, so I want the two of you to go first. And it will be an event. I want everyone there. Sect Leaders. The Emperor. Everybody. It’ll make the birthday party look like … well, I can’t come up with an appropriate insult right now, but it’ll be huge. Huge!”

Kang Lin smiled widely. “Of course, Master.”

Yang Ru, on the other hand, went pale. Benton wondered why.

“Anyway, that was the most important reason I summoned you here,” Benton said, “but I also needed help with something else. Should I kill this woman or not?”

Qian Liqin looked like she had swallowed a fly, but again, Benton simply didn’t care if she was upset or scared or insulted or whatever weird cultivator reaction she was having.

Kang Lin apparently decided that it was her turn to go white as a sheet. “You want us to decide the fate of a Nascent Soul realm cultivator?”

She didn’t actually ask why, but Benton could hear the unasked question.

“I want your opinion, specifically,” Benton said. “This woman issued the order that led to your death.”

“Oh. I see.” Kang Lin paused. “Do you know what faction she represents?”

“Some sect I never heard of. Something like a thousand leaves?”

Qian Liqin cleared her throat. “The Thousandth Heavenly Li Sect, Esteemed Sect Leader.”

Kang Lin had already gone white, but her completion somehow paled further. Benton almost channeled some Health qi into her.

“The Thousandth … Master, her sect is the most powerful on the entire Da Qing continent. I don’t know of a stronger one in the entire world.”

Qian Liqin had the audacity to look smug.

“Don’t concern yourself with such trivialities,” Benton said. “If I have to destroy her entire sect, I will. If you want her dead, she dies. Period.”

“Triv… Master, her sect has verified Nihility realm cultivators.”

Benton had fought Nascent Souls as a Golden Core. Going against Nihility realms was sure to be difficult, but he didn’t care. He shrugged.

Kang Lin nodded. “You would kill her, wouldn’t you? Just on my say so. Just on my whim.” She smiled. “Thank you, Master. That you care so much for me affirms all the choices I’ve made over the last few weeks.”

Benton’s heart swelled. Nothing better than being able to cheer up one of the kiddos. “Your decision?”

“Let her go, but make her pay for the privilege. It’s what Grandfather would tell me to do.”

Benton smiled as he relaxed her suppression. “Hear that, Qian Liqin? You’re free to go. Don’t make me hunt you down to collect payment.”

Surprisingly, the woman meekly cupped her hands to both Benton and Kang Lin before leaving.

Benton sighed. One less person to kill wasn’t much of a lessening of his burden. He dreaded what was to come next, but needs must.

“I’m off to run some errands,” he told the kids. “See you soon.”