Chapter 65 - Roll with the Punches
Benton let out a deep breath. The fight with the Chameleon Jade Sect member had been too close. If the spear had been a fraction of an inch off, the tip might not have penetrated the cultivator’s brain. After an unsuccessful attack against a powerful foe, the outcome would have been in doubt.
That had been entirely too close.
Benton shook his head. He needed to grow stronger. He needed to stop letting the needs of the moment cause him to draw too heavily on his available Sect Points.
But in the end, he had won.
He breathed back in. And nearly gagged from the stench.
Without a word, he rushed into the woods, his newly advanced body propelling him at speeds dwarfing what had been possible in the Qi Gathering realm, speeds he’d previously only reached in Su’s memories. Once he judged himself far enough from the caravan, he quickly doffed his clothes, up to and including his shoes. The entire outfit was a total loss. It would need to be burned.
Benton removed a luffa from his spatial storage and held his ring hand over his head before letting a significant quantity of pond water pour out to wash over him. He rubbed his tough skin so hard that his old body would have been bloodied and rinsed off the residue. Then, he repeated the process.
It took many cycles before he felt clean enough to return to civilized society—or what served as such at the camp his followers had settled at for the night.
After stepping several yards away from the nasty remnants of the purge, he pulled a bit of the most masculine smelling perfume he’d found back in the city from his ring. With that applied and a fully new set of clothes put on, he felt almost human—well, superhuman—again.
That experience had been the nastiest of his life. Unclogging toilets and changing diapers just didn’t compare.
Benton stared at the disgusting pile of materials that had been purged from his body. There wasn’t even all that much of it. Su’s body had been cleansed at the beginning of Foundation Establishment not all that long before he died, and Benton had spent less than six months in Qi Gathering.
Su’s first experience advancing had been after sixteen years of gunk building up in his body. Yikes.