Chapter 142: Better to Lose a Fortune
The fast approaching fourth wave worried Benton greatly. The beast tide was not likely to crest at rank six, and any beast ranked higher than that was the equivalent of Golden Core or above. Fighting such an opponent near the village was a bad idea.
The kinds of energies that a rank seven or higher beast had access to could destroy even a wall made from Orange Vigor Spirit Wood with even an incidental blow. None of the sect members, not even the twins and Kang Lin, had a chance of surviving if forces of that strength were unleashed in their vicinity.
Heck, if the Big Boss were a high enough rank, Benton would have to go all out. Truly all out. He’d have to unleash the full might of his qi, and his techniques didn’t exactly come equipped with IFF to separate the allies from enemies when determining who to blast into nothingness.
Yeah. Fighting the higher ranked beasts too close to the village was a complete non-starter, which was why he’d been preparing his disciples to survive a portion of the tide without him.
His original plan had been to stay in the village until the beginning of the sixth wave. Upon leaving to find the Big Boss, he’d do serious damage to the beasts as he passed and leave the dregs to the twins and Kang Lin. With a long interval between waves, that would have hopefully given him enough time to find and destroy the tide’s mastermind before the higher ranks even reached the village.
If he left any sooner, he risked missing the rank sixes, and he feared what would happen if that entire wave made it to the wall. After all, he had no idea how many beasts would attack, and the defenders only had three Foundation Establishment cultivators to protect them if he left.
Crap. The village only really had one true protector as neither Yang Xiu nor Kang Lin were powerful enough to kill a rank six. Two on one, they’d have a chance, but only a small one. And they were likely to instead be severely outnumbered.
Benton had been hoping that the experience they gained versus the rank fours and fives would trigger skill and/or cultivation advancements that would assist them with the sixes. Which wasn’t an absurd hope. The twins were two of the top three most talented sect members, and considering how much benefit even the low tiered disciples were getting, both of them should get significant gains.
That was really the best-case scenario. The twins would get stronger. Between their advancement and the special arrows Benton provided, they’d be able to handle the sixes and, hopefully, weather the storm brought by even higher ranked beasts.
With the interval between waves shrinking, though, there would not be enough time for them to finish one properly, much less consolidate their gains. They’d have to go into each fight no stronger than they were at the moment, a losing proposition.