Chapter 167: The Care and Feeding of Beasts
Benton had a busy couple of days after the council meeting. For one thing, he had to make sure that the important tasks like the wood harvesting and wall creation were moving in the right direction.
Honestly, though, the villagers, now sect members, in charge of those operations were pure pros. There was nothing he could do to enhance the process because they knew a lot more about it than he ever would. After ensuring that production was happening and proceeding at the same rate as before the tide, he left them alone.
Likewise, he felt no need to oversee the workings of the Martial Pavilion. The twins, Ye Zan, and Kang Lin had lessons and spars and even mini tournaments arranged. And not just for the direct members of that pavilion. Granted, the members were practicing the most, of course, but somehow the four leaders had arranged for all the other sect members to spend a minimum of one hour three days a week on improving their weapon techniques.
That level of organization exceeded Benton’s expectations, so he left them alone as well.
He did have to spend a number of hours with Peng Zhen, the leader of the Contribution Points Store, but those meetings were about discussing what kinds of techniques Benton could offer and how many contribution points to charge and award for various items and services.
Pan Xiaolian had the Healing Pavilion well in hand since all their members were still in the Qi Gathering realm. Without fancy medical equipment or the ability to externally manipulate qi, all they really could do was diagnose any issues and feed the patient the appropriate healing pill. Since there were only the minor and major varieties available, the task was relatively trivial.
Still, all five of the doctors worked on improving their techniques, and Benton was sure that their diligence would pay off once they reached Foundation Establishment.
The Alchemy Pavilion was a bit trickier. Wan Ai, or more probably, Zou Tian, had found one of the newer members to oversee the Body Cultivation baths, and that process was proceeding along well enough. Without Wan Ai directly contributing to production, they’d reduced their peak capacity from a high of over forty down to the low twenties.
That was fine, though. The beast tide was over, so there was no longer a dire catastrophe hanging over their heads requiring sect members to rush through advancing. Twenty baths a day basically meant twenty Sect Points for Benton every three days, which was a fantastic return on investment. Combined with inducting fifty new members every month, he was swimming in points.
Wan Ai had turned her attention to pills, a move that Benton highly encouraged. The baths were important, but pills were crucial to the sect’s growth. Obviously, she wouldn’t be able to make any real cultivation pills until she reached Foundation Establishment, but every bit of practice and every lesson learned now would benefit her in the future.
He was so focused on investing in her ability that he almost bought Alchemy techniques for himself so he could teach her. At the last moment, however, he hesitated and instead sought Zou Tian’s advice.
“Master, that is the worst idea I’ve ever heard from you.”