Chapter 169: Hatched Chickens Come Home to Roost
Benton knew of only one reason why Golden Core cultivators would be headed toward the sect—to make him answer for the death of that thuggish Foundation Establishment cultivator from the Jade Chameleon Sect.
Of course, it could be something much more innocuous, like Kang Ya-Ting coming for a visit, but he wouldn’t bet money on that being the case. Better to hope for the best but prepare for the worst regardless. Benton had to treat the visit as a hostile incursion.
His first action had to be to meet the intruders, and the farther away from the sect and the village, the better. He Quickstepped in their direction, putting them ahead of their path and near enough that they’d be in sight in seconds.
Being so close, his sense gave him an estimation of their height, about a half mile above the ground. His next Quickstep brought him to that elevation, and an expert use of his Gravity technique kept him there.
It occurred to Benton that, not that long ago, the prospect of facing three such high realmed cultivators would have terrified him. With his completion of multiple iterations of his Ultimate Juggernaut Combat Build and all his recent experience fighting beasts, especially the rank ten, he had absolutely no doubt that he could handle them without any problems.
An instant later, three cultivators on flying swords flew into sight, all wearing the same gray-colored robes the slain Foundation Establishment cultivator wore.
Benton prepared himself for a fight as he doubted either bluffing or talking would get him out of the situation.
Teng Jian had been angry ever since being informed of his son’s death at the hands of some nobody who was calling himself a sect leader. Teng Chun had his flaws. His diligence at cultivation was lacking, and a sense of entitlement had led him to develop laziness unbecoming of his station.
All his flaws were trumped by a single factor—he was Teng Jian’s only son.
To let his death go unanswered would be an unacceptable loss of face. Honor demanded that the charlatan sect leader and all his followers and the entire village be killed. Only measures that extreme would wipe the slate clean of the shame of Teng Chun’s death.
Teng Jian grew even more angry when Chen Jingguo and Hu Huiqing weren’t ready to go. They had to wait several extra days, Teng Jian stewing in his rage the entire time.
The flight had been fast, at least, taking only a couple of hours to follow the road from Sixth Flawless Flowing City to Vermillion Incomparable Rain Town and from there staying above the much more overgrown path to the southwest. They were encouraged that they were indeed on the right track by the clear signs of recent travel on the old cart path.