Chapter 170: True Danger
Benton’s first attack didn’t kill either of the two Golden Core cultivators from the Jade Chameleon Sect, but that was to be expected. Even Nascent Soul cultivators rarely one shot Golden Cores.
There was a reason cultivators of that realm were respected and feared. It took a lot of effort to reach so high on one’s journey. The other thing it took was time. Lots of time. Decades.
Benton’s spiritual sense told him that the three men were in the seventh, sixth, and fifth minor realms respectively. They’d each spent years and years learning techniques and acquiring treasures. Each was surely a killing machine feared by all who opposed them.
Despite all those deadly accomplishments, Benton had absolutely no doubt he could kill all of them. He was simply on a different level than a typical Golden Core cultivator. The only question was how much damage they’d do first.
At the moment, he had a big choice in front of him—finish off the two struggling under the impact of a Lightning bolt and the effects of the Gravity technique or go after the one attacking the village. The obvious answer seemed to be to go after the one who was putting his sect members in danger.
There were multiple problems with that approach, however. One, the man was invisible and would take time to find, leaving the two here the opportunity to heal by consuming pills. Even worse was the fact that Benton would not be able to keep them suppressed with his technique while he was out of range at the village, giving them an even better opportunity to recover. Two, the men he left behind would be aware for the next encounter that he could immobilize them with Gravity, something he actually couldn’t do as easily if they were close to the village, and that he could reveal their invisibility. Three, he’d be demonstrating that he was desperate to protect the village, giving them a tool to use against him.
The counterpoint was that a Golden Core cultivator could destroy a bunch of mortals in an instant. And Benton’s Foundation Establishment cultivators were all still in the first minor realm. With their shields and Body Cultivation, maybe they could withstand a single hit. Maybe.
But Yang Ru and Kang Lin weren’t even back yet, leaving only Yang Xiu to protect the village. The girl was talented and powerful for her realm, but she was no match for a Golden Core Cultivator.
The most likely outcome of Benton waiting even a few seconds was for the entire village to be wiped out.
Which also happened to be the most likely outcome of him not taking that time to destroy the two intruders in front of him.
When in doubt, take the bird in the hand rather than counting the birds in the bush.
Benton drew his bow and shot seeking arrow after seeking arrow, all charged with Light and Void for the father of the jerk Benton had killed and with Fire and Void for the other one. As expected, the arrows were so fast that, combined with the homing feature, neither of the two were able to dodge. Also as expected, the two had some tricks up their sleeve, and even as roughed up as they were from dealing with the two previous techniques, they were each able to destroy the first volley of arrows.