The Sect Leader System

Benton was quite excited to see dawn break for a couple of reasons. The first, primary one was that it was finally auction day. He hadn’t been to one for years, not since Evelyn forbade him from going to any more just because he’d overspent by just a tad that one time.

And okay, maybe he’d paid a little more than the painting was worth. Only a little though. A thousand dollars. Max. Two thousand at the outside. How could one put a price on art? Especially since the artistic merit of the piece was unquestionable. He simply couldn’t understand why she couldn’t see the value in it. Instead of hanging it in the living room where it belongs, she relegated it to the basement storage room, and he wasn’t allowed to go to any more auctions.

Hopefully, one of his kids treasured it as part of their inheritance. They probably fought over it.

Anyway, he was definitely looking forward to going not to just a regular auction, but a cultivator auction. It was sure to be a hoot and a half.

The second reason for his excitement was that he could quit making greater spirit coins for a while. He’d been spending entire nights using his Time Aura and making piles of the stupid things. The thought of not having enough cash to buy something he really wanted had compelled him to put in the effort, but man, was spending hour after hour after hour on that task boring as all get out.

Since he wasn’t bringing any of his sect members with him—too dangerous!—he could leave any time he wanted, and his understanding was that the auction house opened first thing in the morning to accept late submissions. Dawn was first thing in the morning as far as he was concerned, so he dashed off a message about his imminent departure to Yuan Yaozu.

Benton knew that, if he asked Kang Ya-Ting for advice, the elder would advise caution and for all dealings with the auction house to be run through the Poison Claw Sect. And honestly, there was quite a bit of wisdom to that approach.

On the other hand, since reaching Nascent Soul, Benton no longer needed to hide behind an allied sect. He had no desire to invite attacks, but it was time for him to stand on his own two feet.

Of course, there was wisdom, and there was bravery. And the two usually didn’t intersect. At the very least, he could take the simple precaution of not drawing too much attention to himself, starting with his appearance. Not that he planned on using a disguise or altering his face with Illusion, but wearing something other than his Rising Tide Sect robes wasn’t exactly a bridge too far.

He had a set of plain brown ones in his ring that he’d picked up from somewhere, and he quickly donned those before setting off.

Unfortunately, his Teleport technique had one minor, sometimes inconvenient, restriction—he couldn’t Teleport to a location he’d never visited. And since he’d never been to the auction house, he couldn’t just pop directly into its courtyard.

So he did the next best thing. He Teleported to the sky above Sixth Flawless Flowing City and held himself there while he located his target. Which was made much easier by Kang Lin having described its location.