Chapter 294: The First Source
Benton had the necessary materials for four of the seven qi sources he planned to create. Kind of. He’d agreed in principle to the terms of the trade for the last Fire material, but it wouldn’t arrive at his sect for another little more than two weeks. That left him with the ability to make Ice, Nature, or Shadow immediately.
Hmm. Ice and Shadow only helped one of his disciples each, while Nature had the potential of speeding the cultivation of a large number of sect members. On the other hand, Yang Xiu and Zou Tian were, quite honestly, more important than all the regular members put together.
Benton sighed. He hated to think of the relative worth of people like that, but his decision required him to be honest. The rank-and-file Nature aspected sect members were, in aggregate, crucial to his sect. They would eventually all reach at least Foundation Establishment and contribute in ways big and small, filling the Pavilions and creating resources and fighting battles.
The sect would absolutely be nothing without them.
But they were also easy to replace. Literally more than ninety-nine point nine percent of the billions and billions of people on the planet could take the place of his current sect members and achieve the same results.
Not only that, but sects weren’t judged by their workhorses for a reason. A single Golden Core could decimate those junior members. Well, such a high-ranked cultivator could easily destroy more than just one in ten juniors, but the point still stood.
The old man who came from Earth still bristled at that way of thinking, but honestly, his prior planet wasn’t really all that different. Fans cheered for the star of the team not the benchwarmer. Celebrities were adored. Trash collectors weren’t.
At the end of the day, all his sect members deserved respect, courtesy, and common decency. The top members simply deserved more. Which left Benton needing to determine which of the two possible disciples got the qi source first.
Yang Xiu possessed phenomenal talent and was pretty much destined to end up astride the cultivator world. She had a real chance of finishing near the top, if not at the top, of whichever bracket she ended up competing in at the tournament. And she was the one most likely to be disappointed if Benton didn’t make the source for her aspect first.
Zou Tian’s spiritual roots weren’t nearly as impressive, but he was probably the smartest disciple. More importantly, he’d recently increased his already strong affinity with Shadow. His enhanced natural ability to hide from spiritual sense was second only to a System given perk.
Most importantly, with his intelligence, stealthiness, and new Knowledge of Spycraft technique, he might actually provide important information about the Jade Chameleon Sect’s plans. He might save lives.
Benton was well aware that he played favorites with his designated heirs, but there was no contest regarding who to give the first source to. Zou Tian’s mission to save his fellow sect members’ lives was orders of magnitude more important than Yang Xiu’s placement in the tournament.